sharonintx

Hello fellow sleevers. I have been on this site very little in the past couple of years but have logged in today to respond to a question. Since I'm here, I feel obligated to tell you all the things I've learned after 5 years. 1. The people that told me my approach to living life with the sleeve was all wrong and that I would fail, gain weight in a few years, stretch my sleeve, and regret my actions are mostly gone now. I have seen a couple of them around but the most are long gone. Do not pay much attention to the know-it-alls. They know no more than anyone else and are just as likely to fail. 2. Obviously you want to follow your Dr's instructions but don't get too hung up on strict rules and diets. If you make reasonable decisions and balance your good and bad food choices, your sleeve will do most of the work for you. I have eaten anything I wanted since day one. I try to pay attention to protein etc., but I do not deny myself anything. You have the sleeve for a reason. Let it do it's job. Don't force it to hold more than it can and do not deny yourself the things that make you happy. Balance - just do it. 3. WLS is much more than losing weight. It is getting to the bottom of the issues that cause us to compensate with food in the first place. Pay more attention to your mental well being than the numbers on the scale. Your long term success depends on it. 4. Know that even after you reach your goal weight you will still be the same person with the same insecurities. Being thin changes nothing. If you did it for health reasons then hopefully those will no longer be an issue, but the person you are and how you feel inside doesn't change from losing weight. That has to change on the inside. No way around it. 5. Know that once you have made the necessary changes inside and out there will be some people that don't relate to you the same or just plain don't like you anymore. Also know that what they think is completely irrelevant . Physical and mental changes for the better intimidate those with small minds. Don't give them a second thought. Thanks for reading.

I Googled maladaptive eating patterns:) No I do not have food addictions or other eating issues. I do still have trouble eating slowly and very often I eat 3 more bites than I should have but no serious problems.

I eat too much sugar. I have to make a real effort to go for the protein rather than the pastries. I did learn early on that too much sugar makes me feel bad. Some call it dumping. I don't know what it is but an overdose of sugar is no fun so I have to watch myself. I'd rather have a donut than a protein bar any day. After the sleeve it wasn't that simple anymore. Lessons learned.

WLS is not a gift. It's a choice. A tool yes, but not a gift. Whether we chose it for health or vanity reasons it is still a choice. To have someone tell us too bad if you don't want to drink your water, too bad if you don't like vitamins etc. is ridiculous. This is not daycare. For whatever reason, having WLS is a choice. I don't know about everyone else but reading a long-winded article about what our actions will be no matter if we like it or not is much like listening to politicians on the news. I'd sooner drink a gallon of water and wash down a couple dozen vitamins before I'd pay any attention to a presumptuous windbag of an article. If you choose WLS then you also make your choices thereafter.

I find the article overbearing and obsessive.

I take it with no problem

About 3 weeks post op I was eating small amounts of anything I wanted. It was trial and error as to which foods were disagreeable. I would try it and knew right away if it wasn't going to work out. Carbs, crunchy, and spicy never bothered me. I had surgery in Mexico. I came back 1 day post op with no diet plan, no nutritionist, no nothing. It was trial and error. My eating habits changed because I could no longer eat much food, not because of a restrictive eating regimen. It worked out fine.

fluffy it's going to happen. I guess sometimes jealousy, sometimes other reasons that we will never know. The good news is that as you progress you will surely find that you never needed them in the first place:)

I went to Dr Almanza in Tijuana. He is no longer a partner on this site. There are bad reviews about him in various places but my experience with him was great. No problems, no post op issues, and the staff treated me very well.

Was the weight loss steady? Any tips It was steady for the 1st 8-9 months then slowed way down. After the 1st year I weighed 170 and stayed there for 2 years, then eventually lost 20 more pounds without really trying. I stay between 150-155 now unless I eat a bunch of candy. It isn't hard to gain a few pounds but is not hard to lose them either. The best tip I can give is to realize this is a permanent change and don't focus so much on the weight loss because it will come. From my perspective you should focus more on your emotional and spiritual well being. That's where the answers can be found - not on the number on the scale.

I've had both. The sleeve was a cakewalk in comparison

Mattymatt life is short and it gets shorter all the time. Do whatever will give you joy and discard the rest. No overthinking it, no second guessing. Choose what will bring contentment or even better -happiness and a feeling of accomplishment. Do it as soon as you can and good job on making changes for no one else except you:)

I do not think this question was posted because the OP wanted a lecture on the use or non-use of weed and probably didn't need a tutorial on a healthy lifestyle from people who have, in the past, engaged in even more unhealthy behavior - you know - we're all here because we ate so much that our weight was or still is out of control and we did it to ourselves. If one can't refrain from passing judgment I would think one would keep quiet. People in glass houses etc....

Your surgeon is not your counselor, neither is the surgeon's staff, and the extra paperwork you are repeatedly asking them to do is out of line. Yes -they do get paid to guide you through this process, but the process for them is your surgery and recovery. Not your mental or emotional struggles. For every patient that cancels over and over and would like a therapy session at each visit, there are 100 more patients who will not require this extra hassle.

Help me understand. I am 5 yrs out from sleeve surgery. There has never been a time I was able to overeat to a large extent, I feel very near the same restriction as about 6 months after surgery. I can eat more sweets than real food but even so there is a limit I cannot cross. I see people taking about feeling no restriction and saying their sleeve has stretched and they have gained a lot of weight - a lot being more than 20-30 lbs. On occasion I have gained a few pounds. Most notably gaining 12 lbs this past summer due to my consumption of coffee milk shakes from Whataburger. The scales hit 12 lbs over what I was comfortable with, I said to myself ' stop this s#@t before it goes any further". I quit the shakes and switched to strawberry protein smoothies from Starbucks and the pounds went away. I do not understand 'my sleeve stretched'. Am I wrong in thinking that the only way this could happen is if someone stuffed it past capacity repeatedly? Over and over? And if that were the case then wouldn't the problem be that one has yet to conquer the mental demons that make us overeat in the first place? Am I missing something?

I picked 150 lbs because it seemed reasonable. So far I have not reached 150 and it has been 5 years. The 1st 2 years I stayed at 170. Then lost 10 and stayed at 160 for a couple more. Today I'm at 155, but prefer 152. All of that is in my mind though. My body wants 160 lbs or so. I may have to be content with 155 and just split the difference between mind and body. I have decided to lay off the candy bars and see if I can get to 152 this next week.

Yes -any type of lunch meat that is pink. I find it totally repulsive. Ham, bologna, most types of hot dogs...eeeewwww. I used to love all that stuff. Oh and vienna sausage. Never eating it again. Because its pink.

I'd be interested in some options too!

I flew home the next day after surgery. 3 hrs total flight time. No problems

I had a BMI of 36, self pay in Mexico, had no problems during or after surgery, have lost about 70 lbs, gain a few sometimes and have to eat more carefully. Overall good.

I was going to ask for the recipe for helluva good dip

Did you Dr say there was anything unusual or obviously ineffective about your sleeve? Just curious if the sleeve itself was somehow the problem?

I flew back alone too. I was tired and it was a long day but I made it fine. I had a carry on with wheels so I could pull it instead of carry it. Went from San Diego to Dallas.

I'm not Canadian, but had surgery in Mexico several years ago. There were no problems and I was perfectly safe the entire time I was there. The Drs that partner with Bariatric Pal are all very reputable and do a great job. You can expect to pay around 4K plus your flight. I am very happy with my results. I say go for it.

I've been eating too much lately too. Gained a couple pounds. I need to cut out the candy and quit stuffing myself every night. At the very least we see where the pounds come from and recognize that its our own fault. #winning