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?

My high school sweetheart that I'm still friends with had the sleeve and gained most of it back. This doesn't seem to be the norm and he's the only person I know who did it. He admits it's because he didn't change his lifestyle before or after surgery. He didn't see it as a tool. Went right back to drinking soda when he could and he never exercised.

I am 65, 10 yrs post surgery in a few months, and I have maintained my weight loss. Weighed 275 at surgery and I now weigh 177. My weight fluctuates within a 5 pound window. I do not feel that my stomach has stretched beyond the initial healing, I can eat approximately 1/3 - 1/2 cup of food at a time. I eat about 5 times a day.

That said, I came here to post an update on mineral deficiencies which I have encountered. Will be posting on another thread here on the VSG forums. ot trying to be scary, just want others to be careful.

2 minutes ago, shrinkingpamela said:

I am 65, 10 yrs post surgery in a few months, and I have maintained my weight loss. Weighed 275 at surgery and I now weigh 177. My weight fluctuates within a 5 pound window. I do not feel that my stomach has stretched beyond the initial healing, I can eat approximately 1/3 - 1/2 cup of food at a time. I eat about 5 times a day.

That said, I came here to post an update on mineral deficiencies which I have encountered. Will be posting on another thread here on the VSG forums. ot trying to be scary, just want others to be careful.

Yes, keeping up with the nutritional aspect of VSG is as if not more important as food intake and exercise. All three we have to stay diligent about. thank you for mentioning this @shrinkingpamela

Five+ years out and I have much less restriction than I did a few years ago. I think losing some restriction over time is normal, but I also know I overate and sickened myself many times and that didn’t help. (I’ve sought support for my deeper-rooted food issues and am largely doing better.)
But even after several years of swinging back and forth from “Good Patient” to “reckless,” there is definitely still restriction. It’s not as powerful as it was at the beginning, but it’s there and it helps a lot.
FWIW, my highest weight was ~250 pounds, my very lowest weight post-op was somewhere south of 150, and I look and feel my best somewhere between 160-165. I don’t own a scale, but I think I’m currently between 175-180 and am getting back on track with protein, water, movement, and tracking food and exercise in hopes of getting below 170 again before too long.

On 6/22/2018 at 7:58 PM, New1 said:

In my opinion, the obese brain is much like other addictive brains

This is something that I've found out for myself. Nobody made me eat the vast amounts of food I ate, I did it all myself. I am a compulsive overeater and even with WLS I will still be a compulsive overeater. The WLS has given me a great head start in the right direction but, if I don't control my compulsion I will be back to where I started before my WLS. That is why I sought help with Overeaters Anonymous (OA). It is modeled after the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I go to meetings, call my sponsor everyday and most important I work the steps. I have said this in the past, there are many on here who can maintain the weight loss by themselves, I unfortunately am not one of them. I will never be able to eat like a normal person. If you feel that you need help, look for it and embrace it. I am only nine months out from my WLS, I don't consider myself a weight loss success just yet. I hope that I can maintain long term and stay healthy for the rest of my life.

20 minutes ago, Danny Paul said:

This is something that I've found out for myself. Nobody made me eat the vast amounts of food I ate, I did it all myself. I am a compulsive overeater and even with WLS I will still be a compulsive overeater. The WLS has given me a great head start in the right direction but, if I don't control my compulsion I will be back to where I started before my WLS. That is why I sought help with Overeaters Anonymous (OA). It is modeled after the 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I go to meetings, call my sponsor everyday and most important I work the steps. I have said this in the past, there are many on here who can maintain the weight loss by themselves, I unfortunately am not one of them. I will never be able to eat like a normal person. If you feel that you need help, look for it and embrace it. I am only nine months out from my WLS, I don't consider myself a weight loss success just yet. I hope that I can maintain long term and stay healthy for the rest of my life.

I totally agree. Though I am not a compulsive eater I do feel that extra support is a must for me. I do an online weight management program for the accountability.