Heatherrc1

Woo hoo!! Good luck to you both!

Just like someone trying to give advice on parenting and never had kids! People are so quick to give their opinions and without knowing the struggles or the situation. Ugh! Frustrating!
Just keep reading all the positive effects that this is going to have on your new and improved life!
I wish you the best of luck and most of all I wish you peace your decision.

Just like someone trying to give advice on parenting and never had kids! People are so quick to give their opinions and without knowing the struggles or the situation. Ugh! Frustrating!
Just keep reading all the positive effects that this is going to have on your new and improved life!
I wish you the best of luck and most of all I wish you peace your decision.

Thank you so much for replying. Yes it is the same as giving parenting advise without having children. And what is this "normal" they speak of? Who sets the standard for that anyway? Is it "normal" to be 100 lbs overweight? I think not!! My decision has been made but I certainly need the prayers for peace. Thank you!

Just like someone trying to give advice on parenting and never had kids! People are so quick to give their opinions and without knowing the struggles or the situation. Ugh! Frustrating!
Just keep reading all the positive effects that this is going to have on your new and improved life!
I wish you the best of luck and most of all I wish you peace your decision.

Just like someone trying to give advice on parenting and never had kids! People are so quick to give their opinions and without knowing the struggles or the situation. Ugh! Frustrating!
Just keep reading all the positive effects that this is going to have on your new and improved life!
I wish you the best of luck and most of all I wish you peace your decision.

Just like someone trying to give advice on parenting and never had kids! People are so quick to give their opinions and without knowing the struggles or the situation. Ugh! Frustrating!
Just keep reading all the positive effects that this is going to have on your new and improved life!
I wish you the best of luck and most of all I wish you peace your decision.

Middle Tennessee

I will be one year out at the end of April. I live in San Jose (Bay Area) and had my surgery at Kaiser South San Francisco. I am willing to help answer questions or listen to anyone if they need to chat/talk. I am 35, married, no kids, right now down 98 pounds and still going.

After waiting patiently and nervously for 3 1/2 long weeks, I received a call today from my surgeon's secretary telling me that I've been approved for the Gastric Sleeve surgery yaaaaay!!!!! I'm so excited and nervous at the same!!!! My surgery is scheduled for June 24th!!! Please save a seat for me on the loser's bench!!!!!

Just wanted to jump in and toot my horn i am so happy i did this. i am three and a half months with my new teeny tummy and although the first month was a little unpredictable and yes, very hard, i am so happy to report I am already half way to my goal weight. As of today i am down 73 lbs and things are going really well. It really hit me yesterday when i bought a new summer dress and i just grabbed the XL off the rack and put it up against me thinking this should fit, or if it doesn't it will soon enough, to get it home, try it on and it fits like a glove. Best news, it was not an XL it was a M. it was just on the wrong hanger. OMG i cannot even remember ever buying an Medium. Yay for me!! That is all

At exactly six weeks out, my incisions finally healed enough for me to get to the local pool for my aerobic workout. I successfully avoided exercise for my whole life until three years ago when I got hooked on 3X a week vigorous Water workout and lap swimming. I have not been in the pool for my deep water work out for 7 weeks, and it felt great!! I was also wearing new swim trunks as the old ones were too big.... I am going to alternate swim days with treadmill time. My next goal (likely another 50# to go) will be to get back on my bicycle, I need lots of exercise to keep this weight loss going steady -- over 50# in six weeks, not complaining.
Thanks everyone for all of your support on these forums.

Hi All,
Truly curious. There is so little I can ingest compared to pre-op and sweets are semi-nauseating so in addition to volume limitation I just can't seem to tolerate a lot.
Biggest fear for me is that I cannot maintain the majority of my weight loss. I chose the sleeve due to the statistics that seem to indicate most maintain majority of weight loss.
So... now my "demons" are whispering that this won't last. I'm wondering, REALLY, what is the evidence for/against maintenance? It seems like looking at the math, it is hard to imagine I could get back to pre-op weight unless my stomach can somehow regain its former volume and tolerance. Am I kidding myself?
Is there really a "happily ever after?"

Hello everyone I had my sleeve gastrectomy on January 26. The first picture is of me before the surgery and the rest is me after the surgery. I still have a long way to go but I'm getting there. If anyone has any questions. Please feel free to ask.

I can hardly believe my surgery is tomorrow afternoon! I am so excited! I have survived my 2 week preop diet and after a year and a half since starting this journey, the day has come. The new me begins tomorrow and I couldn't be happier.

Thank you all for your kind advice! I am going to talk to him and invite him to my appointment. . He probably won't go but at least I asked him to go

Why would you let someone like her threaten your success? You've come so far. Now that your secret is out, maybe it's time you just own it and be proud of your decision.

Honesty is always the best policy. When someone loves you they want you to be happy. I was concerned about talking with my spouse, as well. When I started the discussion he was totally closed off to it. His response was "I just don't want it to cause you any health emblems in the future." I them asked him if he would go through the process with me and he said he would t have it any other way. We are attending the seminar to get started in a week. The hardest part was telling him that insurance didn't cover it. That made his eyes bug out a little. ???? he then asked me if I could be disciplined enough to spend that kind of money. Good luck!

Today I weighed myself and for the first time since surgery, my breath was taken away from what I saw on that scale. Less than 2 months ago (March 3rd) I weighed 270 pounds. Today, I weighed 220 pounds. Im almost to the weight that I weighed the day I married my husband. That's 50 pounds gone forever! I am so grateful for this journey no matter what I had to go through! I don't do pics...but here is my before and after face shots.  

Hello All,
I have been cruising on here for a few years periodically, but today I finally got up the nerve to post. I love this community and have found so much valuable information, positivity, and insight into having a lap band. I have secretly been thinking about having the lap band for about 3 years, but the thought was very scary and seemed extreme to me. Well this January, after no weight loss success, I decided to get a consultation and begin the process. If they use a previous weigh in, I may get surgery in late June.
Considering all of this, I am getting very scared of the unknown and actually doing it. I know I am NOT good at loosing weight! I have never lost a significant amount of weight on my own, except for 2 times, which I did the low carb, drastically starving for a few weeks and lost about 15 lbs. but didn't keep it off. That was years ago. Now I am married with 2 kids, work, and just cannot concentrate and stick to something. I have tried weight watchers many times, but loose focus after a couple weeks, and find that I do well all day some days, but then am hungry at the end, and blow it! I have no health issues, but want to be a healthier me, live long, get back to myself, and FINALLY be successful at losing weight.
I have had so many questions and fears and as the reality gets closer, I am feeling confused if I should go through with it, although I know I absolutely need help other than appetite suppressants that make you feel crazy. I really need something to help me stick to a diet without giving up and starving. I cook, we eat Protein and veggies and a starch every evening. I do eat lots of healthy foods, love Protein and love vegetables, but am honestly a junk food eater and love chocolate!
If anyone could give de honest real feedback on these questions I would be SOOOO very appreciative!
My doctor tried hard to talk me into the sleeve and said he thought I would lose about 50 lbs( I'm 258 lbs).
1. Are you satisfied with your lap band? Are you happy you chose the band over vsg?
2. I'm afraid of the unkown. Do you feel normal...like just living and being your normal self and don't know it's there?
3. Do you get used to eating little portions? Do you feel deprived?
4. I work on a team, and we eat lunch together and chat daily at work. I don't want to tell anyone at work. I'm afraid I won't be able to do this
without them and or me having eating issues in front of them? Do you think I will be able to? What are your experiences?
5. I've heard many people say "oh, the band is only 25% of the help...It's really me." I'm hoping the band is A LOT of help, not a magic wand,
a GREAT help...more than 25% else wise, what's the point! What is your opinion/experience? How much help is the band for you?
6. I need appetite suppression... Does the band actually do that? What exactly does the band do you for you? n How would you describe it?
7. Looking back, do you think you could have lost your weight without the band?
8. I hear a lot about eating slow and small bites...I am very afraid of this! I don't want to be a spectacle in front of others or feel weirded out and
miserable having to eat with baby spoons and pea size bites. I want to eat normal. How is this for you?
9. Any personal testimonies, advice or warnings? Please share and

Very VERY well said and I agree with you whole heartedly! You have a very good idea of how to incorporate healthier habits into your family diet but also room for a little play. This is exactly what I have thought of since I decided and committed to having Gastric Bypass. I never for one minute went thru any delusions that I'll never have a bite of this or that. My surgeon even told me I WANT you to enjoy the things you've always enjoyed but once I've given you the tool to help do it in a portioned and moderate way. I was thankful I found my surgeon bc instead of giving me fear of all the things I couldn't have he helped me to see how I could still incorporate it into my life without gaining all the weight back.
You @@LipstickLady have some great posts and IF your on a computer before I am as I can't from my phone please friend me. I appreciate your posts and think you have a great out look on... Just about everything Thank you.

I eat tortillas almost every day. I did have sleeve surgery over the others so I could eat as normally as possible without the fear of dumping or productive burping. Unfortunately, even with my sleeve, I got both.

I disagree that we should not be finding substitutes for foods we used to love. Why not? Doesn't adapting old favorites into new healthier options make absolute sense, not only for us but for those we love and cook for? I would much rather my kids eat spaghetti squash as noodles instead of white Pasta. I would much rather my kids eat high Protein greek yogurt over the sugary oreo topped versions. I used to make subs, now I make wraps in low carb, high Fiber (gasp!!) tortillas.
I want them to see me enjoy a mini ice cream sandwich or a kids' scoop of sherbet instead a behemoth sized serving and see that it's perfectly OK to enjoy treats as occasional goodies, not diet staples. Oddly enough (wink wink), they are following my lead.

Yes, this surgery gave me back the gift of good health, but it's also affecting my kids in a very positive manner. That's priceless.

I'm going to play the devil's advocate and say that I agree with pretty much everything in the article, I'd just never have enough balls to blatantly write it out like that.
I went to my first support group meeting last Thursday and was alarmed to see that there were a handful of sleevers there that had re-gained quite a bit of their weight. My aunt is also currently struggling with keeping the weight off.
I think what happens is that people follow the diet for a while and then perhaps they come online and see other people talking about how they're veering off course and still losing weight and so they use that as justification to start eating the wrong foods again in smaller portions. And sometimes it does work. My cousin who had the surgery said that she lived off of McDonalds cheeseburgers for the first 6 months post-op of her surgery. Guess what, she still lost over 100 lbs. So yes, while some people do have to put in a lot of effort to make their sleeve work for them (particularly the light weighters), a lot of heavier people don't. The restriction on the stomach does it for them.
Having said all that, I think that the "The first hundred pounds is the surgery" saying really depends on where a person started. Someone larger will obviously lose weight faster and with less effort on their part than someone smaller.
Ever since gastric bypass first came out, I've always heard skinny people say that bariatric surgery is the easy way out. At first, I followed that belief too. Then I met someone who had the surgery, and I saw how little she ate, and I thought "Damn, that must be hard." Since then, I've met several other people who have had various bariatric procedures done, and they've always told me how difficult it is. That the surgery is a tool, and you have to put the work in. That the operation was painful and hard to recover from and that new eating habits were hard to adjust to.
Then I had my surgery.
And I have to say, for me, it has been the easy way out. I didn't have any pain post-op, and my recovery has been almost flawless. I'm never hungry, and eating the small portion sizes doesn't bother me at all. I've never done anything easier to lose weight before. Ever. And I've done it all.
So again, I think that particular statement is really based on each individual person's experience. Obviously, for someone who had a difficult recovery, is hungry all the time, and still plagued with cravings, it's not easy.
To each his/her own.

No guilt here. I am 2 years post op and have been maintaining easily for over a year.
I eat what I want, when I want. That said, I rarely want much and when I do, a few bites is plenty.

None. I have stopped associating food wth guilt, I refuse to spoil my occasional treats by regretting them afterwards. There is no food I never eat!