You can say it louder with a drum.

The beauty of the sleeve is that it makes this change possible.  You really can be at your goal weight and you can maintain long term.  I am certainly not the only one that has done this, so many others have done it also.  The huge difference with the sleeve as opposed to any other diet, is that the tool really is always with you and you have bought yourself about six months to build brand new strategies around food.  It is like a brand new start, a chance to reset your eating patterns, thoughts, and attitudes.  I think that the people that are the most successful in the long term, have really taken advantage of this time to build a brand new relationship with food.  In some ways, I look at the sleeve and what it gives us as an opportunity to re-learn everything about food and our relationship to it.  It is almost a repenting as we start to eat like babies do, and go through all the stages, until we  become ready in maintenance, to do most of this on our own.

Wow, you know how to start my day off right AND give me food for thought for the long haul. I appreciate you so much. Thank you for sharing your insights. I never tire of hearing from you.

Thank you for your feedback, it keeps me coming back here and posting.  I really do appreciate the response and hope that my words are helpful to someone other than me. 

This is such an important piece to this journey, one that I may not have been able to fathom yet.  The more I read on OH, the more convinced I am that I WILL get this procedure done, and that I WILL continue to learn from you all here on this site.  Thank you so much for this insightful post.

The sleeve has made a major and very positive change in my life.  Knowing what I know today, I would not hesitate to do it again.  As a matter of fact, I consider it one of my smartest decisions to date.  Good luck to you and I hope you make the best choice for you. 

This is so true and I can say that with conviction because I am LIVING it. At 3 years post op next month, I am still in the losing phase. I have committed to doing  and doing without  WHATEVER it takes to get to goal,no matter HOW LONG it takes.

I have given up EVERYTHING except fairly plain lean meats,and eggs and healthy fats. That is all I eat. After giving up dairy last year,I have lost 6# after a year in "maintenance."  during this whole maintenance phase,I stayed very true to plan even though doing EVERYTHING I could possibly  do wasn't causing the scale to go down.

I am very proud of myself that through this process I have learned that I CAN be in control of my food choices and I CAN choose to not let food make me its *****

If I have gained nothing else during this last three years ( and actually I have gained a tremendous amount in many ways),I have learned that I am far stronger where food and food choices are concerned than I ever gave myself credit for. that is worth a huge amount to me.

I am VERY impressed with your attitude. Unbelievable. You are going to go on to make goal-I just know it. I am truly surprised that giving up dairy completely has allowed you to lose another 6 lbs already. I am inspired by that!! Talk about dedication! I don't eat dairy very often--maybe once or twice a week (cottage cheese) but I am wondering now if I shouldn't toss it by the way side? I know some people's bodies are more sensitive to certain things than other people's. You can do it!

I really think getting diabetes before surgery was a blessing. I was eating healthy for a long while before surgery. Eating low carb and high protein has become an absolute MUST for me.  I think in my mind--all the time--that I cannot just eat for pleasure. I have to eat for survival. I saw my Mom die from diabetes not long after I had my surgery. She was just 54. I want to live to see grandchildren--to grow old--to keep my feet from being amputated or my eyes from losing their sight. I have seen several people I know have diabetes "cured" with gastric bypass and then it came back within 5 years after they regained significant weight MOSTLY because of eating all the food that made them diabetic/large in the first place. I am perfectly content with being bored with food because I am content being alive eating chicken breast rather than dying with ice cream filling my face.

Thanks, and giving up is just not an option. I don't even WANT to give up most of the time,very,very rarely do I think why bother and then I jerk myself up and say oh no you don't Satan! get away from me you have no place here and he goes and I go about my day.

I am like you about the diabetes. Once I developed type II I was like oh no Im not losing my body parts an inch at a time and all the other things you mentioned. I was a nurse on a medical floor for 22 years and we would see the same diabetics coming in over and over and over and each time they left a little worse and with less body parts. Even those who were totally compliant could not win against diabetes. It is just the nature of the disease. If you live long enough,these thing WILL,not IF,they WILL happen to you. I was NOT going there.

I also am living for my 4 DGC and my DD and DS. I want to be as healthy as possible for as long as I have to live. Life is good. I can also live with my lean meats and eggs because the rewards I am reaping in every way SO far outweigh the taste of anything.

It won't hurt anything to try going without dairy. I went 2 weeks before I started losing and now,I kid you not, ONE bite of anything dairy and I am stalled for 2-3 days. It is totally amazing to me. I knew I was sensitive but had no idea I am THIS sensitive to carbs which is what a big portion of dairy is,milk sugar.

Wise words. Thanks!

Great Post!