Sleeve_Me_Alone

With as much love and grace as I can muster, get him out now. If he is truly that bad, he will absolutely sabotage you, harbor resentment, and create so much angst and stress that you will be miserable. Verbal and emotional abuse IS ABUSE. You deserve to be happy, you deserve peace, your kids deserve to see you well.

JBF is a fiber supplement. Its prebiotic insoluble corn fiber. I mix it in to my coffee and water every single day and haven't had an discomfort or side effects. I did start small, about one TBL a day, and worked up to about 4 TBL. So I would definitely suggest easing into it. But for me, its been super helpful and easily tolerated.

Just Better Fiber. Game changer! Yes, it gets better, but you'll need help for a while, possibly forever.

Yep, completely normal. With VSG, they remove the part of the stomach the produces the hunger hormone, ghrelin. That means not only have you just had major surgery, completely changed your eating habits, have new anatomy, but the signal that used to tell you when you were hungry no longer exists (or is significantly altered - some folks do still experience hunger post-op). I always said in those early days that I was learning my "new plumbing" because it felt like I had a whole new set of pipes! For me, eating on a fairly regular schedule helped. Over time, that schedule has changed and I've adjusted as I've lost weight and healed and all of that. But in those really early days, having a system really, really helped. I knew I would get my water and protein in, I could avoid a drop in blood sugar that gave me the shakes, and it helped me learn my new hunger and full queues more quickly. Give yourself lots of grace, this is all new and you are figuring it out!

I'm about 16 months out and I never make 2 meals. That wasn't the case when I was immediately post-op and could only eat mush, of course, but after about 8 weeks when I had been cleared for a "normal" diet, things were pretty status quo. If I make pasta, I use Banza and then serve myself more meat/sauce/veggies and very little pasta (if any at all). If I make burgers, I eat them on lettuce. If I make a casserole, I might eat it as-is, depending on what's in it, or I might just pull out a scoop of the meat/veggies and forgo the carb addition. If I make a pot roast, I might have a portion of the meat and a small salad and skip the potatoes. All in all, its pretty normal for us. I adjust for myself as needed, but its very minimal. Only you can decide what the right approach is for your family. But if they currently live off of nachos and ice cream, something will absolutely have to change for you to be successful. And if you are the primary cook for the family, it may fall to you to make those changes. Or, you'll be faced with making 2 meals, which is really impractical (and may very well lead to resentment).

Get back to basics - hit your protein, get your water in, take your vitamins, and move your body. Weight and track everything - it will help you stay accountable to yourself. And, get help! Find a counselor, someone who deals with eating/food issues if possible, talk to your medical team, etc. Can't stress enough how much the mental/emotional piece of WLS is really the biggest. But the help is out there and you CAN be successful! You've got this!

At 12 weeks I had lost 36lbs from surgery, 56 from highest. At 1 year I was down 80lbs from surgery, 100lbs from highest. I reached goal (114lbs lost) at 14 months. I think this is HIGHLY variable depending on start weight, how much total weight you want to lose, metabolism, etc etc etc. It might be a helpful anecdote, but probably not something to take as fact.

Not at all. It definitely can contribute to weight gain, but that has not been my experience. I had been on it about 4 years when I had surgery, and I lost at a perfectly acceptable rate, hit goal, etc. I don't think its impacted my loss at all - although I do wonder if it contributed to me being unable to lose PRIOR to surgery. But that's really irrelevant at this point, I guess.

I had a 4 month long period when I started depo (13 week cycle). I spotted all through the first shot, and for a few weeks after the second, before it finally stopped. Have not had a period of any kind since (5+ years!). I've read that it is VERY common, and cycle changes after surgery probably don't help. Give it some time, keep in touch with your doctor, but it will likely resolve after your next shot.

First of all, I'm so proud of you for reaching out to get treatment. That is truly the hardest part! As a fellow anxiety sufferer, I can tell that it DOES get better. As someone who also had WLS I will tell you, from my experience, any amount of weight my meds may have contributed to is NOTHING compared to feeling healthy and strong and not carrying the burden of chronic anxiety. I was on treatment prior to WLS so its hard to say what impact, if any, it had. But even if I were starting today, knowing it might impact me weight, I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat. YOU ARE WORTHY OF GOOD MENTAL HEALTH. That being said, Zoloft may contribute to a ~1% weight gain over the course of the first year of treatment, which is pretty negligible. And its helpful to remember that the med itself doesn't cause the weight gain, the changes in habits it can lead to are what cause the gain. So if you stick to your good habits (hit your protein, drink your water, move your body) you will be just fine. We are rooting for you!

Deli meat & cheese, rotisserie chicken, cottage cheese, grapes & berries, Flex protein chips, and pistachios are ALWAYS on hand for quick snacks or easy meals. I also usually have some cooked chicken of some variety measured out in the freezer, along with an assortment of frozen or canned veggies. I can just throw those in the microwave with some butter or BBQ sauce and BOOM a whole meal! I also try to freeze leftovers in one or two portion sizes so I can pull those out and have them for lunch a couple days a week. And I always have Lily's chocolate in the fridge for a treat! 😉

I always, always, always suggest therapy to anyone considering WLS. Personally, doing the mental/emotional work was absolutely necessary for surgery to be beneficial. It is absolutely true that surgery cannot and will not cure binge eating, eating addiction, or any other disordered eating habits. I'm grateful that others suggested it, its been key to my success, so I work hard to talk about it openly and pass along the advice. I suspect the shame of "diet culture" has a lot to do with is, as does misinformation, sadly.

Yep, I had the exact same experience. I had 4 incisions and the 3 were pretty well healed and painless after the first week or so, but the one was very tender, swollen, and sore for probably an additional 2 weeks. I think that is pretty normal. As long as it isn't hot to the touch, excreting discharge, or showing other signs of infection, it just needs time.

That is terrifying. I had surgery in Mexico, at HospitalBC, and had a better experience than I'd ever had at any US Hospital! I'm so sorry your partner had such an awful experience! Hopefully, they are on the mend and well on their weight loss journey! Thank you for sharing!

I made a few freezer meals so my family would have easy, already made dinners so none of us had to cook. I did laundry, linens, and some regular tidying up; grocery shopped, paid the bills, balanced the checkbook, that kind of stuff. I wanted to have enough mental space that I wouldn't feel like I "needed" to do things. My husband was really helpful and managed all of the day to day stuff, the kids, and me while I was down.

I use Just Better Fiber. I mix it into EVERYTHING I drink, usually, several tablespoons throughout the day. It helps immensely. When it gets really bad, I use Miralax, but that's pretty infrequent as long as I keep up with the fiber.

I did not have any drains after surgery. From what I understand, they are RARELY used for VSG - more common for RNY or SADI.

My rings went from an 8 to a 6.5. I held off as long as I could, using plastic ring sizers until even that got a little lose. I didn't want to go without wearing them, and I was nearly at goal anyway, so I went ahead and got them sized last month (I was 14 months post-op and only a few lbs from "goal"). I don't think I lose enough to justify sizing them again, but I wouldn't be upset even if I did.

My loss has definitely slowed. I'm 15 months out now, and noticed it really throttle back around 9 months but it still hasn't completely stopped. I reached "goal" a week ago - having lost 115lbs; I suspect the loss will stop completely here soon, which I'm fine with. Its important to remember that success isn't measured by whether or not your hit your "goal" weight, but rather by how much of your excess weight you're able to lose and maintain. So for example, based on BMI if you have 120lbs to lose to get to a "healthy" weight, then you can expect to lose AROUND 78lbs (65%) of that excess weight. (We all know BMI is an awful measure, but its the current standard). That varies from 60-80% from person to person, and you should expect some amount of regain in the years immediately following. Most surgeons consider LONG TERM success to be a loss of 50% of your excess weight after 5 years. So, all that to say, you are right where you need to be. Keep to your plan, and give it time. Goal weights are helpful, but they aren't the end-all-be-all measure of success. You're already a success!

I have a FitTrack Dara scale. I like that it gives me additional metrics, though I'm not sure how accurate they are so I take them with a grain of salt. The app can be a little tweaky, but overall it does what I need.

As others have said, how you experience restriction will be different than others - it varies widely from person to person. For me, I feel chest pressure. No pain, nothing uncomfortable, but its definitely nothing like feeling "full" before surgery. This is more just a sort of immediate awareness in my chest. That's when I stop eating. That's nearly always followed by one really loud hiccup. It has changed a little over time (I'm 15 months post-op), but by and large its pretty consistent and I've learned to listen to it. On the exactly ONE occasion I ate beyond that, I was nauseous and uncomfortable, so I walked laps in my living room for 20 minutes or so and it settled. No violent projectile vomiting ever.

Same. The chewables all made me sick. I take the ProCare Health one a day multi.

One year, 2 months, and 2 weeks 114.5lbs 64 inches Pant size 22 to 8/9 Shirt size 2xl to M I have been trying to lose weight, quite literally, my entire life. My earliest memories are of being uncomfortable, knowing I was in a bigger body than I "should" have been. I tried and failed at every diet, and consulted with 3 other surgeons over the course of a decade before I finally committed and had surgery. I went to therapy, read the books, stuck to the plan, fell off the plan. got back on, cried, rejoiced, and everything in between. And today, I hit my "goal" weight. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't elated to see that long desired number. It was overwhelming and thrilling. But truly, even more than any number, is the life I've gained, the love for myself that I've learned to cultivate, the life changing decision to care for myself well and no longer allow myself to be at war with this one precious body I have. As so many WLS patients say, I just wish I had done it sooner. I'm rooting for each and everyone of you as well. 💓

I would be very concerned about doing intermittent fasting. 1) As a post-WLS patient it would be EXTREMLY hard to meet all your nutritional needs in just one or two meals a day. Seems like you are setting yourself up for health issues. 2) I personally had surgery to break the dieting cycle. I've done them all, including IM, and none of them worked long term and were healthy & sustainable. Why would you want to revert back to behaviors that didn't serve you? If you want support moving into maintenance, I would say reach out to your team. They should be able to help guide you in a healthy way. If they don't have resources for maintenance, see if you can get in to see a dietitian, preferably one with WLS experience. Hang in there, this is uncharted territory and we all need support! But don't let yourself be enticed back into old, unhealthy habits.

My double (triple) chin situation always made me VERY self-conscious so when I started seeing my face/neck slim down, I was THRILLED. Over time, I definitely developed a little bit of saggy skin there, and maybe some day I'll look into doing something about it, but not having all that extra weight on my face is just such a relief for me that it honestly doesn't bother me much. I've just recently (TODAY) reached goal, so it will be interesting to see what happens and if the skin firms up any over time.