What's it like at 2, 3, 4, 5 + years after VSG...

Hi All, Just weighing all my options and getting as much info as possible. This site has been very helpful so far and I appreciate all the 'Foodie' people chiming in on my last post.  Really helpful stuff.  Many foodie's have told me that they feel great and they can eat good food just less quantity and I get that.  My question is when you eat less quantity of the food do you feel SATISFIED an Full.  Or do you feel deprived but realize it's for the sake of good health and longevity?

Also I've gotten nice feedback for mostly 1st year out but how much are post VSG veterans 2+ years out able to eat quantity wise?  Is 2-3 oz of protein per meal or is it less or more?  Can you go out for a nice meal and a glass of wine or 2 or possibly without feeling sick or deprived after a few years?  What's it like?  I realize that the goal is to change eating and I'm ready but I also want to feel like when I older and less busy with life that I can still enjoy a nice meal and feel good and satisfied in addition to looking and feeling great! 

At 3.5 years, I can go out and have maybe one drink before my meal and eat a smallish normal meal. If I eat just dense protein, I can eat about 6oz or so and a few bites of other stuff. If I dont eat dense protein i usually eat about half a meal or so. If someone is staring at me the whole time then it's apparent I can't eat as much as "normal" people but usually no one does that :-p

Hi there!  You ask a lot of great questions.  I will try to address as many as possible.  I'm sure tons of people will chime in here.  Although I had a revision about 5 months ago which made my stomach a little smaller again, I am essentially five years out (original procedure in 2009). 

I am a pescetarian so I don't eat meat but I do eat fish, and I eat a lot of fish. Salmon, cod and shrimp are favorites.  High protein, low calorie. I also eat tofu products and other meat substitutes. 

At this point, I can eat about 4-5 oz of protein and a few bites of something else.  I like to save a little room for some vegetables (with dinner) or fruit (with lunch) to get vitamins and nutrients from real food instead of just from pills.  When I eat a 4 oz portion of salmon, I am definitely satisfied. I am not hungry and I am not eating that amount just for the health, it's what I can consumer without being stuffed.

The only time I feel "deprived" sometimes is with stuff many of us choose to not eat any longer (e.g. pasta, carbs etc).  I am not a huge alcohol drinker, but I can enjoy a drink with dinner.  As many will tell you, we don't drink AFTER we eat.  If I am going to have a ****tail with dinner, I drink it before dinner (and the earlier the better other you are full with alcohol/liquid and don't have room for real food).

Your protein will come first, your "sides" (veggies) will comes second and then anything else (e.g. carbs) only if you have room, which you likely won't.  Otherwise you will get hungry again soon and may tend towards grazing or returning to unhealthy habits.  I rarely eat carbs these days; and if I really want them I take one meal once in a while to have carbs (totally depriving yourself of something may result in wanting it more and binging later).

IF I do dessert, it is often some time after dinner, rather than right after as is often done in most restaurants.  That helps me feel less deprived - yet stay on target. That's why I like the sleeve, it allows me the flexibility to enjoy a drink or dessert once in a while (so I don't feel deprived) without getting sick from the sugar (and I've lost ~35 lbs).

Hope this helps.  if you have any other questions, just ask!

Would love to share emails or talk about your revision.  I also had my band in 2009, I have been told multiple times that bands to sleeves lose a lot slower. I'd like to know if you have experiences this. [email protected]

I should have been clearer.  I wasn't a band before.  My original procedure was a sleeve.  I just had a hernia repair and that apparently necessitated making the stomach a little (tiny) bit smaller.

But yes, if you already started down the weight loss path, I imagine the weight loss would be slower.

Four years out here.  Maintaining my weight loss, today at 144.  I would prefer to return to the 135-137 range and am actively working to do that, but it's challenging.  Nevertheless, life as a "normie" is awesome, and I am grateful every day.

My capacity significantly increased at around 3 years.  I would say I'm able to eat a small-normal amount, so probably 4 oz of protein and some veg's.  I absolutely do enjoy a dinner out, with a glass of wine.  Rarely two glasses, but then that was true pre-surgery also.  I even have had a beer a couple times lately, and recently a diet Coke at a club, when I didn't want to drink.  So I'm even learning how to tolerate bubbly things.  Not that I do much of either beer or diet soda's.  (Never was much of a drinker even before surgery, and gave up diet soda in quantity years and years ago.)

I have been a lifelong foodie - love to go to restaurants and try new things!  And still do.  I do feel satisfied and full - physically.  On occasion I run across something so good that I wish I could enjoy/savor it longer by eating more, but that's a psychological thing.  Minor price to pay.  In return for "paying" that price, I do something I call "walking while thin" haha!  That is, putting on some cute get-up that makes me look thin and stylish, then sallying forth into the world.  Way fun!

Unless eating out (and often even then), I follow a pretty rigorous low-carb food plan.  I've found that many, many things, including even some SF things, can trigger sugar/carb cravings.  Even whole grains.  So grains of any sort are pretty much out, as well as potatoes.  I eat small amounts of healthful fruit (berries mostly), veg's, nuts, seeds, fats (including saturated fats, just don't eat trans fats), and protein.  I'd say my food plan is high fat, moderate protein, very low carb.  Seems to work for me.

At the beginning, it will seem as if your restriction rules your life and always will.  But it's not true.  Use it to your advantage, lose your weight, follow your food plan, let the time go by, and one day you'll blink and be at normal weight, with a near-normal capacity for food, and life goes on.  Just, you'll be thin.  At least that's how it was for me.

I feel just as satisfied now as I did preop. It is less food, but the same payoff in that regard. I can eat a small version of an adult sign at best. For pespective, I would not normally finish a kids sized portion. I could do a glass of wine with dinner. I do not feel deprived in any sense of the word. I can eat any option. I can eat a lot of junk food, as that is all slider type stuff. Because of this it is important to work on changing your eating habits... but with the sleeve it is much easier to do that then preop. 

I am two years out in a month. I go out to eat a lot. And I drink half to one glass of wine 3-5 times a week depending on the week. I can eat 3-4 oz of dense protein and some veggies or salad. More if I have fish. I feel full and satisfied and not the least bit deprived at all. I can eat really anything - and I do. There is really nothing that is stricken off my food list forever. I will eat cake and the like once in a while if its really exceptional stuff. I have had ice cream and chocolate and chips and all sorts of calorie dense foods throughout since surgery. You will be like a normal thin person, adjusting your intake according to your needs and if you watch the creep by weighing regularly and taking corrective action immediately, it really is a very doable lifestyle. I love my sleeve and everything about it.

Great question! I am a bit over 7 years post VSG, maintaining. If I'm home, I eat about 4 oz. of protein plus a few bites of veggies. Could eat more but try to stop at that. I would say I'm satisfied and full, but not STUFFED. But being stuffed is pretty miserable with a sleeve, so that's a good thing! I  enjoy going out to eat now more than I did pre op because I like being able to have tastes of several things--but I am much much fussier about WHAT I'll eat. I'm not going to waste my calories on junk, so I tend to order things (protein based) that are exquisite that I wouldn't cook for myself (think lobster and wonderful fish preparations and other delicacies)..I don't worry about fat on those excursions and I'll have a few bites of carby things if I want, but I still do adhere to my protein first rule. I will drink a ****tail and/or wine and find that I can eat a bit more because of it--so it's NOT an everyday thing. And yes, I feel very satisfied and full, and love walking out with a doggy bag in my size 4 pants or dress!

Lizanne

Had my surgery Feb 2010 and since then, I've had 2 children (was told that it would never happen, so YAY!) and I've gone from 160 back up to 209 and I'm returning to the forums to get a grasp on my eating.  I still can't eat very much, but I can still graze throughout the day.  I find that now that I'm older, (37) this is becoming more and more difficult to lose the weight.  In fact, I purchased a total gym almost a year ago and the muscles in my body are hard and lean and nicely insulated with this bulging cellulite. 

There is pain in my stomach, from time to time...and sometimes, for whatever reason, the most random foods make me sick and if I vomit, it feels like  my stomach is getting ripped out through my throat.  Super pleasant.  I don't regret this surgery for a moment and I'm still considering it to be the most effective tool I have to battle not only my weight, but the flimsy, craptastic will power I have. 

I can take in about 5 oz of food and I need to lower that, because I'm full at 3oz.  I go out all the time, I munch the appetizer and box the rest for the family or to munch on later...I can't finish a full meal at a restaurant.  I can drink a sip or two of some frothy, girlie chocolate martini and I'm hammered after the first two sips.  

As I've lost weight, the skin is probably the most distracting thing on my body.  I'm shocked by it, but I'm trying to be amused.  I'm a walking water bed, full of waves and bulges.  No skin tightening lotions can help that I've found.  I do use the derma wand on sections and that has helped, but that's a tiny device and I have a lot of skin.  Also...the weight loss for my friends that are post-op, their faces are becoming droopy.  I've been using toning exercises (facial flex) and facial massages to strengthen the muscles since the fat has been lost and my face, at least, looks amazing.