I had my VSG 7/24/17 and I’m down 75 lbs. and counting. Most of it has been a great and life-changing experience. I’ve had no complications (so far), no pain, no nausea or vomiting, and I can tolerate nearly everything. My taste for things has not changed, although my cravings have. I do crave healthy whole foods over junk for sure.

I only have two things that I’m struggling with;

1. Much of the time I don’t even want to eat. Of course, I follow my program to the letter and I eat but after I do I just feel like uhg…why do I bother. Other times, when the food is really tasty, I get frustrated that I’m full after 4 or 5 bites. But I deal with it realizing that eventually, it will get easier.

2. Clothing: I struggle with this because I’m working my ass off to be successful at getting healthy and fit. I refuse to be the person who will wear their big clothing until goal. That’s just ridiculous for me. I look like a slob in a **** or pants that are 3 sizes too big. I just can't-do it.

Goodwill has been my favorite place to buy shirts and I usually find nice stuff but pants are near impossible to find because I’m 5’8” and everything is too long for me. What really sucks is that I must have 8-10 sports coats and blazers that look like robes on me now.

The struggle is real people ?

What do others think and what would relevant advise would you give?

JC

Thrift shopping enabled me to buy whole new wardrobes multiple times and now I have a wardrobe I'd have killed for before, Versace, lucky, Armani, givenchy, Gucci never paid more than 10 bucks for them, my jeans collection is the envy of those who know me, try it, you'll love it. As to not wanting to eat, that's fine , just don't then, eat when you get hungry not when the click says to, this surgery is also to stop hunger, so use this time to it's fullest

I too am struggling with clothing, although I don't have an issue with food. I am wearing my skinny clothes that I bought on sale a year or two ago hoping that I would lose enough weight to fit into them. They are starting to fall off as well. I have already had to give away my 44s, my 42s, and my 40s as they are huge on me. I really need some 36s now, but I'm afraid of wasting money just in case. I am only 2 months post-op now.

Goodwill sounds like a good idea. I think I will give it a try. Hopefully, they will have something fashionable and not like carpenter jeans from the early 2000s. I'm not going out like that. We also have some resale shops here that have nice clothing for about 30%-40% of the cost of new.

You are doing really well. At this rate, you are going to fly right past your lower goal real soon. Keep up the good work!

Hey guys - these issues are familiar to me too. I found that I could only go 2-3 pant sizes before things just got really sloppy (I went from a 44 to a 32). I found myself shopping clearance racks and places like TJ Maxx and Marshalls to find cheap clothing that I then donated later. I just kept a minimal wardrobe while I was losing weight because it seemed like every couple weeks I was rotating something out. Some clothing like dress shirts don't change that much - my neck size went down a 16 1/2 pretty quickly and only at the end did I get to a 16 slim/fitted. Even after hitting my goal weight my body shape changed and I became more comfortable wearing different styles of clothing (slim fit jeans, etc).

As for food, I still feel that way even though I'm 2+ years out. I don't get hungry... but if I don't eat then I get low blood sugar and cranky lol. I eat when it's time to eat - sometimes feeling like I obsess about eating more now then I did when I was dieting. I have to in order to eat enough calories throughout the day to keep my weight stable. I had gotten down to 175 but at 6'2, that was just too skinny for my liking. I'm happy now at 185-190 but have to make sure I eat something about 6 times a day in order to maintain that weight.

Same here. Down from a 60/30 pant to a 60/32 (pants sitting higher I guess). Shirt went from 6x to a 4x. I've given away my wardrobe, twice. [emoji26]

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My appetite did come back though, so it's a bit more work than it was. (Sleeve on 1/23/17)

HW 640
SW 470
CW 345

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I think I am one of the lucky ones...I am 4 years out and I still have no physical hunger at all!! Now mind hunger I deal with that all the time. But I can resist that one. I feel like my WLS made me able to do this. There are times when I look at something like an apple and I drool, man, I wish I could eat an apple. I could eat one earlier but not so much now. I can't eat many veggies because by the time I get my protein in I have no room. I have taken a few veggie days. I eat sliced tomatoes, a small corn on the cob and a cucumber. I don't do this very often but I have gone all this time and this year I let myself enjoy some fresh veggies. My wish is that my hunger never comes back at all!! Isn't it great!! That we have all this commitment to be successful. We all struggle at this journey. But...we learn as we go!! Good Luck to us all!!

I think I am one of the lucky ones...I am 4 years out and I still have no physical hunger at all!! Now mind hunger I deal with that all the time. But I can resist that one. I feel like my WLS made me able to do this. There are times when I look at something like an apple and I drool, man, I wish I could eat an apple. I could eat one earlier but not so much now. I can't eat many veggies because by the time I get my protein in I have no room. I have taken a few veggie days. I eat sliced tomatoes, a small corn on the cob and a cucumber. I don't do this very often but I have gone all this time and this year I let myself enjoy some fresh veggies. My wish is that my hunger never comes back at all!! Isn't it great!! That we have all this commitment to be successful. We all struggle at this journey. But...we learn as we go!! Good Luck to us all!!

I think mine is all mental also. I don't think I've been physically hungry since the surgery.


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Belts will hold up most pants. I found that I could shorten cowboy type leather belts by cutting the ends shorter and repunching the holes. It is O.K. to buy a pair of new clothes as you lose weight, but try and buy them so tight that you feel like you might pop a button. Weight drops quickly and before you know it, it will be a perfect fit. It is a great feeling when it does.

I know this is all guy stuff, but kudos to you all.

About pants lengths - go to dry cleaners and ask about alterations or go to a major department store or stop at a place that sells sewing machines and ask if they know anyone to alter clothes. A free lance person doesn't charge that much to alter hems....I used to do that on the side. Try church thrift shops, garage sales.

I'm 2 years out now and I had exactly the same issues. My wife and I used to love going to restaurants. Now, I'm really ambivalent about it. I generally eat because I have to, but otherwise food doesn't get me too excited anymore. Like axlr8n, I do have to think about food more than I thought that I would have and generally eat about 6-7 small meals per day.

I had the exact same clothing problems and found Ebay to be a great help. As I lost weight, I ordered clothes from Ebay. Once I lost more weight, I sold those clothes and then bought a couple of sizes smaller. Only now that I am at my maintenance weight am I buying new stuff from places that I never could have shopped at when I was a 7XLT or 8XLT.

1 hour ago, Thucydides said:

I'm 2 years out now and I had exactly the same issues. My wife and I used to love going to restaurants. Now, I'm really ambivalent about it. I generally eat because I have to, but otherwise food doesn't get me too excited anymore. Like axlr8n, I do have to think about food more than I thought that I would have and generally eat about 6-7 small meals per day.

I had the exact same clothing problems and found Ebay to be a great help. As I lost weight, I ordered clothes from Ebay. Once I lost more weight, I sold those clothes and then bought a couple of sizes smaller. Only now that I am at my maintenance weight am I buying new stuff from places that I never could have shopped at when I was a 7XLT or 8XLT.

Can't wait to get "We miss you" cards from KingSize.com, lol

I'm thankful that I saved all my clothes from the time I was smaller which was about 75 pounds ago. Hopefully I'll be fitting in those soon.