I'm a 51 year old male, about 80 lbs over weight and have struggled with my weight for the last 20 years. I'm just so damn tried of the fight. I heard from a friend that had the sleeve and she said she no longer felt deprived. She always feels satisfied, can eat anything she wants just not very much. She said she no longer obsesses about food. This sounds awesome. Is this true? Does it really take away the constant yearning for cheese burgers and the guilt after you eat one. I know you lose weight, are there any bad things I needs to know? Have any of you felt, you shouldn't have had this done, that you life is way to restrictive now? I'd love here from you.

Your friends experience sounds about right! There is plenty to research, its a major surgery and a huge life change but so far I have no regrets...only that I didn't do it sooner. There are plenty of great success stories on this forum and there are very true and difficult complications that folks have had. Read them all! It's given me the restriction and allowed me to have the will to make the right choices. Good luck to you!

I was almost 45 when I had my sleeve done on July 8th, 2011. Let me start off by saying I did have regrets the first month, as I think most of us do. I, probably like you, didn't have the healthiest relationship with food and that all changes (whether you want it to or not) after you're sleeved. At least, it did for me. Early out, it is difficult while you are learning how to eat anew. Taking smaller bites ... chewing thoroughly ... making healthier choices ... in other words, eating like non-obese people eat. This is a change and it takes a bit to adjust and there is some mourning that takes place as food no longer comforts the way it used to.

So, now I'm going on a year and a half out and like your friend, I always feel satiated with my meals and do not have the cravings like I did prior to surgery. Sure, I'll still think, "Oh, a Peanut Butter chocolate chunk cookie sounds good", but there is a difference now. Before, that would be all I could think about until I got some. And not just one, for sure. Now, the thought ends at that. If I do find one, I eat it and am happy eating just the one. I don't have to make it the day's mission to find that cookie, which I would do before.

I can eat anything and everything now, just like your friend, but just in smaller quantities. Far smaller.

Check out my profile and take a look at the pictures in my gallery to see where I came from and where I am now. I would highly recommend the surgery to anyone who has struggled with their weight and health and need a long-term, more permanent solution.

But do know that this is not a magic bullet. It is a tool that you must work in order to make it work. You can still sit down to a tub of ice cream and polish it off. If your issues with food run deep, counselling may also be helpful.

Stew2807, your friend's description is exactly how I feel about my surgery. Although I am only 38, I too have struggled for the past 12-14 years with my weight, being anywhere between 50-125 lbs overweight depending on what year you ask me about my weight. I too just got tired of the fight because I could take it off with ease, but as easy as I could get it off, it came back 10x easier. I made the decision, after my little girl came along and we switched to my wife's insurance, to get the surgery. I am no longer hungry because of my stomach, only because my head tells me I should be. And, when I do eat a solid food, I am limited to about 4 oz and I am stuffed! I now eat because I need to in order to live, I dont live to eat. I feel very fortunate because I was in the hospital for less than a full day and have had no negative side effects, plus I felt well enough to return to my desk job 2 days after surgery although I couldn't because I was not allowed to drive.

If you are an active person, are willing to make the necessary changes (remove the temtations), then the sleeve is the greatest thing ever! I am just short of 4 months out from my surgery date and I am down over 110 lbs since I started the program at the end of Feb or the beginning of March. I lost 50 prior ro surgery and at least 60 since. My post-op losses are not as big as some because I lost so much prior, but either way I am down over 110 and only 20 from my goal.

If you want my opinion, it is the best thing I ever did for myself and my health! And, if I had to do it over, I would not hesitate and I would answer YES 100% of the time!