After 6+ Months Out, Is Losing Weight, And Maintaining Weight, Harder Or Easier?

[K33 87]

I am wondering after the initial weight drop-- say about 6 months out --is losing weight for you easier than it was before your operation? Or, for any of you, did it feel as if you are on a diet again? I read on the forums that people talk about their weight creeping back up. Since I am no saint, it could happen to me also.

How do you define vsg as a " tool? " Does it give you a head start on your weight loss for 6 months before normal hunger returns?

Many of us on the boards and I include myself have an eating disorder..... binge eater or overeater. I understand ahead of time that the hard emotional work connected with food obssession and cravings must be done. By Using the method of intuitive eating I have maintained my obese weight for about 3 years. I have not tried to diet in that time. Naturally getting to my pre surgery go weight on a food plan is quite a shock to my system. I Get closer everyday.

Some days I am sure I want to proceed and other days I cannot imagine Feeling this hungry in the future.

[Webchickadee 716]

I can't speak to what it will be like at the 6+month mark yet, as I'm only 2 weeks post-op. But I too was starving in the 2 week pre-op liquid diet and thought OMG, I can't do this for the rest of my life!

At the moment, I don't really get HUNGRY the way I used to. I do feel "empty" every 3-4 hours and sometimes it has to do with excess stomach acid more than hunger. I can eat or drink a little bit and it cures this problem right away. I'm getting about 500-600 calories a day and sometimes can't even manage that. And no real hunger. And prior to the surgery, I was probably eating 3000+ calories a day!

[Lissa 2,631]

I'm almost 9 months out and, while the weight loss slows down on it's own, it's still really easy for me to control my hunger. Losing weight isn't as easy as it was immediately post-op, thank goodness. I can't imagine where I'd end up if I were still losing 20 pounds a month! But, staying on track and "just" eating normal is much easier than before.

I do get hungry, but it's more like "Oh, it's been 4 hours since I ate". I eat a meal, which for me is about 5-6 oz of food, and then I'm satisfied and move on with my day. It's not an all-consuming hunger that says I have to eat mass quantities right this minute!

I'm still losing weight, but at a reasonable pace. I'm exercising and still working through my food issues. I think the food issues will pretty much resolve themselves as I continue. One of the biggest changes for me post-op has been that I now think of food as either Protein or not Protein. I still eat protein first, and I've added back in some complex carbs to my diet because of the exercise I'm doing. The carbs give me a short-term energy boost for exercise, which is great!

As for the sleeve being a tool, it helps us to jump start the weight loss process, plus gives us restriction to help us not overeat. It's not magic, but sometimes it sure feels like it!

[Pookeyism 1,143]

I am not quite at 5 months and I would have to say for me it is no harder, but probably slighter different reasons, since I have a metabolism issue I am fighting also.

Just to touch base I have a problem with my body acclimating to whatever calories I am eating pretty quick, and I have to shuffle it around. So you can only shuffle down so far, you also have to shuffle up.

With the sleeve I could easily shuffle down. I bet I could consume 200-300 calories a day if I wanted to, but who would? To avoid nutrition issues I have been focusing on protien first, and veggies second, with nutrients a constant. I purposefully will have a teaspooonfull of pecan oil in a smoothie or something every so many days, etc, to have a higher calorie day. It helps with the metabolism issue.

With that said I am right at about 50 lbs since the surgery, and coming up on 5 months, so it will average out to about 10 lbs a month for me. I think that would make alot panick, and feel as if it had not worked. I don't seem to be at risk of gaining it back, and I am still loosing, and my problems with my metabolism would have long destroyed any dieting attempt by now.

I know the stats and risks of gaining but I have to say in six months, or a year, etc. If you gain it back it isnt "the sleeve" - no offense to anyone it is your choices, your habits, you food intake, your slacking off at the gym or whatever.

It could be easy to do, the hunger beast is not necessarily there, and unfortunately alot of sleevers seem not to battle or deal with the head hunger as much as they find ways (as one said) "to work with my sleeve so I can still binge if I really need to". If you eat the snack foods, the angel food cake and cheetos and learn to drink while eating, go back to the same food choices, etc. yes, as time progresses you will likely sabotage yourself. I know of a lady, she is not on here that I know of (if she is she will ahve probably told her story better than I did). She lost 100 lbs and kept if off a year, so she was at about 2 years before she got off track. Then there was the summer of McDonalds. She would walk to the food court in a mall accross the highway and it started out with salads and Soups onto chicken sandwiches and finally hamburgers and fries and she started getting the bigger burgers with no veggies and would take off the top bun, and what she didnt finish she would pick at with a fork the rest of her work day, so she added over 500-800 calories a day to her diet in a matter of a few short months. By october she was 30 lbs up, 20 more by december.

Luckily she caught herself and got back down. I think of her alot in my journey, especially when I go "I can have that ONCE".

[bikerchick519 202]

I'm almost 7 months out and the weight loss has definitely slowed down and I can eat more now than I could before so I really have to keep myself in check with what I eat. I have to stay on track and remember to watch my carbs and just follow the basics they taught us.

[kysia81 11]

Hi there so any ideas on what I can do to lose more weight? I had surgery may 15th and only have lost 7 pounds! And I was 283 pounds so I weight a lot! People who had their sleeve the same day have lost 14-26 pounds and I'm at 7!

[Foxbins 625]

I'm 17 months post-op. I stopped adding food to my portion sizes at about 8 months. I eat 3 oz of dense Protein each meal. Although my weight loss slowed at 8-9 months, I will still lose if I don't eat enough calories for the day. For me, that's about 1400. I don't feel like I'm on a diet; I was a carnivore before surgery and remained so, but now each meal doesn't end with dessert and Snacks aren't filled with sugar.

The "tool" part of VSG is for me the head part. I can eat loads of chips that chew down to nothing if I want. I have to choose not to do that. I can sit in the recliner all day and do nothing. I have to choose not to do that.

If you make the right choices I think the later months aren't very difficult.

[Finding MeMe 204]

I'm 4 months out and I can feel it slowing down. I also notice that when I crank up my intensity and work out hard for the week, I lose more weight. I don't count calories or carbs but I will start soon because I need to know the amount of calories by body needs maintain my goal weight. I like the restriction part of the sleeve because no matter how good the food looks I can only have a small amount which helps me to easily lose weight. When before, I would work out twice a day for at least 2 hours and the scale wouldn't move.