I am still pre-op and i think that the sleeve will reduce hunger and capacity to eat at first, but I wanted to start a thread about the "success factors" that are making a difference for people... those lifestyle changes that are needed for long term success.

When I look at myself, I love to be active and am confident that getting weight off will help me return to a high level of activity. I have horses, dogs and a small hobby farm - there are things that are just easier to do when you weigh less so for me, being more active is one of the reasons I am having this surgery. I am someone who actually likes exercise, but it is better when it doesn't hurt so much....

For me, i see my food issues to fall into 3 catagories:

1. Big appetite, especially later in the day. i hope the surgery helps with this because man, I have tried every tip I have heard and I still tend to have a big appetite (sorry, low carbing doesn't help - I am still hungry and want to eat especially in the evening after dinner!). It is like I just have this ridiculous stomach capacity and appetite. Many years ago, I used to wake up in the middle of the night hungry, and feel like i needed to eat to sleep but I broke that habit thank goodness.

2. planning/carelessness. This is especially on weekends when i am not on my regular schedule and frankly "convenience food" doesn't support my goals that well. I have been doing better about keeping things with me in the car to keep from getting overly hungry and being tempted while out and about. I carry Water so first thing I do is drink that before deciding whether to eat. This does continue to be a challenge because my premier Protein drinks are super convenient, low carb and high protein, travel well, but don't put much of a dent in my hunger. I am hoping that is also better after surgery.

3. Occasional stress eating when things go really sideways at work or something. I have been getting alot better with this one and have found many substitutes as well as just learning to "feel the anxiety/stress" or whatever and not react like I need to somehow fix it or numb it. I have gained a lot of confidence on this one, and have learned that the number one trigger is really just getting over tired.... so for me the best solution is regular decent sleep/rest

Anyway, I am sure everybody has their own unique list and possible solutions. Would love to hear about what is working for you and maybe get new ideas.

I think you will discover that post-sleeve, your hunger issues will change. They may not go away, but they will change. When they remove a good chunk of your stomach, a lot of the places that the hunger hormone, grehlin, is produced are gone. I definitely still get hungry, but it's a true physical hunger, not a head hunger (I'm able to ignore the "Oh, a little snack sounds good right about now" voice much more easily now!). You can't physically eat a lot of volume post-sleeve, so it's almost like your body realizes this and food becomes much less important--you can't physically do it, so you don't even want to try.

Planning is actually very important post-sleeve--but you can definitely make allowances that will give you some flexibility, too. I carry Protein bars and almonds in my purse. Because it's not that big a deal any more, I have frequently had 1/2 a Protein Bar for lunch without worrying about eating something else--seriously, I never thought that would happen to me. The whole hunger thing, again, is different, and I find mine is much more easily satisfied than I ever would have imagined.

Stress or emotional eating--I can't comment on that because I don't really do that. But I will say that the sleeve will prevent you from overindulging in any kind of eating--volume control doesn't turn on and off. :-) The sleeve has made me much more aware of the types of food I'm selecting as well as the volume of food, and that has been a relief, in a strange sort of way. I LIKE the limitations I have with the sleeve--it allows me to eat enough to live on but the whole reliance on food as a sort of numbing or emotional necessity is gone now. I like that freedom.

I will also say that no matter how much you plan and prepare, when you're actually there, things are different, sometimes in surprisingly positive ways. My husband says he was prepared for the sleeve to limit his overeating; he was not prepared for the almost complete change in his eating preferences, from high-fat, high-calorie foods pre-sleeve to healthy foods post-sleeve--just overcoming that urge to eat, eat, eat helped him make better choices almost from the get-go. We both prefer healthier options now to our previous diets, which were undisciplined to say the least...and I can tell you that's due to our sleeves.

I'm not sure I qualify as a successful sleever yet, but I have made a ton of lifestyle changes already.

I don't go into convenience stores anymore and just wander. If I go into one, I'm looking for something specific, like Water. If I'm hungry when I walk in now, I grab a small bag of nuts, not a candy bar like before. I almost always carry a Protein bar with me and I usually have a couple of bottles of water floating around in the car, so trips into the stores are rare.

I walk way more than I used to do. I think nothing of walking to the mailbox in my apartment complex, or hauling our garbage to the dumpster. When we first moved in here, I could barely walk from my apartment to the car. I also walk to the "gym" here to do my treadmill walks...and THAT is something I'd have never considered pre-sleeve.

The biggest lifestyle change has been going out to eat. I still do it, but it's not the focus when I meet up with friends now. We'll hit the movies, go shopping (for clothes, yeah!), or take a tour of something now as the main focus of an outting.

I don't know if it's really a lifestyle "change" so much as it is a lifestyle "enhancement"!

I was sleeved 3 months ago and I have to say the mental aspect of this journey has been easier than I expected. I was worried that I would be an emotional wreck and not be able to follow the rules. However, the sleeve does something amazing. It takes away those strong hunger pains for junk and replaces it for (what I call normal) hunger signals.

I no longer crave carbs and junk. I eat healthy and really only want healthy things. I know that will probably change in the near future but I am preparing myself for it and taking it one day at a time.