MichiganChic

I did not reach my goal in a year. It took 14 months, and at nearly 3 years out, I still think I can lose another 10. It does get harder, the closer you get to goal. However, your sleeve does not expire. If anyone, anywhere could really identify the mystery behind obesity and weight loss (beyond calories in/calories out, which is part of it) they would win a prize. So, we just have to go with "we are unique" and just do your best to figure out what works for you. Just know you can do this.

I had just horrible fat legs. I called it "dripping fat" and the more I lost, the worse the dripping got. My arms were bad, too. My legs are still fat, but after plastics, they are greatly improved, even if they are not as good as the rest of the plastics I had. I still have lots of cellulite, but the rolls and blobs of dripping fat are gone. It's shocking how much easier it is to move with all that gone! But even if I didn't have plastics, I could get by without shapewear most of the time, and it was a billion times better than being fat!!

@@proudgrammy ok give me a call!

I'm almost three years out, and I am maintaining. I am working really hard right now to do that. I do get hungry now, though it is more manageable than before. One thing for sure, the sleeve does help, but you can still "eat yourself sick", it just takes less food to do it. But it's still the same problematic behavior - eating beyond need or hunger. That can only be controlled by your brain, and it gets harder to do over time. I was not prepared for that at all, but even knowing that, I wouldn't change my mind. I would have never been able to lose 145 pounds and keep it off more than 5 minutes.

It's a major surgery that causes you to retain fluid, and it's common to gain. I gained the 10 pounds I lost with a 2 week liquid diet while in the hospital. It started coming off after a week or 2, and I ended up losing around 30 pounds the first month, but that was in the last part of the month. Try not to worry, it's normal

I really didn't like this particular rule, and before surgery, I wasn't sure how I would do with it. At nearly three years post op, I can say I follow it more than 95% of the time. I may take a super small sip if I have something spicy, or if I feel too dry, but it's rare. I still miss it sometimes, but mostly, it has become a way of life. I still often set a timer for 30 minutes after I eat, because I still haven't developed a natural rhythm of waiting.

And one other thing - I NEVER EVER eat or drink something I don't like. There are enough excellent sources of nutrition out there that I do like to waste calories on something I hate.

I don't know you, so I am not implying anything about YOU, but this is what I found for ME. It could also be true for you. I do not lose I am not honest with myself. I need to eat around 900 calories daily to lose weight I have to average those calories over days and weeks A few extra calories over a weekend (in the form of alcohol or anything) will absolutely kick my average calorie consumption up over the 900. I can't graze. It's very hard to track calories when you stick a bite of this or that in your mouth. I gain when I do that, even if I try to track it all. It's all easier said than done, but so worth it!

Your "gym friend" is no friend. I'd make it point to stoop to her level and give her some similar information about herself, and then be done with her. None of us need acquaintances like that.

@@feedyoureye Thanks for the post. I think the numbers are fairly consistent with what I was told to expect, and it makes sense that comorbidities would also return if people gain weight. I was one with a lot of weight to lose, and my surgeon told me the bypass would probably be better, but I was a candidate for either. I often think I could have lost that last 10 pounds if I'd had bypass, but I'm still not sorry I made this choice (sleeve). I think the outcome would be the same in the long term for me. I am currently struggling a lot to not gain. It's getting harder and harder, and I really wasn't prepared for this. Either way, I lost over 90% of my excess weight, and at nearly three years out, I find it's 90% me, and 10% sleeve. When I went into this, I knew long term I might settle at a 60% reduction from where I started. Now that I've lost so much and gotten to a normal size, the idea of that much regain is devastating to me. I'm going to do my best to not become a statistic!

I really want to see your face!! Call me. I will step you through it!

Yes, this!!!! Although I am finding I am working harder and harder to not gain these days...

@@VSGAnn2014 congratulations on your new life! It is clear you are enjoying it Oh, I want all that your dietician said to be true!! I'm not sure my experience could corroborate it, though. In particular, #2. I don't know if it's ghrelin or something else, but I do believe that hunger returns, and it's not head hunger. At nearly three years post op, I know the difference. It's not nearly as intense as before, but it most certainly different than it was at 6 months or even 2 years post op.

Weighing daily can be good or bad, depending on the person. I weigh daily, and have since surgery. For me it is good, because it keeps me focused. I'm in maintenance, and I do fluctuate 5 pounds over the course of a week. I have read more than once lately that people who weigh daily tend to keep their weight off. I don't have an scientific evidence to support that claim, but it is true for me. Probably the most useful thing I started doing for myself in maintenance is taking that daily weight and averaging it for the month, and then trending that data. Since I started doing that, I've realized my weight is very stable, within a pound or two. That's how I can really tell if I'm starting to creep up.

I ate healthy and under 1500 calories a lot of the time and never lost weight. Some of the time I would go through periods of eating a lot more and most of it was junk, and strangely that didn't seem to cause any more weight gain. I will clearly state that I ate more than I burned. It's not a total mystery how I got to 300+ pounds, though I never ate as much or as bad as one would think to get to that weight. The sleeve allowed me to get my calories under 600 per day for the first several months, and then I kept it around 800 for the rest of the first year. I now know that I have to eat under 900 calories a day or I will not lose weight. That was a shocking revelation to me. I maintain at around 1400 calories, and gain at any more than that. I would like to lose that last 10 pounds, but can't seem to keep my calories low enough, long enough to achieve that. I look and feel pretty good, so I'm not too worried about it any more.

@@fitdrea30 I had it done at Beaumont Royal Oak by Ellen Janetzke. Her office is in Birmingham.

Registered Nurse for over 30 year, worked everywhere from the ER to the OR to homecare and hospice. Currently I'm an informatics nurse and the director of IT for a large homecare and hospice corporation. I always identify first as a nurse, and believe the work I do contributes to the care of many patients, as well as improves the work lives of the clinicians providing that care.

Thanks for the responses. I just wondered if I was abnormal, and apparently not too much. I agree, I would trade the numbness for the results!

Yes. I have that same fear and it's because it's a real possibility. I will do everything in my power not to let that happen, but I am most certainly not cured of obesity. The longer I'm out from surgery the more aware of this I become. I used to think I finally found the secret and I had it under control for good. I've since learned that it's more me than the sleeve doing the work, and frankly, I'm not to be trusted! ????

@@ITGeekGirl I was just over there this weekend. Stayed in SW GR and traveled over to Saugatuck and Holland. Did all things touristy and Pure Michigan Love the western side of the state.

I never thought I was treated badly when I was super morbidly obese. I was fortunate in that I had no mobility or health issues, and I dressed and carried myself as a confident professional. I'm also pretty direct and easy to get along with, so it's hard to mistreat someone like that. So fast forward a couple of years - and I can say strangers are much nicer to me. It is a little amusing, funny, and infuriating, all at once. It just really dawned on me a couple of weeks ago. I had a day where everywhere I went, people seemed to go out of their way to talk to me, they liked my clothes, my hair, my purse, etc. I NEVER had that on my best day as a 300+ pound woman. I hate to admit it, but it has been true for me that strangers are nicer and go out of their way to talk to me. I don't think I can say that of people I know or my family, though. The people who loved me before love me now

I don't wear a belt on my pants (maybe I would if I found the right pants and belt combo) but I do wear them on the outside as @@AvaFern suggested. I have wide ones and narrow ones and use them with a variety of things. I particularly like them with a peplum top.

Mine was/is really good. But she's an RD - registered dietician. I'm never sure what people mean when they say NUT as far as the person's actual credentials. Anyway, I'm an RN and a professional dieter, and I found it hard to imagine there is much I didn't know about dieting, but there was lots about diet with a sleeve that I didn't know. She did a good job of reinforcing the Bariatric Eating rules. I don't think there is enough separation between sleeve an bypass education when it comes to Vitamins, but other than that, they do seem to understand and teach surgery specific needs.

My BMI was about 52. I've lost 145 pounds from surgery and 165 from my all time high, and kept it off for a year and a half. It took me 14 months to lose it. I'd like to get down to 155 pounds, but haven't been willing to work that hard. I work very hard to maintain now. I wear a size 8 and even though my BMI is still 'overweight', I don't think I'm fat. I'm very happy with my results! I imagine your doc wants you to be realistic, and might be basing his number on averages. Sleeve patients will lose somewhere between 60-70% of excess weight (depending on who you are talking to), so statistically none of us would ever get to a normal weight if we took that as expected outcome. But to get to that statistical number, some people lose 100% of their excess weight and some lose 0% with most being somewhere in between. Most of our success is up to us, some of it is the sleeve forcing decreased intake, and some of it is genetics.

I never really lost any weight. I was swollen for months, but I did drop from a size 10 to an 8. I had the worst pain I've ever experienced, and I underestimated how it would be. It's a big surgery and not easy. I'm 11 months post op, and once in a while, I notice my muscles are still sore. I also am very numb. I also have a really great navel, and I love it even if I can't feel it! I'd do it again in a heart beat. Well worth all the pain, in my mind.