Teachamy

I had a hysterectomy (uterus only) one year ago. Although I still have my ovaries, I think menopause has finally set in. Hot flashes every evening and at night. (Anyone else have a partner who is overly amorous when s/he wakes up and finds you nude and panting in bed? I don't have the heart to tell my husband he's not a rock star.) I am suddenly far less interested in that arena of late too.
I am only 42, so I am hoping for a few more years before my hormones go completely out of whack, because I have heard that menopause does cause weight gain.
Good luck!

@@Teachamy ... yes, this is maybe a bit on the high side, but I've averaged 1700 calories/day for many months now.
I mostly walk outside for exercise. I also do a little yoga, stretching and floor exercises. But the winter and these nasty March days have meant I don't consistently do that now. And let me be very clear that I'm not at all a gym rat. However, I am so much more active than I used to be -- do a LOT more housework, run more errands, probably even fidget more than I used to.
I can't say what will work for you, since WLS patients show considerable variation in how much and what kinds of food they can eat to maintain their weight. But I will offer this: When I was losing weight, my surgical practice's very well educated and experienced physician's assistant strongly urged me to eat more (not fewer) calories as my capacity increased. Specifically, she suggested that during months 5 and 6 post-op I eat 1,000 calories and during months 7 and 8 I eat 1,200 calories. She said that this would help my metabolism not get stuck at a lower level than it needed to be. Half a month later, I reached my initial weight goal (150 pounds).
Then I, my PA, my NUT and my exercise consultant all agreed (based on my weight loss rate and history and my MFP macronutrient records) that 1,700 calories made sense as a maintenance calorie budget for me. But then ... very slowly over the next year while averaging 1,700 calories/day I've lost another 15 pounds.
So obviously I need to be averaging more than 1,700 calories. In the last few months I've weighed from 133 - 138. I do NOT like weighing less than 135. That's why I've recently been eating more.
This is just guesswork on my part -- but if you want to raise your calorie intake, do so very gradually. This will require you to actually track assiduously your food using something like MFP. Maybe raise it by 50 calories every week for the next month and see what happens. Then stay there. Then try that again.
I wish we could just do a cheek swab and send it to a lab to see how much we can eat to maintain our weight. But it doesn't work like that. My own WLS experience and success has been ALL about observation and mindfulness. I don't worry about being perfect. Instead, I consider that everything I do just gives me more information to figure out how my body works.
And believe me, 19+ months post-op isn't long enough to imagine I have it all figured out.
P.S. I forgot to mention that I'm 70 years old. Was sleeved at age 68.

My mom, who has always fallen within the normal BMI range also has her days when she feels she lacks motivation to get on the treadmill or get some physical exercise, yet she does it 90% of the time. She very rarely buys junk food that she is tempted to eat, and eats the same type of meals everyday.
My mother-in-law who is obese doesn't exercise. Period. She buys ice-cream, chocolate chips, Cookies, juice, etc. She will bake Cookies with my daughter some weekends, say she is bringing them to church, then ends up eating half of them herself.
I think I fall somewhere between the two of them. Focused and motivated or hanging out in complete and utter denial where guilt is camped out just over the horizon. food is much more addictive to me than it is to my mom, but I am not my mother-in-law, nowhere near her.
When I get really bored with my food choices, I hear my dietician in my head, "Food is not entertainment. Ask any thin person you know and they'll tell you they eat the same thing most everyday". And damn it, she's right. I so hate it when she's right.
So I am back to my usual Protein bar, 80 calorie yogurt, Beans, chickpeas, tofu, daiya cheese, blah, blah, blah. Not entertained, but fighting the good fight, I guess.

I had a hysterectomy (uterus only) one year ago. Although I still have my ovaries, I think menopause has finally set in. Hot flashes every evening and at night. (Anyone else have a partner who is overly amorous when s/he wakes up and finds you nude and panting in bed? I don't have the heart to tell my husband he's not a rock star.) I am suddenly far less interested in that arena of late too.
I am only 42, so I am hoping for a few more years before my hormones go completely out of whack, because I have heard that menopause does cause weight gain.
Good luck!

I'm 19+ months post-op, have lost 100 pounds and am maintaining at 135 pounds (my original goal was 150, and I blew through that). Here's what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast:
1/2 cup coffee and 1/2 cup skim milk (homemade skinny latte)
GNC Lean shake 25, swiss chocolate
Mid-morning:
Cheddar cheese - 1 ounce
Three seed cracker
Smuckers sugar free strawberry jam - 2 T.
Lunch:
(Ruby Tuesday leftovers from night before)
3 ounces hickory bourbon salmon
1/2 serving brown rice pilaf
1/2 serving grilled zucchini
1 side of hickory bourbon sauce
Mid-afternoon snack:
Homemade skinny latte
Dark chocolate and almond biscotti
3 Sam's Choice lemon cookie thins
Cocktail Hour:
1 ounce Glenmorangie scotch
Dinner:
Stouffers chicken parmesan
Romaine lettuce hearts
Litehouse chunky blue cheese dressing
1/2 ounce blue cheese crumbles
4 ounces of chardonnay
After-dinner snack:
1 square Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt
Day's Macronutrients:
1,849 calories
177 carb grams
77 fat grams
94 Protein grams
3,487 mg. sodium (too much - limit is 2,300 - blame this on the Stouffers chicken parm)
19 grams insoluble Fiber (too few - need at least 21)

I just want to thank all of you ladies for your feedback. I really do appreciate you all sharing your experiences. Some people may get freaked out when they hear less than ideal stories, but the more information I have the calmer I feel, so you have all helped greatly.
April 1st is my day, and I am not rescheduling again. Time to get this done!

You can do this! You are human, and it's OK!

The first time my male OB inserted the Mirena, and it caused some cramping. I didn't enjoy the process, but I was fine once it was inserted. 5 years later, my new and improved female OB replaced it and POOF! She was so fast! It was amazing! You can survive this.
But if your doctor isn't taking your anxiety and request for a sedative seriously, maybe it's time to find someone who listens to you. Just a thought...

Rock on Grammy!

Personally, I can't wait until you sashay past him at your goal weight.

5 gallon buckets and lye works better.....leaves no trace. And that comes directly from a police investigator!
BTW, I have three cats and a good supply of batteries. Couldn't be happier.

So, here's the plan:
I have a flashlight and a shovel...

Here is my personal observation - over time it is easy to "slip" but it doesn't mean you are crazy binging or anything. I have friends who were never obese and they struggle with appetite, Portion Control, desire for delish but junky food... it is a lifelong thing...
So, I don't consider a small regain as any kind of failure, but rather as the normal part of life! The key is to get on top of it quickly like you are doing.
As best I can tell, regardless of the procedure you choose, at some point your capacity increases and your hunger is more. I am 4 years + years post sleeve, and I can eat way more and I do get hungry. The difference is, I am fighting to stay in the 150s, not under 300#, my hunger is much less exetreme and while my capacity has grown,, it is not nearly as much as I had presleeve.
What has worked well for me to get back under goal is intermittant fasting (like 5:2), intense exercise and dilgence with food intake.
I weighed 157 this week which is frustrating because I was in the low 150s. My current kidney stone nightmare has me bloated and looking about 12 weeks pregnant.

to all WLS newbies VET's, and everyone else in betwen
Today i celebrated my 62nd birthday
party dance party dance!!!
it's been 4 amazing years since i moved to sleeve land
i was one of the lucky ones that hardly had any problems PO
(not even gas!!)
in my previous life
i wore elastic waist blue jeans to work
they "hid" my rear end !!!
i wore big blouses/t-shirts
I looked great - NOT
didn't care about my appearance
if i didn't look in a mirror - i was "ok"
miserable etc - but that WAS me
fast forward
i have lost 105 lbs!!! GOAL
i feel wonderful, healthy and happy
experienced a lllllllong list of NSV's
and they keep coming
as i was reaching GOAL
my life was changing, improving
loosing the weight improved/got rid of meds and health issues
i "gained" confidence, happiness, - all those great feelings
"those feelings" were always there
couldn't find "them"
they were hiding
under all my blubber!!!
i peeled my excess skin off
feel like wonder women!!!
"we"/most say "WLS is not easy"
mental improvements aren't easy either
getting head/body issues to mesh together
isn't easy either
i'm stlll a work in progress
i look amazing, i really do
"cute as a button" LOL
DOS
12/15/11
235 lbs
57 years OLD

present
130 lbs
GOAL
62 years YOUNG!!!
Happy B'Day to me, today!!!!
my weight is a part of my past, present and future
life gets better and better
i am 5'3 short
but i feel 10 ft tall
congrats to ME
kathy

Tone doesn't come across in a forum. What Babbs and VSGAnn intended to say was misinterpreted, I think. They feel lucky that this wasn't their experience. A question like this one causes all of us to look back and reevaluate our relationships. For some of us, the pain and rejection was very real. For others of us, we lucked out and it wasn't our experience. I too thought the question was asking if I experienced my husband finding me unattractive now and I answered how my experience was different.
It was a good and important question, and all of the answers had value.

Tone doesn't come across in a forum. What Babbs and VSGAnn intended to say was misinterpreted, I think. They feel lucky that this wasn't their experience. A question like this one causes all of us to look back and reevaluate our relationships. For some of us, the pain and rejection was very real. For others of us, we lucked out and it wasn't our experience. I too thought the question was asking if I experienced my husband finding me unattractive now and I answered how my experience was different.
It was a good and important question, and all of the answers had value.

I've been married for 21 years. If my husband decided that I was no longer attractive to him because I was fatter/thinner/more wrinkled or had gray hair/droopy boobs/saggy bum/stretch marks, I would be more than happy to help him pack.

I love him and we are happy, but if only loves me for my appearance, then there is an underlying issue that belongs to HIM, not to ME. I am worth far more than that and so are you.

Yes, context helps.
Sometimes when I post here I have a lot of time to craft what I'm going to say. But other times I just dash off a reaction that is influenced by how my day is going and how much (or little) time I have to think about the OP or the thread.
@@Chrystee -- I certainly wasn't being dismissive of your concerns. Frankly, I don't even remember your concerns right now (without looking back at the OP), nor did I even remember when I saw the turn this thread took in the last page or two that you were the OP on this thread.
So to offer you some context ... yes, my husband really is amazing. He and I have been married for twenty years. I'm luckier than I ever imagined I'd be to wind up with someone like him. I'm sure I just typed my response to you out of the recurring sense of joy I have about our good fortune, which has never left me since I met him 20 years ago.
And here's some more context ... he's husband #2.
You want to know what husband #1 was like? He left me because I got fat. Specifically, explicitly, for that reason. The night he left, while he was kicking the **** out of me (I was curled up in a ball on a closet floor protecting my head with my arms), he was screaming over and over: "You're fat and I don't love you anymore!"
And then I was single for 15 years.
And then my wonderful hubby #2 came into my life.
I'll offer a little more context for those who think my short post to Chrystee meant that I'm an a*****e.
Do you know why I have time to write this long post right now? Because my husband's cancer has returned (he was first diagnosed with cancer two months after my VSG surgery), and today he's at the cancer clinic all day getting another round of chemo. The first round (three weeks ago) almost did him in. I didn't take a shower for 10 days, because I couldn't leave him alone. I probably typed that short response to Chrystee during that time.
And yes, he is the dearest man I've ever known. He is a wonderful husband who has loved me through thick and thin, fat and slim. I am so grateful for him coming into my life I can never say it enough.
I wish everyone had a sweet, loving husband like mine. And, Chrystee, that includes you.

I'm 18 months post-op and have done 5:2 in the past, but not since surgery. It was definitely one of my successful dieting strategies when I did it. I liked that I was able to eat more most days and didn't have to restrict my calories as much as I had on previous diets. If I remember correctly, I was usually eating about 1400 calories a day on normal calorie restriction/exercise diets. But with 5:2, I could eat more like 1700 calories a day. My strategies for fast days were to coordinate those with my cardio rest days and just eat one "large" meal for dinner. I sipped hot peppermint tea at various times throughout the rest of the day and ate all 500 of my calories for dinner, because I had found that eating smaller meals/snacks earlier in the day just made me hungrier.
Of course, this was all pre-VSG, so I think things would be very different post-op. First off, I can't possibly eat 500 calories in one sitting now. Secondly, I have found that I get "hangry" now if I go more than 3-4 hours between meals/snacks. So I might have to come up with a better strategy for spreading my 500 calories throughout the day. I'd also want to make sure that close to 100% of my calories were coming from Protein on the fast days, because that's the only way I'd be able to get anywhere close to my 100 gram daily target.
Certainly interested to hear from some sleevers who have done 5:2 post-op and how they approached it.

I posted this in the veteran's forum looking for advice from fellow veterans. (1 year + post-op.) I gained a couple pounds recently, and am looking for strategies from veterans who have BTDT. I don't feel broken, per sé, but some people seem to like it. Just wondering...
Thanks!

That's what I was hoping!

Tone doesn't come across in a forum. What Babbs and VSGAnn intended to say was misinterpreted, I think. They feel lucky that this wasn't their experience. A question like this one causes all of us to look back and reevaluate our relationships. For some of us, the pain and rejection was very real. For others of us, we lucked out and it wasn't our experience. I too thought the question was asking if I experienced my husband finding me unattractive now and I answered how my experience was different.
It was a good and important question, and all of the answers had value.

Tone doesn't come across in a forum. What Babbs and VSGAnn intended to say was misinterpreted, I think. They feel lucky that this wasn't their experience. A question like this one causes all of us to look back and reevaluate our relationships. For some of us, the pain and rejection was very real. For others of us, we lucked out and it wasn't our experience. I too thought the question was asking if I experienced my husband finding me unattractive now and I answered how my experience was different.
It was a good and important question, and all of the answers had value.

My husband wasn't overly full of compliments when I lost weight. We live together, see each other every day, so I am not sure it was a dramatic change for him like it was for others. At any rate, I had my surgery in Dec. of 2013. It has taken him until now to adapt to a healthier lifestyle change himself. He is eating better, exercising, losing weight, and high-fiving me when I finish my cardio. (Which I really hate, btw)
My point is, I find him more able to give compliments as his self-esteem and health improves. That is vital.