NtvTxn

I have a question for those of you who are 1+ year(s) out from your VSG and view your process as "successful". What is a day in the life of your sleeve after that initial year or so? What do you eat in an average day? I'm just 6 weeks out and getting a little discouraged with the limited foods I'm able to eat. Just wondering what you all are eating in the long run and what your tips are for better food choices for the long haul.
Thanks in advance!

I don't have room to drink with my meals. I don't even miss drinking with meals anymore. Sticking with my 30 minute delay.

I've done the research and from the research on the satiety response I'll stick with not drinking as taught. Show me the research, and if drinking helps control hungry, then ok...

I cannot wait to see my SIL on turkey day. We have not spoken nor have we seen each other since January. At the time, she was about 35 pounds lighter than me and LOVED to gloat about it in a not so subtle manner.
She would give me her clothing rejects with a casual, "These may be too small for you, but you are dieting, right?". She loved to commiserate with me about our mutual attempts to follow whatever diet we were on but loved to point out that her points/calories/units were lower than mine because she was lighter.
Our last conversation was her snickering about another overweight acquaintance's failed weigh-in, laughing that she did SO MUCH better and me asking if she talked about me as nastily as she did everyone else.
She didn't like that. My bad...
Fast forward to Thanksgiving and me being at least 90 pounds down from our last visit. I would bet any amount of money she is up at least 10 or 20.
I can't wait!!!!!
Who do you look forward to seeing during this journey?

I'm a month shy of being 3.5 years out. Still no hunger, not real hunger. I get and empty feeling, but not hunger. It's amazing. I hope it will always be like this!!!

i don't think oprah is willing to change her lifestyle/eating ways to have the sleeve done. I think she loves food so much, like we all do, she is basically saying the hell with it - i am who i am and thats her choice. Her decision, so thats fine for her. BTW i'm not slamming Oprah, at 4:00 every day i used to watch her.

As far as kirstie, i also think it is too much of a committment/the sleeve for her to change. I think she will continue to try to lose weight though.
Oprah & Kirstie both at that age, 58/60 that they think oh well its just too hard to keep losing this weight and then maintain the weight loss -and i'm just too tired of trying to maintain the weight loss, of course thats crazy, btw i'm 58
BTW i think its so funny how we talk about oprah and kirstie like they are our best buddies
of course all above IMO disclaimer included
kathy

Good morning! I am so sorry about the weight gain. All I can tell you is what I do, what I've done from the beginning. For me it is a total lifestyle change, as natural to me as breathing. I call this my 'dashboard'.
1) I weigh EVERY day. I KNOW how quickly I could gain eight or ten pounds, and that would be overwhelming to me. If I'm up a pound or two, I just make a change or two and it's gone in several days.
2) I weigh and/or measure my food when I am at home (eye ball it carefully when out)
3) I log my food on my fitness pal. Before discovering MFP, I used fitday.com and at the VERY beginning, I have a spiral notebook and wrote it down.
4) I attend support groups
My comfort zone is 142 - 145, I weigh first thing in the morning, out of bed, go to the bathroom and on the scale. A pound or two is manageable, but for me, I cannot go by how my jeans fit, by that time I'd be up ten pounds and it would take me a few months to get that off, I'm sure of it. I must track my calorie, there is a fine line for me between maintaining, gaining and losing. I've been doing this for over 2.5 years, so I've got the hang of it, but I can never be complacent. Like I said, this is my new normal. This is why I call what I do, my dashboard, if a 'light' comes on, and to me, being up a couple of pounds, or my calories being above what I need.....those are my lights. I just change things up a little, meaning, I lower my calories by 100 -150 and that takes care of it.
Make sense? My advice is, find something that works for you, something you can do forever, there is no end date, we've made a lifetime commitment.....and make it part of your life. Good luck, you can do this.

Good morning! I am so sorry about the weight gain. All I can tell you is what I do, what I've done from the beginning. For me it is a total lifestyle change, as natural to me as breathing. I call this my 'dashboard'.
1) I weigh EVERY day. I KNOW how quickly I could gain eight or ten pounds, and that would be overwhelming to me. If I'm up a pound or two, I just make a change or two and it's gone in several days.
2) I weigh and/or measure my food when I am at home (eye ball it carefully when out)
3) I log my food on my fitness pal. Before discovering MFP, I used fitday.com and at the VERY beginning, I have a spiral notebook and wrote it down.
4) I attend support groups
My comfort zone is 142 - 145, I weigh first thing in the morning, out of bed, go to the bathroom and on the scale. A pound or two is manageable, but for me, I cannot go by how my jeans fit, by that time I'd be up ten pounds and it would take me a few months to get that off, I'm sure of it. I must track my calorie, there is a fine line for me between maintaining, gaining and losing. I've been doing this for over 2.5 years, so I've got the hang of it, but I can never be complacent. Like I said, this is my new normal. This is why I call what I do, my dashboard, if a 'light' comes on, and to me, being up a couple of pounds, or my calories being above what I need.....those are my lights. I just change things up a little, meaning, I lower my calories by 100 -150 and that takes care of it.
Make sense? My advice is, find something that works for you, something you can do forever, there is no end date, we've made a lifetime commitment.....and make it part of your life. Good luck, you can do this.

My scale was going up and down four or five pounds daily for about 10 days, and I knew it couldn't be accurate. I changed the battery and it went back to normal.

For me, what I see in the mirror is not reality and why would I do that when all I need to do is step on the scale?
I think if it is at all possible that a vet can possibly re-gain, then weighing every day is a no brainer...IF maintaining is important to them.
We are all different, but to me, this is my last chance, I had 85% of my tummy cut out, I've sat in a support group with a woman who stopped doing everything she had done to lose the weight, She came back to a support group 70 lbs heavier. She cried, she was at a loss.
I am not delusional enough to think it couldn't happen to me, I KNOW me and I know how quickly I can gain weight. No way, not if I can help it. What I do every single day is no problem, no real effort, it's my new life. I exchanged guilt and big clothes for being in control.....for the first time ever, I AM in control of food, it does not control me. I pray that I'll never become complacent.

Good morning! I am so sorry about the weight gain. All I can tell you is what I do, what I've done from the beginning. For me it is a total lifestyle change, as natural to me as breathing. I call this my 'dashboard'.
1) I weigh EVERY day. I KNOW how quickly I could gain eight or ten pounds, and that would be overwhelming to me. If I'm up a pound or two, I just make a change or two and it's gone in several days.
2) I weigh and/or measure my food when I am at home (eye ball it carefully when out)
3) I log my food on my fitness pal. Before discovering MFP, I used fitday.com and at the VERY beginning, I have a spiral notebook and wrote it down.
4) I attend support groups
My comfort zone is 142 - 145, I weigh first thing in the morning, out of bed, go to the bathroom and on the scale. A pound or two is manageable, but for me, I cannot go by how my jeans fit, by that time I'd be up ten pounds and it would take me a few months to get that off, I'm sure of it. I must track my calorie, there is a fine line for me between maintaining, gaining and losing. I've been doing this for over 2.5 years, so I've got the hang of it, but I can never be complacent. Like I said, this is my new normal. This is why I call what I do, my dashboard, if a 'light' comes on, and to me, being up a couple of pounds, or my calories being above what I need.....those are my lights. I just change things up a little, meaning, I lower my calories by 100 -150 and that takes care of it.
Make sense? My advice is, find something that works for you, something you can do forever, there is no end date, we've made a lifetime commitment.....and make it part of your life. Good luck, you can do this.

Good morning! I am so sorry about the weight gain. All I can tell you is what I do, what I've done from the beginning. For me it is a total lifestyle change, as natural to me as breathing. I call this my 'dashboard'.
1) I weigh EVERY day. I KNOW how quickly I could gain eight or ten pounds, and that would be overwhelming to me. If I'm up a pound or two, I just make a change or two and it's gone in several days.
2) I weigh and/or measure my food when I am at home (eye ball it carefully when out)
3) I log my food on my fitness pal. Before discovering MFP, I used fitday.com and at the VERY beginning, I have a spiral notebook and wrote it down.
4) I attend support groups
My comfort zone is 142 - 145, I weigh first thing in the morning, out of bed, go to the bathroom and on the scale. A pound or two is manageable, but for me, I cannot go by how my jeans fit, by that time I'd be up ten pounds and it would take me a few months to get that off, I'm sure of it. I must track my calorie, there is a fine line for me between maintaining, gaining and losing. I've been doing this for over 2.5 years, so I've got the hang of it, but I can never be complacent. Like I said, this is my new normal. This is why I call what I do, my dashboard, if a 'light' comes on, and to me, being up a couple of pounds, or my calories being above what I need.....those are my lights. I just change things up a little, meaning, I lower my calories by 100 -150 and that takes care of it.
Make sense? My advice is, find something that works for you, something you can do forever, there is no end date, we've made a lifetime commitment.....and make it part of your life. Good luck, you can do this.

Update: The last time I posted on this thread was Dec. 2010, almost three years ago. I had reached MY goal a few weeks earlier, I'd reached my doctor's goal a month earlier. Wow, time flies when you're having fun.
I've been maintaining for going on three years, no problems, no issues. Nothing. It's all pretty easy for me, so far. I have what I call my "dashboard" and it keeps me on top of everything. I do not ever want to be complacent. I never thought I'd have surgery and make no changes, so I've made changes that I can live with forever.Everything I do is as natural to me as breathing. Old age, a twisted ankle nor boredom will prevent me from doing what I'm going to list below!!
1) I weigh every morning
2) I weight and/or measure my food
3 I log all my food on my fitness pal
and last but not least, I attend a support group with real live people!
I maintain on 1300 calories per day. It's a fine line between maintenance, gaining and losing. My 'comfort zone' is 142 - 145.5. If I weigh 146 at my morning weigh in, I cut back calories by 100 - 150 and within a few days, I'm back down to the lower end of where I like to be.
I still have good restriction and i still try and under eat my sleeve. If I get to "full" it's too late, I'm miserable.
No buyer's remorse, EVER!!!! Love my sleeve!

go back to basics, what you did to lose that 75 pounds. This is what I do that works for me. I cal it my dashboard, the numbers tell me if something needs to be changed.
1) I weigh every morning
2) I weigh and/or measure my food
3) I log my food on my fitness pal
4) I attend a real live support group
I'm almost 3.5 years out and I've been maintaining for almost 3 years. I can't imagine not doing these things. They're as natural to me as breathing. My new normal, my new life. For me, there is a fine line between maintenance, gaining and losing. I must never become complacent. I have a comfort zone, a 3.5 pound comfort zone. If I'm up about the high end of that zone, I just cut back calories by 100 - 150 for a few days and it's gone. You can do this!

I took and did NOT use:
Robe, gown, slippers
I wore the hospital gown and the little socks
with the non-slip things on the bottom the whole time
I was there. They put them on you before surgery!
A heating pad is the best pain reliever I think, pack one
if you can! Have a travel pillow for the ride home, whether
you are traveling by plane, train or automobile - you need one
to have between you and the seatbelt and you need one in case
you cough or sneeze, or heaven forbid LAUGH!! Forget
make-up, but take Shampoo, blow dryer and all that good stuff.
so you can feel good when you leave the hospital. I had my cell
phone, but wouldn't have felt like or wanted a book or laptop.
I wore home what I wore to the hospital - it was clean.

I was 50 when I had surgery, I'm 54 now. Life altering, that's all I can say. People tell me I look younger, I don't know about that, but I sure feel good. Shopping is fun, life feels normal as a thin person. I still obsess about food, but I'm in control now, food is not.
It's fun NOT being the biggest girl in the room......many times I'm the smallest. I underestimated what I could do with this tiny tummy, never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd weigh under 145 and wear 4's and 6's.

go back to basics, what you did to lose that 75 pounds. This is what I do that works for me. I cal it my dashboard, the numbers tell me if something needs to be changed.
1) I weigh every morning
2) I weigh and/or measure my food
3) I log my food on my fitness pal
4) I attend a real live support group
I'm almost 3.5 years out and I've been maintaining for almost 3 years. I can't imagine not doing these things. They're as natural to me as breathing. My new normal, my new life. For me, there is a fine line between maintenance, gaining and losing. I must never become complacent. I have a comfort zone, a 3.5 pound comfort zone. If I'm up about the high end of that zone, I just cut back calories by 100 - 150 for a few days and it's gone. You can do this!

I'm actually looking at moving to Little Elm/The Colony area in January...

Little Elm here!

I was 50 when I had surgery, I'm 54 now. Life altering, that's all I can say. People tell me I look younger, I don't know about that, but I sure feel good. Shopping is fun, life feels normal as a thin person. I still obsess about food, but I'm in control now, food is not.
It's fun NOT being the biggest girl in the room......many times I'm the smallest. I underestimated what I could do with this tiny tummy, never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd weigh under 145 and wear 4's and 6's.

It's absolutely true. I am almost 3.5 years out, I've been maintaining easily for not quite three years, but as time goes on you are able to eat more, so if your bad habits haven't been addressed, even though you can still eat less than before, weigh loss will slow down and it will be harder to get to goal. I made the most of it and hit goal at six months, by the time I was one year out, I could eat substantially more than the 1/8 cup I was eating that first month. My doctor doesn't want his patients to EVER eat more than a cup of food at one meal, I still cannot eat a cup of food. Hopefully I never will be able too. I think many people struggle after the honeymoon period (6 - 12 months) because they've let bad habits slip back into their lives. I was very strict with myself when I was losing. NOTHING that you'd normally consider 'bad'. Nothing at all sweet, fried and I limited Pasta, potatoes and bread....I still limit them quite a bit. I didn't eat real butter.....I was careful and mindful of every single thing that I ate. I logged it all, I weighed daily, I weighed and/or measured my food. These are things I still do today and I will have to do forever. They're as natural to me as breathing. I know how quickly I can gain, I have a comfort zone, and if I'm a half pound above my high end, I cut back my calories by 100 - 150 per day.
For the first time in my life, I NEVER feel guilty about what I eat, for the first time in my adult life, I am not on a diet. I am in control, food is not. It's very liberating to throw food away.
My restriction is still very good, I try and under eat my sleeve, if I FEEL full, it's too late, I'm miserable. I haven't been hungry in almost 3.5 years, I have what I call my new hunger, more of an empty feeling.
I love my sleeve, not a minute of buyer's remorse.

I was 50 when I had surgery, I'm 54 now. Life altering, that's all I can say. People tell me I look younger, I don't know about that, but I sure feel good. Shopping is fun, life feels normal as a thin person. I still obsess about food, but I'm in control now, food is not.
It's fun NOT being the biggest girl in the room......many times I'm the smallest. I underestimated what I could do with this tiny tummy, never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd weigh under 145 and wear 4's and 6's.

According to my surgeon's plan, only if you puree it first. You may want to consult with your own surgeon's team though.

Yes you can purée anything that can go into a blender. What I think you really want to know is if you can just eat the meatloaf since it's tender and not purée. I never support not following your surgeons guidelines.

I've been wondering where the 50's are also? We need to keep this topic going. Don't let those 40's and 60's show us up!!
I'll be 57 this March. I live in Utah. I just got on disability for my weight in November (the same month I got sleeved!)
so I don't work. I just graduated from college in 2009 with a Bachelors in Social Work.
I have 5 kids (had-1 was killed a year ago when he was hit by someone who was texting) and 4 granddaughters.
I have a husband in name only-we have been separated for 8 years (married 38). His employer has great insurance so it's easier this way.
I have had a great time with my sleeve, No pain, no problems that I don't cause myself. I have lost 70+ lbs in 3 months, my goal is to hit 100 at my 5 month anniversary.
How about you?????