VSGAnn2014

LOL! Here's what that calculator (complete with typos) predicted for me: GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY Your can expect to lose 76 lbs. from gastric bypass surgery. Your new weight will be159 lbs. after gastric bypass surgery. Learn more about gastric bypass GASTRIC SLEEVE SURGERY Your can expect to lose 65 lbs. from gastric sleeve surgery. Your new weight will be170 lbs. after gastric sleeve surgery. Learn more about gastric sleeve LAP BAND SURGERY Your can expect to lose 54 lbs. from Lap Band surgery. Your new weight will be 181 lbs. after Lap Band surgery. Surprise, surprise, surprise! I've lost 100 pounds after VSG surgery and now weigh 135 pounds. Bam!

I shouldn't post this, but I'm going to do so anyway. In my personal experience (and my long years of observation), a person who feels trapped in a marriage that isn't working (and doesn't look like it's ever going to work) is in that trap because they don't see any other good options. As you already know, that's a tough place to live. Staying in a marriage -- whether it's good, bad, just OK or meh -- is a continuing choice. If you're still there, you're choosing to be there. It sounds to me like you need a plan -- a plan to build at least one other option (or more) that can work for you. BTW, plans involve Step 1, Step 2, Step 15, Step 105. And they are implemented over time. I've never seen a plan that says "Step 1" -- boom, done! But for now, it sounds like you're stuck in limbo with no plans. This last bit is coming to you from someone who's 70 years old. Yes, acting recklessly -- to seek temporary relief from a bad situation -- can do damage. But being paralyzed and unable to change at all and just endure, endure, endure does more damage. The bottom line is you have just one life. You are living it now. You don't get another one. Very, very best wishes to you! P.S. You probably know all this already.

Thanks, @@CowgirlJane ... I always appreciate hearing about your (and other longer-term vets') experiences.

@@Katnroyal ... awesome initial post. Thank you. To the person (?) who asked about calories / Protein -- I count both. I use My Fitness Pal, which I use to plan and track my food / Water. Below was my weight-loss eating plan -- not proselytizing at all (this worked well for me, but do what works best for you): Months 1-4 - I averaged 800 calories/day and 80 grams of protein (couldn't really eat much more than that during those months anyway) Months 5-6 - I averaged 1,000 cals/day and 90 grams of protein Months 7-8 - I averaged 1,200 cals/day and 100 grams of protein I reached my weight goal (150 pounds) at 8.5 months post-op. Since then I've ratcheted up my calories and have slowly lost another 15 pounds and weigh 135 pounds. Now in maintenance, I'm eating 1700 - 1800 calories/day on average and still eating 90-100 grams of protein. We all have different lifestyles, workout routines, activity goals. I am NOT a gym rat. I do walk a lot and am so much more active than I used to be. I'm 70 years old. Feel great. Look amazing for my age.

I understand that all food is just food, composed of Protein, carbs, fat, Vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, etc., and that some food is more nutritious than others. In other words, it's all relative. So during the weight losing phases I made the best choices I could most of the time, given the choices available to me at the time. My first fast food choice was on an interstate road trip where I had no other options handy and ate 3 chicken McNuggets at a McDonalds. Mostly, however, I ate lean animal protein, Beans, cheese, skim milk -- and gradually (as restriction permitted) colored, complex veggies, a little fruit and eventually whole grains. At six months out I started drinking wine again -- 4 ounce pours. Rarely (and I mean rarely) I had a bite or two of hubby's or a group dessert or (on road trips) half of a McDs Breakfast burrito or small cheeseburger or slice of thin crust meat pizza. I reached my weight goal at 8.5 months post-op. Since then I've lost another 15 pounds and am maintaining. I've cooked more in the last year and a half than I did the prior 10 years, which has led me to eat more nutritious food than if I were eating takeout or fast food on a daily basis. I have always measured most of my foods and planned my daily menus and track my food using My Fitness Pal. That data continues to be amazingly helpful in helping me learn what's working and not working well for me. I'm certainly still learning. Short version: Choose the most nutritious food you can -- especially while you're in the weight-losing phases. That's when you have a chance to learn how to eat well the rest of your life. You don't have to be perfect. You just have to make good choices most of the time.

OK, guys -- I have a theory that has occurred to me this morning, and I'm now conducting a science experiment to test it out. For the last few months I've been trying to stop losing weight. For the last 6 months I've been averaging 1700 calories daily. So a few weeks ago I upped my daily calories target to 1800. I have eaten those extra calories (and maybe another 100 of the 1700) in the form of simple carbs -- dark chocolate, bread, Pasta. Nothing awful -- just trying to get more calories in and to enjoy myself. During that time, as I've been eating more, I have started to fight the hunger monster again. My MFP records show that 7 of the last 30 days I've eaten 2100 - 2500 calories a day. That is WAY more than I need to maintain my weight. But I've legitimately *felt hungry* on those days. That's not a good change. So I started thinking last night -- hmmm, hunger. Hmmm, stomach acid? And I realized that my stomach DOES feel more acidic than it used to feel post-op. That shouldn't be surprising, given that I'm eating more simple carbs these days, which does cause more stomach acid. So this morning I decided to start using my PPI antacid for a week (Omeprazole once a day) to learn if that will have an effect on my newly increased appetite. Science. It's a good thing.

Here's some encouragement for "slow losers," although FTR I never thought I was losing slowly, but whatever .... Highest weight - 235 Surgery day weight - 216 Post-op monthly weight losses: 1 -10.4 2 -11.8 3 -9.2 4 -10.4 5 -6.8 6 -5.0 7 -6.2 8 -4.4 9 -3.8 10 -1.8 11 -2.6 12 -0.6 13 - 1.2 14 -1.0 15 -1.6 16 -2.0 17 -1.4 18 -0.0

Is the timer on the Bariatric Pal app or the Baritastic app? I have the BP app, and it's not on that.

Good post. Thank you.

I think statements like that are goofy. They make it sound like there's some chiseled-in-stone *weight loss timeline* that applies to all WLS patients. That's simply not true, based on what people on this board (and others) have reported.

Boy, do I hear you! This morning I stored all hubby's chocolate in the garage. For me, I'm learning that occasional treats can over a period of months become a new habit I don't need or want. Mindfulness is such an important, different way for me to behave with food. Lessons haven't stopped yet. Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

I don't recall ever having one.

You're not her. You can't live her life. And you shouldn't even try! You need to leave her alone. Her weight is not YOUR problem, even though you seem to think it is. And it may not be a problem to her. I think you're reliving your own problem and seeking relief from your own anxiety.

I'm 18 months post-op. So, yeah, my fear is the classic one: Fear of regaining. I'm now reached a point where my hunger is a little bit higher than in the past. So that's got my anxiety level a little higher. I recently raised my daily calories by another 100 because I kept losing weight -- and at 135 pounds I decided that was it, I didn't want to lose anymore. Also, life is particularly stressful right now due to a family member's health, and my anxiety levels are higher than normal because of that. I think I'm just stressed. Breathe in ... breathe out ...! Exercise ... exercise ...!

I have literally NEVER heard of that happening. Has anyone else ever heard of that? Honestly, that sounds like an old wives' tale -- or something he says to scare patients into not eating slider foods during the honeymoon weight loss period.

No way! could I have attended a funeral two days post-op. And I didn't have any complications or a rough time. Sorry about your grandmother's passing and the timing of all this.

Wow! Thank you.

Why do you think the balloon isn't working for you? Any chance you're drinking lots of liquid calories?

Not all surgeons prohibit their WLS patients from drinking any coffee. Mine permits some, just not tons. Coffee provokes stomach acid, which can increase acid reflux for some sleeve patients. I still drink coffee but rarely more than 1/2 or 1 cup of coffee daily. And I drink it in the form of a skinny latte (made with skim milk -- which seems to reduce its acidity for me). BTW, I also sleep better than I used to, which I attribute to several lifestyle changes, including my smaller coffee intake.

Yes, exercise is a good thing -- for health and for losing weight. But exercising a minimum of 250 minutes a week to lose weight certainly wasn't a requirement for me. I could barely walk in the beginning (severe arthritis / bad knees). And yet I lost weight. And kept losing weight. I wasn't walking anywhere close to that much until at least 9 months post-op. And by then I'd lost 19 pounds pre-op and 66 pounds post-op. Just offering my actual experience. P.S. The last 15 pounds I lost (slowly losing from 150 to 135 pounds) was when my knees really began to feel like decades-younger knees. I didn't expect that at all.

For the record, tuna is NOT a slider food. No animal Protein is a slider food. Slider foods are highly processed high-carb foods that don't require much digestion at all. Want to test something to see if it's a "slider food"? Put it in a glass of Water and see how long it takes to turn to mush. Some typical slider foods: crackers, white bread, potato chips, ice cream, Cookies, cooked potatoes.

For how many hours prior to going to bed do you NOT eat anything? Gastroenterologists advise a minimum of two hours of eating nothing before lying down at night to sleep. Have you stopped eating the major foods / drinks that exacerbate reflux? Just a few of those are wine, chocolate, tomato sauce, coffee .... The list goes on. You may (?) also have a hiatal hernia that needs to be repaired. A gastroenterologist can advise you about that.

Well, my approach (which has worked tremendously well and ensured I lost 100 pounds and have kept it off now nearly a year) wouldn't work for you, since you "refuse to diet" and "diets don't work." I also eat 3 meals a day, including Breakfast and lunch, which it seems you don't always eat, and I don't drink lots of coffee anymore. BTW, I'm now eating 1800 calories a day and maintaining at 135 pounds.

@@because -- get ready to wear a size 8 soon if you were wearing an 11-12 at 145 pounds 18 years ago. Vanity sizing has shrunk sizes a lot since then.

Well, good luck. :-[