Oliver's Mom

For those of you that don't know me, My name is Laura and I have a food addiction.
My addiction it is being managed through the sleeve and hard work, at the moment...
I have/had a food addiction yes, but I also have an addictive obsessive personality..
For the last year plus my life has been about the sleeve. It is my focus from the moment I wake until the moment I sleep.. My "social time" is spent here with others that live the same life now as me. They "get it", well most of them anyway.... There is commonality here and that is huge to me. After all, my food is taken away how else will "I fill the hole"?
Along with my time here, I spend time working on the mechanics of my sleeve life. I plan my liquids, I take great care to get them in. Time meals to come 1/2 hour after finishing a round of liquids. Try and start my liquids up an hour, if I can, after my meals. My meals are thought out to the extent that they are Protein and veg. These are the "rules" I live by.
In the beginning I have referred to the Water schedule as a full time job. And in a way after all this time my eating drinking schedule is still like a full time job. Or at the least a very choreographed dance I do....
If my day includes activities out of the "norm" it can disrupt my dance....
This past weekend life, and I should say one the more challenging parts of it "got in the way" of my sleeved life. It made me realize the road to hell truly can be paved with the best intentions.. My real life and my sleeved life collided with a force strong enough to knock my sleeved life off its axis a bit. I simply could not spend my time dealing with the all important dance of food and liquids and the support of friends..
Did I eat this past four days? Yes. Did I eat enough? To much? Protein? Trigger foods? Timed just right? I honestly don't know and didn't much care.
Did I drink my fluids?
No, that I can guarantee not. Unless you count take away coffees and chi tea.
In fact several days I'd notice that it was afternoon already and not a drop of water had past my lips.
All or nothing... The life of an addict.
But this does not work, it is not realistic if you want to succeed in the sleeved life and life combined. You need balance. I'm not good at balance I realized that this weekend. I am a one trick pony, a one hit wonder.. I will spend my next year trying to find balance.

Ok all you post op sleevers! How did you spend your day?? Did you take any pics? I'm like the "selfie" queen these days But today for thanksgiving my little family unit did our traditional thanksgiving at the beach. For the last 6 years I cook everything the day before (and they all eat like piggies) then on thanksgiving proper we pack up turkey sandwiches and spend the day giving thanks at the beach Here are some of my pictures, Please show me some of yours!

My husband and I got sleeved by the same doctor same day. Same BMI. Different pre-ops. His was 2 weeks mine was 1. I did the two with him but we asked why the difference.
The doctor said that even though we had the same BMI, that he weighed more than I did. Also when men weigh as much as he did, they tend to carry the weight on their stomachs (this was true of him). That means my husband was much more likely than me to have fatty liver and thus needed a longer pre-op.
As Laura says, we may all be fat but even in that we differ. So second guessing ones doctor is roulette.

Here read this ok?? <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/249104-the-pre-op-diet-is-not-a-punishment-its-an-opportunity/?fromsearch=1'>http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/249104-the-pre-op-diet-is-not-a-punishment-its-an-opportunity/?fromsearch=1</a>
Hi guys. I see a lot of you are struggling and worried pre-op about the pre-op diet. It is a HUGE challenge, but for me, it was an important one.
Exactly 1 year ago, I was in the middle of a 2 week liquid pre-op diet because my BMI was 55+ and I was self-pay in Mexico. Traveling from Canada meant that a reschedule would be A LOT of extra expense if my surgeon had to stop due to an enlarged liver mid-surgery. I had NO CHOICE but to follow the diet.
It also meant that cheating would increase the chance of complications and a longer recovery (or worse), all because I could not follow a 2 WEEK diet. Really? Here I was, about to take a seriously radical, life-changing step and get 85% of my stomach cut out permanently. But I can't follow a 2 week diet? That's crazy.
Post-op was going to be difficult for MONTHS, not days. So if I couldn't get my head in the game for the pre-op diet, then maybe I wasn't ready for what was going to follow post-op. I was terrified!
So I started the liquid diet. And I was STARVING. I was dreaming of all the foods I thought were leaving my life forever. Suddenly I didn't care that I had spent my life morbidly obese, I wanted my comfort back. I wanted to fill myself to bursting at every meal, like it was my last meal forever.
But I didn't break my diet.
Because for once, I wasn't going to cheat myself. It was time to grow up (I'm 43....) and take responsibility for my health, my future and my choices. A lifetime of justification, gluttony and excuses brought me to that operating room. Now it was time to face the music and get on with owning my future.
The first 3 days were HELL. That is when your body is detoxing from the carbs. You are using up the glycogen in your liver (to help "shrink" it) and it's screaming for replacement carbs to fill it back up. You can get through it. After 3 days it gets MUCH better. After a week you start to feel normal and more healthy than you have felt in years. You may be hungry, but you don't have the carb cravings anymore.
Most importantly, you feel IN CONTROL; and mentally and emotionally strong for battling your demons and winning. This is the first tangible proof in an unsure future that you CAN get through the post-op recovery and that you CAN succeed in losing the weight this time, FOR LIFE.
Whatever weight you lose during your pre-op diet is really inconsequential. What is important is what you gain:
- Confidence
- Emotional and physical self-control
- The desire to succeed and overcome "impossible" obstacles
- The knowledge that you are a WINNER as long as you do your best
Please don't look at the pre-op diet as a "condition" that your surgeon imposes on you (and some surgeons don't require it!). It is an OPPORTUNITY for you to test yourself, to help build your will, character and emotional toughness BEFORE you have the surgery.
It's like training for a marathon.....you put the blood sweat and tears in before the race to help you finish the race on game day. Without training and preparation, you will likely fail and you can get hurt really badly along the way!
Use your pre-op diet to work through your demons, build up your confidence and prove to yourself you can do it. If you "fall off the wagon" one day, the next day is a fresh start.
Aim for excellence. You owe it to yourself.

And I didn't necessarily mean you were not sticking to it, I was just simply asking why one would not. I understand it's hard. I went through it. Hang tough, it will be worth it if you stick to the plan. Doctors vary because each one is so different. One may be more comfortable working with a big fat liver in the way of your surgery, and yours may not be. You don't want your liver poked, trust me.

"I ate like a pig!! I ate up until the moment I walked into the hospital! And look at me today I'm fine!!"
I'm sure you can find someone or even several people that will tell you these things.. But what does it mean?
Does it make it a done deal because others made it through?
When people "cheat" who are the cheating? The doctor? The system? They are cheating no one but themselves. The fact of the matter is this will take some willpower and some personal responsibility.. These are things we need to come to terms with before the surgery because we need them most definitely after surgery.

Please don't be offended but it almost sounds like you're looking for someone to tell you it's okay to cheat. That they did it and had no ill effects. Really, it's not okay to cheat. Even if someone got away with it, it's no guarantee that you will.
It's serious surgery. Don't take a chance. If you cheated, don't do it again. If it's really close to your surgery, call your doctor and let them know.
Not everyone has complications. Not everyone who has complications did something wrong. But you increase the chances of complications when you cheat, either pre-op or post op.
It's not worth losing your life over. Hang tough.

Hi Everyone, sorry for the delay, but Saturday November 23rd was the one year anniversary of starting my epic weight loss journey which has been chronicled in this thread. The final stats are in! In exactly one year from the start of my liquid diet I lost a mind bending 222 lbs, finishing 2 pounds under goal! I officially weigh what i did in high school! Needless to say, my life has COMPLETELY changed in that time period. There has been SO much happening in the past few months it would be hard to get into it all, but I will give you my secrets to success.
First, what I did won't work for everyone. The absolute key to my success was accomplished my the power of my mind. I practiced EXTREME discipline and determination which trickled down to everything I did from exercise to eating, to maintenance, etc. Don't feel like exercising today? To bad, get out there. I'm hungry, so what, think about something else. The motivator was the way I felt and eventually looked. My goal EVERY SINGLE DAY was to top something I did the day before. Do something I haven't done in years, beat my best run time by 2 seconds, lift another 5 lbs, whatever. I just had to top what I did the day before. I know it's kind of extreme, but it worked for me.
The absolute best thing exercise wise for myself is running. I walked for several months straight then began taking baby steps every day with my running, pushing it lap by lap. That literally changed EVERY aspect of my physical self to the point where at 36 years old I feel better then I did at 18, and I'm NOT kidding. I literally have the strength and energy of an athlete. I run and weight lift 4 days per week about 50 minute work outs and I LOVE every minute of it. I finally understand what the "exercise high" is and I'm telling you, it's absolutely real.
There is SO mush more to all of this so if anyone has any questions fire away. In the mean time I will post some before and after pics below.

Fred my recommendations is to get your calories from real food. Forgive me for being blunt but you're doing what people who gain weight after VSG do--drinking your calories and getting some from chips etc. You need chicken, beef, pork eggs cheese etc so you can feel the restriction that the VSG gives you.
At four months out, you should be down to maybe 1 Protein shake. My shakes have 150 calories, not more. Nuts are nutritious but highly caloric.
I'd suggest 1 homemade Protein Shake, and 4-5 meals of real food. 1/2 c meat, 1/4 c veggies, 1/4 c complex carbs at most at each meal. That combo will fill you up and get your calories in balance. If you're still hungry with all that, make vegetable Soup and drink that. HTH

I hated food. I didn't miss it. I felt free without it, if that makes sense.
I never realized how much our social rituals revolve around food, though. At times it's been challenging and at times there was resentment that I couldn't indulge in something I really liked, simply because I had no room. Our embassy lives were challenging too, because I was expected to eat, eat, eat and drink, drink, drink while doing events with the locals - so there were times there that I really wished I had more room, but not so I could eat. I didn't want to eat. I just wanted to avoid being sick because I was expected to eat so much!
But I love that I can say no and walk away more than 90% of the time. And while I still struggle with those old food demons, for the most part food doesn't control my life any more.
Everyone deals with this differently. For every person that posts that they resent that other people eat around them (as if the world were sleeved with them and should adhere to their diet!) there are several more than have no desire to eat at all and aren't tempted by food in the slightest.
For me, each and every struggle I have today is a head one - I still have no hunger. I still don't need to eat. When I slip up, it's because my head isn't in the right place, not because my lust for food got in the way. Even now, if I snag a piece or two of candy I know I don't need, I don't even enjoy them! At three years out there are times when I really enjoy food. But I enjoy a small bit of it and then I'm done. There's no resentment or anger or frustration that I can't eat the entire pot or go back for seconds.
And this can only be a good thing!
I think this boils down to mindset. If you're feeling negative, it bothers you. If you're feeling positive, you see this as a boon.
~Cheri

Keep reading about people who miss eating, who miss/crave certain foods, who wish they could eat more. I know that's true for some people and they are the ones who post. But I do believe that a lot of people are where I am.
I really LIKE that I can't eat too much food.< /p>
Yes sometimes I wish I could have a bite of something unhealthy, but the desire passes in less than 3 seconds.
I really LIKE that I can go out to restaurants and focus on friendship, camaraderie and conversation and not worry about the food.
I really like not constantly having to think about food. That I only think of it when I'm hungry rather than all the time.
I really, really like that I no longer spend my waking hours wondering what diet, super food, eating plan I should try next to lose my weight.
I really enjoy the feeling that I am in control, rather than feeling the food controls me.
I don't think I'm in the minority. I think this is like complications. People who had tough recoveries post, people whose recoveries were simple don't post. But for the pre-ops, I think it may be important to see that not everyone is struggling with missing food.
Are you like me? Will you post your experience here so others can see?

I like nerds
Oh and I didn't keep a month to month count of loss.. But next Wednesday is my year anniversary. So I didn't make goal at a year but I'm going g to cut some slack to myself and say good girl

So while statistics vary on this, I think most surgeons consider losing 50% of your excess weight between 6 months-1 year after surgery to be a sign of success.
Yes you read that right. So let's give ourselves a pat I the back all of us over-achieves!

Wow, then I'm already at 29.5%. Then again, I never really thought I was going too slow.
Thanks for being all math-y, even though I understood this to be a math-free zone.

(if you can't see this post without a bunch of extra HTML code, go here: http://sleevers.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/you-may-be-doing-better-than-you-think/)



Or math games geeks play.



So I see people posting how they’ve lost a lot less than those who were sleeved the same day as them. “I’m 3 months out and I’ve only lost X but everyone else has lost so much more than me.” Theoretically we all understand that if someone has a lot to lose, they will lose faster than someone who has less to lose.



But here’s an example to make it real. There’s me, with 80 lbs to lose, and there’s my friend Emily who has 180 lbs to lose. Mine are actual results, and I made up the results for Emily.



Wow, I’m doing really badly. I’ve “only” lost 35 lbs in 3 months and Emily has lost 79 lbs! Obviously, I’m failing.





But you want to know a secret? I didn’t entirely make up Emily’s numbers. Look at the picture below. Can you guess what I did?







Yup. I messed around with the numbers until Emily had lost exactly the same as I had in terms of percent excess weight to lose. I have 80 lb. to lose, she has 180 lb. to lose. In order for her to match me for percent of excess weight lost, she has to lose considerably more than I do during the same time period.



Poor Emily is having to work a lot harder to get the same results I am. And what do you know, I'm doing just fine.



This is why I strongly believe that we should move away from total pounds lost, and move to percent excess weight lost to gauge where we are in our journeys.



Here’s how to calculate your %EWL:

[Total weight lost/(Starting weight - Goal Weight)]*100
[35/(230-150)]*100
(35/80)*100
=44%
Who knew Math could make you feel better hunh?



Btw, if you're total math phobic, give me your start weight, your current weight, and your goal weight and I will do this for you.

I've bought 10 ties in the last week. I had to get rid of all my old ties because they were extra long....for a fat neck. Too long for me now.
Considering I wear a tie every 2 years or so, buying 10 may have been overkill.

I had my 10 month post-op visit with the nurse from my program yesterday. I had gained a pound since my 8 month visit. Considering that I had rotator cuff surgery a month ago and am unable to exercise like I was, AND while home not being able to drive I had a crazy uncontrollable love affair with popcorn, of all things! I wasn't surprised. We talked at length of how my weight has stayed the same for a while even when I was exercising 6 X a week (and not obsessed with Skinny Pop popcorn) and eating about 1000-1100 calories per day.
It may be that this weight is where my body wants to be. I'm good with that if that's the case.
I can begin start walking now, but no weights, no zumba, no strong women classes, no 30/30 classes for a few more months. If by my 1 year anniversary I'm still at this weight then I will consider myself at goal.
I'm really happy with my health (off all meds for HBP, diabetes, high cholesterol) and I FEEL so healthy and happy - energetic. Plus I am wearing clothes sizes that I hadn't seen for decades.
I love this thread - it keeps things so in perspective for me.
I do like the idea of being accountable weekly by attending WW though.

I had my 10 month post-op visit with the nurse from my program yesterday. I had gained a pound since my 8 month visit. Considering that I had rotator cuff surgery a month ago and am unable to exercise like I was, AND while home not being able to drive I had a crazy uncontrollable love affair with popcorn, of all things! I wasn't surprised. We talked at length of how my weight has stayed the same for a while even when I was exercising 6 X a week (and not obsessed with Skinny Pop popcorn) and eating about 1000-1100 calories per day.
It may be that this weight is where my body wants to be. I'm good with that if that's the case.
I can begin start walking now, but no weights, no zumba, no strong women classes, no 30/30 classes for a few more months. If by my 1 year anniversary I'm still at this weight then I will consider myself at goal.
I'm really happy with my health (off all meds for HBP, diabetes, high cholesterol) and I FEEL so healthy and happy - energetic. Plus I am wearing clothes sizes that I hadn't seen for decades.
I love this thread - it keeps things so in perspective for me.
I do like the idea of being accountable weekly by attending WW though.

I had my 10 month post-op visit with the nurse from my program yesterday. I had gained a pound since my 8 month visit. Considering that I had rotator cuff surgery a month ago and am unable to exercise like I was, AND while home not being able to drive I had a crazy uncontrollable love affair with popcorn, of all things! I wasn't surprised. We talked at length of how my weight has stayed the same for a while even when I was exercising 6 X a week (and not obsessed with Skinny Pop popcorn) and eating about 1000-1100 calories per day.
It may be that this weight is where my body wants to be. I'm good with that if that's the case.
I can begin start walking now, but no weights, no zumba, no strong women classes, no 30/30 classes for a few more months. If by my 1 year anniversary I'm still at this weight then I will consider myself at goal.
I'm really happy with my health (off all meds for HBP, diabetes, high cholesterol) and I FEEL so healthy and happy - energetic. Plus I am wearing clothes sizes that I hadn't seen for decades.
I love this thread - it keeps things so in perspective for me.
I do like the idea of being accountable weekly by attending WW though.

You have three choices then.
You can either go and dread it, not knowing what kind of ridiculous comment she may make.
You can cancel and feel relieved but continue to be justifiably pissed.
You can take back your power and let her know that while you appreciate her concern, you have been VERY successful with your dietary choices and outside input/advice isn't really necessary or appreciated.
If you choose option three, you have to say it with confidence and a smile. You don't need to explain or justify your statement. Basically it's a very polite FU without opening the door to further discussion.
I usually answer any unwelcome/rude questions with a very wide-eyed, smiley yet sarcastic, "Well now, that's a very odd question/statement to ask/say to someone". And then you smile and move on.

I've been at the same weight for several weeks now - but - can't complain. Had rotator cuff surgery 2 weeks ago - so no exercising (which I miss greatly!! Who da thought??) and no driving so stuck in the house. Going a little stir crazy, taking walks outside when I can.
I have eaten a few more calories per day the last 2 days (1300 or so instead of my usual 1100-1200 per day) But thru this all my weight has stayed the same.
Crazy to say this 'outloud' but I miss wearing my smaller size clothes - can't really wear any pants that are not elastic waists and bigger tops to accomomdate the sling.
Sorry for the whining - feeling a little sorry for myself that I can't live my new normal life. I will soon tho.

Have definitely fallen off track. Gotten a little worse since having a very recent miscarriage this past weekend. I'm really struggling.
However with thay said here is my most recent comparison.

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Congrats! You look amazing. All of your hard work is paying off, keep up the great work.

My comparison pic 5 months post op to 8 month post op Down -110lbs

I can't believe it's already a year since my surgery. I love my results thus far, I still want to lose and it has gotten a lot tougher now that I am past the year mark.
144 pounds down so far and don't regret a single moment of this journey
First pic day of surgery, 2nd pic was taken Sunday