Tiffykins

I started out with my band at 270lbs, the day of my revision 263lb, and today I'm at 124lbs. I hit my goal of 150 within 6.5 months with VSG. I stuck to my guidelines, and took that window of opportunity to really change my relationship with food. I attribute a lot of my success to the fact that I lost all my physical hunger. With the band, I'd eat and 1-2 hours later I was hungry again. But, with VSG, I just ate because I knew I had to not because I was starving all the time. I'm 5'2" so my start BMI was 50, and when I had my revision it was 49. Our stats are really close, and if I can do it, so can you. I never really imagined getting below goal. I did continue to lose weight sporadically after I hit goal, and it seems my body settled around 120-125. I've been easily maintaining my weight, and literally eat anything I want. Portions are still small, I still focus on my Protein count, but I don't deprive myself of any particular food or food type. It's completely different being in maintenance, and it's easy to make the best choice when it comes eating. If you have any specific questions, feel free to shoot me a message on here. I've sent you a friend request, and you can view my photo album and blog on here for a more play by play guide to my journey. Best wishes, and good luck with your sleeve.

I was a self-admitted scale whore through my losing stage. I totally lost that loving feeling once I got into maintenance, and didn't get the thrill from getting on the scale anymore. Now, I might get on the scale once a week or once every other week. I can tell when I'm retaining Water, or have bounced up or down a few pounds just by how my clothes fit. The scale was never an enemy, and in a way it kept me accountable and motivated. But, I know that it could be frustrating for some. Do what is best for you ! ! !

I drink. I drink socially, usually weekly. I'm the "afternoon cocktail" girl in my little group. I often have a strawberry mojito, glass of wine, or a rum/coke. I didn't drink for 6 months because during the losing stage alcohol is just wasted calories, and I really didn't want to go off program before I got to goal. I was released for alcohol at 3.5 months out. Was told to avoid red wines, and to drink slow, and at home the first time. My alcohol tolerance has gone back to what it was pre-op. I do not get drunk any faster now than I did at 270lbs. I do not suffer from hangovers anymore, and it's nice to catch a good buzz, and be able to maintain it easily. At first, I'd get drunk quick then sober up quickly.

My band was causing me to be in chronic, overwhelming pain every day of my life. It had to go, and I only had it for 8 short months. In that 8 months, it wrecked my stomach tissue, and I would only revise to the sleeve. Best decision I ever made. Don't let anyone judge you because the band just sucks. I got bashed on lbtalk and OH when my band failed me and I had to revise. I've told those same haters to stick it in their (well you know), while they still struggle, puke, pb, slime, and have to get fills, and still not get to their goal weight.

Roughly 3.5 hours.

Zero regrets, I live a perfectly, normal, fully-functioning life post-op. I do eat smaller portions, but I don't have any struggles with food. Remember, food cravings are mental. They operate on our stomachs, not our brains. Grant it, cravings are more manageable, but I get cravings for Mexican and Thai food just like I did pre-op. The key is making the "better" choice when cravings hit. It's a lot easier to make the best choice with the sleeve. I still have to be mindful of what I put in my mouth. Here is another post with a bunch of replies about regrets if you'd like to read more: http://verticalsleevetalk.com/post-operation-vertical-sleeve-gastric-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/8907-do-you-regret-surgery-miss-eating-bigger-meals.html

At almost 16 months, there is literally zero foods that I can absolutely NOT eat. Scrambled eggs still kind of sit heavy, but I wasn't a scrambled egg fan pre-op so it's not like I'm missing them. Quiches, poached, hard-boiled eggs are all fine, but plain old scrambled eggs just sit heavy. I don't get pain, or slimies. I just feel stuffed is the best way to describe. I literally do eat anything and everything I want. Early out certain just didn't work, but I could wait a few weeks/couple of months, try them again and all was fine. It seemed my body just wasn't ready for some things. Everything tastes the same as pre-op. My tastebuds reverted back to normal a few months post-op. I did develop lactose intolerance immediately post-op, but that's now resolved. I was always a "salty/crunchy" kind of girl. I'll reach for pretzel thins, or chips before I'll reach for chocolate or ice cream. But, sweets work just fine as well.

Gaviscon is typically used to help residual reflux. Also, can you get some Probiotics in your system. I've never heard of gb issues causing reflux, but you never know. I would try some yogurt with no fruit, and maybe some mushed bananas. Prevacid is a popular OTC PPI that some have switched to when Prilosec didn't do the trick. I know a few people have posted that they're taking their PPI twice a day.

I've taken Advil, Motrin, Aleve, and I take them for everyday type pain. The one thing that I did pre-op with NSAIDs is take it with something on my stomach. I do the same thing post op. I take the pill, and then eat a couple of crackers, or cheese. Just something to put in my stomach with the pills. I've taken the RX 800mg Ibuprofen with zero issue. I know every program is different, but NSAIDs were a big reason the sleeve is so appealing.

I'm sooooooooooooooo proud of you ! ! ! Much love chickee, and you're such an inspiration to me on so many levels ! ! !

You're doing really great ! ! ! With the hunger, are you on an acid reducer like Prilosec, Nexium? The reason I ask is because I had some false hunger after I ate and it's really from acid overproducing. I went on Prilosec and I've felt hunger again. Some people also experience a hunger after sugar even natural sugar like fruits. Protein will definitely help, and beef Jerky was and still is go to snack for me. They also make these turkey steak bites that are protein packed, less fat, and super moist that you can find with the beef jerky. Getting in at least 64oz of Water will definitely help. See if adding in more protein help, maybe a string cheese.

I smoked pre-op, and have for a solid 15 years. I've also quit 3 times since surgery, and I've gone back to it. For me, it's all mental. I've been pretty open about my past use of alcohol and illegal substances to self-medicate. My family is a big booze fest, and it's in my genes for an addictive personality. I didn't eat compulsively, or really even emotionally, but I was a volume eater. Every time I quit, I want to eat even though I am not hungry. I went on Wellbutrin for a few months to help with the withdraws from nicotine, and it did help, unfortunately I do not suffer from depression or any other anxiety or behavioral issue and when I took Wellbutrin it made me manic, and it was very unhealthy for myself and my family. I also lost my appetite on Wellbutrin and slipped down to 118lbs for a couple of weeks. I was absolutely miserable on Wellbutrin (Zyban) which is prescribed and used a smoking cessation drug. Chantix is out due to my reaction to Wellbutrin. I do smoke a lot less than what I did pre-op. But, I do still smoke. I hate the withdraws, I hate being that out of control, and I absolutely hate being a slave to nicotine. BUT, I know that right now I am not ready to quit. I will quit when I get pregnant. There is a small part of me that wants to quit, but there's a bigger part of me that thinks this is all I do, this is my vice, this my weakness. I've tried everything except hypnosis, and that's because the area we live in is nothing but a bunch of scam artist hypnotist, or I'd be doing hypnotic therapy to quit smoking. I can't do the patch because that makes me worse, and I feel horrible when I use them. No offense taken. I'm not advocating smoking for anyone, but I also know that I'm only human. I like smoking, it's my destressor, it's the one thing I do now that I guess you could say that is my guilty pleasure. I don't eat a bunch of candy or junk food. I only drink socially, and I obviously have not nor will I ever go back to using illegal substances.

I'm over 30, I smoke, and I have clotting disorder. I don't need to add more hormones to my already crazy system. I've never felt "right" on them, Depo shots screwed me for life, and I just do not trust anything hormonal.

It really does help to stay hydrated. I can tell when I've slacked off on water because my skin gets way more dry than it did when I was fat. Dry makes wrinkly skin look worse. So, I lotion up every day sometimes twice a day. Ehhh, I'm probably one of the few Spanx haters. They just don't breathe, and I am all about trying it, but they're just kind of unpleasant to wear. Some love 'em, I hate 'em and don't wear 'em. But, those that love them, absolutely swear by them. You'll do great, and just taking little steps everyday, making new habits will really help. I didn't exfoliate before like I do now, but I really believe it helps. Other people may think I look horrible, but my husband thinks I look pretty good considering I lost an entire person weight-wise.

Hi Mary Beth, my husband gets asked a lot if it was worth it. Grant it, insurance covered my sleeve, but I went through a tough and extended recovery while he was deployed, and he was not allowed to come home. He'll tell anyone " look at her, look at her smile, look at her, really look at her and you tell me if it's worth it?" He sees the benefits physically, but that's not the part he cares about, ya know, he did marry me at 270lbs. He loved me just the way I was, and still loves me just as much. He looks at me differently, he looks at me with a new found pride, he loves that I don't get tired walking around the mall, that I'll wear a cute little swimsuit and go out on the boat for hours on end, he loves that I'll do anything and not worry about my fat literally getting in the way. Is it worth it? HELL YEAH, and if it's not worth it for anything else, it's worth the extra 20+ years I added to my life expectancy by dropping 145lbs. . . I can honestly tell you (and if you've read around the forum, you know I'm a shoot from the hip kind of girl), if my husband would have pulled that bullsh(t on me, I would have told him "well, will it be worth it to you once I have my feet amputated due to diabetes ruining my circulation in my enormous, chronically swollen feet because my a$$ is too fat to get down there and take of them, will it be worth it when we have to hire a nurse to come in and take care of me when the heart disease takes over, and my heart is too weak to allow me to shower on my own, will it be worth it when you're running to the pharmacy paying those lovely co-pays for 10-12 prescriptions that are treating and trying to treat one of my many diseases/conditions related to my obesity? When will you see that it's worth it for me to be healthy, and happy? It's not about me being skinny, it's not about you being happy with me, it's about MY health, and I kind of like you so I'd like to be around for those priceless golden years without you having to wipe my a$$ because I'm too sick and weak to do it on my own! ! !Love ya babe." And, yes I would have said exactly that to him.

Skin is also genetics. My family has decent skin, but I was also fat for a lot longer than you have been. I was 32 when I had surgery with being over 220lbs for a solid 12 years. I am 5'2" and lost 140lbs with VSG and now I hover around 120-125lbs. I do not have a huge amount of excess skin, I have a baby fat roll on my lower tummy that no matter what I do, it's not going anywhere. I'm okay with it. I started at 5'2" and 270lbs, BMI of almost 50. . . EEEKKK that's creepy when I write it out now. My recommendation is stay hydrated, work out, and moisturize every day, twice day. I exfoliate with a homemade sugar scrub weekly. It's olive or grapeseed oil, sugar, and lemon juice. It's fabulous! ! ! No one can predict how your skin will look because we have different genes, and there is just too many factors to try to compare. I can tell you that have more wrinkly skin that I have flabby, saggy skin. I have a friend that is 10 years younger than me, had RNY, lost the same amount of weight, and her skin looks horrible now, and she has a lot more excess skin on her inner thighs and abdomen than I do. We're also completely different body types. I carried the majority of my excess weight in my upper body/ abdomen, and she carried all hers in her butt and thighs. I was an apple, she's a pear. She wears a small on top (like a 4), and an 10/12 on the bottom. She's closer to your age and had surgery 4 years ago at the age of 19. So, just by that example you can see there really isn't a way to compare. My surgeon recommends waiting a minimum of 1 year after reaching goal weight before considering plastics. Every month my arms, inner thighs and tummy skin looks better. It's rebounding really nicely and my surgeon is impressed with my results thus far. I'm still getting a tummy tuck, boob job, botox/collagen injections, and other nip tuck procedures done in the future. Good luck, and my thought process on the skin is "I'd rather have some wrinkly, excess skin over the fat rolls I carried around for years."

Pack lightly. Depending on how long your stay is for me my essentials were: Slippers (those nonskid socks just suck in my opinion) My shampoo and body wash (i like to bathe) Lotion Lip Balm (I prefer blistex or lip gloss over chapstick) comfortable loose clothing to wear home A FRONT CLOSURE SNAP OR HOOK SPORTS BRA. . . I don't mind bebopping around my house, but in those thin hospital gowns, I didn't want to be nipping out through the gown in those cold hospital halls on all my walks. The front closure bra was a godsend. I stayed in the hospital gown because I didn't want to dirty up my clothes. IPhone, and charger Some take laptop, magazines, books, and I had to have my make up. As soon as I could, I was slapping on eyeliner and lipstick. It helps me feel better and mentally, it helps me recover to know I look better.

I figured you had some sort of counseling since you already recognized the behavior that's why I didn't mention it. I journaled, but if you aren't into writing. Then find something that peaks your interest. If you like to plan things, then I say plan out a dream vacation for next spring or summer. It doesn't have to be a big shindig, just something for you as a reward. I'm a planner so that's what I do to take my mind off things. Get some sugar-free candy, and pop one in your mouth. Emotional eating is no different than me getting pissed off and needing to smoke. I've quit smoking 3 times since surgery, and I always go back to it. You know why? Because I like smoking, I like the way it feels, I like having it as a destressor. It doesn't fix anything, but I feel better after I smoke. Heaven forbid me have a bad day because I'm liable to smoke an entire back which is not the norm at all. For me, a coping mechanism is something replaces something detrimental with something positive. Find something that you are passionate about, find something that makes your heart pitter patter. It doesn't matter how trivial it may seem to us, or anyone else, do it for you.

I just wanted to toss out there that my periods have regulated, and they're super light. I mean like so light that I rarely have to use tampons. My periods last max of 4 days. I day normal, 2 days super light, and then day 4 is just spotting. Day 1 I wear tampons, but the rest of the time I get to skip that torture. The cramps are worse now than they were pre-op. Maybe that's because I only hurt right before my period instead of every day of my life I did when I was fat. I had to roll out of bed pre-op, and waddle around and wait for my joints and muscles to loosen up so I was always in some sort of discomfort. Edit to add: I'm not on any type of hormonal bc, never have been. So, my body did adjust out. My surgeon doesn't trust bc pills not because of the absorption, but because of the insane hormone flux that we experience post-op with the rapid weightloss.

It doesn't last forever. I'm not sure on the science behind it. If it's the anesthesia, the ketosis with high Protein, all the hormones floating around in our bodies, but my tastes changed dramatically. I could not stand things sweetened with aspartame like Crystal Light, and other sugar free drinks. Splenda is the only sweetener I can stand. NOW, sugar, real sugar, chocolate, candy all taste perfectly wonderful. . . My tastes reverted back to normal a few months post-op around 4.5-6 months out everything tasted lovely, and it helped with the whole "everything tastes like cardboard" issue.

The one thing I did was journal, and I'm not talking about blogging where we write for other people's enjoyments, or entertainment. I'm talking about a private little notebook that only YOU can read. Mine is full of doodles, emotions, some pages are tear-stained, some are nothing but absolutely positive affirmations and things that would get me through the next day and struggle. I wasn't an intense emotional eater, but I did/do love food. I would eat out of boredom sometimes, and while I didn't battle emotional eating, I had other venues of self-medicating that I battled and will battle for years. Least to say, my biggest concern with transfer addiction was and still is alcohol and substance abuse. Since I can't use food, I'm always afraid of the next big life tragedy that will inevitably happen. I won't lie and tell you that I'm above falling into the trap of transfer addiction. I have to fight the desire to drink, illegal drugs are definitely a no no considering my husband is a military cop, and I would not only be risking my life, but I could screw his military career, not to mention losing my son. So the concern with substance abuse is not as heavy as the alcohol abuse. I firmly believe finding other coping mechanisms will be absolutely the most beneficial thing you can do for yourself. Writing was my coping mechanism. Even to this day, I pull out that journal, and read through it. I smile, I cry, and it takes me back through my hellish recovery and I remind myself that I am stronger than any addiction. I remind myself that I survived a horrific surgery and recovery, and that my life has a purpose. One thing that I've learned over the last 2 years since I started my WLS journey, is you have to forgive yourself. Don't punish yourself, recognize the behavior, and have a plan of attack to overcome the urge to eat your emotions. I'd rather just drink my sorrows away than eat any day of the week. That's the only thing that got through my ordeal. It's not always easy, it's not always daisies and rainbows, but it's so worth it. Believe in yourself, and believe in your sleeve.

I understand your concern about your husband not supporting a "skinny you". My husband likes thick, curvy women. He loved me at 270lbs, but you know what he loves me the same at 125ish. I know that it did cause some issues when I slipped below 150, he really thought I looked great around 175ish, but nothing about our marriage has changed, except we have a better, more intimate sex life. If your marriage is solid going into surgery, it'll survive surgery. If it's shaky, WLS can make it more unstable. A lot of the time the spouse of a WLS patient feels they lose their "eating/drinking" partner, that their life is going to dramatically change, or that we expect them to conform to our new food choices. My husband can tell you that none of that has occurred. We didn't eat totally crappy food before surgery, and all I've done is tweak recipes to make them more healthy. I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream, I add flax seed to muffins, baked goods, and he nor the kiddo realized it until I finally told them a couple of months ago. I will give you my experience. My husband became the food police. Trying to make me eat more, trying to sabotage me by offering me a few bites of his ice cream, or telling me that we could "split" a dessert. I don't think he was doing it because he wants me fat again, he just misses the way we used to indulge together. Big difference is his 6'0", 170lb lean, muscular frame, and metabolism of a gnat allows him to indulge more than I can. So, be prepared to set boundaries, and stand by them. Tell him what you need and do not need from him. This is the only thing that kept me from throat punching my husband through my losing phase.

hair loss is unfortunately a side effect most of us face, and it has nothing to do with your Vitamin regimen. It's a side effect of the anesthesia, the trauma your body has experienced, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. BUT, you can do things to help with regrowth. You can take a nail/hair/skin supplement like Biotin, you can use Folicure extra care shampoo (I used this and had regrowth coming in before the shedding stopped). Try to avoid a lot of heat on your hair. Losing hair can not be contributed to just one reason, no amount of Protein will stop it, it'll help with regrowth, but you can ask around here, and know that there are patients that got their required protein of 60gr plus some every day immediately post-op and they lost just as much if not more hair than I did, and I didn't hit my protein goals until I was on mushies which was around 5-6 weeks post-op. I only lost hair for 3 months, where OregonDaisy who got in her protein grams every day, and got in more protein than I did every day from early out post VSG, lost hair for 9 months. So, protein is NOT the only reason we lose hair. There's way too many reasons to blame one factor. Here's an article on hair loss: Telogen Effluvium: eMedicine Dermatology If you're not tracking, I highly recommend you start. You'd be surprised by how much or how little you're really consuming. If you have calorie, carb, protein goals this ensures you are getting everything you need. If you don't have guidelines, ask your surgeon, ask your nutritionist, and if they don't give you guidelines, there's plenty posted around here. My program stated :600-800 calories per day, 60+ grams of protein, and no more than 30-40 grams of carbs. A carb was/is a carb, I didn't care if it was a "healthy" carb, or not. I counted it, and I stayed at or below 30gr of carbs per day. It's what worked for me, and I'm not saying to follow what I did, but my results have been fabulous. Also, when you hit a stall, if you aren't tracking, you can not really know what you need to change to shake things up. Exercise will help, but I didn't start exercising until I was 4 months out. All I did was light walking, and I tracked everything I put in my mouth. I never wavered from my dietary guidelines, and never experienced a stall. Do you have any metabolic issues that could contribute to not losing weight such as thyroid, PCOS issues? If so, you'll want to have your labs pulled to make sure your levels are staying on course with your weight loss. Once you start hitting the gym, your calories/carb/protein needs may change, so tracking is recommended so you can ensure that you're burning fat, building muscle and getting the proper nutrition. Tracking isn't difficult, and if you have a smart phone, there are a lot of free food tracker apps that are available for you. I prefer myfitnesspal.com and have heard that fatsecret.com is a good one as well.