I've been diligently reading everything I can find on this and other forums, preparing for my sleeve surgery in January. Ironically, when it comes down to it, the two things that I think will be the hardest for me is not being able to guzzle water and having to count calories/track food. When I'm thirsty, I love to chug water (or life water) and I know the sipping thing will be hard. Not much I can do about that one, I guess. But the other thing is the keeping track of water intake, protein, calories, carbs, etc. That sure sounds like a lot of the diets I've been on (nutrisystem, HCG, etc.), which I find annoying to say the least. I know I'll be good about it in the beginning, pre-op, 6-8 weeks post op, etc. when water, protein, etc. are crucial, but I'm not looking forward to tracking that sh...t for the rest of my life. I just want to LIVE my life. So I guess my question is, are there any long term sleevers out there that are successful in simply eating "right", going for proteins first, not drinking with meals, avoiding carbs, etc. but not actually COUNTING every bite and calorie that goes in.

Try MyFitnessPal--it's really easy bc you can put your favorite foods in and it's easy to pull them when you track. I tracked for several months but my diet got really repetitive so now I know the nutritional values and sort of keep track of it in my head, though my days tend to be so similar that it isn't really necessary. I think consistency is key. As for water, I can pretty much chug it (I had surgery in Feb) now. I would say I could do that within 4-6 weeks. A lot of people don't feel a lot of restriction until you get on solids and if you space out your food and water, you should be plenty hydrated. Good luck!

I don't know if 9 months counts as "long term" yet, but I've never written down how much I eat or drink. I have been using a 1/2 cup bowl for measuring my meals and a 30 oz mug for my Crystal Light. I limit myself to 4 to 6 bowls of whatever I'm eating this week and try to drink at least 4 mugs of Crystal Light.

The first few months after surgery, I wasn't able to eat much more than a few bites of cut up foods like steak and other stuff that I couldn't measure with my bowl. So I got in the habit of eating slowly (it was tough at first to slow down) and now I just have a subconscious feeling when I'm on track for my food and Water intake for the day.

So like today, I ate a boiled egg around 7am, a 2nd around 9am, 11am I had a 1/2 cup of ground turkey and black Beans, 3pm 5 tsps of the turkey and beans, 3 mile walk after work, 5pm 1 large orange, 7:30 1/2 cup of turkey and beans, 10pm boiled egg.

I have no real idea of how many calories is in my turkey/beans mixture, except that I made a 6 quart dutch oven full - total calorie count 3200. I've been eating on it for 4 days and it will last me till Thursday night.

The main things I strive for: consistent weight loss, regular exercise, eating healthier foods (like 97% fat free ground turkey, pork loin, chicken breast, beans, lentils), getting enough Fiber so I can poop! :-P

I don't count anything, I never have with this surgery. I make sure I get my protein shake in the morning. I stay away from unhealthy foods like white carbs, red meat and sugary things. I eat seafood, Silk (instead of milk), cottage cheese, yogurt, pudding, veggie burgers and bean burgers. The only thing I measure are my portions on a food scale or just eyeball it for about 2 oz's. I've lost 47#'s as of today! Good luck to you, take it easy, relax and enjoy some good healthy food.

I'm not yet sleeved but I did maintain a nearly 100 lb weight loss for the last 6 years with my lap band and never once wrote anything down. In fact I refuse to live my life that way. Focus on health and your relationship with food and look into why you eat and not just what you eat and find what works best for you and you will be fine

My doctor suggested that I didn't count calories. He thinks that it was more important that I listened to my body and at 10 weeks post op I can sometimes eat approx 1/4 cup and sometimes 1/3. It's weird but sometimes I am very full after half an egg and sometimes I can eat a whole egg without any problems. I usually eat three meals a day with a low cal hot chocolate in the evening (when I need a little sweet fix). I am conscious of what I'm drinking and carry a water bottle everywhere I go but don't measure. The one little thing that is tripping me up at the moment is drinking too many calories which I REALLY need to cut out. (it's just a bad habit)