I have not had VSG yet. I am in the beginning stages. I will be going to my second appointment soon. I have to be on a weight loss program for 6 months. I have been trying to research this surgery. Somewhat obsessively.... From my research, it appears the majority of people gain weight back. I hear alot about 5:2 diets, lots of exercise, lots of Protein and Water. I hear repeatedly that this is just a tool. But what is our stomach before the surgery. I would think it is a tool to begin with. I am not very good with the tool that I currently have. I would think if I would cut out my calories drastically and start exercising, drinking water, stop caffeine and carbonation that I would probably lose a substantial amount of weight, for a while... I'm really confused as to how the sleeve is different. It seems from my research that the sleeve jumpstarts weight loss for about 2 years and after that most people are struggling to keep weight off or trying to lose the many pounds that they have gained. I have been watching videos on you-tube and many people have negative things to say. The last I watched was about how bad the Vitamin deficiencies made her feel. Most people seem very happy for the first two years but after that it seems I'm finding a lot of negativity. I would like to have more input from some people that have had surgery a few years out. I am currently 5'7" and 250 pounds. I told my doctor my concerns. He assured me that I would lose to 150 and as I get older I might put on 10 pounds. He said I would need to exercise, but walking around my neighborhood 3-4 times a week would be sufficient. I'm not sure this is accurate, bariatric surgeons do make their living by performing surgeries so he may tell me this because I will easily qualify and have good insurance. Please give me feedback!!!!

I had the same debate with myself because my biggest concern was that I would lose a ton of weight then put it all back on. I did that with diet and exercise. I lost #170 going from 386 to 216. I was so focussed on getting to a goal weight I did not have a plan for maintaining. I thought it would just be different because I was so happy being healthy and active. I asked my surgeon why the sleeve is different, and why would I be able to keep the weight off this time when all other attpts had failed. His answer was that the reduction of Grehlin, that makes you feel hungry, would make a big difference. He also stressed the sleeve is just a tool. I told myself from the beginning of my sleeve journey that my goal this time was long term maintenance, to never be gat again. I did all the soul searching I could to figure out why I ate too much. Only after I figured that out did it know the sleeve will work for me. I was fat because I loved food and ate as much as I could at every meal. Not feeling hunger and the forced limited portion size has been great. I no longer crave food, actually I don't care if I eat or not. I eat because I have to.

Yes and yes!

You have to have the mental fortitude to be stronger then desires. It would be so easy to just have one, but one leads to 2 and 1 week of bad eating leads to 3 months of bad eating if not careful. And that is where the weight gain will occur. Be strong! Put your health goals ahead of desires.

True story today. My wife and I were at an aquatic center grand opening today and their idea of refreshments was 1000s of little cupcakes and regular size Cookies. Go figure. Ignoring for a moment of how such food ended up at a place of fitness,I just want to say how easy it would have been to eat 1-3 cup cakes (bite size) and/or a cookie or two. There is not any aspect from surgery that would have prevented me from doing this. No restrictions, no slimes,etc. I had to make a decision of not indulging even though I could probably had gotten away with it due to my fitness levels. I had to leave the room. It just was not worth it to start down that slippery slope so +1 for mental fortitude.

Put your health goals first before your desires and you will be strong enough for when those temptations arise.

In your first post you asked if you followed the same portions, ate Protein first, exercised wouldn't you loose weight so what is diifferent with the sleeve. The difference to me is that although I did these things on other diets and did loose weight eventually i would get frustrated because the weight loss seemed so minuscule in comparision to the changes I had made. If a week or two went by with little loss I would give up because to me it would take forever to get to a point that I was happy with my body. With the sleeve you see results very quickly and usually they keep up at least for the first 6 months or so. Once you see and feel how much better you feel about yourself and how your health and life has improved, this becomes more important to you than indulging in junk food.

Years ago I had a great friend who was so amazingly fit. She looked great after having her kids. She exercised every day and ate very small portions. I on the other hand was obese. I used to tease her and say "if I could only have your body I would take such good care of it and I would never let it get to my size". This to me is part of the key. Once you experience the difference of being physically fit you will never want to go back to your old self.

I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

Good for you for doing your homework and learning about the surgery before you have it. You mentioned other people complaining about Vitamin deficiencies. It's my understanding that this surgery has less chance of that than the bypass type, but, since we will be eating less, we still have to take supplements. There's a very good section on that in this forum.

You also mentioned that this surgery is just a tool, and that is absolutely correct, although you say you aren't very good with the tool you have now. LOL So, maybe it would be good to look at this as a new and improved tool and by going to the nutritionist, you will have everything you need to use it to your advantage!

There are always ups and downs with a great change in life like this, but this forum and the contacts you are making now will help you succeed in your new adventure. A lot will depend on the attitude you have; take control of your life with gusto!

Good luck to you!

Fiddle, today I drove past a Dairy Queen with a sign out "half prices

Today" and I was eating light (hungry) due to evening out plans. Years past no WAY could I have just kept driving but I did. That wasn't the sleeve, that was 100percent me.

It is hard to understand when you are pre op

1 What makes the sleeve so different than anything else I tried and

2 Doesn't this miracle last forever

Sleeve helps most people who really work it by permantly reducing food volume and at least temporarily reduce appetite. The wise take advantage of the "I don't like food anymore" months and get as much weight off as possible.

Why did I drive past that dairy queen? I LIKE being fit, I LIKE how I look and feel at goal, I like fitting in my wardrobe and no dang ice cream is gonna ruin that for me. The sleeve only helped in that it is how I lost the weight....now, I need to keep working it in order to keep the success.