I am desperate to get to goal. I am 15 months post op and haven't lost anything since MAY!! I'm so frustrated. I've tried eveyrthing. I've gone back to basics, the 5 day pouch test, the 5.2 diet. I lose 5 pounds and it comes back on. I walk 4 times per week and I can't do much more because I have 8 bulging disc in my neck and back, also stenosis, and many other issues with my spine as well. I have been blessed to lose 126 pounds. I really want to get to 154 to be a normal weight. I never thought it would be this hard to lose this last bit. I'm so frustrated!!!!!! UGH! Should I just go on a liquid fast for 2 weeks? Should I eat 1200 calories a day or 1000 or what? I've read that if I don't eat enough, I won't lose. If I eat too much I won't lose. What do I do?? Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful! I am. I know I've come a long way. If any of you have any advice for me, please help!!!

I'll apologise in advance cos I know my approach is not 'normal' and is even a bit controversial sometimes. But it IS perfectly in line with what they do in the clinic where my care is managed (in Europe). I never had Protein shakes (which is good, cos I hate them LOL) or liquid/mushy phases -- they move you right to real food on day four post-op, and you're just meant to eat slowly and chew very thoroughly. They believe your digestive system gets confused and/or lazy (some things get lost in translation LOL) by not having 'real' food in there, so they want it right back into your system asap. They also don't approve of very low-cal eating (but they also don't give any calorie or food guidelines, apart from eating a very balanced way and not big portions obviously), so they are trying to get people to eat 800-1000 cals as soon as possible post-op. Thus I was up to 1000-1200 in a month or two, and probably 1500 by six months out. I got to my original 'goal' (arbitrary and set only by me, they don't give out goal weights in the clinic at all) in about a year or 14 months I think? I can't remember everything in detail and I'm not a tracker really. I then set another goal and am still working veryyyyy sloooooowwwwwly toward that one... But I got to my original goal fairly easily, never felt overly freaked out about calorie-counting or keeping food to the bare minimum -- oh, and I never lost my hunger except for the first two days post-op. So I've had a very normal appetite throughout (I would consider my pre-op appetite to have been relatively normal too, though -- I was not a binge eater and couldn't overeat pre-op much either, just had much more capacity of course...) and I've been able to eat anything I've tried, haven't thrown up or anything. Labs and bloodwork all doing great, two-year DEXA scan showed good bone density as well.

Anyhow, I also never started exercising till I was nine months post-op, for personal reasons. That said, I do walk a lot (and now I have a fitbit, I realise I walk quite a lot!) in my normal routine, so I was doing that all along, but I joined the gym eventually and do a moderate (20 mins HIIT on elliptical, plus weights/abs) workout 2-3x per week. It's not anywhere near as ambitious as many people's workouts, that is for sure!! I like to operate on the Minimum Effective Dosage principle, in most areas of life...

So I've been doing a modified paleo/primal version of eating since about nine months now, no grains, no legumes, limited sugar, etc. I do eat dairy (tons of it LOL), so I'm not a fully religious paleo eater or anything. I eat full-fat everything cos I hate processed/diet/low-fat food -- the exceptions to this are for 5:2 fasting days, and also early post-op I ate a lot of diet yogurt and sf pudding and that sort of thing, cos I thought I should I guess? I've read a lot of very good research about how to eat and I sort of make my own plan. I love coffee (and caffeine LOL), and I've read many good health benefits from it - and I've no insulin issues anyhow, so I feel free to enjoy my coffee. I've been doing 5:2 for three+ months and didn't lose any weight from it, not sure why. I read a few directional data about how it might be different/less effective for women than for men, but nothing definitive for sure. But because of some issues I was having, I now am trying a modified approach to the 5:2 as well, with a target of 700-800 cals for fasting days instead of 500. On my 'normal' food days, I usually eat between 1500-2000 cals.

This is long and rambly...but the point is, there's more than one way to get to your 'goal', whether that be a certain number on the scale or clothing label, or just a certain level of improved health. And eating super-low-cal seems to really work for some people, it wouldn't work for me (not to say I wouldn't lose weight on it! Just that it triggers my anorexia issues and that my clinic wouldn't support it if they knew I was doing it); and that eating fairly healthily and 'high-cal-ish' from a VSG perspective can also work! It took me like 14 months to lose 80-ish lb (I consider that pretty fast though, but amongst many VSGers I was a very slow loser), and I was fine with that. It's taken another year to lose 10 more. So maybe the last 10 will take a year or two as well. No big whoop -- I also want to enjoy my life as it happens...

Good luck to all of us, right?

Duplicatr

So inspired that I actually put a real pic up rather than the cartoon head I have been sporting for the last few years lol.

And you look great!!! Glad to see a face!!

So inspired that I actually put a real pic up rather than the cartoon head I have been sporting for the last few years lol.

And you look great!!! Glad to see a face!!

Duolicate

Okay, I apologize. Something is def wro g with my vSt app right now! Lol

Ditto.. Why not take joy in the accomplishment you have achieved?

Why did you have this surgery? Was it to become healthy and move through life with ease or was it just to obtain a number on a chart?

I agree. You have accomplished so much. Give yourself two pats on the back.