NEWBIE and very confused (sleevers)

 hello there every one 
ive been reading and researching the HELL out of wls and im gonna get sleeved in a month, but im so confused and very frustrated about the fact that after 2 years out i can eat normally again and totally gain all the weight back . any sleevers out there that can tell me what its like after 3 years or four, do you get hungry ... will i have to yoyo diet AGAIN for the rest of my life?????????????

Hi, I understand the confusion.  There is so much information out there to read.

I am two years out from my Sleeve surgery.  I did not ever really lose my hunger.  Some people forget to eat, I watch the clock and eat on schedule. 

I can't eat normally because I have my Sleeve to help me with portion control.  If I eat cookies, candy, cake, popcorn, crackers, I can eat endlessly and not be full because those are slider foods.  They go right through me because they do not cause my pyloric valve to shut.  If I eat dense protein (pork chops, steak, chicken breast), I can eat 3-5 ounces and be full and unable to eat more.  If I eat those same foods with sauces, I can eat more because of adding the slider portion to it.

Your surgeon will give you a plan to follow.  If you follow it, you will be fine.  You will also get lots of advice on the VSG forum here on OH.  Track your food (I use myfitnesspal dot com and have since before surgery), hydrate, get in all your vitamins, exercise and you'll be fine.  Eat your protein first so that you're satisfied, then you'll be able to eat a few bites of veggies or fruit.  Limit your carbs as much as you can.  Losing phase many people swear by keeping carbs under 30-40 grams a day.  That worked for me.

Can you regain your weight?  Sure.  Can you shed the weight and keep it off?  Of course.  It's all up to you.  Do you want to be a yoyo dieter?  You can do that.  But why bother to have the surgery then?   I track my food daily.  I weigh myself daily.  If the scale goes up a pound, my carbs come right back down below 30.  I am definitely on a diet, but then again, I've been on a diet since I was 7 and I'm 61.  At least with this diet I'm looking good and feeling very healthy.

The choices are all yours.

Good Luck!!

Welcome to the LW Board. 

I do not have a sleeve, but any of us with any type of surgery could gain our weight back if we chose the wrong things to eat and did not exercise.  The surgery is to help you adjust to a different way of life and it is for the rest of your life - not just while you lose weight.  We are suppose to make life style changes during the "honeymoon" period.  The longer you wait to allow bad foods(bad carbs & sweets) into your new lifestyle the better off you will be.  I don't really consider myself on a diet.  I think I have really changed my lifestyle and WLS allowed me to do this.  I could not do it on my own.

If you have the surgery, be sure you find a great support system.  It will be what helps you the most.  This board is my support and I don't think I could stay successful with the support.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

Linda

WLS is only a tool to help you to achieve a healthier weight. It is up to you to adopt the changes in lifestyle that successful WLS requires. ANY surgery can be eaten around. There are no magic fixes. It is hard work and commitment to clean eating, exercise, increased activity, taking vitamins, etc. The surgeons operate on our stomach, not our head. Perhaps, counseling may help you to explore some of demons and reasons for overeating.

If you want to be successful, you cannot return to former eating patterns and expect to keep the weight off. It will come back.

I am nearly 3 years out.

I do get hungry. I never WAS NOT hungry after surgery, but its not that panicked feeling.  When I eat dense proteins, some is enough. *Unless its just a hungry day, but then NOTHING is going to be enough, because my "hunger" is not in my belly*

NOBODY has to yoyo diet ever again, my friend.  That is part of a disordered relationship with food, and you can CHOOSE to over indulge and then crank calories way down low, then over indulge, then crank calories way down low, but nobody *has* to do that. That is a choice they make.

Me?  I realize that I do not want to ever do that again, ifwhen I overindulge, because it happens, I then go back to my middle of the road eating.  I eat protein mostly with fewer carbs because that is what keeps me full and satisfied longest. 

I think I was blessed that I never was not hungry, because I know what to do with it. I eat on a schedule.  I think a lot of folks are taken by surprise when they suddenly are hungry again, were just eating little bits whenever, and now realize that is not going to work in the long run.

For me, a lot of this is about the broken relationship I have with food, how I used it for things other than nourishing my body, for distraction, for rewards, to numb me out, to punish me, et cetera.

I have had to learn and *get continuing education credits!!* in the whole mental part of this gig. 

Not everyone has a screwed up relationship with food like I do and you might not!  But if you see yourself in the stories that end in regain, the thing to do, IMO, is not to freak out, but to work on finding ways to make strategies and set yourself up for success.

Good luck, friend.

Why have WLS?  Not because it's the "easy way out," but because it levels the playing field.  What I mean by that is that before WLS, it was IMPOSSIBLE for me to stick to a diet and lose weight.  Now, after WLS, it's just HARD to stick to a diet and lose weight.  And by "diet" I mean eating healthy and in reasonable portions, not some weird fad diet.  Most "normal" people struggle to control their carb intake (cookies, bread, pasta, rice, candy, cake, etc.) and for the most part succeed.  That's me now after WLS.  I give in sometimes, but most times I'm in control.  Before WLS I was almost never in control.  Once again, that doesn't mean I still don't struggle sometimes but now the struggle is reasonable rather than impossible.

Good luck to you!

Ramie A.

Hi,

I am only 8+ months out, so I cannot say how it is a couple of years out. But - I have to say the sleeve is one of the best things I have ever done for myself.

At this point in time, I can eat about 2 - 4 oz max, especially if it is dense protein. I have tried cookies for example, and I am like the others, I could eat them all day - so I stay away.

I basically eat lean proteins first, then vegetables/fruit (my NUT wants me to limit fruit to 1 a day), and occ. whole grains.
I avoid the foods that got me overweight in the first place.

I have found since I'm at goal, that I am even more determined to stay here (or less). I am trying new exercises and activities to help me, and go to Weigh****chers for weekly support to work on my "head hunger".

Best of luck to you!

 thanks for the advice , im just trying to beleive that the sleeve will let me eat smaller portions which i just cant imagine my self doing... i eat huge portions my apetite is like hulk's and im just so afraid of letting my self down after surgery.

I, too, had a huge appetite! There is no way that I can eat (remember I am 8 months out - this will change some) what I did before. Even a few years out, even though my volume will probably increase it is my understanding that the maximum I would be able to eat is 8 oz. That is still a lot less that I ate pre-op. I am nowhere near that now.

As was mentioned earlier tho, "sliders" can be eaten (by me anyway) all day long. Sliders for me are caramel corn and cookies - so I know I have to stay away. Some of the foods like that that I have tried, actually do not taste as I remember them and I prefer fruit (berries with carbmaster yogurt, apple with peanut butter) or almonds for a snack.

I would recommend the sleeve to anyone. It has given me hope and a chance to keep my weight off. I also weigh and measure almost everything. I did that initially to make sure I was getting enough protein. I still do it to keep portion size what I can handle and not to waste food.

Sorry - didn't mean to write a book!

Good luck,

Lynn

 thanks lyn your post helped alot.