Sleeve_Me_Alone

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.

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

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!

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!

Weighed myself today and i seriously thought i gained weight. but finally i am under 200lb at 197. I have not been under 200 since i was in high school. So happy. It took around 2 months to loose nearly 10lb being this far out from surgery.

I stepped on the scale this morning and saw 199! I haven’t been one-ANYTHING since I was a teenager! I’ve seen 299, 279, 249, etc… but to see 199 makes me emotional! I had VSG in September and just celebrated four months post op! Just wanted to share my little win!

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.

I weigh myself on the 4th of every month along with measurements. Little late on posting i forgot. But yea no big changes at all in the last month. Weight loss has slowed down by a lot which is expected this far out. I had surgery in April of 2022. Struggling to get below 200. I leave on Sunday for the Caribbean which sucks because well the big food down there is everything is fried lol. So i am bringing me a load of "snacks and foods" in my suitcase lol.

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!

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.

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! 😉

Rather than determine what you can eat to "satisfy" that craving, maybe it would be better to try and first understand why you're craving sweets at all?
Some thoughts on possible things that may be driving this feeling:
Forbidden foods: If you think of sweets as "forbidden", this can actually intensify your cravings for them. You might need to rethink your relationship with certain foods if this is true.
Stress or a desire to self-soothe: Stress as well as physical and/or emotional pain can definitely drive you to crave things you see as comforting. For many, sweets may do this because eating them can trigger endorphins and dopamine in your brain in the same way powerful illicit drugs can.
Contextual associations: We sometimes associate certain food with certain things. Examples would be people that feel they have to eat dessert or the meal isn't "done". Another example would be people that eat popcorn at the movies.
Boredom: Typically boredom doesn't drive specific cravings, but can absolutely drive you to eat when you're not really hungry.
Nutrient deficiencies/poor hydration: While there's a lot of anecdotal references for the idea that your body will crave certain things if you have a specific nutrient deficiency, there's not much scientific evidence for this belief. (In fact there's a lot of evidence that it's not correct. If that was actually driving cravings, we'd all be craving kale and broccoli instead of sugary, salty, fatty foods) That said, there are studies that show both poor hydration or insufficient Protein or Fiber will increase hunger. In this case however, your cravings would most likely be less specific and more "I'm hungry", vs. "I want sweets".
i think once you understand the WHY, you'll be better armed on what you can do to address the craving. In some cases, distractions like @Arabesque mentioned may actually work better than finding a sweet thing that "satisfies" your craving. In other cases, you might be better off eating off plan if the "forbidden" food is the culprit. Only you can really know what's driving this and how best to deal with it.

Hello everyone, it has been a while since I posted or updated. Mainly because there isn't much to update. (Just over 9 months post-op)
First: I am going to go a head and admit that through the Holidays I sucked! I ate too much (not to be sick, but over my calories) and the wrong things at times. Reset- Holidays are over so I admit it and I am moving on from it and back on the horse and focused!
The worst part of this (or at least what I am calling the worst) is that I still lost some weight through it. I am saying this is bad, because other than knowing I shouldn't have done it, there was no "punishment" in my mind. Honestly, I wish I would have just gained a few pounds. But, it didn't seem to stop me from getting re focused and back on track so I will take it.

9 month update: No changes except weight and NSV's! I can eat anything (including what I shouldn't) I don't and have never dumped. I still track everything I eat and drink, still stay within my calorie range (less the previous comment). I had my 9 month follow up with my surgical team. They called me a rock star. I was very proud of myself and how well I am doing. I still don't exercise, they still don't care. LOL Well, kinda, of course it has other health benefits but they are not concerned for the weight loss aspect of it. I am well ahead of schedule, and my Nutritionist has already started talking about my maintenance calories and how to start upping my calories slowly and safely. I told him to slow down, I still want to loose another 43 lbs to hit my goal! He agrees that is achievable, but was merely explaining where my calories would likely fall when the time comes. Which, is about double what I currently eat so he wanted to bring it to my attention so I could mentally prepare for how much more I would to eat to stop loosing weight. He explained that some people struggle physically and mentally to increase so greatly so he wanted me to have time to process and prepare for it. He said I would fall between 2000-2300 calories a day WITHOUT exercising, more depending on the intensity and frequency of exercise. Yeah.. that's a lot.
I still drink a shake a day to maintain my calories and Proteins, 70g Protein or more a day and 80 oz fluids a day or more. Pretty much all Water, and usually 1 sugar free drink a day to switch it up.

NSV's are ENDLESS! Really, as we lose weight so many things change. Even some bad, like my bony ass knees when I sleep I have to stagger them so the knees are directly on top of each other because they hurt like crazy in the morning! I could go on for days about this subject! Body dysmorphia is real, like really real! When I was my heaviest, I knew I was fat but when I looked in the mirror I didn't see a 422 lbs person but when I saw pictures of my I did.. man I did.. I was sick to my stomach and so disgusted! Now, At almost half that size when I look in the mirror I still see a fat girl but when I see pictures I am like WHOA I am so small. I found out my cousin is 1 size smaller than me, but when I look at her I see someone very small and when I look at myself I cannot believe we are only 1 size different. I look so much bigger! I love to see pictures of myself now! I encourage them rather than hiding in the back of them. I buy shirts from everywhere, and really only because I can. HAH I have never been able to buy a souvenir shirt, they never fit. Not even close to fitting. Now I literally buy them everywhere I can, to an rate of just wasting money because I shrink out of them faster than I can actually get use out of them.

To finish up: I hope to hit my goal weight by my 1 year follow up but I know 43 lbs in 3 months will be tough!
My original goal was 225, which is much more reasonable to loose in these next 3 months. But 210 is my ultimate goal as that will be half of my starting weight which is pretty freaking cool!

422 down to 250
26/28 down to a 14
4/5XL TALL shirt down to a 1/2x regular shirt

Good luck to all!!!! ❤️

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

First of all, take a deep breath. Allowing yourself to fall into an anxiety spiral is NOT helpful to your healing and recovery.
Next, TRUST YOUR TEAM. They are there for a reason, they are the experts. They have the knowledge and experience and education. I promise you, they have FAR better advice for you than a random bunch of strangers on the internet. Follow their guidelines - if they say 1 minute per 15, then that is what they want you to do. If you feel good and want to do 2 minutes, sure that's fine! But worrying yourself into walking for hours on end is not helpful or healthy.
And yes, you need to be mindful of your hydration. Sit down, drink some Water with electrolytes, and call your team if you have any concerns.

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 think my cousin is trying to kill me LOL She's a trainer, and she gave me some really good pointers for cardio, strength training, and weight training.
Well, today was cardio day, and she said to go to speed 2.5 and incline 15 on the treadmill and sustain it for a solid 30-45 minutes. I thought "no problem, I can do that". OMG by the time I got to incline 12 I thought I was gonna die lol It took me 20 minutes to work my way up to incline 15. Once I got to it, I was able to sustain it for 40 minutes.
I'm so proud that I was able to do it. I really didn't think I could, especially at the end. Now I'm exhausted and my body is screaming, so it's time to eat dinner (chicken drumsticks) and then take a long, hot shower.

I’ve lost 31 pounds

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.

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