It was asked of me last weekend if I could clarify one thing about WLS, if I could make one notable point that has not been mentioned what it would be. So I thought, hmmmm….

We are constantly reminded that after WLS our stomachs have gone from being a sources of distress, these large cavernous things that CAUSED us to be overweight, FORCED us into eating poorly, etc. to valuable tools we use to lose weight. We have changed our stomachs to be sure. What, however did we change them to? VGS is generally a laparoscopic procedure that removed most of the body of the stomach. Starting generally below the pylorus, the suture/staple/cauterizing procedure extended along the length of the body of the stomach and removed the greater chamber, and may or may not have removed the fundus. So now what, what does that mean?

Now we have our tool. We eat less, we have to. The weight comes off. It may drop like a rock or progress slower. Different body types, health issues, meds, and still the foods we choose to consume will help determine this. So we have a tool for weight LOSS.

Then we maintain. Now we just eat less and it stays off, right? If you have been on the forum for even a little while you will see it is not always that easy. There are still many questions, lots of issues and answers still to be figured out, each in our own way and time. Many questions are about how to use the tool in maintenance.

BUT this post is not about maintenance; it is about the in-between, one of the less mentioned but in my opinion more profound things we do with this tool that affects our success. I define success not by an ideal size or shape but ability - ability to be a size that allows me to be active, and healthy, and off at least some medication, to name a few things. These are not the only goals I have, but they are the achievements I have that I now use to have a far superior lifestyle to the one I had before.

A big shift I have undergone is that I recognized that my tummy did something I did not expect. It provided a way to eat less and it has definite, defined physical ways it has assisted me, no doubt. Mentally it has assisted and even raised more questions! Beyond that, however, there is something more, and whether or not I embrace it I think is the true test of how successful this will be for me. I am talking about the “gap”. I have tried to find any reference to it in the articles and such that I spend a bit of time reading but so far I have not found that many.

The gap I refer to is that space that we never met successfully when we dieted. The ‘ –‘ in yo-yo. That point where the adulation of successful weight loss, and health and compliments began to lose momentum. It lagged with stress of home life, maybe. It was the burger and fries when, honestly, even if it had been a lackluster salad one could have ordered that instead, heck ordered TWO, whatever to be full – but did not. It is the sinking feeling one get when 50 lbs. of weight loss did not make the ailing marriage better, or the bills did not pay themselves. Maybe the issues that were under those layers were still there and still hurt. food was there, with food came feelings of comfort and simultaneous guilt, and a yo-yo began before the weight even crept back on.

Here is the “gap” the ‘ –‘ in yo-yo, and here is where our new friends, our new tummies, kick in. I think it is much underrated in the WLS journey. Our sleeves fill the “gap”. In between that space that we could not overcome, that ‘– ‘ in the yo-yo. We do not eat the burger and fries, we cannot overindulge by volume. We have a means to bridge that gap, if we want it. I think our longest terms of success can be affected by how we choose to take advantage of this bridge over the gap. Better habits, educating ourselves on food choices, understanding what got us here, learning to forgive and set vanity aside. Repairing the mental damage from being in the shells we were in, this is something our sleeves offer us that we did not have before. Much more important than just eating less and as vital as exercise - we have time. Time to recover before we even stumble, time to get equanimity from our minds and bodies at the same time we do not regress to bad habits and start that journey back up the scale.

We have time to make time – days and months and years to in turn create space to enjoy those days and months and years. If we did not gain a day from this, we gain quality. You know the sayings about rather have quality of years over a lot of years? We get an opportunity for both!!! From VGS and the bridge it gave over the “gap”.

Excellent post, one that deals with the Biggest Issue of all... the things in our heads and minds and hearts that let us get fat, stay fat, and might want us to be fat again. And contraywise, the things in our heads that Are NOT 'fixed' just by losing weight.

Worth a close read by all. THANKS!

Loved this post!! Thanks!

This is a fantastic post, that will resonate with many of us on here. Thanks for posting, it hit a button with me today just as I was flagging.... But not any more!

Beautifully and eloquently said - well done and Pookey's post gets printed and added to the 'pure gold' collection

This is so true...We would diet and exercise before and lose weight..but life gives you some lemons and things pile up and the weight creeps back on. The sleeve should give us all the extra help we need to lose and then keep it off--because the sleeve won't let us eat too much on bad days and it is easier to go exercise since I'm 50 pounds lighter. Keep doing what we need to do to be healthy.

Great post! You hit that dead on!!

I want to say, this post still rings true. I dislocated my shoulder in December, and it was more serious than initially thought - but not diagnosed well at first so I was basically immobile in my neck/shoulder/right arm for FOUR months. I was sad and I ate. I never really got off what anyone could call healthy eating, except I drank lots of smoothies and juice and was not mindful to the calorie content.

So I gained. About 20 pounds. I thought I would loose it as soon as I was "aware" but not really...so now I can say, even with a bit of weight gain the "-" in the yo-yo saved me. I will loose it and maintain again and hopefully never creep back up the scales again.

The surgery, even if you do not get all of what you envisioned, is very worth it. Do not take advantage. Work hard. Good luck!