Rev Me Up!

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi All,
I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away.
Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now.
I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful.
And, of course, I was wrong
The sleeve was everything the band promised and more.
On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management.
That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl.
The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!).
I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed.
At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone.
It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-)
So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy Water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat Protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness.
I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!!
I could never have done this without the sleeve.
I am completely happy with the result.
My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside.
I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it.
My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months.
Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June.
My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady.
With gratitude,
Lara

Hi--
For me the decision to use Dr Aceves was his depth of experience with lap-band to sleeve revisions. The revision is a more complicated surgery and I wanted to go to the very best doctor I could find. He definitely lived up to his reputation.
Mexicali is very nice and low-key compared to TJ. Also, Dr A works out of a real hospital with a real emergency room. This gave me a level of comfort just in case something went wrong. You stay 3 full days in a real hospital with Dr A and Dr Campos checking in on you 3+ times daily.
With all that said, I had no complications - I didn't even throw up after the anesthesia. I felt they took a great amount of time in talking to me and figuring out which medicine was best for me personally. If you can afford it, it is well worth it.
Good luck in your decision--
Lara

Nothing to add, except this topics had me giggling at my desk. You guys are too funny!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole staff there are really fantastic :-)

Nothing to add, except this topics had me giggling at my desk. You guys are too funny!!!!!!!!!!!
The whole staff there are really fantastic :-)

Hello!
Such a good post. It is wonderful to see you are feeling succesful with your sleeve! It really is a complete change from the band :-)
Best wishes for continued success!!!!!!

One year (minus 21 days)
I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…
If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.
The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.
Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling Water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.
Around the 5th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.
I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since
I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.
Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.
My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have Protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.
Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.
Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut Butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.
I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.
What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…
I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.
At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J
On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.
I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…
My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.
Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

One year (minus 21 days)
I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…
If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.
The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.
Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling Water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.
Around the 5th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.
I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since
I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.
Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.
My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have Protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.
Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.
Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut Butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.
I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.
What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…
I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.
At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J
On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.
I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…
My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.
Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

One year (minus 21 days)
I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…
If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.
The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.
Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling Water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.
Around the 5th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.
I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since
I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.
Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.
My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have Protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.
Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.
Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut Butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.
I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.
What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…
I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.
At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J
On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.
I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…
My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.
Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

One year (minus 21 days)
I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…
If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.
The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.
Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling Water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.
Around the 5th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.
I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since
I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.
Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.
My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have Protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.
Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.
Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut Butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.
I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.
What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…
I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.
At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J
On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.
I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…
My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.
Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

Yay!! SO glad to hear about it. Try to enjoy this time in between - sounds like your stomach and psyche are in need of some RnR. Best of luck to you with your sleeve surgery. You'll go through another tough time in the beginning with keeping things down, but it gets better after a few weeks.
I sometimes think us former band folks handle the post op a little better because we already know what its like to have eating problems.
Good luck!

Folks, this was something that wasn't even on my list of milestones, but it may be the best one of all.
Brace yourself...
I am wearing a belt with trousers and a button down shirt TUCKED IN!!
I am seriously happy today. I have had a smooth ride during the weight loss (lots of mental hurdles, but the weight has slipped off steadily). I can't believe how far I've come.

Folks, this was something that wasn't even on my list of milestones, but it may be the best one of all.
Brace yourself...
I am wearing a belt with trousers and a button down shirt TUCKED IN!!
I am seriously happy today. I have had a smooth ride during the weight loss (lots of mental hurdles, but the weight has slipped off steadily). I can't believe how far I've come.