IcanMakeit

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

Today I reached my ultimate fantasy weight -- 122 pounds. (Well the scale actually said 121 lbs. but I know that when I weigh again tomorrow it will be up to 122 as that has been my pattern for the last few months.) My BMI is now in the mid-range of healthy for my height.
I now have to buckle down and apply all of the lessons I have learned over the past year to maintain this weight. I know that if I lose focus, I will gain. That has been my experience in the past. I would tell myself that no one can be on a diet forever. But in the past year, I have been rethinking this. I have observed my thin friends. They aren’t on a diet forever, but they don’t eat whatever they want either. If they have a high calorie lunch, they’ll have a conservative dinner. If they are full, they don’t eat more just because it tastes good or they’re at a party or it’s their birthday. When they are full, they stop eating.
My thin friends don’t even know that they have been mentoring me, but I need to emulate them. I need to remind myself every day that if I return to my previous eating pattern, I will return to my previous weight. These things may seem obvious to most people, but it is hard-won wisdom for me. In the past, due to my diabetes, I usually avoided junk food and almost never ate sweets but I often ate until I was over-stuffed. (My stomach didn’t seem to feel full until it was overfull.) I ate just because it was pleasurable, not because I was hungry.
I am so grateful for this website and tools like MyFitnessPal which have helped me to learn better habits and stay on track for the past year. If I get the idea in my head that I don’t need this help anymore so I don’t need to check in, I hope I’ll remember how I feel today and compare it to how I felt in January 2014. Do I really want to risk returning to that?

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

As long as you protect your health and vitality, you can shoot for any weight that makes you feel good. Listen to your body (and your doctor).
Ps. You look fabulous.

I believe the answer is yes, Hair loss can happen to anyone but it doesn't happen to everyone. Many people say that supplementing with Biotin will help, but the actual consensus seems to be that biotin helps with regrowth, but if you are one of the unlucky ones whose hair is going to fall out with the weight loss, there's not a lot you can do to affect that.
For me though, I had already lost a great deal of my hair before I had the surgery and continued to lose it after. But since I've been in the process of losing my hair over the past decade (thanks to genetics), I can't blame it on the VSG.

I can't count the number of brilliant, important posts that were eaten by my iPad!
No, seriously this is very irritating and I hope there is a solution.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

I don't drink during meals. I was told to wait 30 minutes after drinking to eat and to wait 30 minutes after eating to drink. I have actually found that I can eat comfortably within 10 to 15 minutes of drinking. But I need at least 45 minutes after eating to be able to drink.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

Each person loses at his/her own rate and comparisons just drive you nuts. But there are some techniques that generally seem to help weight loss: measuring your food rather than "eyeballing," tracking your diet (using MyFitnessPal or some other website or app), staying very low carb (particularly if you have metabolic syndrome), and gradually increasing the frequency and intensity of exercise. All that being said, your weight loss so far is pretty good. You must admit that losing 49 lbs is usually an occasion for celebration. I don't think losing 100 lbs in 7 months is very average with any type of surgery.
The Lexapro might be a possible contributor to slowing down your rate of weight loss, but you should talk to your doctor about that.
Note: in case you are still comparing, my stats include 42 lbs of pre-op weight loss.

@
Let me start by saying that I hear and sympathize with your frustration and disappointment. It is totally unfair that you cannot lose weight on a 1200-1400 calorie diet, especially since you exercise regularly. Although that calorie level is low enough for an athletic person who has never been obese, most of us post-ops have to be on more restrictive regimens to lose weight. That being said, you deserve to achieve your goals. Please don't give up. You have already achieved a lot. A good nutritionist who is experienced with WLS patients should be able to guide you to your final goal.

I love your screen name. Here in California "Tina" is just a normal name. Lots of girls and women I know have that name.
This group hasn't been very active. But maybe that's not unusual for this website. It would be great if there was more activity so that we could get to know each other. Possibly we're all well enough that we have nothing to report. I hope that's it.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

I am very interested to learn what eating plan others will be following after they reach goal. It seems that losing weight after WLS isn't the hard part, maintaining the loss on a long term basis is.
When I decided to return to low carbing last year(pre-surgery), I did not actually "do Atkins" since I didn't do the testing and adjusting that you're supposed to and I never did the "induction phase". But Atkins is the diet which gave me the most success in the past, so I naturally returned to its tenets when I decided to lose weight.
I am currently planning to use the Atkins diet for maintenance. (I'm close, but would like to lose about 4 more pounds.) I'll have to modify it because I don't believe that I can consume the number of calories that are typical for the Atkins maintenance phase and still keep my weight stable. I just don't want to give my diabetes any reason to return, and my diabetes was very well controlled while I was on the Atkins diet.

I was 60 when I had my surgery. There are a lot of people on this board who are over 45. I think we're actually in the majority. You're in good company.

0. What type of weight loss surgery have you had?
Gastric Sleeve
1. How long have you been in maintenance mode?
7 months
2. What's your current height and weight?
5’ 3”, 106 lbs.
3. How many calories do you eat daily (on average) to maintain your weight?
1200
4. What kind of focus do you put on Protein -- number of grams or anything else you want to say?
I don’t have a maximum, but my minimum is 70 grams
5. What kind of focus do you put on carbs - number of grams or anything else you want to say?
As a rule I avoid starches and sweets and limit legumes, sweet vegetables (i.e. carrots), and fruit. I try to stay in the range of 40-60 net carbs per day.
6. What other nutritional tips / tricks are working for you that help you maintain?
I’m working on looking at my diet overall on a weekly basis and trying to make sure that my weekly averages are within my desired ranges. I also weigh myself every day so that I can spot trends early.
7. Which foods, if any, do you avoid altogether?
bread, rice, potatoes, corn, fruit juices, pastries, cakes, etc. I also don’t drink alcoholic beverages as a rule. These foods (and alcohol) are indulged in only on holidays and infrequent celebrations.
8. What exercise regimen (exercise types and frequency) do you follow?
Bicycling several times a week, walking every day
9. What role, if any, has counseling or therapy played in your WLS success?
None
10. What advice would you offer WLS patients to help them be successful?
It did not come easy to me, but I had to really look at my previous behavior and previous weight loss attempts and acknowledge that they didn’t work for me. Once I admitted that, I was able to begin to take the advice of the vets on this site.

0. What type of weight loss surgery have you had?
Gastric Sleeve
1. How long have you been in maintenance mode?
7 months
2. What's your current height and weight?
5’ 3”, 106 lbs.
3. How many calories do you eat daily (on average) to maintain your weight?
1200
4. What kind of focus do you put on Protein -- number of grams or anything else you want to say?
I don’t have a maximum, but my minimum is 70 grams
5. What kind of focus do you put on carbs - number of grams or anything else you want to say?
As a rule I avoid starches and sweets and limit legumes, sweet vegetables (i.e. carrots), and fruit. I try to stay in the range of 40-60 net carbs per day.
6. What other nutritional tips / tricks are working for you that help you maintain?
I’m working on looking at my diet overall on a weekly basis and trying to make sure that my weekly averages are within my desired ranges. I also weigh myself every day so that I can spot trends early.
7. Which foods, if any, do you avoid altogether?
bread, rice, potatoes, corn, fruit juices, pastries, cakes, etc. I also don’t drink alcoholic beverages as a rule. These foods (and alcohol) are indulged in only on holidays and infrequent celebrations.
8. What exercise regimen (exercise types and frequency) do you follow?
Bicycling several times a week, walking every day
9. What role, if any, has counseling or therapy played in your WLS success?
None
10. What advice would you offer WLS patients to help them be successful?
It did not come easy to me, but I had to really look at my previous behavior and previous weight loss attempts and acknowledge that they didn’t work for me. Once I admitted that, I was able to begin to take the advice of the vets on this site.

@@charmia, that's my take on it, too. I think that since smoking marijuana lowers inhibitions, you could end up making bad food choices and/or overeating. I'm not a smoker but if I was, I would avoid it post surgery.
Just my $.02: Lets be careful how we use the term addiction. If it's applied indiscriminately to every behavior we don't approve of, it loses its meaning.

Eating chocolate won't really help your period, so it's not worth going off plan. Try to substitute another indulgence for the chocolate. A massage from your significant other? A beautiful manicure? A luxurious bath with scented candles? All of those are soothing without being dangerous to your diet, I can relate to feeling yucky and wanting comfort. We just have to find comfort that will be a net positive.

My nutritionist showed me examples of the actual serving sizes for the different phases. That was helpful. Otherwise, she didn't tell me anything I didn't already know and she recommended some sugary Meal Replacement shakes that I would never use.

Yeah, I regretted the surgery for about a month after I admitted to myself that WLS was not magic that would cause me to lose weight without effort. When I truly accepted that I would have to make real changes in my lifestyle in order to be successful, I was as petulant as a thwarted 2 year old. But now I actually like my new way of eating. I now tend to make healthy food choices as a matter of habit, with no thought or effort required. I am so glad I decided to have the VSG. It has given me back my health.

I need a reality check from others in their 60's. At age 61, I have lost 123 pounds and am now at a healthy weight. Now I really want a panniculectomy & abdominoplasty. I have so much loose skin that it interferes with mobility and looks so horrible to me that it's almost spoiling my enjoyment of my new, healthier body.
I have two problems with going forward with the plastic surgery. Firstly, my insurance will almost certainly refuse to pay for the panniculectomy since I no longer have the infections under my loose skin that would have qualified as a medical necessity. I am having a hard time justifying spending so much money on myself when I am so close to retirement age.
My second serious reservation is that I have already had a breast reduction. It was a five-hour operation and the recovery was more uncomfortable than I expected. I am still having issues and sensations more than two months out. I'm afraid that the Tummy Tuck will be just as bad. I can't take off more than a few weeks from work, and when I'm fatigued and sore, my work suffers.
So what do you all think? Am I crazy to do something so expensive and uncomfortable at my age?