Hello Everyone-I frequently visit this site for inspiration and encouragement. I am 5 week’s post-op today. I am ecstatic that I am sleeved.
Lately though, I see a lot of posts about people gaining back what they lost and more. That is so discouraging to me. I know my sleeve is a tool. I know that my new way of eating is for life. The sleeve helps so much with portion control. My question is...do you eventually lose the restriction you feel while eating? I don’t want to lose that feeling of being satiated with just a small amount of food?
In my nutrition classes prior to surgery, the rules were stressed over and over. Eat your protein first (at least 60 to 75 grams), no drinking with meals, stop drinking fluids 30 min before and no drinking 30 minutes after meals, 64 ounces or more of water per day (still working to meet this goal), exercise and vitamins. I am sticking to this now and working on my mindset to commit lifelong to this. My motivation for this is that the sleeve will allow me to eat less and succeed. Why do so many regain? Is there no hope to keeping the weight off permanently?

There is definitely hope! I am only 10 weeks post op, but I have a friend who had the surgery 6 years ago, and she looks better than ever! You just have to stick to the plan. She still gets full easily too.

Disclaimer: I haven't had surgery yet. But I will tell you what my surgeon's office told me. They said the reason that you are supposed to lay good groundwork and create good habits during the honeymoon phase is because after the honeymoon phase your metabolism starts to get wind of what's going on so to speak and starts working against you again. Pre surgery Your metabolism fights you tooth and nail to keep you at your current weight. Especially if you don't do metabolism boosting things such as daily exercise, proper eating, and drinking plenty of water (which i'm sure most if not all of us are guilty of!).

There is something about this surgery that my surgeon believes temporarily affects your metabolism (the honeymoon phase). He believes that for a period of time it is not fighting you at all. This explains why people do things/eat things they shouldn't and still continue to lose plenty of weight. They dangerously believe that since it is such small amounts of food that their transgressions aren't going to affect their weight loss. And it won't during the first 12 months. But as soon as your metabolism catches wind of what's going on it's going to start fighting you again. If you haven't created good habits during this time then it will be so much harder to maintain your weight or continue to lose weight. The sleeve is not only a tool of restriction but also a temporary metabolism reset (according to my surgeon). Use it wisely. Use that time where your metabolism isn't taking notice of the copious amounts of weight you're losing to do activities that create a more efficient metabolism. Because a bite here and there of the stuff we're not supposed to have is going to affect your weight when that honeymoon phase is over if you continue .

When my surgeon explained this to me I really took it to heart and it makes me want to take advantage of that honeymoon phase to do ALL the right things. I am sure that is much easier said than done but I am hopeful that I will follow the plan strictly.

At the end of the day we are all in charge of our success, as the previous poster said if you stick to the plan you will not gain all of your weight back. Best of luck to you!!

look thru the other forums located here i believe there is a veterans forum. Read along with the people that have been there done that the longest and it should help you get a feel for what the long haul will be like.

with the understanding that the people that failed the worst are not likely to be here at all.

1 hour ago, hopeful333 said:

Why do so many regain? Is there no hope to keeping the weight off permanently?

This line alone could burn down the forums with the fires it starts.

MY opinion - people didnt work out a system that worked with their lives everyday

so when they got tired of doing the WL thing just like the diet thing they slowly added in tiny little reasons why they could just eat this once or a little and slowly over many many months followed by years the weight came back on.

The Sleeve restriction will decrease with time

You must develop habits that will take the place of the restriction when that time comes

They must be fit your life and be easy to continue and not feel like a punishment

You get 18-24 months to figure it out -if your lucky

Edited June 6, 20188 yr by allwet

I am a sleeve to bypass revision. When I had my sleeve I went from 260 to 220 within 6 months. I followed my program to a tee. I then developed extreme GERD. At the time I had no idea what it was but it got so bad that about 2 years ago I was burping up water and feeling gross from the GERD that I asked for a revision and got it almost a month ago.

i honestly don’t know why I regained my weight back. No one knew I had the sleeve but everyone knew me as the dieter: I did Atkins, Keto, you name it. You would think I would feel full from Keto cause of the heavy protein, but nope. I felt no restriction. But I felt myself slowly losing the restriction as time went on. I had my sleeve for 7 years before revising.

I have also seen where some sleevers develop GERD and the only food that seems to settle is the bad food. That didn’t happen for me but I have read it on some forums.

Almost 2 years out, 115 pounds down and still losing. Working on switching up to lose body fat and build muscle - so I'm not super concerned about the scale number right now. Haven't had plastics yet - that will account for another 10-12 pounds.

I eat 100-120 grams of protein a day and drink about a gallon of water/unsweetened beverages at day. I work out 6 days a week. I fence competitively. I work with a personal trainer. I have learned to eat carbs again- which I only do when I am fencing multi day tournaments because my body needs the fuel.

My body fat is around 31% which rocks for a 56 year old post-menopausal woman. I went from a size 24 to a size 6.

Your sleeve is a tool. But the biggest, bestest, most badass tool is you brain. Get you head in the right place and don't accept failure as an option.

4 minutes ago, Diana_in_Philly said:

I fence competitively. I work with a personal trainer. I have learned to eat carbs again- which I only do when I am fencing multi day tournaments because my body needs the fuel.

My body fat is around 31% which rocks for a 56 year old post-menopausal woman. I went from a size 24 to a size 6.

This is fascinating! Have you always fenced or did you take it up as part of your post-op exercise routine?

Yes, 31% rocks for a post-menopausal woman. Go, girl!

I am 3 weeks post op today and I am terrified that my stomach will stretch out again too. I am afraid that I won't know it is happening.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm seven years post-op. It's true I can eat more than I could at one or two years post-op, but I still have restriction. I can eat about a cup and a half of food before becoming uncomfortable. I will say that grazing all day long will put the weight right back on. I tend to eat when I'm anxious or bored, so I had to learn how to cope with those without eating. Once your weight is stable, keep weighing yourself and for heaven's sake, take steps to lose two or three pounds rather than letting them pile on until you are looking at 50 to lose. It really is kind of an eternal vigilance sort of thing.

On 6/6/2018 at 3:34 PM, Orchids&Dragons said:

This is fascinating! Have you always fenced or did you take it up as part of your post-op exercise routine?

Yes, 31% rocks for a post-menopausal woman. Go, girl!

I started fencing about 8 months post op when my younger daughter quit with 4 private lessons already paid for. I decided to use her private lessons and I loved the sport. So, here I am at 56, fencing people who have been fencing for years, and in some cases, fencing people I could have given birth to - as two of the divisions I fence only have the requirement that you be born 2004 or earlier.

11 hours ago, Diana_in_Philly said:

I started fencing about 8 months post op when my younger daughter quit with 4 private lessons already paid for. I decided to use her private lessons and I loved the sport. So, here I am at 56, fencing people who have been fencing for years, and in some cases, fencing people I could have given birth to - as two of the divisions I fence only have the requirement that you be born 2004 or earlier.

Good for you! That's how I ended up with a blue belt in karate! We had a family membership, everyone else dropped out so they converted family to many months of individual, and there I was!

Unfortunately, I didn't really notice how much damage I was doing to my hips and knees until they got really bad They were already hyperextended and I think the constant pounding was really bad for unstable joints.

On 6/7/2018 at 5:38 AM, StrawberryLaray said:

I am 3 weeks post op today and I am terrified that my stomach will stretch out again too. I am afraid that I won't know it is happening.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

The capacity of the stomach will increase a little after the first year, but not by much unless you are constantly intentionally overstuffing it. Someone above said they increased to about 1.5 cups. Many people who regained were convinced their stomach had stretched out, but those who had it checked were still as restricted as expected. Most people who I've seen report that they regained and are seeking support to get back on track say that over time they fell into bad habits and started grazing/emotional eating/eating poor/junk/slider foods. At 6 weeks post op I reckon I could easily consume 3000 calories or more a day if I was eating poor quality/slider foods frequently and drinking alcohol and other liquid calories. People who start drinking with their meals will find they can eat a lot more (even though it may cause some indigestion or toileting issues).

Get advice and support from a nutritionist. Develop good eating habits in your post sleeve honeymoon period and work to build a strong metabolism with a workable long term diet that will remain suitable and sustainable and keep you maintaining your weight loss beyond 2 years post sleeve. Creekimp63 has posted in a couple of recent replies that her support team recommend increasing to a maintainable 1200 calories (incorporating healthy carbohydrates while still meeting protein targets) as soon as possible post sleeve, to avoid damaging your metabolism (when it wakes up post honeymoon period) with very low calorie diet and triggering diet fatigue and the metabolic/hormonal push to regain weight that so many of us already suffered after years of failed dieting and regain.

And get help now for any psychological issues that were contributing to your previous weight gain and any bad eating habits, as you need to deal with stress and mental issues without resorting to food, or progressing to other damaging behaviors like alcohol and drug abuse (some people with unresolved issues move on to other dangerous addictions once surgery prevents using food to manage/avoid stressors)

We are all here to support each other, and we all want everyone to succeed! Too many of us have suffered too many years from obesity.

@hopeful333

sure there is hope and success of keeping weight loss off permanently!!

Six (6)+ years ago i was sleeved. Lost 105 lbs by years end. GOAL

DOS 235 lbs - 130 lbs GOAL 135 lbs CW

around 2.5 years, i felt good restriction. After that, it's "all in my head"

WLS helped me reach GOAL - but then i was pretty much on my own.

(mentally i had stay on the straight and arrow) NOT easy, but i'm still

around to talk about it!!

i periodically have fluctuated a few lbs - but i consider myself at maintenance

some OP gain weight PO, they were successful, reached GOAL or close.

Felt over confident, lax off and start eating wrong, grazing all the time, grazing

- that is how many gained weight.

After losing your extra weight, you must stick with the program ALWAYS

Continue your good habits you learned. You are NOT done when that "number"

is achieved. NOT easy, but you can do it. It aint over til the fat lady sings!!

good luck

kathy

Proudgrammy are you saying that after 2 1/2 years you felt no restriction at all?

You look amazing and I am grateful for your words of wisdom, just want to clarify about the restriction.

Staci

1 hour ago, hopeful333 said:

are you saying that after 2 1/2 years you felt no restriction at all?

@hopeful333

in my case, i don't feel i have any restriction anymore. (6+ years) Can't speak for OP.

OP's restriction are all different. Follow allll the good health habits you've learned,

for the rest of your healthier, happier, longer life. Doing this, you should maintain

your weight. Butttt, after awhile, it will not continue to give you restriction forever.

when you hear about problems on the board - good or bad, the bad is remembered frequently. You do hear many good stories - but problems (restrictions, etc) are spoken about more often

they will then stick out in your mind.

good luck

kathy