JamieLogical

This is a tough one. I think that everyone should have the right to feel good in their skin. And I think that society as a whole should be more accepting and accommodating of all body types. But I agree that a line needs to be drawn when it comes to the medical side of the issue. I think it helps to put it in the frame of reference of any other medical disorder or disability. It's not acceptable for people in society to make fun of or look down on those with disabilities, but it's perfectly acceptable for doctors to try to TREAT those disabilities.

I went through a phase where I added a little Kashi cereal (the highest Protein option) to my Greek yogurt in the afternoons before I worked out. The little burst of carbs helped me get through my run, but it was still a high protein snack. A bowl of cereal with milk? Seems like a big waste of space with not enough protein.

Not sure which surgeon's photos you looked at, but one thing you need to know about Mexican surgeons especially is that the "after" photos are usually taken VERY soon after the procedure. It takes a good two years for surgical scars to fade. What you are looking for when reviewing photos of scars is whether they are thin, flat, straight, and symetrical, not how dark or visible they are. The dark and visible part fades with time. If they are zig-zaggy, or wide, or asymetrical, those things do not improve with time.

Yesterday, my poor husband and I went to a bunch of different stores in an attempt to find a bathing suit for me. We are going to Tennessee with my parents, my aunt, and my sister's whole family (husband and 4 kids) at the end of March. There's a hot tub at the cabin we're sharing and I wanted to be able to use it! But that meant finding a bathing suit that wouldn't strike terror into the hearts of the young children that will be present.
Guys, despite my almost 75 pounds weight loss now, shopping for a swim suit was still a MISERABLE experience. My leg/thigh situation is quite tragic and while they have all sorts of clever ways of covering and slimming tummies, they have very few solutions for the loose skin, cottage cheese, huge thigh situation I have going on. I decided I really wanted boy shorts, because even though they accentuate my already huge hips, they do a little to "control" the upper thigh region. Unfortunately, boy shorts seem to be "out" this year in favor of 101 million varieties of swim skirts.
We finally found something I could live with just as Kohl's was closing last night. The top is a little big (my choices were a 16 or an 8), but it should be fine. I was a little bummed to have to get a tankini top instead of a bikini top, despite my awesomely flat stomach, because my VSG scars are still highly visible.
Hopefully next year I can go with the bikini top.
What a harrowing day!

I just got back from the vacation I bought my swimsuit for and I ended up not using it at all. We had a bad stomach bug circulating through our group (16 of us in all) and so no one ended up using the hot tub past the first night we were there. I didn't use it that first night because I was too tired after the long drive and just wanted to go to bed.

I needed the "lift" that boy shorts gave. Like the loose skin gets pulled up into the shorts and held in place... if that makes any sense? Plus loose shorts makes my hips look even more ridiculously huge.

Yesterday, my poor husband and I went to a bunch of different stores in an attempt to find a bathing suit for me. We are going to Tennessee with my parents, my aunt, and my sister's whole family (husband and 4 kids) at the end of March. There's a hot tub at the cabin we're sharing and I wanted to be able to use it! But that meant finding a bathing suit that wouldn't strike terror into the hearts of the young children that will be present.
Guys, despite my almost 75 pounds weight loss now, shopping for a swim suit was still a MISERABLE experience. My leg/thigh situation is quite tragic and while they have all sorts of clever ways of covering and slimming tummies, they have very few solutions for the loose skin, cottage cheese, huge thigh situation I have going on. I decided I really wanted boy shorts, because even though they accentuate my already huge hips, they do a little to "control" the upper thigh region. Unfortunately, boy shorts seem to be "out" this year in favor of 101 million varieties of swim skirts.
We finally found something I could live with just as Kohl's was closing last night. The top is a little big (my choices were a 16 or an 8), but it should be fine. I was a little bummed to have to get a tankini top instead of a bikini top, despite my awesomely flat stomach, because my VSG scars are still highly visible.
Hopefully next year I can go with the bikini top.
What a harrowing day!

The success rate for WLS is much higher than dieting. While it is true that some WLS patients never reach their goal or regain some/all of the weight, it is much more rare than the failure/regain rate of dieting. The highest number I have ever heard as an estimate of the percentage of people who regain weight after WLS is 50%. Whereas the failure/regain rate for dieting is estimated to be around 95%.
When I was researching sleeve and reading studies about failure rates, I found it very encouraging. VSG as a stand-alone procedure is fairly new, so there aren't as many studies as there are for bypass, but one study I read defined "failure" as a regain of 20 or more pounds. In that study, 20% of patients had "failed" by that definition at 5 years post-op. I will take those odds any day! If I lose 100 pounds and regain 20, I'm still down 80 pounds! Meanwhile, I've lost 90+ pounds "on my own", not to mention 40 pounds here, 50 pounds there, only to regain ALL of it and then some 100% of the time!
But, I don't want to make it sound like there are any guarantees. It's all about risks versus rewards. Can I lose weight on my own? Heck yes! If losing weight was an Olympic sport, I'd be a gold medalist! Can I keep weight off on my own? Clearly not, since I have yet to manage to. I am hopeful that with my sleeve, it will be easier for me to maintain my weight loss in the long run. I have always been a binge eater. When I was "done" with a diet, I'd go right back to eating a whole pizza and a pint of ice cream. No wonder I piled the pounds back on. That won't be an option with my sleeve. I would really have to work against my sleeve by eating slider foods, grazing, or drinking my calories to regain the weight and I feel like I'm very unlikely to do those things. I've never been a snacker/grazer so why would I start now? I haven't drunk caloric beverages in years and years... since LONG before my sleeve, so why would I start now?
It's on me to eat right and exercise, just like it was when I did diets in the past. But now I have a great tool to help train me on portion sizes and prevent me from bingeing.

I certainly don't eat like that every day! Of course you would gain weight over time. If I go to a birthday party, I will eat some of that stuff. What is that, like once every couple of months? I have to live the whole rest of my life. There's no way I'm doing that without EVER having pizza, cake, or ice cream again. I'm 17 months post-op and struggling to find a way to eat ENOUGH calories to maintain my weight now that I'm training for a half marathon. I don't apologize for having an occasional treat at a party at this point. I have ice cream in my freezer at home in fact. It just sits there. I haven't eaten a single bite of it in weeks. But if I do decide to have some, I'll just work it into my day.

Fleur-de-lis tummy tucks are pretty common in patients who have lost a LOT of weight.

PS: I lost 7 pounds my first week, but only 0.4 pounds my second week, for a total of 7.4 pounds my first two weeks. Guess what. I still got to goal!
The rate of loss is so truly irrelevant. This isn't a race. You have your sleeve for the rest of your life. In the grand scheme of things, if it takes you a month or two or six longer than someone else to reach goal, does it matter? The weight loss is only a tiny fraction of this journey. You will only spend a year or two losing weight. You will spend the whole rest of your life in maintenance after that.

AMEN! I see sooooo many people on these forums every day complaining about their "slow" loss. Hell, I've been one of those people! But this race to the finish line is a remnant of our old diet mentality. In the past, when we have tried to lose weight, we have wanted to lose it fast, because we wanted to be "done" with our diet. We'll never be done with WLS. We have permanently altered our digestive systems in such a way that we can never fully return to our old habits. And we have to work every single day to get in our Protein and Water and exercise. That will never stop. When we get to goal, we still need Protein and Water and exercise. So what is the rush? Why does it matter if it takes 6 months or 16 months?
I know it can be frustrating. I've lost weight faster "on my own" in the past too. I've been in a stall for over a month now and it's can be pretty trying at times to stay motivated to keep on track with my food and exercise. But the great thing now is I'm not gaining. In the past, had I reached this point on my old diets, I'd be regaining like crazy. At least this is just a stall.

I feel your pain. I have only lost 2.2 pounds so far in the month of April, with just a few days to go. I've been working out 5-6 times a week. I am in Week 7 of my Couch to 5k training, now running 25 minutes non-stop! I just progessed to the next highest weights in my upper body strength training. And the scale won't budge! It's such a jerk!
On the bright side though, I take my measurements on the 24th of every month, so I did that last week and I was down inches from several areas from my March 24 measurements. Still, that scale is a jerk!

Have him read through this thread and other posts on these forums. There are HUNDREDS upon hundreds of personal accounts of positive experiences with surgery in Mexico. As previously stated in this post, I have been to Mexico for surgery twice and both times I had great experiences and received excellent care.

I read a lot of personal accounts of patient experiences along with research into surgeons' credentials, facilities, number of procedures, years of experience, and post-op support/resources provided. You really need to do your due diligence and pick a surgeon you can feel comfortable and confident with. As long as you pick someone reputable, with a proven track record, you really can't go wrong. There are many great surgeons in Mexico!

So, I had my sleeve at OCC as well. While I was there, there was a a woman getting a Tummy Tuck, breast implants and face lift at the Ariel Center. I was honestly HORRIFIED because they sent her back to the hotel to fend for herself just two days post-op. She had her surgery the same day as my sleeve and then I rode back to the hotel with her two days post-op when I had gone to get my drains removed.
I had previously had an extended tummy tuck, breast lift with implants, all-over Lipo, and fat grafting with Dra. Cardenas and I stayed in her the recovery house with 24/7 nursing care for two full weeks post-op. How could the Ariel center be sending this poor woman back to a hotel two days post-op? It was INSANE. She didn't even have any loved ones there in TJ with her to help her with the basic things like getting in/out of bed and using the toilet. Which, trust me, you NEED HELP WITH two days after a tummy tuck.

@@Rena's got this It's so nice that your surgeon is being supportive and helping you get back on track instead of giving you a hard time. Some of the surgeons people mention on here sound like real hard-asses who are very unsympathetic. It seems to me that it is much more constructive to give patients positive feedback and help them set personal goals, rather than expecting everyone to fit a single mold and then berating them when they can't.

I think people get hung up on what is "typical" and lose sight of the fact that we are all individuals. Every step of the way through WLS, people have different experiences both mentally and physically. Some people lose very quickly, so much more slowly. Some experience extreme nausea and vomiting, some never throw up once. Some develop intolerance to certain foods, some can eat anything. Some have ongoing, severe GERD, some have none at all. Some experience dumping with high-sugar foods, some can eat sugar without issue.
We all have to work within the parameters of our own bodies. What works for one, or even most, doesn't necessarily work for all. Unfortunately, some people get a "raw deal" and WLS doesn't benefit them the way it does others. Those people have to work harder and struggle more and that really really sucks. We can all hope it doesn't end up that way for us, but we need to acknowledge that it does end up that way for some people and we need to be caring and supportive of those people, instead of accusatory and judgmental. And more importantly, for those that do have a harder time with loss and maintenance, they need to not be accusatory and judgmental of themselves! They need to not label themselves as failures, which I see all too often on these forums and it breaks my heart.

I don't think just a few days is enough time off. I went back at 15 days post-op and was still really tired. The pain and discomfort last about 3-5 days. The fatigue lasts a couple of weeks.

It might be a good idea to start tracking your food. It's easy to lose a handle on how much we are eating. Especially if we are just grabbing convenience foods and eating when we can. The "good" thing about convenience foods is that they are generally pre-portioned and pre-packaged, which makes it easy to track them. Apps like MyFitnessPal, SparkPeople, and FitBit even have barcode scanners where you can just scan the code off the package to track the food.

That's very unfortunate. Most of what the OP says is complete BS. Her "facts" are woefully inaccurate and I hope you've read through the rest of the posts in this thread to get a clearer picture.
WLS is simply a tool and if you don't use it correctly, you will not be successful. That is the TRUTH. But if you go into it with your eyes open, you follow the plan, and you use your tool correctly, you can have tremendous success and much-improved health. So please please please, read through all the posts in this thread and as many posts as you can on this entire site. Make sure you've read and understand any/all materials that your surgeon and nutritionist have provided for you.

I wasn't aware that there was any official relationship between BariatricPal and Dr. Almanza, but I am glad of this change. I know there are many patients of Dr. Almanza on these forums who have had good experiences and been very successful with their surgeries, but the percentages of complications and negative stories have been concerning.

I hate when surgeons put time constraints on weight loss. Everyone loses at a different pace for a variety of reasons and making patients feel bad about not losing "quickly enough" just caused undo stress. You've lost 45 pounds in 4 months! I think that's great! As long as the scale is still trending downward, what more can you ask?
I do think you should try different brands and combinations of Vitamins to try to get those in. It's very important not to develop any deficiencies.

I went through a phase where I added a little Kashi cereal (the highest Protein option) to my Greek yogurt in the afternoons before I worked out. The little burst of carbs helped me get through my run, but it was still a high protein snack. A bowl of cereal with milk? Seems like a big waste of space with not enough protein.

In the puree phase, the focus should always be on Protein, Protein, and more protein. So it's going to be pureed meats (a little broth to moisten it), soft cheeses, Beans, eggs.... Probably won't be much "room" for veggies or fruits of any kind, because he'll be able to eat only tiny amounts (about 2 oz. at a time) and will be struggling to meet his protein goals.
All through my liquid, pureed, and even some of my soft food stage, my husband and I just ate completely separate things. We made no attempt at preparing meals we could both eat. Once I was on to solid foods, it became really really easy. I just always had the meat from whatever my husband was cooking for dinner. I usually had about half of the meat portion he had for himself and saved the other "half of my half" as leftovers o have for a lunch later in the week. So if he was having chicken and rice, I just had the chicken and about half as much as he did. If he was having Pasta and sausage, I just had half the sausage he did. If he was having shrimp and veggies, I just had shrimp. If he was having meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I just had meatloaf. You get the idea. We eat dinner together almost every night and I just have the protein portion. It works out great for us. But, again, that was only really manageable once I was back on solid foods.