VSGAnn2014

Sounds like my surgery and recovery. This may be a first ... drama because there was no drama.

@@CowgirlJane ... thanks for the "check." Seriously. And no, I didn't intend my comment as shaming. Truly. But it was much too terse a response. @@pink dahlia's advice was a much, much better version of what I also meant.

I hope you can afford therapy. Because I think you need it. BTW, I'm American, too. But I never calculated my value in terms of how many men I've slept with.

LOL! I was 68 when I had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy. Why in the world would anyone not choose a better way of life at ANY age?! I've had zero problems with WLS as a result of my age. The new lease on life I now have to enjoy my golden years is worth millions to me. Millions!

Thanks, but the "pouch" built for a gastric bypass and the "sleeve" built during VSG surgery are two very different kinds of things. When doing a gastric bypass, the "pouch" that the surgeon constructs from the stomach is created by slicing off the bottom of the stomach, including the pyloric valve that slows down the passage of food from the stomach to the intestine. This leaves a pouch constructed of both some unstretchable stomach and some stretchable (fundus) portion of the stomach: In contrast, the "sleeve" created by VSG surgery removes ALL the stretchable (fundus) portion of the stomach and constructs the sleeve from only the unstretchable portion of the stomach. It also leaves the pyloric valve intact (which slows down the passage of food into the intestine). And because the entire fundus portion of the stomach is removed, the ghrelin hunger hormone (produced in the stomach fundus) is thereafter quite limited -- an advantage that gastric bypass patients don't have:

I think all these one-size-fits-all instructions about how many calories we need post-op are baloney. Just as we saw with our skinny friends, I think our post-op calorie / nutritional needs will vary considerably person to person. I know people who can't eat more than 1,000 calories or they gain. Right now, I'm below goal, but still losing slowly on 1,700 calories/day (and I am NOT a gym rat -- just more active generally and walk more than I used to). BTW, I'm 13 months post-op. And yes, some of those calories are from wine, dark chocolate, bread and Pasta. But most of them are from pretty nutritious foods -- dense Protein, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, etc. I also can't *prove* it, but I think slider food (high carb) calories add weight more rapidly than the same number of calories found in more nutritious foods. If what you're doing isn't working for you, I think it's time to conduct a serious science experiment (with only one person -- you -- as the lab rat). Track your food religiously. Try various regimens, e.g., low carb, lower cals, higher cals, Paleo, whatever, etc., and see how your body responds to that. Exercise more, exercise less, exercise differently. Switch things up. But you have to control the "treatment" and you have to collect all the data. That's how I'd approach it. Not everyone likes that approach, however. Good luck!

How much do you weigh?

To the OP ... here's my experience ... I'm 13 months post-op. I've never been nauseated, have never thrown up, seem to have a lovely sleeve of steel. That's good -- because who wants to throw up anyway! I don't think I could have eaten 1200 calories of dense Protein / veggies at 6 weeks post-op. During months 1-4 I averaged very close to 800 calories a day. I did have some 1000 calorie days during those early months. But I also had about the same number of 600 calorie days. Months 5-6 I averaged 1,000 calories, and months 7-8 I averaged 1200 calories. I reached goal (150 pounds) about 8.5 months post-op and have lost another 10 pounds since then while trying to average 1,700 calories/day. 1,700 calories a day seems to be my sweet maintenance spot, calorie-wise at my current exercise / activity level. I think you are losing fine, especially if you've lost much of your weight post-op. However, I would urge you not to rely completely on sleeve restriction to govern what you eat. What has worked very well for me is to plan my meals and track my food and to hold myself accountable personally (using www.myfitnesspal.com) for hitting all my nutrition levels - protein, Fiber, sodium, etc. Ultimately, we have to eat healthy, nutritious foods and not too much of it (while we're finding out how well we lose and maintain) for the rest of our lives. Now that I'm on maintenance I have some high cal days and some low cal days. But I do aim for 1,700 calories/day on a weekly average. Eventually, I do hope all this becomes more instinctual for me, but my instincts never worked all that well for me before. For now I'm still watching very carefully what I'm doing. Don't know if that helps at all, but there it is anyway. Best to you both.

Tootsietoes, I think you're wrong about the sleeve stretching. The research I've seen says the sleeve does not stretch, at least not very much. Yes, it gets larger after surgery as the swelling goes down and complete healing occurs. My surgical team says no, it doesn't stretch. Dr. Weiner (whose videos are posted here often) also says no, it doesn't stretch. At 13 months post-op, I can eat MAX only a cup of food -- just as I could about 8 months post-op. So far, my sleeve certainly isn't stretching. However, for those whose surgery leaves a larger than 'normal' post-op sleeve, e.g., those who have sleeves after a lapband that created a lot of scar tissue that the surgeon can't put a stitch / staple line in, I don't know how that all works. I certainly do see some people (not all) who've had a sleeve post-lapband complain that they don't have the restriction even early on that those with "virgin sleeves" have. But that's only my wondering / theorizing. I don't really know personally about those situations.

I didn't tell anyone except hubby and two friends who live thousands of miles away. As a result, I haven't had to have a single conversation with anyone in my family, at work or in the frozen food section of the local supermarket about weight loss surgery -- mine or anyone else's. The absence of stupid conversations or weird questions or inappropriate comments has been delightful! I couldn't recommend more my approach to WLS -- keep your own damn business to your own damn self.

Thanks, @@sleevenv ... all that's true. And I look fabulous, dahling!

Uh ... post-op you don't drink with meals. In restaurants I just order Water and then don't drink it.

@@Djmohr ... amen! Serving sizes are out of control! On the other hand, since we now take home leftovers from restaurants, we're getting a lot more value from eating out than we used to. Hubby and I have never failed to make a second meal -- or sometimes even two extra meals -- from leftovers at a single restaurant meal.

Thanks for posing your questions to us: 1. Is it common to lose weight pre-op? Of course, it's common to lose weight in the preop process. That's sort of the point of your surgeon's pre-op diet, although the more specific reason to lose the weight is to deplete your liver of glycogen and the Water in your liver that's there helping to store the glycogen, so your surgeon will be able to move the liver and navigate around it during surgery more easily and not nick / cut / damage your liver in any way. That could lead to a very bad surgical complication. 2. How do you respond to those who are negative? I decided to avoid that problem altogether by telling only my husband and two friends who I knew wouldn't be negative. I've purposely not publicized my WLS because I had no patience or any energy for dealing with those who are massivelly ignorant about WLS. I honestly had zero interest in educating the world about WLS. 3. How do you explain to the people that are close to you who see you losing weight in the pre-op process that you should still press forward with the surgery. (See answer to #2 above.) And if you're wondering how I lost 93 pounds in a year without people asking me if I'd had WLS, I've yo-yo dieted all my life and lost and gained a lot of weight in broad public view. This time it was obvious I was dieting and exercising hard, and those who commented on it simply congratulated me on my great success. And I took my bows. One final comment -- I think that for someone who wants to live transparently you're over-focused on convincing others to think as you do. You don't have an actual obligation to convince others that you're right -- just as they don't have an obligation to convince you that they're right. It's called living transparently. Does it really make you wrong if they don't agree with you? (That's really worth thinking about. Hard.)

Inspiring OP, @@dhrguru . And great c25k playlists, @@OKCPirate .

I differ with the poster above who said it's not appropriate to use Protein shakes after 6 months post-op. I've not had that advice from my surgeon or anyone on my bariatric team. I drink a Protein shake 3-4 times a week for Breakfast. I've also used shakes when traveling on business during plane trips, etc. Protein shakes are food, too. As long as they don't make up the bulk of your diet long-term, they are a viable option to include in your weekly menus.

OK, this is a little embarrassing to admit, but what the hell .... Most of the time when we eat at home I layer my food servings into a 1 cup coffee mug -- with starch on the bottom, green or colored veggies in the middle and meat on the top. I eat the meat first, then veggies, then starch. I also eat with a salad fork, not a dinner fork. Last night I made chicken stir fry and brown rice, so the cup was layered with (from the bottom), brown rice, stir fry veggies, and chicken (boneless, skinless, white meat in small cubes). It is such a simple solution for me, and I'm so used to it now. This way, I always eat Protein first. And at 13 months post-op a cup is the MOST I can eat at a single sitting. Needless to say, at restaurants I just eat the protein first.

I'm with Cowgirl. That's what an overly acid stomach feels like to me.

I didn't do food funerals. In fact, I put myself on my own diet (1,400 calories/day) for two months prior to the surgeon's two-week pre-op diet. I was so ready to get my WLS show on the road I couldn't WAIT to start losing weight and changing my life. So no, "everybody" doesn't do food funerals. And I'm not the only one who's had WLS who skipped the pre-WLS pig-outs.

Personally, I don't understand why people dramatize their life this much on Facebook. Either you or your friend. Yes, I'm on Facebook, but I don't consider that it's a forum in which to debate the significant issues of my life. I realize this is a personal choice -- I'm just saying it would not work for me. With regard to your post, what are you asking this group to do?

I second everyone else's reactions: From whence in hell do these expectations arise for newbies that you're going to lose any faster than you're losing now? I truly don't understand it. Here are my monthly losses: I started at 235.6 pounds. I'm 5'5" tall and was 68 years old when I had VSG surgery. Pre-op diet (my own): lost 10.6 pounds in 2 months Surgeon's pre-op diet: lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks Post-op: Month 1: lost 10.4 pounds Month 2: lost 11.8 pounds Month 3: lost 9.2 pounds Month 4: lost 10.4 pounds Month 5: lost 6.8 pounds Month 6: lost 5.0 pounds Month 7: lost 6.2 pounds Month 8: lost 4.4 pounds Month 9: lost 3.8 pounds (reached my first weight goal during this month ... at 150 pounds) Month 10: lost 1.8 pounds Month 11: lost 2.6 pounds Month 12: lost 0.6 pounds Month 13: lost 1.2 pounds I now weigh 142 pounds. Those who weighed a lot more than I did initially, men, and young people probably lost weight faster than I did. But if you're a post-menopausal woman, this is what you can expect. I might add, it's pretty amazingly wonderful to have lost 93 pounds in 13 months. I couldn't have wished for a better outcome.

Jeez Louise! I'd say your sister is going through some rough times right now as a WLS patient. And also acting b**chy, too.

Here's my recent acne experience ... At age 69, I recently had acne show up for the first time in forever! A few weeks prior to the spots appearing my bariatric P.A. had prescribed B12 for me. I don't have a B12 shortage (my blood tests came back great), but she told me that the latest bariatric research suggests a B12 shortage can be a big enough problem for enough WLS patients that prescribing 500 mg B12 daily or 1,000 mb 2X a week has become a standard prophylactic dose. I went online and discovered the B-12 / acne connection (I had never heard of that before). I immediately taking the B12, and a week later the acne is gone. I'll stay off of it another week, then try taking it just a few times a week and see if the acne / spots return. WLS is a continuing science experiment with a single human test subject -- me.

Those are some funny, some stupid and some sad comments. So happy I haven't heard any of these. I didn't share my WLS with anyone but hubby and two friends who live far away.

I agree with Alex that everyone should weigh at the same time / way. That's also what some good research done with members of the National Weight Control Registry has revealed -- that those who've lost weight keep it off by doing a number of things, including always weighing at the same interval (whether daily, weekly or monthly). When people start "missing regular weigh-ins" they start gaining weight. I weigh in daily -- in the early morning right after I get up after going to the bathroom with no clothes on and before drinking or eating anything. Weighing daily doesn't make me crazy. It's just a good habit for me. I also record my weight daily on MFP. That also doesn't make me crazy. In fact, over the months and years it gives me accurate information about how much and when my weight fluctuates normally. I can also correlate my weight record with my calories / Protein / carbs eaten records. (I'm a data hound, so this works well for me.)