Long thread (be warned!) but I wanted to tell you a bit about myself since I am new to this forum, and I think it might help some be able to relate to me and answer my question better if they know where I am coming from!

I'm 34, a physician, a wife, and I have been fat my whole love. I cannot remember a time, even in childhood, where I was a normal weight. I wish I had been brave enough to go for this surgery years ago, but now is better than never. My husband and I want to start a family very soon. I just do not see how I would be able to have a healthy pregnancy at my age and have all this weight. I also work very long hours and want to be the best mother I can, and I want to be as ready for that as I can be!

In March 2012, I started (again) on weight watchers. I initially did well and lost around 15 pounds in the first few months but the weight started to dwindle. I admit that there were many days where I would not track and then try to catch up again. I started exercising in Oct 2012 (Zumba!!!) and things really started to change for me. My weight was not necessarily decreasing but my body was changing. I am currently at 263 lbs with a total weight loss of 42 lbs in one year. This is the second or third time in my lifetime that I have lost this much weight, but it has always come back! So.... For these reasons, I want the VSG.

The problem is, I love food. It's an addiction for me. I love the different taste and the variety and the spice! And I overeat, a lot, during a meal. I am not a huge snacker (although night time Snacks get me sometimes like sweets or salty cravings) - the biggest issue I have is eating a lot in one setting. I keep eating more because I love the taste and once I have gotten the taste I want that full satiated feeling. I love food and while I want my HABITS to change, it's hard to imagine how I can deal with the changes of my attitude and my affinity toward food and the things I love to eat. I am very concerned that I may become extremely depressed after this surgery. (Although I have no prior history of depression or any other mood disorder, and yes I have already been cleared by Psych

I have seen so many people say that they have different tastes after the sleeve. They no longer crave the things they did before. That they know if they eat just one more tiny bit of whatever, they will feel ill or vomit or whatever, and so you learn. It seems more like being conditioned. Would you agree?

But what I want to know is....

1. Do you look FORWARD to your meals and snacks?

2. Do you ENJOY what you eat?

3. Do you feel satisfied with the taste given how little you can actually eat?

4. Do you feel better the further out you get when you do get to eat a little more?

5. Do you feel the majority of sleevers can eat whatever they want, so long as the portion is right?

6. How has your feelings or attitudes changed about food?

7. Is there anything you really wish you could eat, that you can't? (And if so, do you get over that?)

8. Can you still eat spicy foods? (curries, peppers, etc)

Thank you all in advance!

I'm going to try and answer some of your questions. I'm four weeks out. I too had a portion control problem and would OFTEN snack at night after everyone else went to bed. My husband is an awesome cook and having seconds was completely normal for me. So what is it like now? I look forward to mealtime! Especially dinner. I physically cannot eat like I used to. There's just no room. Your body will tell you if your eating too fast or too much. For me personally, my back starts to ache bad and gets increasingly worse until I throw up. Because of this, I've learned rather quickly to stop eating when my back STARTS to hurt. There's always tomorrow!!! I love spicy food too. Right now I'm in the puréed stage but I'm looking forward to regular food. On a side note, I've lost 26 pounds in 3.2 weeks and I'm feeling great!

Hi! I'm a little over 2 months out an I have lost about 75 pounds. I started at 400 pounds, so I'm considerably heavier than you, but I think our stories are similar. I was a food addict. I loved the taste and texture. I was a huge volume eater. Nothing made me feel better than to be so full I couldn't physically hold any more. Through the VSG surgery I have changed my life. I will tell you that it was a struggle. The emotional attachment I have with food is very strong, and sometimes I still have issues that I have to review with my psych. but I've done the work, and the surgery is working for me. My hunger has almost been completely eliminated. (this isn't the case for everyone) and I now eat to live. I can still enjoy my favorite foods, and I can get that full feeling but with MUCH less food. I love spicy foods and my sleeve has had no problems with it. Bread is my only problem, I can only eat a bite or so without getting sick. It's a difficult journey, but it has been completely worth it. I would go back and do this again and again if I had to.

I have seen so many people say that they have different tastes after the sleeve. They no longer crave the things they did before. That they know if they eat just one more tiny bit of whatever, they will feel ill or vomit or whatever, and so you learn. It seems more like being conditioned. Would you agree?

But what I want to know is....

Thank you all in advance!

1. Do you look FORWARD to your meals and Snacks?

I eat when I'm hungry now, don't really look forward to the "full" feeling or have a "taste" for anything in particular anymore - lovin' it. I use to get these overwhelming cravings for a certain taste (especially Whataburgers), they're gone now.

2. Do you ENJOY what you eat?

I do enjoy what I eat and sometimes I still catch myself trying to eat just one more bite, but I know I'll be feeling bad if I do. It takes time to learn the new "full" signals.

3. Do you feel satisfied with the taste given how little you can actually eat?

I do feel satisfied and I get a small thrill seeing how little I actually eat now. Although sometimes, I catch myself trying to finish that last bite - even though I'm full. I've learned to leave it on the plate.

4. Do you feel better the further out you get when you do get to eat a little more?

Once my staple line swelling went down, I was able to increase my eating to about 4oz per meal, and did start feeling more "normal" after the 2nd week, but it wasn't until about week 6 that I was back at my old energy levels.

5. Do you feel the majority of sleevers can eat whatever they want, so long as the portion is right?

I can only speak for myself. I have always been able to take or leave stuff like cakes and Cookies. Rice, Pasta and potatoes were (I almost wrote "are") my thing. But I can easily pass up most starches now. Although pasta triggers my hunger cravings and I have to stop myself from overeating and making myself sick.

6. How has your feelings or attitudes changed about food?

Don't really care about food anymore. I have no "flavors" I desire. So I eat my own concoction of shredded grilled chicken, refried Beans, cheese and salsa almost every meal - for the past month.

7. Is there anything you really wish you could eat, that you can't? (And if so, do you get over that?)

No, I am so happy with my restriction that I don't miss anything, no food cravings, nothing I miss. And there is no food that I couldn't eat at the 3rd or 4th week. It may cause some stomach upset, but if I eat it slowly, I can eat it if I want. However, I do miss being able to chug 16oz of icy cold Crystal Light.

8. Can you still eat spicy foods? (curries, peppers, etc)

I eat salsa almost daily and I found this sweet/spicy dip made with Greek yogurt that I like - very warm. The thing that bothers my stomach the most is fibrous foods, like grape skins, bananas, apple peels, and pineapple.

I am 7 1/2 months out and can eat anything I want, just small amounts. I avoid sweets totally because I am a food addict and I know I would jump right on it and not want to stop. You can only eat so much at a time and when someone says "I can't eat another bite", it is literal. You feel miserable and like you have eaten Thanksgiving dinner if you eat one bite too much. The one thing about this surgery is that you can eat so little that you don't have to worry so much about "diet" foods. For the first few months, I was not hungry so that was great. This does come back but by that time I had learned to eat 3 small meals a day and a snack with a concentrated effort on my protein. The best thing I think this surgery gives you is the feeling of control over your food. I was so out of control before the surgery and now I feel powerful that I can stop after a small amount (even though I have no choice). I feel better than I have in about 30 years and have so much energy it is amazing. I exercise regularly, which is very important, and I do EXACTLY what they tell me as far as my eating and fluid goes. I'm not sure why people go through this and then not follow the plan set out by their surgeon. It is not easy but it is so worth it. I have never grieved for food but my sister did after hers. She is over it now though and very thankful that she did this. I hope you do very well and are as happy as I am!!

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But what I want to know is....

1. Do you look FORWARD to your meals and Snacks? I never thought about that before, sometimes yes, but not all the time.

2. Do you ENJOY what you eat? Yes, but just limit what I eat and make sure it is healthy.

3. Do you feel satisfied with the taste given how little you can actually eat? Yes, I love flavor, if they told me that all food had to be bland I would be in trouble.

4. Do you feel better the further out you get when you do get to eat a little more? I log my food daily so I pretty much eat the same caloric/protein/carb intake, but I deviate occasionally. I really don't have an answer for that one.

5. Do you feel the majority of sleevers can eat whatever they want, so long as the portion is right? I think this is an individual thing, some will be fine others not so much.

6. How has your feelings or attitudes changed about food? No.

7. Is there anything you really wish you could eat, that you can't? (And if so, do you get over that?) No.

8. Can you still eat spicy foods? (curries, peppers, etc) Yes, but have a bit of difficulty with the extreme hot foods (with scotch bonnet peppers) because you can't drink when eating.

I am fixing to be 5 months post op on Friday. My taste buds did change after surgery. I dont eat alot. I do eat what I want, I do not eat sweets, or any kind of carbonation at all. I do feel full after 5 or 6 baby spoon bites. I go to chick fil a I eat 4 small grilled chicken nuggets only I am full on that. I did start drinking water and protein shakes. When I stress now I go for a walk or to the gym instead of eating food.I love spicy foods more than ever now. I always liked spicy but now I like it even more. I am a Louisiana Girl so I naturally liked spicy food, just now I want it spicier . I was 246 when I started this journey I am down 71 pounds. I hope this helps you. Good Luck

Thanks so much for all your answers so far! It actually really is helpful

I will be three years out in July and I am currently pregnant.

1. Do you look FORWARD to your meals and Snacks? - Sometimes. For a long time, the answer was a definite NO. Now I look forward to eating particular foods or meals but eating is more about subsistence or fuel, even now.

2. Do you ENJOY what you eat? - I try to make only foods I'll enjoy. It's hard to explain this new relationship with food that I have. It doesn't particularly excite me the way it used to (I lusted after food before) but yes, I do enjoy my food. I think the fact that I do not live on a diet and I never eat low fat/sugar fake foods help a lot.

3. Do you feel satisfied with the taste given how little you can actually eat? - Yes but this took time and my tastes changed dramatically post op. Again, I think eating REAL food (real sugar, real fat) helps with the enjoyment factor. If I'm only eating a few bites, they'd better be wonderful!

4. Do you feel better the further out you get when you do get to eat a little more? - For me, the real change came when I incorporated more quality carbohydrates. All of a sudden, I had more energy, felt more satisfied and didn't feel deprived any longer. I think it wasn't until I shed some of the emotional food baggage and started to look at food like a person that never had a weight problem that I really noticed a huge shift in my feelings about food, satiety and mental well being.

5. Do you feel the majority of sleevers can eat whatever they want, so long as the portion is right? - Yes. This is both a good and bad thing. If you do the head work, it's great to feel "normal" and not have problems with binges/emotional eating/grazing. If you don't, it's easy to find that you can easily eat your way through an entire box of Thin Mints in a day if you put the effort into eating a handful of Cookies each hour. On the other side of this, I can eat anything but ice cream and regular cow's milk (lactose intolerance) and it's wonderful. But portioning becomes an issue in the 1-2 years post op time frame if you haven't put real work into breaking the bad habits that contributed to your obesity in the first place. There are always those people that have honest to goodness trigger foods and must stick to a more rigid diet lifestyle post op. It's all about how your body reacts to those foods and how much work you put into breaking the triggers.

6. How has your feelings or attitudes changed about food? - It's different. I love food, I enjoy cooking and baking and I enjoy the social customs we have that center around food. But I can walk away from any of it now and it won't even bother me or make me feel deprived. Food isn't the center of my universe any more. I assume this is how people that never dealt with obesity or had food addictions must feel about food.

7. Is there anything you really wish you could eat, that you can't? (And if so, do you get over that?) - I developed lactose intolerance post op, though I admit it was already a mild issue before hand. For about a year I couldn't have any dairy except hard cheeses in very small amounts. Around one year post op this mostly faded and prior to this pregnancy the only foods I had to avoid completely were ice cream and regular cow's milk. It was frustrating at first, though, because I relied heavily on dairy for Protein.

8. Can you still eat spicy foods? (curries, peppers, etc) - Oh yes, and the more the better! I fully believe that one way to get through the maddeningly long post op liquid diet is to embrace spicy food. It breaks up the monotony for sure.

Best of luck to you. I will say that the sleeve will do one thing for certain: control your portions of dense foods. It will most likely take away your hunger. But nothing will change your feelings or food addictions but you. If you rely on the sleeve to do more than control your portions you will have to confront the rest of the package later. You'll never sit down post sleeve and eat a massive plate of food again. But you can graze and binge on slider foods to your heart's content and regaining isn't that challenging if you're not careful about what you eat. It's important to know and understand this prior to surgery, and I applaud your research efforts because they can only help you succeed long term.

As for pregnancy, my recommendation is to weigh your fertility vs. your obesity and see which one is the biggest obstacle. No pun intended, of course. I got pregnant two years post sleeve and it was still challenging for me to eat enough, especially of the right foods. My lactose intolerance came back full force with pregnancy and my little one wouldn't allow me to eat any meat for months without morning sickness. It also took me more than a year to get my labs up to par again - I was seriously deficient in Iron and B12 for a long time. Go into this telling yourself you should wait at least one full year post sleeve to conceive, but I'd really say two is a better option. If that might affect your odds of conception for some reason, make sure you take that into account before surgery. While it's never ideal to get pregnant while obese, in my case, the pregnancy I had when obese wasn't any more difficult or complicated than the one I'm having post sleeve.

~Cheri

1. Do you look FORWARD to your meals and Snacks?

Only when I'm hungry, otherwise it's kind of a chore.

2. Do you ENJOY what you eat?

Yes! You can only eat a little bit so you try to make it count.

3. Do you feel satisfied with the taste given how little you can actually eat?

Yes, I try to find things that have good flavor. I've also added a lot more spices to my cupboard.

4. Do you feel better the further out you get when you do get to eat a little more?

Yes. I'm 7 weeks out and it gets better when you can add variety to what you are eating.

5. Do you feel the majority of sleevers can eat whatever they want, so long as the portion is right?

For me, I've been able to stay away from sweets with no problem. Now salty that's another thing. I did eat a few chips the other day, maybe 10 or so and felt so sick. The grease doesn't sit well with me. So I'm not to interested in feeling like that again so I avoid it.

6. How has your feelings or attitudes changed about food?

I look at it now as fuel that my body needs. I was sad about that at first but now it's ok. It kinda grosses me out to watch people eat now, even normal size portions. It just looks like so much food, even tho I used to eat that and more before surgery.

7. Is there anything you really wish you could eat, that you can't? (And if so, do you get over that?)

Nope. My dietician encourages you to have a normal relationship with food and if you want something that is considered "bad", eat a bite or 2 and get rid of it but don't deprive yourself. But honestly I haven't wished I could eat anything in particular. I will say that as long as I'm eating every few hrs and getting in my Protein I'm good to go but if I go longer than 3-4 hrs without eating I could make a bad choice and eat something I would regret later.

8. Can you still eat spicy foods? (curries, peppers, etc)

I can but I try not to and only because I follow the no Water 30 mins before and after eating rule to a T. So if i eat something spicy ill want to drink sooner than I should defeating the purpose of the sleeve as a tool.

Hope this helps!

Everyone is different. Not all sleevers have the same experience.

Only thing I can guarantee is that nothing taste as good as skinny feels!

If your unhappy or unhealthy because of your weight.

Get the sleeve!

You will love yourself for it!

I am 4 and a half months out and find that my eating is very much similar to a non sleeved person only I eat much smaller portions. I still love food and enjoy to eat but I eat smaller. I try to eat healthily but I do indulge in chocolate each day however now I savour 2 pieces rather than an entire block!

My food favourites haven't changed I just eat far less of them and I'm satisfied. You do need to keep your brain in check though as certain foods can be eaten without much restriction like potato chips so I stay clear of those. I have found I can eat all foods however, like a lot of sleevers I find doughy bread to sit poorly as does steak but other than that I can eat very normally.

The sleeve is a tool and it works as well as you let it. I don't have food demons as I once did. I eat what I like when I like but keep the portions small. The way I think of food has changed as it needed to... I can only eat small portions so I must choose wisely or else I will become nutrient deficient. Thoughts of food no longer rule my brain, I no longer lust after food. I enjoy it but it no longer rules me, it is no longer an addiction. I think the lack of hunger really assists this. For me it was like a weight had been lifted, and now the weight is literally lifting. 50 pounds down, slow and steady is working for me, 15 pounds to goal weight and I hope to be there by the six month mark.

I wish you luck in your journey.

1. Do you look FORWARD to your meals and Snacks?

I guess so?

2. Do you ENJOY what you eat?

Yes.

3. Do you feel satisfied with the taste given how little you can actually eat?

I can eat plenty. It isn't the taste that satisfies me. It's the food. The taste spurs me on.

4. Do you feel better the further out you get when you do get to eat a little more?

No. It worries me.

5. Do you feel the majority of sleevers can eat whatever they want, so long as the portion is right?

I think so, but I can only speak for myself, and I can eat anything.

6. How has your feelings or attitudes changed about food?

They haven't.

7. Is there anything you really wish you could eat, that you can't?

No. I can eat anything.

8. Can you still eat spicy foods? (curries, peppers, etc)

Yes.