No, it goes way beyond that.

In the beginning post op you are required to follow stages of eating.   By the end of the six weeks most of the cravings have disappeared and shockingly healthy food starts sounding really good.  Since you are so swollen, you can eat very very little.  This period is also surprising because you realize that you are just as satisfied with just a few ounces as you used to be eating a huge meal.  You have very little to no hunger since you have little to no ghrelin.  During the first few months all of these factors contribute to your retraining yourself how to eat healthy.  I chose to attend support groups and that really helped keep me on track, and I was motivated to exercise.  Since the weight falls off, and exercise gets rapidly easier the reinforcement for what you are doing is very present. 

There are also many of us with a history of losing a lot of weight the old fashion way, but gaining it all back and then some.  For whatever reason, maintenance is also easier.  Research is coming out now indicating that the surgery changes more then just the size of the stomach, and it is believed that this helps.  That makes sense to me.  

Hang in there. If you can get a bit of carbs in you that may help too- 4 ounces of milk can do wonders if your blood sugar is low. 

My sleeve is a little bigger, and I had no difficulty getting to goal and thus far no difficulty in maintaining.  The advantages to this size are numerous.  I never vomit, have foamies, no reflux.  Now in maintenance I can eat a normal small sized adult meal, so it is no longer awkward going out to eat.  I can eat a balanced diet and have no problems with vitamin deficiency (iron early out was an issue though- but that was a problem I had preop as well).  

You are not doomed to fail.  Edit* Just read through the other posts.  You will find that there is a small group of very vocal vets here who very consistently make people feel like they cannot succeed unless they follow exactly their plan and get exactly their size bougie, etc.  That is an effective approach for many, just as my larger sized loosely sewn sleeve with a balanced diet was effective for me.  There are many here on this board who eat a balanced diet and make it to goal- but they get beat up enough on at times that many do not post much.  The choices that you make are on a spectrum.  You will need to figure out if carbs under 40 is a best fit, or carbs at 100, or whatever.  You will need to find exercise that works well for your lifestyle and that ideally you enjoy (or learn to enjoy).  The vets here have a wealth of information, but also like to shovel a pile of bias along with the advice.  Don't worry about this- just focus on you and following your plan.  

 I can assure you that I could eat around a smaller sleeve just as easily as my larger sleeve.  Commit yourself to making the needed changes: healthy food choices, exercise, and mental health care if needed.  

1,  Is it cheaper for a tummy tuck if the WLS patient has minimal belly fat left, or does it matter assuming the BMI is under 25?

2.  What can a patient do to minimize the costs associated with PS procedures?

3.  Is there a clearinghouse of some sort we can look up recommendations of surgeons that are local to us?

There was a wonderful woman in my support group that had RA and could not exercise.  After a while she signed up to do exercise in the pool, and she was able to tolerate that.  Perhaps give that a whirl. 

Try putting your protein shake powder in the coffee- chocolate works great!

i don't regret it, but...

I have a serious sugar demon.  My surgeon wanted me to do Rny because of this, since the dumping would  not allow me to continue down the sugar path.  I declined because I can't deal with a few of the nastier parts of the Rny (rerouting, malabsorption of vitamins, no nsaids).  But I did really think about it.  I finally realized that if I was in a situation where dumping kicked in at work (teacher of 9 year olds) then I couldn't just abandon my class to take care of it.  

So I don't regret it.  I made it to goal no problem and maintaining no problem.  But I constantly have to fight the sugar thing and it is painfully obvious to me that the eating habits that got me heavy to begin with would easily come roaring back in if I am not mindful.  

Here is where I would start.

1.  Get on the scale.  Avoiding it is not helping you.  It might be rough to see, but you need to be very clear about where you are at and what you need to do to get back on track.  

2.  Track your food and measure everything.  

3.  Exercise.

4.  Back to basics, protein first, no drinking after eating or with a meal, take your vitamins, etc.  

5.  Get rid of all the junk food or trigger foods in your house.

6.  Plan your meals and snacks.  

You can do this.  Everyday fill your head with thoughts about how you were during your weight loss phase and succusful, and start doing those behaviors again.   Good luck.

I shared right away with the hubby, and right before surgery with my kids.   A few day post op at a family function I let them know.  However, I fiercely protect my privacy at work and work hard at not divulging there (bosshole has a strong pattern of discrimination).  It was the right decision for me, but be prepared for...

1.  At first when the weight comes off you may lose a whole lot before people notice.  I hit the 70 pound lost mark before coworkers started noticing.  But, when they finally noticed they realized it was a whole lot.  From that point until 2 months or so into maintainance I got questioned frequently.  The nosier folks were not so easily brushed aside.  My standard answer for them on how did I do it was

     diet, exercise, surgery, side effects from medicine... but depending on what time period you are talking about the most influentical factor changes.  At this point I am not sure of the most important factor, as I believe it was the combination of all of them.  

This is all true.  But, I also have cancer so many assumed it was related to cancer.  I never talk about cancer and treatments at work unless absolutely having to for when I went out on medical, so they were already used to not questioning me about cancer.   This put to rest people who likely otherwise really questioned it.  

And I don't feel guilty- my health decisions and challenges are not the right of others to know about.  Given the work history of my boss, it really felt like it was my only choice... and given that for a stretch his behavior became much worse it was the right decision.  

In general...

Surgery weight (or highest weight) - goal weight = excess weight

Then, to calculate the % of EWL lost:

pounds lost divided by your excess weight

then... multiply by 100 for your percent.

For example:

326  starting weight, with a 195 goal weight results in a 131 pound excess weight.

If I lost 80 pounds, then...

80 divided by 131 = .61

.61 x 100 = 61% of excess weight loss

You should absolutely make your goal 100% of EWL lost- many can reach that!

It took me 8 months to reach goal.  I lost 146+ pounds, 26ish before surgery.   No problem with regain at this time, and overall maintenance has been really easy.  

The surgeries have comparable results.  Sleeve- faster recovery, no rerouting, able to take Nsaids, loss of or greatly diminished ghrelin, and overall you can eat normally.  (Nothing gets stuck.)

Rny- rerouting, more complications, dumping (a plus for some as it keeps you away from sugar), malabsorption of calories stops after a period of time but malabsorption of vitamins is life long.  

They are both good procedures. 

Going into the doc about the procedure in July for more info.  I just know that I qualify and what I was learning online about it at this point.  Personally, just having the genetic marker is reason enough for me.  The other factors just reaffirm it.  

Ok Ladies,

I am at a loss.  Before surgery my hair was longer and a little wavy- but certainly not curly.  Post op I lost some hair.  I had super thick hair, so even with the loss it wasn't a big deal.  I got it cut short due to the loss (just easier to take) and as soon as I did that  the less weight unfurled curls.  Then it got REALLY curly.  So I chalked it up to the hair loss lightening up the hair enough to let the curl unfurl.  But now?  I am 18 months post op and have a hard time believing that the hair loss thing is still causing it.  

No joke- when I let it air dry with a little gel in it, it totally looks like I have a perm using fairly small rollers.  Tight curls.  

I just don't get it.  How in the world did I go from mostly straight hair to all these curls?  It is so bad that on a humid day I don't even try anymore to contain the curls.  I just let it air dry with frizz control gel.  Even on the non-humid days when I blow it out, the curls will eventually override the straightening I do.  

WTH? j Anyone else out there with this?