katiekatie

I'm so glad I found this thread....
I've related to everything that is said here. I went to the initial consultation in April and was only a BMI of 34, with High Blood Pressure and High Cholesterol, thrown in with a Pre-diabetic kicker. The surgeon said he wasn't going to log my weight that day, that I needed to hit every buffet in town and come back in 2 weeks. I obliged, then came back and my BMI was right at 35. After gnawing on my nails for a month during all the pre-op testing, I got insurance approval.
Surgery is set for a week from tomorrow...6/22. I'm on the pre-op diet now, a little hungry but manageable. Cutting out coffee and Diet Coke has been a struggle also, but also manageable.
We low-BMIers need to stick together and help each other along. Will be interested to hear your progress. I'm scared to death I'll be the only person in history that can't lose weight with the Sleeve.

laxatives are taken to cleanse your colon - not for the purpose of losing weight..Bottom line is follow your doctor's orders and everything will be ok.

That's the worst. When people think you're pregnant. Or worse, when kids point to you and say she's big or she's pregnant or something like that. I wish I would have gotten my weight under control when I was like 230 lbs. now I'm up to 330 and I have a long journey ahead of me. I think you ladies are smart to get going km this before you are morbidly obese. I am lucky I have no health problems and I am getting the surgery I just wish I didn't have so much to lose.

Yes, hunger comes back.
And how it affects you depends on a number of things, including whether you:
* suffer from binge eating disorder or other food-related issues that make it especially hard for you to resist food to calm / soothe / medicate your anxiety
* Have chocolate sitting in your desk drawer. (If so, WHY?! in the name of God is it there?!)
* are eating the foods you should be eating that keep hunger at bay -- Protein, high-Fiber veggies, some whole grains
* are drinking sufficient Water
* are avoiding high-starch, high-sugar slider foods
* are taking antacids that prevent excess stomach acid from mimicing hunger
* are aware of the events in your life / environment that trigger head hunger and are working to minimize those triggers and/or develop new ways of responding to those triggers besides eating
* are working with a therapist if you have eating / food / behavioral issues that could be improved by working with a therapist
* are able to practice mindfulness in life and being present for what's happening, including feeling your feelings without trying to medicate them away
* planning your daily meals and *know* what you're supposed to eat for each meal and each snack and aren't just compulsively eating things because you don't know what you're supposed to eat that day
* don't have a way to call STOP to destructive behavior (could be calling a friend, a WLS buddy, journaling about your feelings, posting to an online forum , etc. Years ago, I once actually yelled, "STOP!" at myself to startle myself out of my compulsive eating. It actually got my attention.
* put on your walking clothes / shoes and hit the sidewalk or treadmill to get yourself focused again on what your long-term goals are.
There must be so many other things others can add to this list that could help.

Well, that's a whole lotta new info.
Once again, you experienced your experience. And you understand things from your perspective (based on what you think you know). But there's a lot you misunderstand and don't know.
As others have noted, your lack of knowledge revealed in your OP about how WLS patients can retain most of their muscle mass (or even increase their muscle mass) while losing weight is unfortunate -- not just because it's wrong and sad, but because you're using it to rationalize your own experience. And that and your other rationalizations will block your future progress.
Before I had WLS surgery, I did learn about the nutritional and exercise best practices for post-op WLS patients. I learned that post-op while losing weight I should eat a lot of Protein and exercise regularly to avoid losing a lot of muscle mass.
And it turns out, because I followed my bariatric center's instructions, that's exactly what happened. Of the 90+ pounds I've lost after WLS only 12 pounds of it was muscle. I'm not guessing or assuming this. I've had pre- and post-WLS body mass measurements taken. As a result, my lean body mass has increased 15%.
BTW, all of the things you started doing 1 week ago (3 years after your WLS) -- tracking your calories and other macronutrients and tracking your steps -- I started doing 2.5 months before my WLS. In other words, I never considered that WLS alone was going to fix me without me also changing my own behaviors / lifestyle.
I'm sorry that WLS didn't work out for you. For that, you have only your own impulsiveness and your continuing lack of education about WLS to blame. But that's in the past. Looking forward, you'll be well served by not continuing to remain ignorant. More importantly, your rationalizations about WLS won't serve you well either. If you really want to debug your weight challenges, you'll need to keep trying to understand accurately what caused your post-op weight gain.
For others reading this, the OP's posts here illustrate some important truths about WLS:
(1) WLS should not be undertaken lightly.
(2) WLS patients MUST take responsibility for understanding nutritional, exercise and other behavioral requirements for post-op self-care.
(3) WLS can be a wonderful aid to losing and maintaining one's weight loss long-term IF patients don't suffer the delusion that surgery is all they need to achieve success.
Best wishes to everyone out there who's considering WLS. Educate yourself as much as you possibly can. Seek therapy if you need it. As the saying around here goes, "They operate on your stomach, not your head."

I don't understand why the option is to be sleeved and lose muscle or lose weight on your own and be successful or better off. Why isn't the option to get sleeved and exercise intensively so you do not lose muscle mass. Also the entire reason we are given Protein goals is to prevent muscle loss. Also you don't actually know the science. You can lose plenty of fat from calorie restriction/ diet. Please, please, please, anyone who is reading this post because you are on the fence about getting WLS ignore this women; she clearly didn't follow the her program.