VSG - Easier or Harder Than Expected?
Hi All,
I have to say, I've been blown away and completely inspired by the weight loss achieved by a lot of the OH members. I went into surgery with no real goals or expectations of myself, but the more time I spend on OH, the more I want to be as big as a loser as most of you have been!
I'm wondering, for all of you who have lost significant amounts of weight after VSG surgery, have you found it challenging or easy (or maybe somewhere in the middle)?
It's been less than a week since I had the surgery, but now that I'm feeling like I'm recovering, I'm getting very excited about my future weight loss. Thanks again to all of you who post pics and share advice and stories!
For me, it has been challenging. I did expect to have to change my lifestyle, but I did not expect that little slips (we're talking 1/2 a girl scout cookie, not a bag of chips) could derail my weight loss so much when I am eating so few calories. I did not expect to need to exercise so much. I know people that have had a different experience than me in this regard, but for me, I have to work for every pound. Not as much as I had to pre-op, and my low hunger level helps significantly, but I didn't expect to have to be this diligent.
Still worth it? YES!!!
I'm not at goal yet and I'm a little more than a year out. I have about 100 pounds to lose and have lost 80 pounds. I found the whole process very easy until my weightloss stopped at around 8 months post surgery. Since then I've been in "maintenance" but not by my own choice. My weight has been constant only moving up or down by a pound or so. I still want to lose more and I am working on getting to goal. But even if I never get there I am incredibly happy. So to answer your question, I found it incredibly easy while I was losing and I am finding these last 20 pounds hard. I had thought prior to surgery I was making a deal with the devil - paying a large price to lose weight and get healthy. But in fact After going through this whole experience I feel like I made a deal with my fairy godmother.
Stephanie
Honestly I think that the level of ease depends on the individual and their determination. Being a perfectionist by nature I have found that once I was given a plan that it was easy for me to stick to it. I do everything by the book and doing so has made this an easy journey for me. Sure there have been more than a couple of days where I ate too fast or too much and suffered for it ... but the suffering was so minimal that I don't usually find it worth mentioning.
I have very strong will power as well. So for me this really has been the best decision in my life as well as a life saving decision. Do it all over again ... in a heartbeat.
The best way to make this journey successful I believe is to play by all the rules and don't give your self an excuse to cheat. Also practice being patient ... you will know what I am talking about down the road. Embrace the stalls ... this is when you will loose inches and not so much on the pounds.
Other than that ... enjoy the journey. You will get to goal by staying on plan and making adjustments as needed.
The first month post-surgery was harder than I expected: I had very low energy and dizziness. It wasn't until about 3 months out from surgery that I felt myself again.
However, as time passes I'm finding the surgery makes weight loss MUCH easier than before. The sleeve is a powerful, powerful tool that I am grateful to have.
It is not easy. I don't think it ever will be. But given the choice I would do it again 100%.
Easy with a few challenging days here and there, but overall easy :)
Surgeon: Chengelis Surgery on 12/19/2011 A little less carb eating compared to my weight loss phase loose sleever here!
1Mo: -21 2Mo: -16 3Mo: -12 4MO - 13 5MO: -11 6MO: -10 7MO: -10.3 8MO: -6 Goal in 8 months 4 days!! 6' 2'' EWL 103% Starting size 28 or 4x (tight) now size 12 or large, shoe size 12 w to 10.5 150+ pounds lost
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goal!!! August 20, 2013 age: 59 High weight: 345 (June, 2011) Consult weight: 293 (June, 2012) Pre-Op: 253 (Nov., 2012) Surgery weight: 235 (Dec. 12, 2012) Current weight: 145
TOTAL POUNDS LOST- 200 (110 pounds lost before surgery, 90 pounds lost Post Op.diabetes in remission-blood pressure normal-cholesterol and triglyceride levels normal! BMI from 55.6 supermorbidly obese to 23.6 normal!!!!
The losing was easy or me, diet drives weight loss- get the intake dialed in to your own biological needs.. fast & from the start. For many this means deviating from what you called the "norm".. really, if we look with a honest eye at what we called the "norm"- where did that get us?? Morbidly obese, super morbidly obese?.. and dying a slow death.. Is that really normal?? Really? Time to revisit what you call normal at that point huh? Smaller portions of poison still will kill, just slower- right?
Maintenance is the hard part for me for sure.. no doubts. Many reasons, all individual- but regardless, use the easy time of the initial phase well and things are a tad less hard later- whether you apply everything you should have been learning during the easy-time or not... it gets harder, at least in my experience. For me- it's only a reset button. What you do during the initial phase, how committed you are to really getting the particulars in a row, getting solid understanding underfoot, and applying that better than 80- 90 % of the time in maint (no fooling yourselves, this really means being on your game the vast majority of the time, which comes to 24-27 days of a 30 day month will determine your success or failure..) Let that sink in.. how many are really off track only 3-6 days in a month?
Coast on the restriction aspect, without taking a cold hard look at what got you to where you were fat enough to need a major elective surgery to even regain a modicum of health.. and you will likely be in the group that regains years out. Not being a bummer, just trying to throw some reality and cold hard numbers into the mix here. This is NOT a magic bullet. Don't be a dreamer with your health and mortality. Use this opportunity to the fullest, do not let the risks you take be in vain.