3 years ago today I had the VSG!

So much has happened in the last 3 years in regards to my attitudes, abilities and awareness surrounding my body, what I eat, and how I exercise. I will do my best to keep this short!

First and foremost, I am one of those people who had a surgical procedure to help me lose weight. And I hit a "low" weight and then, in the space of about 10 months, regained about 20ish pounds. Nothing is more humbling than being a "statistic" in this way. I had always heard that this regularly happens to WLS patients and a part of my brain said "oh that won't be me!" Haha. Lessons learned the hard way are sometimes the ones that stick with us the most.

So if any of you have the question "is it possible to regain weight with the sleeve?" ...the answer is YES it is possible. The regain is actually quite easy. You quit tracking your food, you eat a few more calories than you need to, extra "treats" find there way back into your life, and you slack off on the exercising. Losing the extra regain...well notsoeasy. I have lost -12lbs of my regain and will continue to fight until the regain is gone.

Here are just a few quick things that are true for ME, personally.

1. We can live on a lot less food than we think we can live on. If you take nothing else away from this post, please remember that statement. During the time that I had regained some weight, I found myself wanting to eat more and the truth of the matter remains that my daily caloric intake needs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 calories or less for me to maintain or lose weight, regardless of how much I exercise. This is completely reasonable, doable and normal for me. And I am finally OK with this. (Yours may be completely different!!)

2. Don't underestimate the importance of exercise!! It's taken me a while to finally push myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to exercise, but I've found out what a really challenging workout does to me mentally and physically and I know when things get to easy that I need to push myself farther. If you have never exercised before in your life, then your goal is to GET UP OFF the couch and DO SOMETHING. And if exercise is not completely foreign to you, then you need to set some goals to push yourself harder.

3. Plastic surgery. I have not had any...yet. I went for an initial consult this past May. It was really hard to see how much damage being morbidly obese has done to my body and how much it would cost to get a nice "perfect" body. I've had a lot of time and space to think about what I learned at that consult and what I realize now, is that I'm not sure I can afford perfection. Or that it necessarily exists. I just know I could put one of my kids through college for what I was quoted for plastics. So I'm currently on the fence and in the mode of trying to be happy with where I am and not worry about chasing a down a body that might not exist for me.

4. I constantly drink Water. I drink (half-caf) coffee (usally 2 cups a day), I rarely drink alcohol and I never drink anything carbonated. I've been carbonation free for over 3 years now. I also rarely use any type of crystal lite, or flavor enhancers etc. Sometimes I drink plain (unsweet) tea.

My net loss is somewhere around -90lbs. My husband is also sleeved and did NOT regain any weight. He is 2.5 years post-op and seems to maintain his more modest loss (-70lbs) more effortlessly than I do. He also can eat more calories than I do, so right there are complete differences among sleevers! I just don't think we can ever "give up" ...and there is no "finish" line! There might be a GOAL WEIGHT, but once you are there, it's still a journey to keep the weight off. And for that reason I'm eternally grateful to my VST 'family' for always being here!

BEFORE VSG 2010

AFTER VSG 2013 (all of these photos have been taken in the last 2 months)

SIDE BY SIDE

Love, love, love the lessons and things you have learned about yourself..The fact that your hubby can eat more is no surprise to me...For some reason that seems to be the norm for most men

Thank you for putting your thoughts out there for us all to learn from!

3 years ago today I had the VSG!

So much has happened in the last 3 years in regards to my attitudes' date=' abilities and awareness surrounding my body, what I eat, and how I exercise. I will do my best to keep this short!

First and foremost, I am one of those people who had a surgical procedure to help me lose weight. And I hit a "low" weight and then, in the space of about 10 months, regained about 20ish pounds. Nothing is more humbling than being a "statistic" in this way. I had always heard that this regularly happens to WLS patients and a part of my brain said "oh that won't be me!" Haha. Lessons learned the hard way are sometimes the ones that stick with us the most.

So if any of you have the question "is it possible to regain weight with the sleeve?" ...the answer is YES it is possible. The regain is actually quite easy. You quit tracking your food, you eat a few more calories than you need to, extra "treats" find there way back into your life, and you slack off on the exercising. Losing the extra regain...well notsoeasy. I have lost -12lbs of my regain and will continue to fight until the regain is gone.

Here are just a few quick things that are true for ME, personally.

1. We can live on a lot less food than we think we can live on. If you take nothing else away from this post, please remember that statement. During the time that I had regained some weight, I found myself wanting to eat more and the truth of the matter remains that my daily caloric intake needs to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,400 calories or less for me to maintain or lose weight, regardless of how much I exercise. This is completely reasonable, doable and normal for me. And I am finally OK with this. (Yours may be completely different!!)

2. Don't underestimate the importance of exercise!! It's taken me a while to finally push myself out of my comfort zone when it comes to exercise, but I've found out what a really challenging workout does to me mentally and physically and I know when things get to easy that I need to push myself farther. If you have never exercised before in your life, then your goal is to GET UP OFF the couch and DO SOMETHING. And if exercise is not completely foreign to you, then you need to set some goals to push yourself harder.

3. Plastic surgery. I have not had any...yet. I went for an initial consult this past May. It was really hard to see how much damage being morbidly obese has done to my body and how much it would cost to get a nice "perfect" body. I've had a lot of time and space to think about what I learned at that consult and what I realize now, is that I'm not sure I can afford perfection. Or that it necessarily exists. I just know I could put one of my kids through college for what I was quoted for plastics. So I'm currently on the fence and in the mode of trying to be happy with where I am and not worry about chasing a down a body that might not exist for me.

4. I constantly drink Water. I drink (half-caf) coffee (usally 2 cups a day), I rarely drink alcohol and I never drink anything carbonated. I've been carbonation free for over 3 years now. I also rarely use any type of crystal lite, or flavor enhancers etc. Sometimes I drink plain (unsweet) tea.

My net loss is somewhere around -90lbs. My husband is also sleeved and did NOT regain any weight. He is 2.5 years post-op and seems to maintain his more modest loss (-70lbs) more effortlessly than I do. He also can eat more calories than I do, so right there are complete differences among sleevers! I just don't think we can ever "give up" ...and there is no "finish" line! There might be a GOAL WEIGHT, but once you are there, it's still a journey to keep the weight off. And for that reason I'm eternally grateful to my VST 'family' for always being here!

BEFORE VSG 2010

AFTER VSG 2013 (all of these photos have been taken in the last 2 months)

SIDE BY SIDE

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Thanks so much for posting. I'm 6 months out and its just now setting in that this is still lifelong work. The sleeve is not going to do all the work for me. I'm understanding now that ill need constant awareness of what I put in my mouth.

Thanks so much for sharing! You are an inspiration!

Thank you so much. It really does help those of us not as far out to put things in perspective from time to time. No matter how we get there, this is really a life long process. We all refer to this as a journey and it is, a journey to a new way of life.

Thanks again!!

You look amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I am only 3.5 weeks post op and this gives me so much encouragement!

Congrats on your success and the positive impact it has had on your life. And thanks so much for sharing your story, and your thoughts, with us. Like others have said, this kind of encouragement is so very helpful for those of us with a long way to go still.

You look wonderful...and I'm just so glad you're here. <3

Thank you for sharing your story! You look awesome! You truly look like your former selfs younger (slimmer) self! Way to go!!! :-)

I loved hearing all you've learned on your journey, and the fact that we really don't need as much food as we think. I'm a Pre-sleever so this info is so helpful for me.

Great job and happy anniversary. I'm almost half way to 3 years and I feel like I've been at this forever. Can't imagine doubling that. You're a true veteran.

I agree whole heartedly with all the bullets you listed. I'm curious about one thing though....your husband lost 70 pounds and is maintaining it (which is great news).....what weight did he end up at? I have heard of a few others talk about setting more modest goals and finding quite a bit of success and peace of mind in maintaining those goals. I think so many people get caught up in unrealistic goals that can never be reached or sustained....particularly because they are so determined to fit into the ridiculous BMI categories. I cannot imagine being in better shape than I'm in right now....and yet I'm 30 pounds away from the "normal" category on the BMI chart. If I tried to reach it I'd to mad.

M2G, My lovely friend.

I am so glad, pleased and honoured to go through this journey with you! You truly have been my motivation and you have encouraged me every step of the way - through my darkest weight loss times and my high points!

Thank you for sharing, thank you for staying and thank you for being honest to me, you and others. This place wouldn't be the same without you ...

Hugs from across the pond my sleeve sista x

I'm so glad to hear from someone that far out. And you look amazing! I'm 4 months out and have lost 55lbs. I'm a slow loser but as long as I'm losing I'm happy.

Awesome! Congrats. Thank you for your wise words.

M2G, Girl, I love the before and afters! And the wisdom you have gained shines out. Thanks for being my VST Buddy, you are alway a great and personal support here. What do you think your 6 year post will say? (time for new spin shoes!) <3 Beautiful lady!

It's awesome that you still show up, and actively use this message board. I appreciate the few messages you have sent my way. Caring, supportive, wise and loving. I'm glad you and I are in the same geo area. I hope to meet you soon. Congrats on your hard work and accomplishments. Happy new you!

Congrats! Thanks for hanging in there shining the light for those that follow. You look fabulous! And happy! And healthy!

Lynda