How did you change your lifestyle?

I'm in the early stages of getting ready for gastric sleeve. I went to the seminar, and I have "part 2"  appointment next thursday. I'm 43, female, 5'6, 271lbs. BMI 43. Otherwise I have no major issues healthwise- (yet). I have 3 kids, and my husband whos very supportive. I work full-time, and right now I make time for the gym 1x a week. I live a sedentary lifestyle, sit at a desk all day...I deal with a lot of exhausting idiots, and by the time I get home- (dinner, clean, HW) I'm shot- and I go to bed. 

Its obvious that I'll need to add more exercise based on everything I'm reading to ensure this works to its fullest. Based on a calculator, it says I can expect to get to 184- which is wonderful but I'm really hoping for 165/170...

Also, I'm a post medifaster- in 2008 I lost about 80lbs- and gained every lbs back. I swear I've ruined my metabolism forever..my calorie intake is maybe 1200-1400 daily...of course I have my moments and go way over that on occasion- but thats my standard diet....

I cant help but fear that I'll go through all of this and will only lose a little... and I'm really struggling with the exercise schedule. I cant lie...I'm never getting up at 4:30 am to exercise- 

Did anyone  else already have a fairly average calorie diet and have great success? And- how do you fit in the gym?

Thanks so much for listening- any advise would be greatly appreciated!

You will lose weight but you will have to do what your team tells you. Diet and exercise go hand in hand although you don't need to become a gym devotee. I couldn't exercise until recently(vsg on 11/11/15) I'm finding it much easier to move now that some weight is gone. I walk,do gentle yoga and I DVD a exercise I found on PBS all at home.  Good luck on your journey it's so worth it.

Right now, I wouldn't focus on the exercise piece, since that is not going to be the reason you succeed or fail. Your food intake is the most important part of weight loss. The things that I found most helpful was tracking my food (I use myfitnesspal), changing my eating habits (from an all day graze to 3 meals + snack), eating protein first, not drinking before, during or directly after meals, getting at least 64 ounces of water a day. I, too, had lost a lot of weight in 2008 and then gained it back. This did not prevent me from losing again this time and hopefully it shouldn't be a problem for you either. Don't give up because this can work for you!

If you are maintaining 271 pounds on 1200-1400 calories a day, then VSG is not the surgery for you.  If you were to go to 700-900 calories a day, it would take years to get to 184.

You do need to weigh, measure and track all of your food to be sure that you are really eating so few calories.  With RNY you would have about two years of malabsorption to get you to goal weight.  After that your metabolism will be lower than ever. 

Exercise is beneficial but will not do much for the actual weight loss.  I had RNY and weight fell off effortlessly, but I was eating well over 2000 calories a day before surgery.   Now I maintain 136 pounds on 1400 calories a day. 

The best course of action is to discuss all your concerns with your surgeon next Thursday. Have a written list ready to go, so you won't waste any of his/her and your time trying to remember them.

After VSG surgery, I found it necessary to limit my calories to around 700 each day, even though my own surgeon recommended 1000; otherwise, my weight loss would slow down tremendously. At 1200-1400 calories, I would gain weight. 700 calories/day is pretty extreme, to be sure, but it's doable with the sleeve, assuming you follow all the rules for successful VSG eating: protein first, then some non-starchy vegetables and maybe a bit of fresh fruit. The beauty of the sleeve is that if you eat the right foods in the right order, you shouldn't feel hungry, which makes the starch/sugar devil carbs much easier to resist. Missing nutrients from a low-calorie diet will be supplied through bariatric vitamin/mineral supplements, which your surgeon will undoubtedly recommend.

The only way you can not lose weight after VSG surgery is by deliberately consuming high-carb, nutritionally empty foods on a daily basis. If you eat the way your surgeon will recommend to you, you will lose weight.

If you've been following this site for the past week or so, you may have come across the article that a member posted about exercise. Studies are showing that exercise does not by itself do anything to affect weight loss. A small bag of cookies will offset hours of even the most strenuous exercise. Only calorie reduction will cause significant weight loss. That's not to say exercise is not important -- it's essential for your overall health, just not for weight loss. Find an exercise that meets your fitness level, that you enjoy, and that you can fit into your daily routine. It doesn't have to be an all-out 4:30am extravaganza. 

Good luck with your meeting next Thursday.

psychoticparrot

Thank you so much!

How has your post weight loss been going? We seem to have the same starting weight-...it's very encouraging to know someone succeeded with relatively the same calorie/carb issues. If I ate everything I WANTED to...geez- I'd be in way worse shape.  I can't look you up? Is that on purpose...or...I just may not have any idea what I'm doing...

I'm not looking for miracles, or to melt 50 lbs the first month- but, I certainly dont want it to take years...

Psychoticparrot- would you mind sharing anything more about your before and after experiences? I really appreciate it!

I never filled out the background info, and I don't keep a blog. The quickest way to find out about my VSG experiences is to click on "psychoticparrot," which will call up all the topics I've started since I joined OH 1 1/2 years ago. Better yet, click on Cappy, Frisco, Kairk, Grim Traveler, Hagalicious Brown, and read their posts. They and many others here have successfully maintained their weight loss for years and have much more experience than I do about what VSG surgery can and can't do for you.

psychoticparrot

So how did I change my lifestyle? Very slowly! Concentrate on the eating first, that's what will ultimately get you to goal. Exercise will help, but it's not to accelerate weight loss, plus you don't have to depend so much on the gym to get your exercise in.

Once I had a handle on the eating for the most part, I concentrated a little more on the mental aspects of weight loss. Things like distinguishing between mental hunger & physical hunger. Remembered that feeling hunger is not an emergency, had to figure out if it was acid, or if I was feeling a certain way & that's what making me have cravings more so than actual hunger. Head hunger takes time to work thru & is always there.

Finally once the eating physical & mental parts were handled, for the most part, then I started with the exercise. I've gone to the gym on & off for years, but sometimes it got boring & I found that I liked being outside. So I got a fitbit & started walking, it was the simplest & easiest thing to do. I aimed for 5000, then went to 10,000, anything past that was gravy. So afterwards I started bike riding outdoors & really luved it. At first my rides were short, just around the neighborhood, eventually I went further & further away. Bought clothes like rain gear etc in case the weather got bad while I was outdoors, then started riding to work, etc etc.

I guess the point of this long post is to take baby steps, that's what works for me. 

Also definitely think if the vsg is right for you. I was much heavier than you when I started out, but I didn't have the metabolic issues you described in your post. I don't want to sway you from your decision but there are people that know, based on their past, that a restriction only type of procedure isn't enough to get to goal., & stay there! You can get to goal with vsg but it might be harder & take longer & you'll have to stay on top of your eating for life.

Good Luck in whatever you choose to do. 

Are you currently tracking every single thing you put in your mouth with something like MyFitnessPal?  I'd start there.  

I have had great success with lifestyle modification.  It's a slow and steady process, but I attacked it from all fronts.  I made my primary focus that first year to "be kind to myself."  I started getting monthly massages, I found a great mental therapist and started seeing her weekly, I started walking, then I started doing fitness classes, and then I started running.  Then I went back to college and then I started lifting weights.  I'm now 22 months post-op, so this has been a slow and gradual thing.  

As my life has gotten more full (and it's ridiculous now that I'm a full time student in addition to everything), I've had to get better at delegating responsibility.  I don't cook dinner every night, I cook extra food a few nights a week (since it's easier to double recipes than make a second recipe) and we have leftover nights.  My family helps with cooking and laundry, I make a grocery list when I meal plan, but more often than not my partner is the one who does the grocery shopping.  Basically, and this was a HUGE mindset change for me, I stopped trying to be Super Woman.  I am a super woman, indeed, but everything that gets done does not need to get done by me - the people I live with are perfectly competent and capable and willing - especially if they have some direction.  

I needed to learn to make myself and my health a priority.  If I don't do that, I'm no use to anyone else in my life.  Does that mean I wake up too early somedays in order to get my exercise in?  Yup.  But sometimes that's what I need to do for my health.  

The short version is - you've got to figure out what your priorities are and then adjust your life accordingly.  If you don't want to change your priorities, nothing in your life will ever change either.  

Calculators are great for an estimate, but they don't dictate your final results by far. I made it below an "ideal" weight of 150 (as figured by my surgeon). Others on the forums have done the same. It's all about how well you work the tool you're given.

Food intake is MUCH more important than exercise in weight loss. If you can even take a short walk a few times a week, that's great, but not exercising often will not make or break your loss. I tend to take short walks during my lunch break at work, then go out and ride my bike for an hour or two on the weekend, that worked just fine for me.

If your current intake is 1200 - 1400, you ABSOLUTELY need to double-check that. Most folks have 800ish during the majority of the loss phase, so if you're REALLY eating 1200 it won't be that much of a restriction. I'd suggest that you take a week and document absolutely EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth into a site like MyFitnessPal. Coffee creamer, ketchup, EVERYTHING. If you have a kitchen scale, use it and log exactly. You (like many of us) will probably be surprised.