One year (minus 21 days)

I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…

If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.

The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.

Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.

Around the 5^th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.

I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since

I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.

Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.

My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.

Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.

Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.

I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.

What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…

I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.

At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J

On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.

I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…

My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.

Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

Thanks so much for all the detail and honesty! Great read, great help. Congrats!!!!!!!!

Thanks, it was really good to hear about your journey.

Congrats on being a yr out with your sleeve! Sounds like you have a learned a lot about eating, your sleeve, and even yourself. Thanks for sharing in such detail too. Your success story is very inspiring!!

^{Yhank you for your post and the details. I am 8 1/2 weeks out, so these posts really help.}

Job well done! Congratulations on your success!

Thank you for the insight and congrats on your success.

I really enjoy reading success stories, thank you for sharing. Congratulations on your first year.

well its been 15 months since my surgery pre op weight was 438 my health was horrible borderline high cholestrol high tryglycerides moderately high blood pressure and my diabetes was out of control i was takeing three shots of insulin a day and two different pills avandia metphormin, 6 week preop liquid diet i lost 30 pounds i weighed 408 day of surgery. surgery went well for me i was up and walking right after surgery liquids went down and i was released first out of my group i took two weeks off but i probaly could of gone back work in 4 days got my walks in everday, first 6 months were great got down to 345 had some platteu times were id lose not much in month but after first year i was down to 318 was excersiseing alot lifting wheights kinda fell off the wagon this past nov dec excersised alot but ate horribly through holidays nov december gained one pound my weigt as of jan 1 was 319 got serious again realizeing prime weighloss period for weighloss is first 2 years i am know below 300 pounds im at 292 which was my one year goal to be at but better late than ever i can tell you my life has drastically changed i lift weights 4 times week i do cardio 4 hours a week my health has drastically improved my cholestrol is low blood pressure is like it was when i was twenty 118 over 78 my blood sugar is normal no more insulin down to 1 metphormin a day ive gone from a 52 waist to 40 i feel like new person i have 52 more pounds get to my goal feel like i will do it well befor my 2 year anniversary i can honestly say the sleeve has given me my life back its best decision ive probaly ever made to improve my quality of life

Hi Rev Me Up!

Happy early sleeviversary!

Thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm getting close to goal and I love to read how others are doing at maintaining. Your story is especially compelling to me because we are the same height and have the same goal weight.

Congrats on successfully reaching goal and maintaining! I hope to join you at goal soon.

Lynda

Thhanks for sharing your story. I also wanted to comment on your experience with ice cream. I have had the same experience with that and I would suspect has happened for you is that you have become lactose intolerant. You may get over it with time, but I also used to really crave sweets and well, my "head" still likes to eat them, but when I eat them I don't get the same satisfaction I used to. I haven't tried dark chocolate as I never liked it before. I always used to say I wish they would make chocolate in general a 5th food group- now it doesn't matter to me so much anymore. Good job!

One year (minus 21 days)

I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…

If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.

The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.

Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.

Around the 5^th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.

I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since

I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.

Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, Soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.

My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.

Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.

Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.

I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.

What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…

I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.

At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J

On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.

I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…

My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.

Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

Your story was very interesting. I appreciate your honesty. I am glad to hear you have reached goal weight and even beyond and now. I'm glad you can eat more variety now, that makes me feel better. I am so new to this and hoping I can eat ok one day.

One year (minus 21 days)

I am doing my one year sleevaversary post a couple weeks early because I am going to be very busy with travel and projects over the next month. So, here’s what the last 344 days have been like…

If you have followed my posts, you know I was a band to sleeve revision. I was a low BMI (31) and my original goal was to lose about 60 pounds. At this point, I have surpassed my goal and lost 67 pounds. In all honesty, it is probably even a little more because I didn’t weigh myself the week I went in for surgery. But, who’s counting? :-) Weight progress to-date: 195 (probably closer to 200 in reality) to 128.

The first 2 months, I was so exhausted I could barely hold my head up. It was bad. No real pain after the pesky drain area healed up. However, I have never had a Protein drink through this whole process. Just couldn’t do it. And I probably suffered for it. Energy didn’t get back to normal levels for several months, but the first 8-10 weeks was seriously bad. It was depressing on a lot of levels. I ate a lot of mashed sweet potato, yogurt, ricotta cheese with mashed chicken in it, runny oatmeal, cream cheese with deli meat, mini-brie bites from Trader Joes, and TONS of cottage cheese.

Another deficiency on my part: never drinking enough Water. I still don’t. It has tasted terrible ever since surgery. At this point I drink Arrowhead sparkling water almost exclusively. Something about the bite of the bubbles is very refreshing and easy for me to handle. I burp a lot, but it is the only way I get any fluids in. I drink about 30 oz of Fluid a day.

Around the 5^th month, the hair started falling out. I had cut my hair short because I was too exhausted to hold a blow dryer, so no one could notice the difference. I have very thick hair. I only noticed because I had tons of hair coming out in my hand when I washed it. It has stopped without any supplements or change in diet.

I took a PPI for about 6 months and then stopped. Haven’t needed it since

I took Vitamins for about 4 months and then stopped - I am Vitamin D deficient and the MD wants me to take Vit D tabs. I do my best :-) All other bloodwork is consistently good.

Although I moved on to more normal foods over time, I found that I couldn’t eat just anything. Right around the 9 month mark I found I could eat whatever was in front of me (bread, rice, soup, etc). This has been great for me because I used to have a lot of anxiety about needing food and not being able to find something.

My daily eating habits are a bit different from most of the folks on the board, from what I have read. I still have to eat 6 or more times a day to get in enough calories to function. I do not limit myself on sugar, carbs, or anything – but I do have certain foods that make me feel better. I always have protein because I feel good when I eat it. I keep myself from getting low blood sugar that way. However, I do eat a dark chocolate covered graham cracker from Starbucks most days as well. I get a tall mocha / no whip with 2 packets of sugar in the raw most days too. The sugar doesn’t seem to bother me, but I do always have Snacks / meals with protein throughout the day.

Things that surprised me after surgery: my taste buds are COMPLETELY different. I used to hate dark chocolate, now I love it. Never drank coffee before, now I have a daily mocha habit. Most sweet things are way too sweet. I can’t really eat spicy food anymore because it makes my tummy feel bad, which sucks because I love spicy food. I used to be a vodka martini gal, now I only drink wheat beer or anything with rum in it. Weird.

Things that I will not eat: ice cream or Peanut Butter. I tried ice cream a few times over the past several months and, boy did I regret it. I got the sweats and felt like I was going to throw up for 30 minutes or so after eating it. I have no idea why. Can’t be the sugar content because I eat sugary stuff every day, in some form. Can’t be the lactose – ½ of my diet was cheese and yogurt for months. Whatever it is, the reaction was so bad that I am not even tempted to eat it again. Peanut butter (by itself) gives me the worst gas / stomach aches. Like, doubled over, feel like I am being stabbed kind of stomach aches.

I don’t like to eat rice because it expands in my tummy and makes me uncomfortable. I can eat a giant bowl of tortilla chips (major slider), and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I still have to remind myself to wait a minute or two after I take a bite because I don’t really know how a certain food is going to feel in my stomach until it makes the journey. I do still have the “one more bite” compulsion and it is still very uncomfortable.

What else can I think of? I want to be detailed for those of you just starting out…

I haven’t vomited once since surgery, for any reason.

At 5’6” and 128 pounds, I wear size 8 pants and size small / 4 top. Bra size is 32 DD/DDD, but the boobs are pretty sad when I take the bra off. Most of my excess skin is in the pregnancy areas. My stomach is a mess and my boobs are pretty sad. But, I can finally see my c-section scar without assistance, so that is pretty good J

On a more personal note, I can say that this journey has totally been worth it, even though it was difficult mentally. The hardest part for me was feeling like I was fragile. I felt like I was vulnerable about what I could eat. I also was exhausted a lot of the time and I still have a fear of vigorous exercise because of it. I still get anxious if I don’t have food around because I am afraid my body will get “empty” and that feels terrible. I don’t have real hunger pains or rumbles. I just feel empty and if I wait too long, I start to shake and get light headed.

I finally feel like myself again. I am the same weight I was when I was in my early twenties. Looking at my body comp, I could probably lose another 5-10 pounds (I weighed 112 in high school and was perfectly healthy). I am not looking to lose weight. In fact, I was happy at 150. At this point, I don’t think I could gain weight if I tried. I literally eat all day long and stay the same or lose .5 to 1 pound a month. We’ll see how I am holding up in another year…

My advice to fellow sleevers: Don't weigh yourself every day!!!! Seriously, once every week or two will do it. I only weigh once a month now. You will drive yourself crazy with the scale, and you don't have to. Also, keep coming to this forum. There are some great people here that are very supportive.

Good luck to all of you. And, especially for the former lap band folks: keep your chin up. There is hope after that band fails you. I know because I have been there, walked through it, and I am really happy on the other side.

THANKS FOR SHAREING GREAT SUCCESS STORY

great job hun ... i have followed your story thanks so much for sharing ...