Lisalu

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal LilMissDiva.....247..................247.............226................21 Mini-Me.........203..................133.............125................8 Chilo1..........216...................169.............154................15 Kgremmy.....225................221..............199.................22 (being sleeved 12/14/10) Juliarh.........303.6.................247.............225...............22 Sleeve 4 me 204..................177.............164...............13 lbs.-Goal for start of New Year merieri..........240..................206..............190...............16 DJackson........246...................246...............220..............26 Dansha...........220...................220.............195................25;) Stacy160.........258..................174...............148...............16 Lisalu..............210...................137...............130...............7

Ah, to be in my 20's again. You look great Miss Blackberry.

Oooh, you look handsome!

I set my goal at 135 because at 5'2" that is a normal BMI (24.7 I think). If I used the ideal weight formula given above, my goal would be 110. The idea of weighing 110 is a bit scary for me. I only weighed that little once and I was a teenager (who had dieted like crazy for 6 months). I don't think I could maintain such a low weight and I don't know if it would look good at my age (48). In my opinion, goal should be wherever you feel good and have minimal co-morbidities. Try this link for a BMI calculator: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bminojs.htm

What you are feeling is normal normal normal. It DOES get better. I had buyer's remorse a few days after surgery. I am now 4 months out and less than 5 lbs from goal. No buyer's remorse whatsoever. About leaks: I tend toward over-concern for my health (read: I'm a hypochondriac), so I was really scared of leaks. They happen but infrequently. Watch for the signs but try to relax. Statistics are on your side here. You are going to OK. BREATHE. Best of luck, chica. I think you made the right decision when you had the surgery.

OCD thug! Nice one big geek. I have 6 from VSG and 4 from a previous gall bladder surgery. Not bad. Maybe I'll take a pic and upload it.

Here is some data from Jossart and Cirangle's 5 year data Breakdown of %EWL by BMI  35-45 Kg/M2 – 82.2%  45-55 Kg/M2 – 73.4%  > 55 Kg/M2 – 52.1% This shows that the lower your BMI was to begin with, the more likely you were to lose a greater percentage of your excess weight. if you want to see the powerpoint, here is the link: http://www.ssat.com/video/2008/SSAT%2049th%20Annual%20Meeting(3)-Cirangle.htm

I think the stats say that people on the average lose about 65% of their excess weight. But being an average, there is bound to be a wide range of what people lose. I'm now 3.5 lbs from goal so I've lost about 95% of my excess weight. It only takes 1 person who loses no weight to give the two of us an average of 50% lost. (That was a bit convoluted, but I hope you see what I mean.) Also, if someone gets the sleeve with 200 lbs to lose, it's possible they might not lose the entire 200 lbs, so that messes with the averages as well. I'm praying that I can maintain this loss---that seems like the bigger battle to me.

I'd tell if asked. No she probably won't understand, but at least you will have told the truth.

It's not your fault your daughter is overweight. It didn't come from bad models but rather from her genes. The definitive research on this is by Stunkard (1986?) and shows BMI very consistent between identical twins even those seperated at birth. He estimated that obesity was 80% genetic. Adoption studies show that adopted children resemble their biological families in BMI, not their adoptive ones. You can still feel guilty about passing along the genes, but your bad eating habits probably had very little to do with it.

You are just too cute with those little legs. Sending fertile vibes your way.

Believe the doctor's scale; they're usually right.

Chicas, this is why I only weigh 1X a month. I know it's not for everyone, but I tell you, I've never had a stall. (Well actually, I probably have them but since stalls hardly ever last a month, I wouldn't know.) Basically, I follow my plan and let my body do what it wants. If I follow my plan I know I will lose weight. When I get to goal, I may weigh more often.

I'm a can-eat-everything person too. There are things that I don't like to eat now. Raw onions for instance. They were iffy before surgery--I liked them on a burger but I wouldn't eat one plain (some people do!). Now they just taste too strong. Seafood doesn't taste as good as it used to and neither does Thai food. Ice cream. Imagine not liking ice cream. It just doesn't tempt me anymore. Doritos and nutella still taste like heaven, unfortunately. I wanted to taste a dorito the other day, I ended up eating 5. Now I know I need to stay away from them. I tried a spoonful (tsp) of nutella--yummy. Haven't had it since---far too dangerous. I try to be careful with the simple carbs. Bread goes down just fine as does rice. I still avoid them. Most of my carbs come from milk (skim), fruit and chocolate (1 dove dark promise per day--tops).

Wow, that was a rotten thing to say. Totally outta line. I haven't gotten a single bad comment from waiters. Maybe I'm of the age that I remind them of their mothers. I expected a comment when I went to the chinese buffet and ordered ONE eggroll off the menu--but no, nothing. I always tip well because I was a waitress in college and I know it's hard work. It turns out that one of my friends gives me crap about what I do or do not eat. I will have to mention it to her.

Tiff, thanks for the link. I always take what I read on message boards with a grain of salt. Seeing scientific articles grounds me, so I always appreciate seeing them.

Weight regain is not the same as "gaining all the weight back." Many people will gain some weight back after RNY or VSG, but few will gain all or most of it back. There is also a large range of how much weight people regain. The stats I've seen for VSG are between 7-20% regain. I don't think all the factors behind regain are clear. Sometimes it's grazing or "eating around" the surgery. There are some reports of the intestine elongating after RNY or the stomach expanding. I personally haven't read of any studies that showed villi regrowth but they may be out there. Almost everyone is far better off weightwise with the surgery than without. Your chances of losing the weight w/o surgery and keeping it off are almost nil. I'm sure we all want to stay at goal weight, but even if we gain some back, we wll be far better off Healthwise than before.

I had little trouble drinking after surgery. I was afraid that if drinking dindn't hurt that meant that I didn't have proper restriction and without proper restriction, I would fail, etc., etc. I think these fears are normal but unfounded. I am now 4 months out and 10 lbs from goal. Hang in there Fleur de lis, you're doing fine.

Glad to hear your surgery went well. I had a lot of midback pain after my surgery. It's hard to know if your pain is from surgery or that horrid pre-op accident. Get thee to a doctor, I say. I fell this week trying to learn to skateboard. I'm 47 so I thought I might get some back or neck pain from that. Nope. God, it's great to be 145 lbs. That fall would've hurt at 210. :-)

" For me grazing is out but maybe it's ok for you." I realize that this may have sounded snarky at worst or equivocal at best, but actually it was neither. Rules are great as guidelines, but as each of us is different, we will have to navigate our own way. My own nut's diet plan was too restrictive for me. I tried to negotiate some different alternatives with her, but I just got the party line. The problem was that her plan didn't make sense to me. I can't follow a diet plan that doesn't make sense for the rest of my life. So I researched a lot. Finally I went with the Cornell plan with a couple of tweaks. I did find that certain rules were repeated in plan after plan. One of these was no drinking during meals. I follow that one because there's pretty much consensus about that. Another common (but not universal) rule was no grazing. I took this one for myself because grazing has been a long-standing problem for me. I didn't graze through the beginning stages but it was hard. I drank a lot of Protein shakes. Tehericka, I hope you can take all of our advice, admonitions and experiences with a small grain of salt. Only you (and your nut) can decide on the right plan for you.

Jordien, Well, crap. I have hypertension, so I know how frustrating that is. One of my friends had VSG and her BP stayed high too. Not fair, is it? Mine has gone down at last reading (120/80) but I see I still need to monitor it. I agree with #50, it may just be the (bad) luck of your gene pool. My mother was hypertensive and not overweight, so mine may not stay down, either. Sigh.

Wow, we all have a lot to say about this topic. I really try not to graze. I eat 4X a day and supplement with Protein shakes. I will let a meal go on past 20 minutes though. I was a grazer before surgery. Grazing, not bingeing got me to over 200lbs. There is research out there suggesting that grazing is a common cause of WLS failure. I don't want that to happen to me. Check out this link http://ezinearticles.com/?Avoid-Weight-Gain-After-WLS:-Learn-the-Difference-Between-Snacking-and-Grazing&id=61380 I think we all need to find our own way after surgery. I'm glad there is no international rulebook out there; I'm sure I'd disagree with some part of it. For me grazing is out but maybe it's ok for you.

I agree. I talk about my surgery pretty openly because I am trying to spread the word. I especially feel bad for heavy kids. I've been there and I know how tough it can be. I'm now near goal, so people meeting me for the first time think I'm a normal-weight person. It's weird. I know I'm a formerly heavy person who managed to lose weight, but all others see is a thin person. It's like I'm passing or something.

I'm not discounting what you say, but I am trying to give you another perspective. The grass is always greener somewhere else. I have straight hair and always wanted curly. I would get perm after perm trying to get super curly ringlets. I was so surprised to find out that many people with curly hair want it to be straight. Now I'm perfectly OK with my hair and will never get another perm. We are taught to want whatever kind of body is currently in fashion. As a teen, I wanted thin thighs like a swedish model. I'm not built like that; my legs are substanial.. (I'm pretty much built like an ancient greek statue of a woman. When my sister first moved to Greece with the AF and saw the statues, she quipped that they must have used our family as models.) Now I'm grateful for my big legs. Perhaps some day I will be grateful for my lack of hips, but not yet. BTW, low rise is going out of fashion and high waists are coming in. Criminy, that style looks lousy on me as I am short-waisted. I hate fashion.

"Consider yourself lucky to be a hipless wonder, especially as you get slim - that body type is who all the clothes are made for!" Globetrotter, it all just depends on where you are coming from. I AM a hipless wonder and I detest it. If I didn't have boobs, I'd look like a boy. I like girls (I mean I really like girls; I'm bisexual) and I've always fallen for the ones with a waist, hips and substantial butt. I am getting to be thin-ish, but I don't feel sexy because my figure is so boxy. By the time pants fit in the waist, they are getting loose in the butt and legs. I feel like I have to pick clothes strategically to create the illusion of a waist. In my opinion, pears are luscious; we bananas, less so.