Calling all veterans-Are there any benefits to the sleeve after a year or so

[jarodnaaron 6]

I am due to have my sleeve on 8/18. I am getting nervous. I was just on the veterans forum and I saw many people posting about weight gains, and struggling to maintain their weight using intermittent fasting.

I used intermittent fasting, also a 500 calorie diet to lose 75 pounds several years ago....and it came back despite my struggling with excercise, sticking to a low carb, then moderate carb paleo diet. So, when I see people years post op talking about using weight loss techniques that I have tried and over time failed to stop regaining weight with....well it makes me wonder whether the surgery has lasting value.

Will the sleeve help me lose weight? No doubt. Heck, I can lose weight on my own ( we all can) But what I am wondering if it will make it easier for me to maintain!

I was hoping that after losing the weight, the sleeve would allow me to eat my normal healthy paleo way of eating ( Protein and vegetables and healthy fats) without always having to go hungry in order to keep from gaining weight. I am quite an easy gainer.

Does the sleeve allow you to eat less food ( healthy food) and still feel full when you are greater than 1 year out? What benefits have you continued to notice after a year or more post op?

[Georgia 2,911]

yes!! I'm four+ years out. Still have restriction. Lots. Have kept the 100 pound loss off. Yes, it can be a struggle To maintain if I allow it to because I tend to eat too much junk at times but losing a few pounds here and there. If do it again tomorrow

[Shells_Almost_There 357]

I will hit my 11-month mark this week, and I basically have no restriction - and haven't had for months. It has been extremely frustrating. I still want to lose 80 more pounds and it is a real struggle. There are so many people like Georgia above who still have restriction,and I sure wish I was one of them. People always say that this surgery is a tool, and wow, they are truly correct. I had 4 months of an awesome diet without hunger before it started to be like pre-surgery - and that's when my new struggle began. While I really appreciated those 4 months of "help" from the surgery, I thought I would be like most people and have a longer honeymoon period. And of course, I thought my small stomach would continue to have restriction for years to prevent overeating!

So I say this, as my own personal experience, but in no way do I want to discourage you from surgery! That may sound contradictory, but it's so true. I would do it all again in a heartbeat! Many people feel restriction for a long time. Many people's hunger never returns or is very minor when it returns...and there are many more benefits that you hear about. Despite my frustration and disappointment that I am not one of those people, I would still have the surgery because it got me this far. The rest just has to be up to me. Good luck with your journey.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Shells_Almost_There

[jarodnaaron 6]

I will hit my 11-month mark this week, and I basically have no restriction - and haven't had for months. It has been extremely frustrating. I still want to lose 80 more pounds and it is a real struggle. There are so many people like Georgia above who still have restriction,and I sure wish I was one of them. People always say that this surgery is a tool, and wow, they are truly correct. I had 4 months of an awesome diet without hunger before it started to be like pre-surgery - and that's when my new struggle began. While I really appreciated those 4 months of "help" from the surgery, I thought I would be like most people and have a longer honeymoon period. And of course, I thought my small stomach would continue to have restriction for years to prevent overeating!

So I say this, as my own personal experience, but in no way do I want to discourage you from surgery! That may sound contradictory, but it's so true. I would do it all again in a heartbeat! Many people feel restriction for a long time. Many people's hunger never returns or is very minor when it returns...and there are many more benefits that you hear about. Despite my frustration and disappointment that I am not one of those people, I would still have the surgery because it got me this far. The rest just has to be up to me. Good luck with your journey.

[jarodnaaron 6]

When you say no restriction , do you mean that you can eat as much as you want in one sitting?

[Shells_Almost_There 357]

I wouldn't go as far to say "anything I want," but I can eat many many things at once. Georgia above mentions "lots of restriction." I don't have that any longer (and I wish I did!) -- I used to be able to be completely full after a few bites and not be hungry for hours. Now I can eat quite a bit, and only sometimes feel sick or like I'm going to throw up (by the way, I've never puked or had the slimes since surgery). My hunger has returned. It's so much different than month 1 or 2. Anyway, as I said above, I still would have surgery, I still would spend the money, etc - I just am not having a very restricted experience and therefore can eat a lot of calories in a sitting and in a day if I'm not super careful. I try very hard to stick with my doctor's guidelines, but it is too easy to slip. I exercise a lot now and I'm happy to have lost the weight that I did in the first 4 months post op (and I had knee surgery a few months back once I felt ready for a 2nd operation) - so I feel more like the old me, but I still want to lose at least 60 if not 80 pounds. Now, it's all up to me - not the sleeve - to get that done.

I hope this helps!

Edited August 18, 2014 by Shells_Almost_There

[Unhappysleever 39]

Shells, when you say you can eat quite a bit are you able to me how much?? Perhaps how many ozs in a sitting.

[Shells_Almost_There 357]

@@jarodnaaron are you on your way to surgery today? If yes, good luck!

@@Unhappysleever It all depends on the density of the food - but I can probably eat 6 to 8 oz of dense Protein at once. I've noticed that the drier it is, the less I can eat. So really soft meat goes down super easy, but dry chicken breast is hard to eat - and is kind of disgusting. Knowing that, I try to eat soft fish instead of a prime cut of steak - just to keep my calories and fat down. Also, I can eat way too many carbs at once and I am still working to discipline myself against slider foods, which taste awesome but don't fill me up (and they totally cause cravings). It's such a balancing act. I had always heard "this is a tool, not a cure" and other things like that. I guess you could say that I am experiencing the reality of that truth,

[gomekast 559]

I'm 10 months out..11 next week. Yes, I feel restriction. I have at times felt hunger...but it was acid reflux..so 2 weeks on prilosec cleared that up.

How much can I eat?

If I eat carbs, I could in theory eat a ton more. Carbs are sliders for most of us post op. Always will be.

If I follow the rules...protein first, no fluids 30 before or after eating, no slider foods...then I feel full after about 1 cup of food. That's fairly normal from what my program has told us.

However. Every one will have days where you feel like a bottomless pit. That's just hormones. What you choose to do with that is up to you.

Is it possible to regain weight? Absolutely it is. Its up to each abd every one of us to be diligent with our choices...forever. Not just for the first year.

I have people in my extended circle that had the bypass...each of them eat around it and their all alcoholica now. But their thin. Eek.

I love my sleeve. Its also up to only me to make it work...For the rest of my life. If I get relaxed and stop following the basics...then yeah, I'll gain.

So..I say this...are you ready to follow the sleeve rules, for the rest of your life? Each day?

Edited August 18, 2014 by gomekast

[lylabelle 257]

The sleeve is also an art. My surgeon did many repairs on people who had the sleeve somewhere but the way the stomach was sectioned off allowed it to stretch either ok top of the staple line or bottom. The X-rays are interesting. Reading about that was one of many reasons I picked my surgeon (also the average is 60% excess weight off in a year, my surgeons average is 96%).

I also think everyone is different and some will have to work at it more than others.