Hi all, I'm new here and I noticed that mostly everyone was a pretty new sleever. I thought since I'm three years out, I could answer some questions about long term results, etc. Also, I noticed a thread about African-American sleevers. I'm that too, so if you have any questions that are culturally specific I can answer those too. Here are my specifics:

Surgery Date Weight : 335 lbs

Current Weight : 185 lbs (which I've been maintaining for at least 1.5 years with absolutely no trouble).

Height: 5'8"

Sizes : 10 on the bottom (sometimes 12 in jeans), 6 on the top.

Measurements: 35 x 27x 45 (Yeah, I know).

Ask me anything.

Congratulations on your surgery, your weightloss and your maintenance. I'm sure we'll be bombarding you a lot in the future.

My first question - what has been the hardest part (or most surprising part) of maintenance for you?

Thanks for the welcome Mini!

The most surprising part of maintenance for me honestly, is that I can do it at all. I was so used to gaining back twice what I lost in record time, that I am constantly surprised when I get on the scale and that it is always within two or three lbs of the same weight. I weigh bout every other day so I don't get any nasty surprises.

The hardest part about maintenance is fighting the boredom eating. I'm a grazer and eating is a hobby to me (I'm never hungry. Ever. I just like to eat) so I have to fight with getting up in the middle of the night to eat random things. I still do it, but I just try not to go too crazy.

I think why this all works for me is because I always, from the start of being able to eat soft foods, just ate a little bit of exactly what I wanted. I know that's not what they tell you to do and I know that won't work for everybody, but I figured if I tried to low carb or sugar bust it, I would NOT be able to maintain it because I haven't been able to maintain any kind of restrictive eating historically.

welcome and congratulations! thanks for posting, and I look forward to your story and expertise.

Congratulations! Well I am african american and I am 3 weeks and 2 days post op! I feel really good but was there a time when the weight stopped and restarted? Since I started pre-op, upto two weeks post op I lost 24 lbs but at week three I am the same is this typical?

Hi all, I'm new here and I noticed that mostly everyone was a pretty new sleever. I thought since I'm three years out, I could answer some questions about long term results, etc. Also, I noticed a thread about African-American sleevers. I'm that too, so if you have any questions that are culturally specific I can answer those too. Here are my specifics:

Surgery Date Weight : 335 lbs

Current Weight : 185 lbs (which I've been maintaining for at least 1.5 years with absolutely no trouble).

Height: 5'8"

Sizes : 10 on the bottom (sometimes 12 in jeans), 6 on the top.

Measurements: 35 x 27x 45 (Yeah, I know).

Ask me anything.

Congratulations! Well I am african american and I am 3 weeks and 2 days post op! I feel really good but was there a time when the weight stopped and restarted? Since I started pre-op, upto two weeks post op I lost 24 lbs but at week three I am the same is this typical?

Hi redayh, congrats on your success and thanks for answering our questions! It's always exciting for this newbie to hear from fellow sleevers who are well into maintenance mode. How long did it take you to get to goal weight? Did you exercise a lot or just let the weight loss happen through caloric restriction? How is your sleeve capacity now compared to let's say when you first got to goal?

Hey there newme,

Thanks. I think it's totally typical to stall, at least it was for me. I lost weight the first two weeks (maybe 18 lbs) and then didn't lose a single lb for the next 5 weeks. i panicked a LOT. But it started up again and then stalled again. Then started up. A lot of back and forth, but it all worked out in the end.

Hi redayh, congrats on your success and thanks for answering our questions! It's always exciting for this newbie to hear from fellow sleevers who are well into maintenance mode. How long did it take you to get to goal weight? Did you exercise a lot or just let the weight loss happen through caloric restriction? How is your sleeve capacity now compared to let's say when you first got to goal?

Thanks Kris. My actual goal was 199lbs. I got to that in May of 2009 (Surgery March 2008). I lost the additional 15lbs slowly...by September of 2009). Since then I've weighed pretty much the same. I could probably lose more weight, but I am resistant to changing my eating.

I exercised about 5 days a week from October 2008 to February 2009--strenously about 1 hr or hardcore cardio a day. I'd already lost 90lbs by that point. It did not affect my weight loss that much..I lost about 20lbs during that time. In fact there were some weeks within that time that I would take off and those are the weeks that I would notice weight loss. And between February 2009 and May I lost about 15 lbs and did no exercise at all The exercise did make me feel better but IMO the calorie restriction was what counted.

I can eat much more than I originally could. It feels like a lot because I used to eat so little, but it's really not that much as compared to regular people. For example, I can eat a chicken thigh, but not two or I WILL throw up. I can eat a serving of ceral and milk (1 cup total 3/4 Cereal and 1/4 milk). More does not work. I can not each much in the way of sandwiches. Bread and meat together make me feel stuffed. So about 1/2 to 3/4 of a small fast food hamburger (I mean dollar menu size). If I had to guess I would say I can eat 6 to 8 ozs depending on the type of food. At the beginning but after healing, I could probably eat 3-4 ozs total.

It's always great to hear from long-term sleevers! Good to know you've been able to maintain your weight without too much trouble. Did you get sleeved in the US or abroad?

I got sleeved in Mexico by Dr. Alvarez.

It's always great to hear from long-term sleevers! Good to know you've been able to maintain your weight without too much trouble. Did you get sleeved in the US or abroad?

So glad you're here!! It's nice to have long-termers amongst us I'm only 5 months and little bit out and I still am quite restricted and have no real desire to eat either (which is good) -- my concern, though, is when I get to goal and maintenance and whether I'll be able to eat more (I don't want to disappear!) -- were you able to increase your eating to maintain or did your losing just stop??

So I'm 5 10 and my goal is 150 your body is happy at 185? I'm 3 months out and find myself cheating I just ate one bite of my granddaughters ice-cream it's not 3 icecreams like I use too but stupid old habits!

Yay, a "long timer" - congrats, you've done great. I've been learning how to maintain and put the brakes on losing since the first week of November. It's tricky, nobody told me this would be the difficult part. I hope it stays this easy.

You answered my one question; has your hunger returned. I'm glad to hear what you wrote. I hope I'm as lucky as you.

Second, when did you reach 'full capacity' as far as eating? I'm eight months out and can eat a half cup of food. I weigh and measure almost everything when I'm here at home. If it's soft stuff like home made Soup, I can eat a part of a little piece of french bread with it, but you get the picture. Will my tummy get larger? What should I expect? I'd heard that it reaches it's full size between 8 and 12 months.

Thanks.......and again, CONGRATS!!!!

Hi there redayh,

Congrats on your success! How awesome it is to hear the wonderful news, you are 3 years out and still loving your sleeve! I'm also glad to hear you're able to maintain your weight quite easily.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us, I hope that you will continue to come around from time to time and help us newbies with questions that may come up.