Idairene

Thanks for your posts. I'd really like to hear from folks that are 2-3 years out of surgery. There are different challenges then. The Hunger and cravings come back, you've tried the same recipes and tired of learning new ones. The excitement of fitting in clothes or in an airplane seat is now something you take for granted. Your support system is less and there's a social and cultural expectation for you to go back to eat "normal" again. You've become active and have switched to a number exercise routines. And the reality hits that it is low fat cottage cheese and Greek yogurt as your primary diet for the rest of your life. In short, the thrill is gone and the hard work is really up to you

I'm 2 years out and initially lost over 110 lbs. I more than passed the expectation of my surgery team. Over the past six months I have gained back more than 15 lbs. My surgeon is okay with my weight gain because I'm still within my expected range, but I am not. He also said that they do expect some weight gain about 2 years out as your body adjusts to its new size. What I also learned from my team is that you need far less calories post surgery than a normal person. Because you have essentially flushed your system out, your heart, lungs, muscles need much less energy just to work normally. They compareded it to a car needing less fuel after a tune up. So translate fuel or energy to calories. Much less calories are now needed and that as time goes on and my body continues to adjust, I may continue to drop in the amount of calories I can tolerate. So it appears that I need to limit my daily caloric intake to approx. 1500 calories to simply not gain. Even though I'm active, running, walk, kayak, ski etc on a regular basis. Doesn't seem to matter. In fact it was suggested that I might not be able to tolerate 1500, that as time goes on I may need to reduce my caloric intake even more. I still find I need 5 smaller meals a day. Do the math, that means 250-300 calories a meal. I know I've been eating more than that. So I struggling with accepting that if I want to keep the weight off, I need to live on a highly restricted calorie diet, which basically severely limits my intake of sugar, alcohol, carbohydrates, meat and fats. I lost the weight on low fat cottage cheese, greek yogurt, salads with vinegar or yogurt dressing, fish, Beans and low-fat cheese as my primary nurishment. I am realizing that I need to follow that diet for life and it is challenging, particularly when it comes to social events and dining out. I am praying for fortitude and solice to accept this as a permanent lifestyle change and would greatly appreciate hearing your stories and knowing that I am not alone.

I was glad to find this topic and though no one has posted in awhile, I'm hoping that I can get some feedback that will help. I suffered from anxiety and depression periodically prior to surgery most of my life. I was sleeved over 18 months ago and am doing great. With surgery, the depression really lifted, being able to do things I wanted to do, feeling so much better about myself. The problem is, my anxiety seems to be getting worse. I could understand in the beginning - so many changes to your life, but by now, I'm pretty well adjusted and it seems I can't stop worrying. I'm seeing a therapist and have a psychatrist I see occaisionally and discussed medication with both him and my primary care. It's been particularly bad this winter. I think part of it is that I no longer use food to calm myself. But it seems there's more to it. Almost like my chemistry has changed and I'm jumpy all the time. I wonder too, if there is something psychological about being smaller, not having the bulk of a body and masses of flesh to hide behind.

Now that my bra size seems to have stablized, I ordered a great bra from Amazon and am really happy with it. In case anyone wants to order one It is a Playtex 18 hour beautiful and breathable trusupport bra, #4716, wirefree. Fits great, very comfy, lots of support even though it is not an underwire. And only cost about $15 as opposed over $50 bras I'd gotten previously. Since I am either a 34DD or a 36D, I ordered a 36D and it fits true to size. The girls are happy and I'm not broke over it.

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice about sprinting. I do run over a hilly terrain and that keeps me from getting bored. I will have to try some of the shorter sprint times you all suggested. Unfortunately, I've hit a bit of a hiccup in life and tomorrow will be my last run for a few weeks. I need to have some minor surgery but will have an incision that will keep me from running or any vigorous exercise for a few weeks.

@@ShanRN Its great to hear of someone else that is continuing to run at a slow pace. Sorry about your injury. Hope it heal fast an you are running again soon. I did a shorter, faster run a few days ago. Today, for my 5K run I started at a slower pace than usual and was able to keep running the whole way and was fairly comfortable so even though I was breaking any PR for pace, I felt I was turning a corner in my endurance and in managing my speed. It was my first time without walking and I really only got tired the last quarter mile. Hopefully, once I can be comfortable with the distance, I can work on pace.

I ran my first 5K last Saturday, May 10 and finished! My daughter did not run ahead but ran right beside me which was a wicked sweet thing for her to do. I finished in 49.27 min at an average pace of 15.57. I wanted to finish in 45 min, but it was a warm and humid and I haven't run that fast yet. Anyhow, the important thing is I finished ! Yay! And remember when I started this post my pace was around 18 - so big improvement there. It still does not come easy - it seemed long but awesome! Gobs of fun, taking the tram, the after party with the best NYC bagels (yes, I can now eat a bagel - whoohoo, almost as big a deal as finishing the race!) and a gorgeous walk around Roosevelt Island afterwards, with cherry trees in bloom and a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline and a walk to the new FDR 4 Freedoms Park. I didn't expect it, but the "after party" and the post run high were really great! And I've found a free ap from ASICS to help me increase my pace for the next race, so stay tuned!

I got fitted for my running shoes at Marathon Sports on Boylston Street in Boston. I have ASICS GT 2000 that they fitted to my rather odd shaped "duck feet" (wide toe, narrow heel). Nearly everyone here runs or has run at some point in their life. No one thinks I should even worry about speed at this point, its all about building a running habit and going the distance. I have a marathoner friend at work who checks in on how often and how far I'm running. When I hit 3 miles at a pace that is a crawl, he said joyously "you've got your 5K!" and had no concern about how long it will take me. Its all about how far I can run. He also has no concern if I push for a longer distance and end up walking a mile or two. Our dietician team has several runners as does our surgery support group. They are all about just going the distance and running it regularly. Most of the running clubs here are fairly serious, experienced runners, or what they refer to as elite runners. You are expected to run at least a 10 min. mile just to keep up, some clubs allow runners that will pace at 12. Most of their weekly training runs are at least 10K. I'm just not there yet and have not found a club for true beginners. What I am getting from all the runners around me is NOT to worry about pace. Build endurance first. They tell me to find my VO2 - the point at which my oxygen consumption is maximized and I can complete a sustained run, feel like I can run forever, just like one feels they can walk a great distance. I am a natural swimmer and I could literally swim for miles so I can identify with how a runner is able to run for miles at a steady pace without struggling. Your heart literally needs to get bigger. Once that happens, work on pace. I used the Bluefin C25K Ap which was recommended to me by one of my fellow WLS patients and at the advice of one of our running dieticians, took it a little slower than the 8 weeks the program is built on as I started training only a few months out of surgery. I am very lucky because my home is just a block away from a USATF certified 5K and 10K course, great hilly terrain, a nice loop into town in back, not much traffic, literally in my backyard. There is a 6.8 mile rail trail that is flat trail and that is a good place to build pace (because running on hills is a great training but your pace will vary quite a bit). I'm 58 years old and never having run before, I do find it hard on my knees and hips so though I run at least 2 times a week, I also cross-train with Pilates and Yoga. In the winter, I ski regularly. And for several months in the summer, I will swim and bike. If I just ran 3-5 times a week, I probably would get more experience and faster, but I find my body needs the cross-training and I need the variety. I've reached my goal of being able to actually run the 5K loop by my house, not fast but able to do it. Now I need to work on sustaining my practice and increasing my pace. I'm not going to give up training on hills just to go faster because as all runners know "hills are our friends" and it feels so good when you reach the crest the hill. So when I run my first 5K, I expect to finish later than most people, perhaps even to be bringing up the tail, and I expect I may need to walk for 60-90 seconds 2 or 3 times during the race, but I totally expect to be still running when I cross my first finish line.

I've been sort of lurking in the background of this conversation trying to get the courage up to say that I think most of you are being way too hard on yourselves. The AMA declared obesity a disease last year. Much evidence points to the fact that our BMI is genetically determined. To me, losing weight and trying to keep it off was like trying to change the color of my eyes - it just wasn't going to happen without surgery. Try as I could to eat healthy, exercise and avoid stress and emotional eating, I couldn't change my genetic make up. I'm done with blaming myself or others around me for my obesity. It is what it is and I've take the action I need to move on.

I agree, some people just won't shut up about it and are fascinated with commenting on your size! Obesity is such a public disease. I have a friend who has hidden her epilepsy all her life and is just now, at 50 years old, starting to share this with people. But for obesity, there is no hiding it. AND remember - you will soon be healthier and better looking than many of these people. You have had a second chance in life and they are jealous!

And congratulations Jim1967 on the 275 lbs! Wonderful! And I bet your health is so much better now, which to me is what really counts, not the appearances.

I know this sounds corny but for me it would have to be "Jesus, Take the Wheel." I first heard this song when I was at my highest weight, travelling back from a vacation in Tennessee and had just decided to make major lifestyle changes to improve my health. It was a pivotal time. For me, this has been a very spiritual journey and I could have done this on my own. It took Divine intervention.

I always had thick healthy hair, but at about 4 months post-op, my hair started falling out in clumps, all my drains were clogged with hair. And even though my hairdresser said she could not tell the difference, it was disgusting and gross. My hair was limp. I colored my hair during this time, but I did not highlight it as I usually did because I did not want to stress my scalp anymore than it was. I couldn't deal with the mess of combing out the gobs of hair, so I got a shorter bob that was easier to manage. It was the best thing I did. My hairloss is now minimal and in fact my hairdresser has noticed new hair growing in and I'm back to my regular length. My hair is now thicker and has more body than ever. Whatever happens with your hair, remind yourself it is temporary, be open to doing things different for a few months and as your health improves from the weight loss and your nuturtion is good, you may have healthier hair than ever before.

I gave up caffeine several months before my surgery. I should say that i am more of a tea drinker and my coffee drinking is limited. I personally don't tolerate caffeine very well and I find it dehydrates me, upsets my stomach and aggitates my already overactive bladder. I occaisionally have an iced coffee or a sugar-free cappucino with skim milk. I am 8 months post op and don't even tolerate strong, black tea very well. But from what I read here, I am the exception and not the rule as far as coffee goes.

I'm really sorry to hear this. One of my friends who works in the same office as me as not recieved as many compliments as I have and I'm not sure she's comfortable in her new body. She continues to wear baggy clothes and "hide" her new body. In fact, I myself think she now looks too thin but I do not want to say anything. She has not been able to commit the time to exercise that I have so she does not look toned but rather out of shape. I imagine it is distressing that your husband cannot compliment you. Is your he perhaps uncomfortable with you now being a more attractive woman? Is he threatened by this? Or does he perhaps have weight issues of his own? I hope you continue to buy clothes, get a new hairdo and exercise and work on being proud of your new body. I have learned to be gracious with the compliments I recieve and maintain my dignity when someone is a bit over the line with comments. Someone at work recently said I had "too much style to work here." I now tell people when they carry on about my appearance, "You know, I was always good looking, I was just fat and good looking." I think what hurt so much was the idea that I was not a truely beautiful person before the weightloss. And it was hard for me that my changing body was so public, at a time when I was still very much struggling with reaching my own private and personal goals for health and fitness.