Were You Ever a Normal Weight Before the Sleeve

I have not yet been sleeved.  Please forgive me from invading your board but I have a question that I felt only graduates could answer.

Were you ever a normal weight before the sleeve?

I have never been a normal weight.  I have been, at my lightest, over-weight my whole adult life.  How about you?  Were you ever in the normal range?  Have you made the normal range after the sleeve?  I previously was banded and never reached the normal range (it eroded and was removed April 2011).  I am trying to get my head around what to expect when I am sleeved.  Will I ever see normal or will I always be over-weight.  Don't get me wrong, I am morbidly obese right now and would LOVE to be over-weight again but I'm just trying to understand if there are some of us that have a body set-point that could prevent us from going "all the way." 

I have been heavy all my life, except from 16-20 years old.  That said, even then I thought I was overweight and dieted/worried constantly.  When I look at pictures made back then, I can't believe I thought I was overweight.  I only weighed 125 lbs!!!  But I was comparing myself to skinny skinny girls and felt huge.  I have always been very self conscious about my body.

Since my surgery, I am now normal but still see myself as overweight.  When I look in the mirror, my eyes go direct to my flaws.  I still carry all my weight in my shoulders and arms and upper tummy.  It makes me look heavier than I actually am.  Wonder if that will ever change??  Probably not but I know in my heart that I am so much more healthy than I used to be and that is a GOOD THING!  Love my sleeve!

Good Luck on your journey!

Blessings....Dee

Hey there! I am not a grad...not even 1 year out and still in the WL phase, but I wanted to respond because I feel like my story/past is somewhat similar to what you are describing.

First of all, I can't ever remember being a normal weight past age...oh, 5-6.

I also had a band put in 2/2008 and did pretty good the first year, losing about 65 lbs (from about 314 to 249). After my first year, I began to have complications with my band where I would get just random tightening. I would seem to have only 2 modes with the band: completely open where I could anything just like pre-op or completely closed where I could not tolerate solid foods and sometimes not even liquids. I was constantly going in for unfills until finally my surgeon started talking revision.

Anyway, I went round and round with my band for nearly 2 years after the complications started in and during that time managed to regain up to 304 when I went in for my revision to the sleeve.

The sleeve has been amazing for me. It has significantly reduced my hunger and it has been easy for me to stick to the high protein diet. Satisfaction with such smaller portions is amazing.

Prior to my sleeve, my main goal was just to get under 200 lbs. That was hard for me to even imagine let alone to actually reach a normal weight.

Not only am I well under 200 lbs now less than 11 months out, but I am 5 lbs from a normal weight. At this point, I know I will make it to normal and push to get to my goal a few lbs below that, but when I was sitting at 300+ lbs, the idea that I would be 175-180 lbs was just unreal.

What you get from the sleeve will depend a lot on the work you put into it (fill your sleeve with protein), but don't kid yourself for one minute thinking that a normal weight isn't possible for you.

Best,
Lindsey

Thanks for the GREAT replies.  You have given me some good information.  Hopefully I will be joining you soon.

You can be whatever weight you want to be with the sleeve or RNY or whatever. It's up to you to use the program effectively and get down to the weight you want to be. (within reason). The sleeve is very successful and yes, you will eat normally again. I'm RNY and I eat normally, and luckily I'm normal size now too. My portions are normal (the suggestions on the side of the box really are a "normal" portion !), Your body may have a set point - like most of us it probably has set points all the way down the scale, just as it had set points (good way to put it) when the weight was going on. You may hit a plateau or road block but hang in there and realize your body is resiliant but you can maneuver it to where you want to go. I've had post op friends like you who never thought they'ld be "normal" size or just a bit overweight. THey worked at it an were pleasantly surprised, You can do it with your docs help. Follow the program, and get to know your body. Listen to it and you'll learn when hunger is, what it needs and how much. Good luck.
This is an AMAZING ride- youll love it!
Jen 10 yrs post op RNY