Hi, Everyone,

I had WLS 3 years ago and I want to talk about some of the things I have learned and what helped me along the way. The first thing I had to learn was I this was totally ALL about me and no one else. I had to put my energy into myself. You may be lucky and have a lot of support. I had a lot of support at home. My two kids who do not live at home were not supportive at all—they were sure I had made a huge mistake and would suffer medically. I now know that they were just scared and did know a lot about my “Sleeve” Surgery and had the wrong information. It is still hard for them to compliment me on my weight loss. My husband was fabulous when it came to my support.

As I started to lose weight and my friends could see that I had lost a lot of weight. My eating habits had certainly changed just like yours have. My friends would watch what I ate when we went out to eat. I am sure they thought I was going to starve myself—LOL. We all know that is NOT true at all. If you do not have a sleeve, you can’t possibly understand or know that we are eating is just what we need unlike how we used to eat. This is NOT a diet; this is a lifestyle change that I will do the rest of my life.

Three years later I can eat a little more than I did the first year. I was sitting eating lunch today and thinking about how I chew. At first it was difficult to chew a tiny bite 30 or 40 times or until it was like a liquid in my mouth. Now I don’t think about it. I have learned that I don’t have to chew it that much to swallow it. Then I got to thinking about it, it really is much better to take the time to chew it 30 or 40 times. It takes me longer to eat when I chew my bites 30 or 40 times and I honestly try to listen to my stomach that says it is full. If I go back to just shoveling the food in like I did in the past that isn’t good either. So it is important that you keep using the skills that you are learning when it comes to eating.

I want you to become creative when it comes to meal planning, and don’t eat the same things over and over. You will get bored and start looking for the wrong things to eat. Try something new at least once a month. These weight loss support boards have a lot of great recipe ideas. I bought a book on how to cook chicken a lot of different ways. Find foods you like and use them in a lot of different ways. I recently learned how to make apple crisp that is so yummy, and I make it for dessert. It is healthy and something my husband and I have and we do not feel guilty about what we are eating.

I want you to be successful and if anything I learned along the way helps you, then this is good news. I started this journey after a lot of research. I took the time to find the best surgeon I could. My surgery was done by Dr. Aceves. He and his staff have ALWAYS answered ANY questions I had before and after the surgery. I can’t say enough good things about him and his entire staff.

I was given the tool—my sleeve so that I could be successful at weight loss and keep it off for ever. I had a fear of regaining, but with my new tool and my lifestyle change that will never happen to me again. I struggled like so many of your trying to make up my mind about should I or shouldn’t I have WLS. Then I realized I had a disease and this was going to be my cure for my disease. It is nothing to be ashamed of. It takes more courage to have WLS than just sitting there doing nothing. http://images.obesit...y/msn/cool2.gif

It isn’t about will power and pulling yourself up by your boot straps and getting serious and doing a diet and exercise. Do you know how many times I thought “Well I should be able to do this on my own” If that honestly worked, you would have lost weight a LONG time ago, because you have tried to diet and exercise already.http://images.obesityhelp.com/_shared/images/smiley/msn/shrug.gif I am willing to bet you have done the Yo, Yo thing—lose it and gain it back.

It just feels so GREAT to be healthy again after many years of being unhealthy and fat. I wish you great success with your WLS journey. If you have any questions about my WLS or why I picked Dr. Aceves please send me an E-mail and ask your questions. http://images.obesit.../lovestruck.gif

Hugs, http://images.obesit.../msn/party4.gif

Suzanne

Thanks, Suzanne, for posting and checking in! It's great to hear from folks who are multiple years out from surgery who are doing great.

Great post! A lot of things hit home for me. It really is important to keep changing the menu. I hate getting bored. Congrats on your great continued success!

Great post! The sleeve really is such a life changing thing. I am so glad you are doing so well three years out. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for the nice things you have said. I am always working at making my life better. I want to live to be 100 and being healthy is a big part of that. I have learned so much about my relationship with food and I now eat to live. I used to live to eat the next meal. I ate a lot of the wrong things and way tooooooooo much of it. My sleeve has changed my entire life.

Hugs,

Suzanne

Suzanee,

Thank you so much for sharing your story, I'm getting close to goal, and maintenance scares me. It is so inspiring to know that you are successful this far out from surgery, you are not starving, and you are healthy and happy.

Your success tips are very helpful too. I'm guilty of not chewing my food enough.I practiced before surgery and was forced to eat that way till a couple of months out, but after that it's been back to my old habits. I don't eat as fast as I did before I began the journey, but I don't chew 30 times per bite either. I'm going to work on that as I work towards goal. I think if I do it long enough, it might become habit and not such a bother.

Lynda

Thank you so much for your perspective and advice! Such a positive role model for those of us with newer sleeves. Congratulations on your success! :-)

Jen

This was great, Thank you for your wisdom and insight. I love to read post from those that have had the sleeve for a few years. Congrats on still doing well and proving the nay sayers wrong!

Susannesh thank you for this great post! It's so great to hear about all your success including long term! Congratulations on all that you have accomplished! And thank you again for thinking of us on this board, and taking the time to reflect and share with us -- really appreciating the encouragement and peace of mind your posts brings!!!!

Awesome post.. Very encouraging... It's amazing how loved ones can think their actions are showing concern, but in actuality they are showing selfishness and not supportive..

I'm so glad you are truly another success story.. Thanks for sharing!!!