Dairymary

6 years postop. Lost 160+ pounds and still maintaining at goal. Doing fabulous! Sleeve still a great tool for portion control, but not as good as the psychological tools I got from my therapist and support group.

Once you are cleared for all foods by your surgeon, there's nothing you can't try. You can choose foods that are compatible with weight loss or not. If you can keep losing weight while eating that many carbs then more power to you! Personally, I never indulged in non nutritive stuff like bread or jam until at least 18 months out. I figured no sense sabotaging myself until I at least reached goal. And even now a PB&J would be pretty low on my list of foods to eat. But again, that is MY choice and certainly doesn't have to be yours.

No, it's not normal. I see you made other posts about bruising and leg cramps and you are well in the window of postop blood clot complications. You need to call your surgeon ASAP or get to the ER if he can't see you immediately.

@@LittleBill thanks for the info. I figured there had to be some sort of physical limitations of the metal that accounted for the lack of titanium weapons. But TSA is kind of a joke sometimes. I got stopped and had to toss an unopened jar of homemade Amish jam in the trash (I was traveling with just a carry on so couldn't check it). And yet I went through with a full bottle of Vitamin Water once and a friend boarded a plane in Salt Lake City with a hunting knife in her backpack. She forgot it was even in there until her return flight in Minneapolis where they proclaimed "I don't think so!" When they saw it on X-ray.

I've got plates and screws in my femur and pelvis and staples in abdomen from my VSG and from my hysterectomy. Funny thing is when I go through TSA none of them never show up. But I have had it light up in my shoulders and breasts. Kind of funny. Makes me wonder what else the scanners aren't picking up. Seems to me a gun and bullets made from titanium would pass through with no problems. (Gee, hope Big Brother isn't listening)

First of all, this is totally normal. You have just been put through major surgery. You were pumped full of fluids, your tissues are swollen, your body is in shock and holding on to every resource it can. Looks like you've already lost over 30 pounds which is great. Your body is simply doing what bodies do....trying to survive this crazy stuff you are putting it through. Second of all, your BMI is quite low so even once you start losing, it will not be at a record pace. Took me 6 months of losing to get to where you are starting. And another year to reach goal. Be patient. Third, what happens in these first couple months and the rate at which you lose means pretty much nothing in regards to long term success or failure (unless, of course, you throw in the towel and don't do your part as far as following the program). So keep hitting your Protein and Fluid goals (mine were 80g and 100oz respectively) and you will lose.

As always, be sure to Track and measure and make sure you are getting 100oz fluids and 60-80g Protein....from food if the shakes don't provide enough. At least this is what it takes for me to lose/maintain. As long as the shakes aren't too loaded with carbs, it could be a good plan to drop some extra pounds. But also remember that any "diet plan" is a temporary fix. You also need to work on altering whatever habits that led to your regain so it doesn't happen again. Good luck.

OMG I wouldn't trade it for anything. Everything is easier now that I'm not lugging the weight of a whole other person around everyday. I cavort with my grandkids, I work on our farm, I can walk around for hours on tours with my girlfriends without pain or fatigue, I have become my husband's trophy wife, I can shop in regular stores and look fabulous in whatever I put on, I am off all of my previous medications and now only pop Vitamins. Sure, I have loose skin and saggy boobs, I can't get my money's worth at all you can eat buffets, and I do have to be mindful of what I eat and drink, but it's all worth it to feel this great. I'd say things "normalized" around 2-3 years out. This is when I had reached goal and learned what it took to maintain. The last 3 years have just been spent living my new normal.

Oooo, me too! Tell me not to do something and I'll be the first in line! My daughter and now my oldest grandson have definitely inherited that characteristic.

I lost 160 pounds, am 6 years postop and am maintaining at a couple pounds within my lowest weight. I guarantee I would not be this successful without the mental health support I received. I attended WLS support groups for more than 5 years before turning to this online support forum. I also saw a therapist regularly for about 2 1/2 years and then intermittently for another year. She's actually still "on call" for the rare occasion I need a boost. Surgery helped me lose the weight, but what I learned about myself in therapy and developing new coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and emotions is the reason I keep it off. Therapy has helped with all aspects of my life, not just the weight/food-related parts. I highly recommend some sort of professional mental health support to help ensure long term success.

Ask your doctor about the reason behind his "rule". I eat oranges, tangelos, grapefruit and limes and drink OJ all the time with no issues. If it's the calories, that's something you can monitor and consume in moderation. If it's an acid thing, then unless you have GERD, you should still be able to do citrus at some point after your sleeve is completely healed. No different than coffee, tomato juice or other acidic foods. If it's anything else, I'd be interested to hear. I have found that there are not any bariatric rules that can't be broken. You find what works for YOU and make those your own rules. This isn't a one size fits all and to universally restrict something forever for every case is not realistic or responsible medicine.

Hello all. Thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Mary, I live in Wisconsin, run a dairy farm with my hubby and we have two grown children and two grandbabies. I had been a large gal my whole life, no doubt in part due to the fact that beer, brats and cheese are staples in any good Wisconsinite's diet . After climbing to a BMI of 50 and feeling quite useless due to my physical limitations, I finally decided to have WLS in 2010. I ended up going to Mexico since my insurance company would only pay for bypass or Lapband because they considered VSG experimental. Fortunately, my daughter is a gastroenterologist and she used her connections to hand pick me a surgeon who was renown in the international bariatric community. My recovery and overall weight-loss journey was fairly easy and uneventful. Even though I had surgery in Mexico, I still attended local WLS support groups throughout the entire process. It was nice just to be around people going through the same thing. Over the years I saw dozens (probably hundreds) of patients come and go. Very few veterans stuck around. But for some reason I felt a certain level of responsibility to help those coming behind me. In addition to the group meetings, I saw a therapist on a regular basis for the first couple years. That, by far, has been the secret to my success. About 6 months ago I quit attending the support group meetings. A new coordinator came on board and we didn't exactly see eye to eye on a number of things. Basically she felt threatened by my vast knowledge and experience and I thought she was a stupid twit (at least that's my take on it ). So I decided to leave "real" people behind and enter the world of cyber support. I've been lurking for quite awhile and finally decided to join up. From what I've observed so far, the problems and issues I read about online are not dissimilar to what I heard in the support group. The biggest difference is there are a LOT more whiners and non-compliant patients online. Maybe being anonymous just makes folks more comfortable with complaining. Maybe the online patients left their support groups to seek justification for their bad behaviors from strangers (cause we never coddled them in our group sessions!) Or maybe they are trying their best but their programs did not properly prepare them or they don't have local support groups. Unfortunately the naivety of some of the people giving advice on here is a little scary to say the least. And then there are the delusional individuals like that organic milk chic. No one like that would ever pass the psych evaluation in a real bariatric program so I've missed out on that type of sparkling personality in group session. Of course I may have been a little biased by her username.....my husband always jokes, "we prefer our milk with a healthy dose of antibiotics". Anyways, just tonight I realized my 6 year surgiversary was 2 days ago and I missed it. Oops. I guess that's a good thing, though.....means my new skinny life is so normal I forgot about my surgery! Either that or I'm just old and senile. In either case it's been fun and I hope I can continue to encourage people to take full advantage of their new lease on life after WLS.

I had my surgery with Dr. Ariel Ortiz at Obesity Control Center in Tijuana just over 6 years ago. My daughter is a gastroenterologist and he was specifically recommended to her by colleagues in the bariatric field. He was a world renown, cutting edge surgeon even then. I had a great experience, easy recovery and zero complications. As a nurse myself, I know the difference between quality healthcare and substandard, cut-rate care. Would recommend him and OCC to anyone interested in WLS.

One word....therapy. Like you said, this is a mental struggle you will have for the rest of your life. Surgery did absolutely nothing to address the reasons behind why we became fat in the first place. Until you figure that out and learn new ways to deal with stress and emotions, you are fighting a very steep uphill battle. The right mental health professional can help even the battlefield. My surgeon helped me lose weight, but my therapist is responsible for me being able to keep it off. Good luck.

Congrats! Way to go

You need WAY more water. Water is required for your body to metabolize fat. Without it, the fat is just gonna sit there. Studies show drinking 1/2 your body weight in ounces is optimal for weight loss. Which means you are getting about 1/3 of what you should. Treat your fluid intake like a prescription. Drink as religiously as you would be taking a life saving medication.

I was on antacids for too months postop....mandatory for my surgeon. I haven't followed the no drinking with meals thing for about 3 years.

So excited to hear that about salad! I've been nervous that salad would be something that I couldn't eat again.Sent from my HTC Desire 626s using the BariatricPal App Took me over a year before I was comfortable with salads. Up to that point they made me very gassy. Your system does a lot of evolving that first year or two, so don't be discouraged if things don't sit right at first.

Like others mentioned, statistical averages mean nothing to an individual when it comes to WLS. the surgery simply alters your physical ability to eat large portions and/or absorb nutrient. The real success lies in the psychological changes you make. I "should" have only lost 90 pounds. Instead, I chose to utilize every resource available, including support groups, self help books and a personal therapist to beat the odds and become a rock star. I lost all of my excess weight and then some....160 pounds....and kept it off going on 6 years now. Don't let other people's numbers scare you....It's entirely up to you if you want to be average or not.

A slider is something that doesn't seem to take up much space in your sleeve so you can eat large quantities of it. liquids are sliders, which is fine if you are drinking Water or low cal drinks, but not OK When it comes to milk shakes, high calorie coffee drinks, alcohol, etc. Foods that contain a lot of air and basically turn to mush when you eat them are often sliders. Things like Cookies, cake, potato chips, popcorn, candy. You feel restriction and portion size is limited when it comes to dense Proteins, veggies, and most things we are supposed to be eating. Our sleeve can do its job when we eat these things. Sliders are the opposite. There is no, or very little, portion restriction. In general, these are the things we shouldn't be eating anyways. For me, the exceptions are salads and nuts. These are on my "good food" list but are still sliders because I can eat large quantities without feeling full.

I'm 6 years out and would never eat a tuna sandwich because of all the bread. I could probably finish 1/2 cup of tuna salad, though. My capacity of the things I should eat is 1/2 - 1 cup depending on density. For a good "standard" example, i had a Healthy Choice Simply grilled chicken and broccoli Alfredo frozen meal the other day (190 calories, 4g net carbs, 27g protein). Label said it was 9.15 oz and I could finish about 2/3 of it could. I can eat the inside of a whole 6" subway sandwich if I don't eat any of the bread. However, I can eat an unlimited amount of Sliders like jello, chips, ice cream, cookies, popcorn, etc. Salads are typically sliders for me, too. I had about 3 cups of baby spinach with bacon honey mustard dressing for dinner tonight. But then again, if you squished it all down, it probably wasn't more than a cup.

What does your surgeon's postop diet plan call for? I was on liquids for 3 weeks, so in my case, not allowed. Besides, applesauce is all carbs and no protein so I wouldn't have wasted valuable sleeve space on it anyways.

No stitches, my incisions were closed with glue and steri strips. Strips just fell off on their own after about a week. But your primary or even an urgent care facility could remove the sutures if your surgeon uses them. I'm a retired nurse so I would have removed them myself.

Protein water, protein powders mixed with milk (more protein), add unflavored protein to soups and casseroles, shrimp, chicken salad, eggs, Greek yogurt with more protein powder, tuna fish, ground beef if tolerated, Kashi go lean cereal, cheese, cottage cheese.

You will be eating all your old favorite stuff before you know it. This is just one holiday out of dozens and dozens to come. It will soon be a distance memory that will be faded behind many new joyous ones. You will realize it is insignificant and a very small sacrifice in exchange for being thin and healthy.