Cape Crooner

I haven't been here in five years, but I thought I should share what I've learned on this journey... 1. My sleeve was a very minor surgery. Less than 30 minutes passed between being knocked out and the recovery room. Quite frankly, I think this option should be more widely available for marginally obese people. Unlike the other bariatric surgeries - which change your plumbing, this is simply the removal of the stretchy part of the stomach. 2. Think long and hard about who you tell. I told a handful of family members and I think that was a mistake. I suggest you either tell everyone, or just the absolute minimum (spouse or care giver). Within the first year I was sure everyone knew and I felt I was being dishonest. 3. The honeymoon is real. For 18 months it's virtually impossible to gain weight, but after that, you most certainly can. My smaller stomach can hold 8-10 ounces of food and get refilled after about an hour. If you fill it with sugar or fat and keep refilling it, you can certainly get back all your weight. I initially lost about 90 pounds and that was too much. People kept asking me if I had cancer. I've since put 25 pounds back on and while I wish it was 15, it's fine. My weight is what it was when I was an athlete in college. I have used my reduced weight and energy to excercise and I think that has helped. I generally do 100,000 steps a week. Again, eating/drinking the wrong stuff and not exercising would surely lead to more weight gain. 4. I no longer count calories, but I do have a few tricks to keep things in check. I have designed a menu with a lot of 200-500 calorie meals and I have 3-4 of these every day. I burn enough EXTRA calories a day exercising to offset the calories I drink (I only drink 100 calorie cocktails - nothing sugary). 5. There's a lot of good and bad information on alcohol on this site. I waited 6 weeks (the European guideline) and the eased in with weak cocktails and wine. I don't think it hits me harder, but since I'm likely to have less food in my stomach, the effect is to be hit harder. I can see no reason to wait 6 months or a year other than minimizing caloric intake. The Sleeve is a timeout from your bad lifestyle, but it's not a permanent timeout. At some point you'll create a new lifestyle that will include birthday cakes, pizza, French fries and booze. You need to manage around all of these risky consumables. You should think about it ll as you enter your journey, never stop reevaluating, and constantly adjust. I hope this helps someone...

I have migrated to different meat and vegetable combinations. I think a hot meal is emotionally more filling, so I've created a bunch of dishes that are dietetically more like hot salads without lettuce. Kung Poa - I found this Panda Express Kung Poa sauce that's only about 25 calories per tablespoon. If you cut it with soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, you can create a very tasty Chinese dish. I stir fry celery, carrots, and peppers. Add some peanuts and beef, chicken, or shrimp and I have a great 250 calorie, protein rich dinner. Broccoli "Pasta" - Create Classic protein oriented pasta dishes using broccoli instead of pasta. Chicken with garlic, capers, tomatoes in evoo tossed with a little Parmesan. Again, a great protein rich 250 hot dinner. Chicken Sausage, Pepper, and Onions - Grill them like a street sub, but leave out the roll. Melt a little provolone on top and voila. I still eat salads, but only as a garnish with my hot meal...

I think you'll change your mind once you find out how little your stomach holds. If you're only eating 6 ounces, why not just eat meat and eggs? Major roughage like chopped lettuce takes up all your stomach capacity in a few bites. As obese people "trying to eat right", we loved salads because people told us they were healthy and they filled us up. Post vsg, healthy means something different and getting full is no longer an issue. A month ago, I went to Rubios and ordered a chopped chicken salad with salsa dressing. Tastes great and low in calories. Lotsa chopped romaine. I was able to eat 8 bites - the salad bowl still looked full after I finished eating!

I'm 19 months out and I eat 8 ounces of dense food. I can eat 2 cups of skinny pop if I'm drinking! I just don't find iceberg lettuce to be worth my stomach space. I do eat a lot of arugula on my low cal pastrami sandwiches.

I do low cal dressings or make my own, but what's the point if you're only eating 2 ounces and getting no Protein?

I eat salad mostly as a garnish these days - maybe 2 ounces. The reason is simple. I need protein and watch calories. With few exceptions, salad dressings are high in calories and virtually nothing in a salad has protein. I'm 19 months out and can eat about 8 ounces of food. That means 6 ounces of protein and 2 ounces of veggies. Do you know that roasted fingerling potatoes are only about 25 calories each? When your side dish only weighs 2 ounces, you eat most anything. That said, I do offend many home chefs when I go to a dinner party and barely touch the 12 ounce gourmet salad they carefully prepared for me!

Prior to my VSG surgery, I thought alcohol might actually be the root cause of my weight problem. I now know that isn't the case. Yes, alcohol does increase hunger and that puts me in a dangerous place, but as someone who only drinks vodka, whiskey, or red wine a few times a week, the empty 200-300 calories in a couple of drinks wasn't the problem. My problem was misinformation about what was the right food to eat and what was causing me to gain weight. As a 40 year Atkins dieter, I would munch nuts, cheese, and dark chocolate with impunity when I drank. I would also consume these on days when I didn't. I also think some people are fine with alcohol and some are not. From my experience, some people have a drink and want more, then more, then more. They wake up hung over and want another. For these people, abstinence is the best choice. That's not me. When I retired, I acted like I was on vacation for 4 months. I drank every evening and by the end, I was no longer enjoying it. I find that my level of enjoyment is a direct function of how long I abstain. I also find that the more I drink, the less I want another. I have been back to drinking post opt for the last few months. I now drink less and more importantly, I plan what I'm going to eat when I drink and all the calories. Finally, I'm not going to claim that alcohol is "good for me". The truth is that the vessels of clay that we call our bodies die a little every day. More likely than not, alcohol, a cigar, a marbled steak, Tylenol, and 15+ minutes of direct sunshine will all speed up our bodies clocks. That said, I have news for everyone. "None of us are getting out of here alive". If you had wls, you already made a huge deposit of extra lifetime in your bodies clock. Sure, abstinence might help you make it to 90 or 95 and if that's important to you, abstain. Me, I'm happy knowing that I potentially added 15-20 years through my wls. It's all relative and I'll keep drinking socially because I believe the psychological benefits outweigh the physiological costs. But that's just me!