sharonintx

Your man is showing his ignorance and insecurity. The sleeve brings on it's own emotional and mental challenges. Who needs this s*#t from their significant other? Not you.

If it isn't making you sick, causing you to feel bad, and everything else is good after you drink it, then drink it. Your body will give you unmistakable signs if something is too much too soon. There is really no need to spend hours researching tips and guidelines.

I often wonder why someone asks a question here and it's a simple question. The replies get progressively more judgmental and seems to turn into a question of morality or the dreaded stretched sleeve due to the munchies, How about we just answer the question and forgo all the drama that ensues? It would be a lot easier to retain members who can give quality, to the point answers. All the rest sounds like Blahblahblah.

Yes. Then for the past 5 yrs since that time. No problems, no munchies, no problems

I cannot eat a full plate @ 5 yrs out. I can eat half a plate. And a small plate at that.

I ate pizza and anything else I could tolerate starting about 2 weeks post op. I ate cheese and crackers, pizza, fried chicken, and you name it. It may have only been 2 bites that I chewed forever, but if I wanted it I ate it. I still do that now. I have to watch how much I eat and I have to pay attention to protein intake but I never damaged my sleeve, "stretched" it, caused a tear or hole in my sleeve, and I did just fine.

Perhaps a little petty, but I'll say it anyway. All of us encounter people who feel they are superior in some way. Maybe they feel smarter,prettier, richer, more sophisticated, etc. Before losing weight I would have never had the confidence to challenge them and their unacceptable behavior. Now I have no problem looking them in they eye, responding to their imagined superiority, and I never let them walk away having gotten away with it. Kind of silly, but I enjoy it immensely. And guess what - they back down every time. Every. Single. Time. I love not feeling inferior.

Get a new Dr is the best advice I can think of. Even if they are having personnel changes etc. Surgeons are running a business just like any other business. If the customer service is lacking in any way, then your time and money is better spent elsewhere.

I went to Almanza 5 yrs ago. He did a great job. I am aware that his reputation has been questioned and that there are terrible reviews/stories about him. This has been my experience: Surgery March 2013. The staff was nice, they took me everywhere I needed to go and I never felt unsafe or afraid. Had surgery the morning after I got there, actually went home the next afternoon, I healed up fine, have not thrown up one time since surgery - seem to have lost the ability to do so - the sleeve works great and at 5 yrs I have more restriction than I really want sometimes. If I eat too much candy or junk I gain a few pounds. When I lay off the sweets the extra pounds go away. I went there by myself. Looking back, I think you should take someone with you. I was awfully tired by the time I got back to DFW that day. A little help would be better. I have had zero problems and Almanza did an excellent job. No frills with him but I did not need those:)

You are right. That's why i cannot grasp the comments I see from sleeve patients saying that their sleeve has stretched and they have no restriction. For me personally, not only does the sleeve not stretch but the opening to it does not give an inch either. I think the comment about grazing would be more accurate. It's simple - you gain weight because you eat too much. Period.

Jenn1 maybe grazing and restriction do get confused. I think you are right about that

Ignore the know it alls. They're everywhere. Right here among us as we speak. Your experience will be what you make of it. Make it good:)

I had surgery in Mexico. They did a bang-up job. Very pleased with results.

I had a one day fast, nothing but water. No pre op liquids and i didn't do liquids or puree after surgery either. I ate as soon as I could after surgery and had no problems.

Yep - the answer is you do not need tips and tricks. We gain weight because we eat too much. Plain and simple.

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?

We slip back into old habits because it's the easiest thing. It is very hard to retrain your brain to behave differently. Even after 9 months of doing well it is still easier to go backwards instead of forward. You've had major surgery and let someone cut out the most of your stomach. This issue is between you and the problems that caused weight gain in the first place. Be stronger than those problems. Or fail. That's the choice.

You may find that the extra attention isn't as exciting as one might think. You may also find that extra skin that is loose and saggy causes more anxiety about sharing your naked body than being fat ever did. Just a couple possibilities.

I did it. 2013 with Mario Almanza. No regrets. He did a great job.

I think that if you want a slightly bigger sleeve then you are still struggling with the desire to consume food in the same old ways. Which is the problem to begin with.

I drank coffee before surgery, drank it starting immediately after. It had sugar in it then just like it does now. No problems

Sachse TX. Dallas area

It's been 5 yrs. Since surgery I have always eaten what I want, have never counted calories or tracked water consumption . We all know that it is not hard to regain weight after the sleeve. On occasion I have gained 5 lbs, or 12. All I have ever done to get rid of those pounds is cut back on sugar, pay attention to the 'protein first' rule, and simply watch what I put in my mouth. The first 2 years I was on this site I got a lot of commentary about my refusal to obsessively count every calorie and gram of everything I ate. So here we are, several years later and I am about at my goal, do not need to lose more weight, and tonight I will again eat whatever I want. Granted, I cannot eat much at a time. I'd estimate my daily calorie intake in the range of 1200 to 1500. If I can manage to eat a little more on a given day then I certainly would. this is what I have learned - we overeat and get fat because we use food as comfort. We seek comfort to compensate for whatever we feel we are lacking. personally, i found that I was more messed up then I realized and it's been a long road to work those problems out. 5 yrs later I am pretty good emotionally and mentally. It's because I chose to address my issues. Some people do not. Manage the deeper issues and the weight will no longer be a problem. That's my 2 cents.

Me too - I ate anything before and still eat anything. Nothing has bothered me much.

I cheat every day and have since the very beginning. I don't even think of it as cheating. I just do my thing and let the chips fall where they may. So far the chips have fallen here: I lost the weight i wanted to lose, I do not have a real issue with gaining weight, sometimes gain a couple pounds but they disappear soon. I'm healthy, happy enough, and do not spend much time worrying about calories, carbs, etc. I admit to eating too much sugar. I'm sure I'd feel better overall if I'd cut out some of the sweets. But my daily Slurpee makes me very happy.