You may be lurking, a pre-op, a newbie post-op, losing well (or not), or a long-time WLS patient.

1. How do you define long-term WLS success for yourself?

2. What are your biggest challenges in becoming successful long-term -- or, if you're a veteran, what WLS challenges have you struggled with?

3. What advice do you have for those newer to WLS than you?

1- Can I do the things I want to do? ...re: no embarrassing walks of shame because I couldn't get into a ride, or was too heavy to do something. I don't care about a number, I want certain results.

2- biggest challenge will probably be alcohol. I can't get drunk or even feel much of a buzz with this sleeve, so its difficult to tell when I have had too much

3- Get it done sooner. To succeed you must do four things...Plan, Prepare, Act and Evaluate.

1. How do you define long-term WLS success for yourself?

Did I change the trajectory of my life ? Am I on more solid ground in 5, 10 or 20 years as a result ? Do I LIVE each day or do I just do what must be done to get by ?

2. What are your biggest challenges in becoming successful long-term -- or, if you're a veteran, what WLS challenges have you struggled with?

I see my biggest challenge as becoming complacent and backsliding. In my case, for instance.......I carve out the body I want, the life I want........and become complacent........and lose discipline and focus......and drift back to old habits.

The way that I'm safeguarding against that is to make these changes.....pattern the new me and the way I approach things as second nature and with fundamental lifestyle changes that I'll embrace for life. There will be no backsliding because the new methods and mannerisms are hardwired in and don't have to be reached for.

3. What advice do you have for those newer to WLS than you?

Never forget, for a brief second, the reasons you had for having this WLS. Never forget your pains and struggles. Never. Ever. Keep them close through pics of those times with a few handwritten notes from you about your overall outlook at that moment. Own it. Now use that pain as fuel and burn it. Run on it every single day afterwards. You owe it to your self to always remember where you've been.........and celebrate where you aspire to be.

Never forget.

But never accept where you are.

Keep striving for a better state.

I'm 70 years old. I'm 21 months post-op, have lost 100 pounds, and am maintaining at 135 pounds. So here goes ...

1. How do you define long-term WLS success for yourself?

I would like to weigh under 150 pounds (my original goal weight), although if I'm being completely honest I'd love to remain at 135. But mostly I want to be healthy, physically active, independent, travel wherever and whenever I wish. I certainly could not do all that before WLS. Living that way was agonizing!

Although becoming and staying healthy was and is my #1 WLS goal, being attractive and enjoying the fashion / style / clothes side of life is a big deal for me. It's fun being a girl!

2. What are your biggest challenges in becoming successful long-term -- or, if you're a veteran, what WLS challenges have you struggled with?

Losing weight was easy. Not fast, but easy. All I did was follow the rules and observe what others were doing who were being successful.

But now that I'm in maintenance, balancing between healthy choices and pleasurable choices is my challenge. I want to be comfortable eating healthy foods most of the time, yet still allowing myself treats. Metaphorically speaking, I'm trying to be warmed by the fire, but not get burned.

As a formerly obese person who saw danger-danger-danger in every aisle of the grocery store and on every page of a restaurant menu, I'm trying to view food choices less categorically as "good" and "evil" and more on a continuum from "best choice right now to worst choice right now." Those judgments involve the foods themselves, the amounts I eat, the order in which I eat them, and other things. Food supports our health, but it also gives us pleasure. I'm learning how to titrate the right mixture to achieve both benefits.

3. What advice do you have for those newer to WLS than you?

While losing weight and maintaining weight, the real magic for me has been studying causes and effects.

Every day since WLS (and even for a few months pre-op) I have planned and tracked my menus on My Fitness Pal. I have weighed every morning and recorded my weight. I don't feel compulsive about tracking / weighing. These are just new habits I've grooved in that keep me focused on my goals.

If you enjoy collecting and analyzing data to understand cause and effect and to improve results, you are a lucky duck. If not, I urge you to develop some appreciation for the power of metrics. I am not stupid enough to think that at 21 months post-op I have licked obesity. I think it's a disease I must manage for the rest of my life. Planning and measuring have helped me immensely.

I define WLS success as....." I made it through the surgery and a few weeks recovery after with no complications."

I know, not what you meant.....! But think about it.... It is the surgery you're all worked up about. And that is the risky part. So once that is over with, you can breathe a sigh of relief and get on with the part that is up to you. That part will always depend on you.

It will come in stages, with milestones that will seem like successes at first, but you will come to realize that they are merely thresholds that lead to yet another phase. Phases like breaking stalls, reaching goal weight, maintenance. Phases that don't have goals or successes, but are challenges to take on and deal with.

And that is good because those challenges will stay with you always as you come to realize there is no end or "I made it" point. Dealing with challenges will make you stronger in your determination to create new habits and stick with them. It will make you aware that it can all go away if you are not forever vigilant to the process.

But hey, everybody finds success in their own way. For me, my "WLS success" was the surgery. The fulfillment of my life's dream is ongoing.

1. How do you define long-term WLS success for yourself?

I went into this process looking to get my life back. I wanted to be able to move without pain, to be able to do what I wanted without being limited by my ability to move or lack of stamina. I wanted to remove potential health challenges to living a long life and participating in the lives of my future grandchildren. Almost ten months after my surgery, I feel that I have accomplished these goals. I am healthier now than I have been in decades. I have more energy than in a long time. More importantly, I know that I have the will power to conquer things that have held me back for a long time. I am ready to live life now without being held back by my weight. That is all I wanted.

2. What are your biggest challenges in becoming successful long-term -- or, if you're a veteran, what WLS challenges have you struggled with?

Overcoming complacency. You have to work at this every day. Weight loss was relatively easy following directions, but I am alert to signs that I am slipping back to using food as a crutch now that I am transitioning to maintenance. I religiously log my foods and make sure that I put everything down (including the occasional unplanned snack). I weigh myself each day to make sure that I stay on track and don't freak out with the daily ups and downs. What really matters are trends. Am I staying steady, moving up or down? My weight can vary by two or three pounds In either direction on any given day, but the trend line tends to be clear when I step back and look weekly or biweekly. I also have to get back to exercising. It was easy to rationalize not exercising when the weight kept coming off, but I need to regain strength and tone my body. I've been very lucky in that despite my age and weight loss things seem to have mostly gone back to place. But that won't last forever and I have to get in the exercise habit now.

3. What advice do you have for those newer to WLS than you?

Stick to the basic guidelines of Water and Protein. Relish all the scale and non-scale victories. Don't fret about momentary lapses, always keep your focus on the overall trends - are you getting healthier?; how is your weight losstrending?; how are your clothes? How is your quality of life?, etc? We will all have slip ups. It's not slipping up that defines a successful WLS Journey, but how you snap back from it.

I am 49 years old and had VSG on 2/9/16. As of today my total weight loss before and after WLS is 46 pounds.

1. How do you define long-term WLS success for yourself?

For me, I think I would define my WLS success long-term by what I can do instead of what I can't. I am not sure what I want my goal weight to be, but 150 or less would be amazing. Success for me would be throwing away my cane for good...walk without it long term for years to come. To be able to get off ALL pain medication. Most of all to be able to do all the things I have always wanted to do like learn to ride a horse, go snowmobiling, travel to places outside of the U.S.(China, India and Isreal to name a few). Hike the Appalachian Trail :-)

​2. What are your biggest challenges in becoming successful long-term?

Self sabotage, that's my biggest challenge. I am working really hard on this one. When things go well for me I begin to get scared, fear takes over. To me change equals fear and I can easily sabotage my efforts. I have spent a lot of years hiding from the world and blending in. To be noticed is a new concept for me as an adult. Sabotage for me usually means slipping back into old patterns, especially eating.

3. What advice do you have to those newer to WLS than you?

My advice is to let all those newer than me know that no matter who you are, what you have done in the past, etc., you are worth all the good that comes with getting WLS! It is a hard, rewarding and joyful journey that is worth every step taken. Oh, and Protein first, veggies second! Follow your surgeons guidelines and meet your protein and H2O goals everyday. With the help of the sleeve, it does work!!!