Hi everyone! I haven't been on this site in a VERY long time, but I am currently on a new weight loss journey and I thought I would report in with my experience and the hope that some of you newbies can learn from it.

I had my VSG surgery on 9/1/2014, so 10 years ago this month. At the time of my surgery, I weighed ~260 pounds and I am 5'6". I have lost and gained weight a million times before that, with my highest weight ever having been 277 pounds.

In the first couple of years after my surgery, I was able to get below my goal weight (165) all the way down to 154. During that time I trained for and ran in a half marathon and a full marathon, completing the full marathon in September 2016 (almost exactly two years after my surgery).

I separated from my then-husband in May of 2016 and our divorce was final in December 2016. My life took a very different path after that and I did not stick to my healthy diet and exercise. I met my current husband in February of 2017 and while I love him dearly and he is THE BEST, he is a bit of a hedonist and we definitely supported each other in our hedonism. I became a connoisseur of fine craft beers and we have a large friend group who we go out with or have get-togethers with several times a week. I not only stopped running but stopped exercising altogether.

Both my current husband and I put on weight in the seven years we have been together, especially during COVID, and I got all the way back up to 234 pounds! Last year, my husband was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and, in April, we resolved to turn things around together.

Since then, I have lost 30 pounds and I am on my way down to my new goal weight of 180. So, here are some things I want to report, trying to lose weight again for the first time since immediately after my surgery:

• The restriction still works! I cannot eat much more than about 200 grams of food in one sitting. Once I cut out snacking and stopped drinking as many calories (beer), it was easy to rely on my sleeve to restrict my daily caloric intake.
• My metabolism is still normal. As a 5'6 female weighing 203.2 pounds, I still burn ~2100 calories per day just by living, according to my Garmin watch and it definitely tracks with the calorie differential I am logging and the weight loss I am seeing.
• I still can't eat and drink at the same time. I usually have to wait about 45 minutes to an hour to drink anything after I eat a full meal.
• Being overly full is still an unpleasant feeling. Before my surgery, I used to love the sensation of being "stuffed." Since surgery and to this day, it is still uncomfortable for me if I overeat in one sitting. Not a pleasant sensation at all, but not painful like it was in the very beginning.
• I can still get dumping syndrome if I'm not careful. If eat too much sugar too fast, usually in the form of ice cream or a milkshake, I get dumping syndrome and it is VERY unpleasant, fortunately, it is very rare.
• Food can still get "stuck." Every once in a while, mostly when I am eating turkey or pork it seems, food can get stuck and it is completely miserable. Be sure to thoroughly chew your food!!! Especially dense meats.

My advice to anyone who is post-sleeve and still losing weight or trying to maintain their weight:

• Snacks are the enemy! It's so easy to get in extra calories by eating smaller amounts between meals. Your sleeve won't help you at all with this.
• Drinking your calories is easy and dangerous. I haven't given up my precious beer entirely, but I have cut back and I am mindful of the type of beer I am drinking as some types are more caloric than others. You can just as easily drink your calories even if you don't drink alcohol. Be wary of soda, milkshakes, energy drinks, juices, and too much cream/sugar/syrups in your coffee.
• Keep up with the exercise. It doesn't have to be training for a marathon like I did in the beginning. Currently, my husband and I take a ~mile walk after dinner each night and we try to do one, long, 4-5 mile walk/hike on the weekend. Just that moderate amount of activity can make a big difference.
• Be mindful of calorically dense foods. Even though I can only eat 200 grams at a time, if it is 200 grams of junk, it can have a LOT of calories!

I hope the lesson that all of you take from this post is that the sleeve is a tool and it is all about how you use it. It can work for you, even 10 years out, as long as you use it correctly.

Congrats on 10 years! I think we all will have ups and downs our whole lives! Just life! I too was 277 at my highest ever. Lost 100 lbs before and 60 lbs three times, and 20 and 30 lbs several times and it always came back slowly over the next few years.

So I got the sleeve done Dec 2 last year and have gone from 244 at start of liquids before surgery to 202.4 today. Almost to Onederland! I love all the tips you shared. Snacking and drinking calories are DEFINITELY culprits to regaining our weight! I bring divided out grapefruit every day lately if I do want something. Or berries or cucumbers. And I've been drinking water during the week and add in my tea and coffee on the weekends usually. But I use Stevia. I was divorced a few years back also and remarried and my husband is pre-diabetic. He doesn't eat sugar now so that helps me too. ? He eats healthier than I do since he found that out too. Determined to not become diabetic. He eats baked fish, grilled shrimp, spinach and cabbage, etc. LOL! He's got some great willpower.

You and I seem to have lots in common! But I don't like beer. LOL! It's probably better for me though than pina coladas, which are my fave! LOL! I haven't had one in a year or longer. And just had surgery about 3 months ago. You can tell I hardly drink at all. ?

I am so glad to know restriction stays! Some people say it fades. I'm glad it doesn't! Hopefully we can continue to lose and get to a weight we are happy with this year! ?

2 hours ago, Selina333 said:

Congrats on 10 years! I think we all will have ups and downs our whole lives! Just life! I too was 277 at my highest ever. Lost 100 lbs before and 60 lbs three times, and 20 and 30 lbs several times and it always came back slowly over the next few years.

So I got the sleeve done Dec 2 last year and have gone from 244 at start of liquids before surgery to 202.4 today. Almost to Onederland! I love all the tips you shared. Snacking and drinking calories are DEFINITELY culprits to regaining our weight! I bring divided out grapefruit every day lately if I do want something. Or berries or cucumbers. And I've been drinking Water during the week and add in my tea and coffee on the weekends usually. But I use Stevia. I was divorced a few years back also and remarried and my husband is pre-diabetic. He doesn't eat sugar now so that helps me too. ? He eats healthier than I do since he found that out too. Determined to not become diabetic. He eats baked fish, grilled shrimp, spinach and cabbage, etc. LOL! He's got some great willpower.

You and I seem to have lots in common! But I don't like beer. LOL! It's probably better for me though than pina coladas, which are my fave! LOL! I haven't had one in a year or longer. And just had surgery about 3 months ago. You can tell I hardly drink at all. ?

I am so glad to know restriction stays! Some people say it fades. I'm glad it doesn't! Hopefully we can continue to lose and get to a weight we are happy with this year! ?

Margaritaville makes a variety pack of tropical water enhancers and one of them is pins colada. I got them on Amazon. I tried it with vodka and that wasn’t very good at all but as a virgin drink it wasn’t bad for something different.

As of this morning, I reached the goal weight I had set for myself last April when my husband and I committed to our new lifestyle! I am back down to the weight I was at when we first got together, which was 8 years ago last week. I am setting a new stretch goal for myself to lose 15 more pounds, but I plan to take that very slowly. As long as I keep trending slowly down, I will be content.

That's awesome! Congratulations!!

Amazing pearls of wisdom! Thank you so much for the info