AchieveGoals

This post was really informative. As you mentioned that you had experienced dumping, can you please elaborate on the things that you ate that caused you to have dumping? Like what it was, and how much of it? Thanks a lot!

How doable is it to get to that goal weight?
Current weight: 280
Goal weight: 150
DREAM weight : 120-130
My psychiatrist out of all people said that you should aim to see 60-70% weight loss of excess weight. But all the stories that I see, and experiences that I read, the majority of people are able to hit even 80-100% of losing excess weight. What can I do to be one of those? If you are one of those people who has lost all of their excess weight, please do share details on what you did. I plan to be a copy cat and do the same thing, my surgery is next month.

How doable is it to get to that goal weight?
Current weight: 280
Goal weight: 150
DREAM weight : 120-130
My psychiatrist out of all people said that you should aim to see 60-70% weight loss of excess weight. But all the stories that I see, and experiences that I read, the majority of people are able to hit even 80-100% of losing excess weight. What can I do to be one of those? If you are one of those people who has lost all of their excess weight, please do share details on what you did. I plan to be a copy cat and do the same thing, my surgery is next month.

How doable is it to get to that goal weight?
Current weight: 280
Goal weight: 150
DREAM weight : 120-130
My psychiatrist out of all people said that you should aim to see 60-70% weight loss of excess weight. But all the stories that I see, and experiences that I read, the majority of people are able to hit even 80-100% of losing excess weight. What can I do to be one of those? If you are one of those people who has lost all of their excess weight, please do share details on what you did. I plan to be a copy cat and do the same thing, my surgery is next month.

How doable is it to get to that goal weight?
Current weight: 280
Goal weight: 150
DREAM weight : 120-130
My psychiatrist out of all people said that you should aim to see 60-70% weight loss of excess weight. But all the stories that I see, and experiences that I read, the majority of people are able to hit even 80-100% of losing excess weight. What can I do to be one of those? If you are one of those people who has lost all of their excess weight, please do share details on what you did. I plan to be a copy cat and do the same thing, my surgery is next month.

I want to lead off by saying I am an outlier. I had a very easy surgery and recovery. I have an Iron sleeve, almost nothing bothers it, and hasn't from the beginning. I have lost 100% of my excess weight, am below my goal weight, and have maintained for nearly 6 months now. So, take what I say with a grain of salt, knowing that I have been supremely lucky, and the stars have aligned for me, for now (who knows what the future holds though).
I am also a foodie. I eat out very frequently, both for business, and just as my personal lifestyle. I have not have any issue eating a very wide range of food (with one exception, I'll get to later).
My first business trip was 3 weeks post op. It was a week long wine and dine event, with elaborate meals, dinners being upwards of 20 courses. I ate ahead of my plan, and had little tiny bits of just about everything. I don't recommend this, but it caused no issue for me, other than a weight gain of 3 lbs when I returned.
I have been on multiple international trips post op. I ate meat pies and drank beer in Scotland. I ate Pasta and drank wine in Italy. I ate falafel and drank tea in Egypt.
BUT, it wasn't all just eat whatever I want, but smaller portions. I balanced "off plan" meals with being very disciplined, especially when I was home. For many months, until my hunger returned, I was routinely under 500 cals a day. I took advantage of not being hungry, and not having head hunger triggers, by eating to only get my required Protein in, and therefore consuming very few cals, many days.
Now that I am in maintenance, I have been fortunate so far. My BMR appear to be north of 1500 cals a day. I still have a fair amount of restriction, so I am able to eat relatively freely. But I log everything I eat and weigh myself nearly everyday I am home. I am willing to adjust my diet and cals in order to maintain at a weight I'm happy with (which may eventually end up higher than my current weight). But even if I do end up having to be more careful with my diet, it will always be a combo of disciplined and splurge meals. It will just be about finding the balance between the two.
On the topic of digestive issues, I have had no accidents, no diarrhea (other than the occasional that everyone gets from time to time). I was constipated early post op, and added Benefiber to every non-water liquid I ingested. I can get nausea if I over eat, but it passes quickly. I have only gotten sick twice, and it was Vitamins on too empty of a stomach.
The only negative consequence I have had, is dumping-ish symptoms, from time to time. Occasionally it is random, but the most common trigger is liquid sugar, such as Vietnamese coffee, or Baileys Irish Cream for example. I just get extreme nausea and my heart races. So I've given up any large quantities of sweet beverages, or anything similar, like ice cream, pudding.
So, it is possible to live a normal foodie life, post sleeve. But this journey is very, very individual. It is a true YMMV situation. So just as there are outliers who have lots of complications & food sensitivities, I am an outlier that has had practically none. I am at one extreme of the bell curve.
Hope that helps!

Please be smart, and read my post again. Nobody is doing what you are accusing. I am not promoting not being positive. Life gets in the way, and sometimes either by accident or by forgetting or any other excuse, one of the following things that I have mentioned might occur, and I wanted to know if it won't cause major damage/hazard to our lives. Of course getting on track after falling and maintaining the healthy habits is crucial to life after surgery.

Please be smart, and read my post again. Nobody is doing what you are accusing. I am not promoting not being positive. Life gets in the way, and sometimes either by accident or by forgetting or any other excuse, one of the following things that I have mentioned might occur, and I wanted to know if it won't cause major damage/hazard to our lives. Of course getting on track after falling and maintaining the healthy habits is crucial to life after surgery.

I don't get the post?
are you promoting breaking the rules or justifying cheating?
Please be positive. The rules are important because your honeymoon period will fly by very quickly!

That is so amazing to hear! I bet you are happy with yourself. Have you ever had issues with GERD? Do you remember having them at the beginning and then they went away?

This question may sound a bit weird but, it's more targeted towards people who have had sleeve for around 5+ years now: Do you guys feel like you have a "physically" normal life, day, feeling? I mean a day like it was before you had the sleeve. My main concern is that I will feel like I will need to remind myself that I have the sleeve every single day for the rest of my life. Not that I want to forget about it, or it's precautions/healthy habits, but just that I feel normal and fine, but just eat less than I used to. Does anyone feel like their normal self like they did before surgery? Or is everyday another little issue that goes on with GERD, Dumping, vomiting etc.

Any answers would help.

That is amazing!! Good for you, I am sure you are proud of urself....Since you take a PPI now, did you suffer from GERD before sleeve or is this a new onset that you've acquired after the sleeve? Thanks

That is so amazing to hear! I bet you are happy with yourself. Have you ever had issues with GERD? Do you remember having them at the beginning and then they went away?

Where can I see more comments like this? That is such great news, thanks for being real..

Just giving honest answer to an honest question and I don't promote going against Vitamins.< span class="ipsEmoji">😉

How many of you have done one or more of the following? Not that I want to share or promote any bad habits, I just want to know that it will be okay if we don't live our lives like a schedule making sure we do everything to the dot each and every single day for the rest of our lives. Sometimes things come up, or we fall off track for short periods of time, but that it will be okay if it occurs sometimes accidentally....any thoughts?
For example
Skipped taking Vitamins everyday because they forgot etc...
Drank while eating a meal
Took an NSAID here or there for a particular reason
Didn't get in their daily Protein intake
Ate out for most of their meals

At my heaviest I was 5'8" and 465 lbs. At 39 I was told my excess weight was 170 lbs and that if I was determined and I could stick with it I would lose that 170 lbs in 12 months.
I lost that 170 lbs BEFORE my 6 mo checkup.
Because of schedule conflicts I didn't have my 1 year followup until about month 14.
At 14 months I was down 250 lbs.
I have since re-gained, but that's OK. This process saved my life and changed my life in ways I could have never anticipated. It was NOT a weigh loss journey for me, but rather a journey of self discovery. I've spent the last 2 years learning who I was, but more importantly who I wanted to be.
We all can be anyone we want to be. You just have to be willing to make the necessary changes to make that happen. It's NOT about willpower or determination, but a combination of the two.
Long term success is NOTHING MORE than short term success repeated over and over again.

RIP grammar, but I hope it all works out for you!

Alright so, I'm a 29 year old female, I suffer from High Blood Pressure at this age (so upsetting), Diabetes. I have gone through the 6 month program at my clinic and I'm approved for surgery. My A1c is above 8 right now, so I'm just working on getting that lowered to ~8 at my next blood test, and I'm good to go to get sleeved. Now call me an idiot or a coward, but I am scared to get GERD after the surgery. I know, it sounds so stupid, for Christ's sake I have high blood pressure and Diabetes already, but I feel like if I go through something so drastic as to cut out 70% of my stomach, I just don't want to accumulate other diseases like GERD and still be bound to take medications everyday for other diseases acquired - does that make sense to anyone? I want to get this procedure done (And let me tell you, I am soo scared still to do it, but I know it is the best option for me considering my health status), I just feel like let's say I do get GERD, there is all this talk about sleevers down the line getting revisions, I don't wanna be a non-normal person getting surgeries and other procedures done all the time to feel normal. What advice can anyone give me to relieve my nerves? As of right now, I do sometimes get heart burn if I eat something spicy - i don't take any medications for it. I would say it happens 2-3 times a month. Is there a possibility I will get chronic GERD after surgery and I will need a revision done later on in life?
Any advice would help me out!!! I'm a confused mess right now....

Alright so, I'm a 29 year old female, I suffer from High Blood Pressure at this age (so upsetting), Diabetes. I have gone through the 6 month program at my clinic and I'm approved for surgery. My A1c is above 8 right now, so I'm just working on getting that lowered to ~8 at my next blood test, and I'm good to go to get sleeved. Now call me an idiot or a coward, but I am scared to get GERD after the surgery. I know, it sounds so stupid, for Christ's sake I have high blood pressure and Diabetes already, but I feel like if I go through something so drastic as to cut out 70% of my stomach, I just don't want to accumulate other diseases like GERD and still be bound to take medications everyday for other diseases acquired - does that make sense to anyone? I want to get this procedure done (And let me tell you, I am soo scared still to do it, but I know it is the best option for me considering my health status), I just feel like let's say I do get GERD, there is all this talk about sleevers down the line getting revisions, I don't wanna be a non-normal person getting surgeries and other procedures done all the time to feel normal. What advice can anyone give me to relieve my nerves? As of right now, I do sometimes get heart burn if I eat something spicy - i don't take any medications for it. I would say it happens 2-3 times a month. Is there a possibility I will get chronic GERD after surgery and I will need a revision done later on in life?
Any advice would help me out!!! I'm a confused mess right now....

Where can I see more comments like this? That is such great news, thanks for being real..

Where can I see more comments like this? That is such great news, thanks for being real..

Everyone handles maintenance differently. We each have our own weight gain risk factors. Its important to know yourself. Will you need to remind yourself you had surgery? Is it healthy habits? Precautions? Simply eating less? Do whatever works for you to maintain and not go back to obesity.
Five years out, I never want to feel like my normal “obese” self before surgery. I feel better than normal after weight loss and maintaining in the 130's. I have no issues. I bounced back with minimal pain and I have no complications (Gerd, dumping or vomiting etc.)
Personally, I don’t need to remind myself. I have a healthy lifestyle. Maintaining has become habit/mundane. I don’t put much thought into it. I eat mainly healthy and indulge within reason. I give myself a ten-pound bounce range. If I gain, I go back to weight loss mode and work it off.

I'm 9 months out. I have never had GERD and I *may* have had dumping once, not sure? I haven't thrown up in months. Tonight, I ate a little too much, got a tummy ache, reminded myself not to eat that much, and went and lay down for a bit. I feel fine now.
Mostly, I feel much better! Less lower back pain, much more energy, wearing smaller clothes, fitting in sports and airplane seats, etc.

I know you asked for longtime sleevers but I am 7 months out and don't really feel any different except that I am conscious of not being able to eat like I used to. I have so much more energy and feel fabulous mentally and physically.