Randgalt

I am one year out, and there is nothing that I CAN'T eat, just things I choose not to (at least not often). I have little to no soda, Pasta, rice, and bread. They sit heavy in my sleeve and I don't enjoy them like I used to (and I was a CARB QUEEN before surgery!) Potatoes sit fine, but fill me up after 2-3 small bites, so I don't bother with them much. I choose to focus my meals on the Protein, with a small veggie or whole grain cracker on the side possibly. I eat Peanut Butter every single day, without fail- 1 tbsp creamy PB on a whole grain cracker is my evening snack. I have found that I feel much better, with more even energy throughout the day, if I eat 5 small meals per day and include some good carbs. I tried the extremely low carb thing and I felt lousy, my lifestyle is too busy, I needed the energy.
Hope this helps!

yeah... i've read quite a few on here say that they become lactose intolerant.. but no worries, because there's a variety of "milk" out there.. there's soy milk, almond milk, cashew milk, hemp milk, rice milk, etc.. if you like the taste of milk, i think rice milk is the closest out of the ones i've tasted. Protein wise, hemp, soy & almond are pretty good. almond milk is yummy, too. they come in different flavors, as well & have Vitamin D in them, just like milk.. there's also rice cheeses.. you could just look into vegan options for dairy products. they have "nice creams" and "cheeze".. cream cheese, etc. you wouldn't be "missing" anything, just changing how you do it.
i lost 80lb in 6 months just by cutting meat & dairy out of my diet.. i ate everything i wanted, including bread & chocolate (dark) everyday and had tacos and "burgers" and etc.. lost 80lb.. and i didn't exercise.
just saying that to show you that there's nothing to fear. losing dairy may not be what you're used to, but it could end up helping you shed extra pounds & get to your goal.

Update...
We arrived in New Orleans (yes, that New Orleans) on Sunday. Due to the hurricane everything was in flux. Dr. Lavin ended up doing the surgery yesterday. I'm now sitting in our hotel waiting for the storm to clear. The surgery was great success. The only issues for so far are bloating/pressure/gas. I hope that will pass soon. Also, it's tough to get all liquids in.

Today it has been seven months since my surgery! It still doesn't seem real sometimes. People that haven't seen me in a while do not recognize me. This journey has not always been easy but it is so worth the effort. I hurt my back in June so exercising has not been happening. But I am doing better and now its time to get this body toned! I look forward to reaching my weight loss goal. As far as other aspects of my life, I am starting to see the "me" come out of my shell that I knew was hiding for all those years. My confidence level is definitely at an all time high. I have been single for two years after a very difficult divorce. I think I am ready to break down those walls and date again. Now whether that is in God's plan is yet to be seen. I am just happy with how far I have come in such a short period of time both emotionally and physically. Thanks to everyone on this site that has been so encouraging. I don't have much genuine support from family or friends so you all have helped in ways you cannot even imagine along the way!

1 week after surgery.
Lost 17 on pre-op
I go today to see how much I've lost since I got sleeved on 8/22!
Keep up the good work y'all. It's well worth it!

(No pictures this time. I HATE photos; I'm so damned pale and washed out that I always look corpse-like and OLD in my photos, whereas in real life I'm looking pretty damned HOT! )
So I was sleeved in May 2010. It's about two and a quarter years out. I started at 338 lbs.
At that weight, I was miserable. I was sick all the time, everything hurt all the time. No clothes fit properly, unless I just bought everything in tent-like proportions. I had multiple chins, moobs (man-boobs), rolls and rolls of fat around my waist, a fat ass, fat legs, everything. I felt awful. I couldn't walk very far without becoming winded and my feet hurting. I couldn't stand upright for very long without my lower back aching, and my thighs would chafe like I was being scourged by the Furies.
And my self-esteem was just awful. I felt slovenly, ugly, unsexy, unsexual, unmasculine, frumpy, and ashamed all the time. I felt -- fairly realistically -- that no woman would look twice at me, let alone want to take me as a lover. It was okay, though, because I was in a monogamous relationship, so I didn't need to "date." How disrespectful that is to my girlfriend, I can't put into words. But that's a separate issue. That's between us.
Fast forward, past VSG surgery, past two years of steady weight loss, careful eating, ups and downs, plateaus and sharp drops, past fitfully starting and restarting my fitness program, to today.
Now, I work out at the gym almost every day. I like it. I look forward to it. It's how I start my day! It's still challenging, I'm still exhausted, but I look forward to it. I usually lift weights, but some days, like today, are all about stabilizers and athletic performance -- today was focused on speed and agility, on building muscle memory. My trainer agreed with me that I'm still pretty uncoordinated, but also was impressed at how fast I improved; he claimed that maybe, under years of sloth and a sedentary lifestyle, just maybe I was a natural athlete who never developed his abilities! I'm not sure I'd go that far, but I think that I have a lot of potential, and better late than never -- let's leave it at that.
I'm getting ripped. With my shirt off, my chest and shoulders and arms ripple with muscle; they have a lot of that classic bodybuilder look (without that nasty veiny zero body fat/covered in baby oil thing). I realized today, and pointed out to my girlfriend -- that I'm actually developing a six pack. Me! Mr. Fat-ass! Mr. Lazy! A six pack!
I'm down to just a hair over 200 lbs. That means I've lost over 130 pounds, and (more importantly) am maintaining it (and, in fact, am still losing, slowly). At the same time, I'm steadily building muscle mass (contrary to myth, muscle building is slow, but all my measurements show a steady gain). My stamina and energy are the best they've ever been. EVER. Even when I was a kid, and I'm 42 now! My latest testosterone measurement was 611 ng/dL, which is pretty phenomenal. Reference range is 300-800, so this puts me on the high end, about on par with a kid in his 20's; this is just stunning for a man in his 40's, and bodes very well for my continued sexual and physical well being into middle age and old age. It will protect me from injuries, keep me strong and fit, and even boost my mood and libido going forward.
My self-esteem is way up. My girlfriend and I opened our relationship up to other partners (if you want to discuss open relationships/polyamory, I'm available to talk, but please don't post here, that's not the point ), which means I'm dating again. And I'm having FUN! I'm finding that women that I used to consider "out of my league" are now tongue-tied around me. I messaged a woman on my poly-friendly dating site; I thought she was super sexy and probably way too pretty for me, and she responded that she hadn't contacted me because she thought I was out of her league. I mean, holy crap, Batman! Who'da thunk it!
But it's not just vanity. I'm finally, finally, finally coming to accept that I'm a handsome, interesting, attractive, sexy, sexual, masculine man. Along with being wicked smart, with an IQ approaching 200, I'm becoming something of a jock. I'm hiking, bicycling, running, lifting weights, and soon I'm going to start swimming laps at the local pool. I go out to concerts and clubs, I date, kiss, make love, have fun. I'm fit, in shape, and healthy as an ox. Yes, I'm middle aged, so my only regret was that I couldn't have found this when I was 20.
But you know what? I'll take it. I'll take it! This is the life that I think many people wish they could lead. And in a lot of ways, I owe it all to the sleeve!

Before/after Progress Pic @ 3 Months & -47 Lbs
First time in a while that I feel slightly ok with getting in front of the camera, so I don't really have a good before body picture.
5ft 3in SW 250 / CW 203
VSG 6/11/12
Before
Before/side profile
After (During)/side profile
After (During)

Hello folks,
I can't tell you how much I appreciate this forum. Without this forum, I can't imagine that I'd be embarking on this surgery.
As a child, I was normal weight. However, many members of my extended family were overweight with some having diabetes. In my early 20s I started gaining weight and have never stopped. As I approach 50 I'm obese, have very high blood sugar (and will definitely become Type 2 Diabetic), high cholesterol, severe sleep apnea, etc. I've done Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Phentermine, exercise, Pritikin, and a lot more.
A few years ago I looked into the Lap Band and decided against it. The post-band lifestyle and complications were more than I was willing to live with. Gastric Bypass was too severe and not really appropriate for someone with my BMI. A few months ago I found out about VSG and it appears to be the answer to my dreams. My problem has always been binge eating - once I start I can't stop. VSG seems to be the tool that can help me stop.
After a lot of investigation I'm pretty sure I'll be going with Dr. Lavin in Louisiana. I'm self pay and he is much cheaper than the doctors in California where I live. Also, he seems to be very highly rated.
Anyway - I'm in the very early stages and I'll keep those interested posted via this thread.
-Jordan

Update...
We arrived in New Orleans (yes, that New Orleans) on Sunday. Due to the hurricane everything was in flux. Dr. Lavin ended up doing the surgery yesterday. I'm now sitting in our hotel waiting for the storm to clear. The surgery was great success. The only issues for so far are bloating/pressure/gas. I hope that will pass soon. Also, it's tough to get all liquids in.

Gross, but true. And stool softener was essential in my case. I learned the hard way. I'll just say the words "bowling ball" and leave it to your imagination.

OA can really help a lot of people. There's a great book, a very short read, about overeating called "Hungry" by Allen Zadoff. He's not a surgery advocate and didn't have surgery, but it does address his journey with overeating and how he overcame it.
The sleeve WILL prevent you from eating massive amounts of food and it will do it from day one for the rest of your life. Eating enough to stretch it even the small amount it will give will cause you pain and you will simply toss the extra bites of food back up. This is not a pouch that will slowly give way to overeating. It will never stretch out to anything remotely like a preop stomach.
That said, it's possible to eat just about any food with the sleeve, and we have no malabsorption. So if you make the choice to eat massive amounts of, say, ice cream or pudding, there is nothing to stop you. Nothing in the sleeve forces you to eat less calories, at least once you're healed. If you make the same poor choices after surgery, you will not succeed in reaching your goal. Sure, you can't eat a whole pizza, an order of wings and drink two liters of soda. But you could easily consume over 2,000 calories a day if you made them slider foods.
I've seen very few people post about regains on here. I've seen a small number of people come back here because they've only managed to lose a third of their excess weight and need help getting back on track. There could be a larger number of people struggling and they're simply not admitting it out in a public forum. There's no way to know.
Just like any WLS, the sleeve can only take you so far. I think the most important part of reaching and maintaining goal is working on the emotional/mental issues that make us fat in the first place. Beyond that, the sleeve really is only a tool that gives us the restriction we need to feel satisfied with less food.
Don't hold me to it, but I'm pretty sure that every single time someone has posted on here with real issues losing, they admit to not really following a good diet. I know that every regain post I've seen has had to do with people not working on their issues prior to goal and being unprepared for life in maintenance. You would have to WORK at eating the wrong things to fail at the sleeve. But the most important thing any of us can do to ensure a fully healthy body and mind after surgery (and for the rest of our lives) is working through the baggage, not just aiming for a number on the scale. So OA, counseling, coming here - whatever it is that you need to do to work on things - you have to do it. If you don't, you'll get to goal and have learned nothing more than how to lose weight restricting calories and you won't have the tools you need or the healthy outlook to easily maintain.
I, personally, LOVE my sleeve. It got me to goal. It took away my hunger and let me stick to the restrictive diet I needed for the 17 months it took me to hit goal. It gave me the time I needed to work on my emotional eating and overeating issues, which was much easier to do when food wasn't as appealing and it was difficult to eat much. I'm maintaining pretty easily and I now eat pretty much whatever I want but I do it in moderation. I'm normal, and I couldn't have done it without my sleeve.
~Cheri

I went to Knotts berry Farm on Friday. I had not been for 2 years because I was a millimeter from not being able to fit into the rides. This time there was room to spare! I couldn't even get the bar over my stomach in the bumper cars and there was plenty of room to spare. I ran everywhere and only had enough when the temp reached 105 and I had gone on Xcelerator twice.
I went into Goodwill and found size medium tops and size 10 jeans and shorts. They now almost fit. The pants I mean. I am wearing medium tops.
I went into target and got this cute little dress off the rack and it fit beautifully. It was the first time I have worn a dress in AGES. We went grocery shopping after church and the girl at the deli counter looks at me and says, "Have you lost weight? You look incredible!"
That made my day and I told her so. I didn't even think she remembered me from week to week.

lol - I hope to never shop at Casual Male XL again!

Hi friends, I just had to post some vegas vacation photos. I haven't taken photos that I was happy about in years so here I go. What a difference from my "fat days"

I just passed my 2 week mark , have had my first post op visit with my doctor and nutr. last Friday and thought I would share just a few things I have learned the hard way that I can look back at now with some humor and relief.
If any of it helps someone get through a few days great~~
1.Don't trust a toot to be just a toot the first few or so days....that was something that lasted a week or so for me and I actually was so happy to be finally passing gas that I just passed gas..or so I thought that first second... So I got up and down a lot to the toilet just in case but after that first oops, I wasn't taking any chances.
2. Don't push yourself. Everyone tells you,EVERYONE!~~~ LISTEN,when it comes to moving and drinking,your body knows best.So easy to over do it.
3. Do not drink drinks with red dye in them~~~I mean holy moly I freaked out! I thought I was bleeding out,and was going to die,it was the red crystal light fruit punch working its way out,,,thankfully the awesome folks of this forum had my back,while I called my doctor.
4.Remember how difficult this whole thing is and it is emotional and its ok to feel those ups and downs, I thought there was something wrong with me because I was so upset and sad. But it goes away and you WILL feel better!
5.And finally visit here often,it makes you feel better to know others are feeling the same, so many of you all have had my back through my posts or just by me reading yours.This place has been a Godsend.
And while this is still a big,big battle for me, I'm working it and I'm going to keep visiting here and I'm going to be patient with myself and keep a sense of humor.....

Had my psych eval today & really enjoyed talking to Dr. Jay Ashmore. He threw out that about 20% of people that had WLS regain their weight after two years-- which another angle is 80% DON'T.
One of my considerations in choosing between VSG & RNY is the long-term odds. It didn't help to talk to a friend from years ago that had a RNY & went from 210 to 104 & has maintained that weight for 3+ years. My concern has never been the loss so much as the maintenance.
So did anyone else have these concerns?

Hey Randgalt - I had a small hiatal hernia that was discovered when they went in to remove my band and perform the VGS. I'm not sure about the cost as it will go through my insurance. Wish I could tell you more. I suppose it's always a possibility for many having this surgery. I've also heard of people ending up with hiatal hernias after having WLS. I seem to recall a few friends who had the gastric bypass a few years back and were actually hoping to end up w/ a hernia so they could have it fixed and seek a Tummy Tuck at the same time. Not exactly sure how that one would work?
______________________________________________________________
QOTD response from a few days back:
Since we are now a big 'ol (soon to be small) sleeve family----lets share some information about ourselves!!!
Name- Tai
Age- (if you wish) 43, but will be 44 on 8/17!!
Location- Long Beach/Signal Hill, CA
highest weight/current weight/ goal weight- 289/206/140
Anything else you'd like to share? I'm a HUGE Foo Fighters fan, love going to concerts, have met some of the most amazing people from this crazy online world, even met my husband online in 1999. I'm an extremely happy and social person. I love my life and enjoy my job. The one thing I am unable to get a handle on is my weight. And it is the one part of my life that frustrates me the most. I'm ready to move towards living the life I deserve to live...happy with me and my body.

Kind of weird when the nurse grabed my penis to remove it.
this is what I am not looking forward to.
I am 50 with an 18 y/o labido...

So I posted a few days ago about how well I feel like I have been doing but I wanted to put up some pictures and get some opinions. I feel like something is wrong with my eyes. I can definately tell with my scale and the way I feel how much weight I have lost but when I look at pictures I dont feel like I see a big difference. Maybe I just chose the wrong pictures to compare or maybe mI just crazy!!lol!! Starting weight 257 Current weight as of today 196. If you cant see them please let me know!

Please - take a few minutes every once in a while to update your stats. I see posts everyday from people celebrating their success tht have little or no information filled out in their profile.
When I see someone has a surgery date near mine, I look to see what their loss is - to make sure I am about the same as others. Or when I read a persons' comments I like to see how far along they are in their journey and how much they have lost. I think I would take comments from a successful 1 year VSG'er a bit more seriously than someone that has not had their surgery yet.
Also things like your height also helps to understand if a post is written by someone that has a body type like mine - or from someone that is coming from a different perspective.
It just takes a few minutes and helps all of us. It is nothing to be embarrassed about - not on this site. We are a very unique group and understand that you have for years hidden hard numbers about your weight. And for a lot of subjects, it doesn't matter. It does not matter what your starting weight was for a post about workout tunes. But for many posts it helps others understand you and helps us all as a group.
Is it just me? Or do others feel this way too?

This must be the night for "Booth or Table" NSVs!! Hooray!!
7 months ago, I went to this pizza place here in Albuquerque, and the only place to sit was a teeny tiny booth for 2. I reluctantly sat there with my husband, and I had to SQUUUEEEEEEZE myself into it, and then it was hard to eat because the table was pressing me in half and I was hanging out in the aisle. I cried in frustration and embarrassment. I told him at the time I was going to come back in six months and make that booth my B***H!!
Well, here's my B***H:

Take THAT booth!!

I am just back from a day night date with my hubby!! We went to Fredricksburg, TX for some fun, relaxation, shopping and FOOD! I was really worried how this was going to go....
First day there - we went to Mamacita's for lunch. He ordered the crispy taco plate and been and cheese nachos. I ate one taco (shredded beef and cheese with hotsauce) and half of a nacho! It was wonderful, tasty and I was stuffed! He ate the rest plus 2 beers and several beautiful home made tortillas!!
For dinner - we went to a great German restaruant - and he had the Schnitzel Kase, and I was dismayed to see very little I could eat. I settle on the Klopse meat balls (beef and pork) and of course it came with a huge pile of buttered noodles and saurkraut. The meat balls were in a caper dill sauce - and there were 2 about 3 oz each - so I plopped the other on his plate and set in. Big problem - the meat ball had a lot of bread filling in it. I ate about 3/4 of it - and could feel it EXPAND in my belly. Luckily, we did a lot of walking afterwards, and 30 min. after - I started back with my Water - so no pain!
We slept in the next day, so hit town about 11. He had a hpme made burger plate - I had half an order of quiche Lorraine - yum! Dinner that night was another German place - he had schnitzel, I had an appetizer called German Rueben rolls. Basically, 2 egg rolls made with corned beef, swiss cheese and saurkraut - with thousand island dipping sause! I ate almost all of it - super good!
We did buy some Amish cheese we snacked on in our B&B that night, and I feel like I really didn't miss out on the food end....and don't feel bad about myself. I know I probably didn't hit my 60g of Protein, but I will be back on track tomorrow and have fish and shrimp thawing in my sink!
I was really worried about the "enjoying" food aspect after this surgery. I have to pay more attention, but do not feel deprived at all. I am so thankful!!!!

<-- Atheist here

I always like seeing progress photos so here are some of mine. I had surgery on 4/20/12 and have lost 85 lbs. A few of those were pre-op.
I eat 600-700 calories a day that I track on MFP/min of 60 protein/min 64 oz water/max 25 carbs.
I have totally got this! My only regret is that I didn't pick out a more attractive "progress photo" outfit.

Hi Fellow June Sleevers. Haven't been here for awhile. I am now 2 months out. Here are my results so far . . .
Blood Pressure - Now off all medications
Blood glucose - fasting as running 135 - 150, now running 90 - 105
Weight - down 38 lbs
clothes are now VERY loose.
Rode my bike 6.5 miles today!