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I had a VSG almost 3 years ago. I lost 70lbs in the first six months, which left me just 45lbs overweight. I maintained this weight for the next year and then slowly, but surely started gaining some back. It seems that every 6 months I'm another 6-8 lb heavier. In July I went overseas for 6 weeks and actually lost weight but since then I seem to gaining at an increased speed and am now showing a total loss of just of just 44lbs. But even these scary number have not seen me put a halt to my eating. My meals are pretty healthy (I do love healthy food) but I'm a big snacker and can still polish off a whole packet of cookies during the day. I'm feeling very lost and very much a failure. I loved the first 18months where food wasn't controlling my life. My dh, who also had a VSG just before me, is in the same boat (though our surgeon confirmed he has a fast emptying stomach which results in constant hunger). He has decided he needs further surgery (not sure what yet) and I really don't want to do that myself. In desperation I've rang and made an appointment for early Dec. I know I can not keep gaining like I have been so if I can't get things under control myself (as I've been trying to do for the last 2 years) I will need to have a revision. I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this who would even remotely understand what I'm feeling so here I am - feeling exactly the same way I did before I had my VSG :-(.
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...... I had one of the best VSG surgeons in Australia so I don't blame the surgery in itself. I have no idea what size pouch but these days I can eat 1-2 cups of food in a sitting. The only thing I didn't like about my surgeon is I don't feel we had much support post surgery. We saw a dietician in the hospital who gave us a book of what to eat but that was pretty much it. Even follow up appointments with our doc were pretty much left up to us if we wanted them.
It's all my head I know but I seem powerless to get my snacking under control. Over the 20 years before surgery I seen a number of people about my food addiction and no one was ever able to help or pinpoint why I eat out of control. Like most of you probably have I've also tried all the diets, some of them post surgery, looking for the magic program that would actually work for me. I do workout on a regular basis - and love doing that. From the reading I've done in the last week or so it sounds like I indeed have a carb addiction, plus I eat I lot of slider foods. I looked at the 5 day pouch test but I'm a vegetarain - lacto-ovo - so I'm not sure how it would work after the first two days. I'm thinking also mabye because of me being vegetarian that doesn't help with the carb addiction as nearly all dinners are carb based.
I have to confess the scales were up again this morning :-(. We are having a Halloween party tomorrow but after that I plan to do something. I have to. I'm thinking of maybe doing the first two days of the pouch test to get my eating back under control and then evaluating where to go. I have a dd11 who is also obese but it's hard to help her when I can't help myself.
And a note about my DH - he's not a snacker like I am but will get hungry almost immediately after eating a meal - as I said before tests have showed he has a fast emptying stomach. He does, however, lack self discipline like I do.
It's crazy. I made the deicision to give up meat, and the deicision to have WSL - you'd think the deicision to stop eating junk (I know ALL about healthy food) would be easy....

This time last yearI was getting ready to head off to hospital for my VSG (weight loss surgery). I was 124kg (273lbs) and unhappy with my body. Within 6 months I had reached 92kg (202lbs) and have stayed within the same couple kgs(lbs) ever since. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you’ll know how happy I am that I had the surgery - it really has changed my life.

However, today I’m actually feeling a little down about the fact I have not managed to lose any more weight. I am still obese and have at least 20kg (44lbs) to get to my goal weight. Most days I’m happy, but on others, like today, I feel like a bit of a failure. Diets just don’t work for me and unfortunately I’ve slipped back into old habits like having unhealthy snacks. Quite frankly I don’t think I’ll lose any more weight without more surgery so I’m going to see my doctor again and see what possibilities there are.

I’d been thinking about todays post for the last month or so as my “surgiversary” approached and had such hopes for great before and after photos and narrative full of optimism and hope. Not quite how it’s turned out. I feel like a bit of a hypocrite cause I love the VSG and praise it constantly, yet I’m still fat and have not reached my goal (which most people seem to do in the first year). I guess my mental issues with food did not just disappear like I’d hoped.

Anyway, I’m still 100% happy that I had the VSG, just disappointed that I didn’t make it work for me the way I should have.

Wow!! What an amazing 6 months it has been. It’s really hard to believe that just 6 months ago I weighed 124kg (272lbs) and was wearing size 24 clothes. Today I am 92.1kg (202lbs) and wearing size 16. I am the fittest I have ever been and have so much energy. DH (who had a VSG 3 weeks before I did) and I really noticed it on vacation when we could go ALL day at the theme parks (something we’ve never done before).

I know my weight loss hasn’t been great in the last month (only 1.1kgs) but I know why. I need to get back to eating healthy snacks and not buying chocolate/chips. Apparently around the 6 month mark the honeymoon is over and you need to be more careful with your food choices as you can eat more than the early days. I’ve still got quite a bit of weight to lose so I need to buckle down and get on with it.

It’s now 5th months since I had WLS. Can’t believe it really. I’ve lost another 3kg (I think) for a total of 31.3kg (69lbs). I know I could do better with the weight loss (just need to give up the few “treats” I have every day), but overall I’m pretty darn happy with how I’m going. School holidays start today and next weekend we’re headed off for a 2 week holiday to Surfers Paradise. It’s going to such a different experience and I so can’t wait to ride a roller coaster and see how well I fit in the seats (instead of squeezing in). It’s going to be so fun being a “normal, though still overweight” person on holidays. Had to buy myself another swimsuit and it was actually quite an enjoyable experience for a change. I'm still adjusting to feeling bones I never knew I had and have had to buy an fleecy underlay for my bed as I get sore when I lie on my back, not to mention to the sore backside I get if I sit for more than an hour. That, and feeling the cold, is something both dh and I are trying to get to used to.

Is it truly just 4 months since I had weight loss surgery? It really seems such a long time ago. In the last month I have managed to lose another 3kg, for a total loss of 28.5kg or 62lbs. The weight loss has slowed a little the last few weeks but I know I’ve been having a few more treats than I should have (not to mention all the chocolate…).  We have decided to clean up the whole families eating and I’m not replacing any unhealthy foods as we use them up. I think it’s going to be a bit of a shock to the girls but I’m sure I can find plenty of yummy foods for us to enjoy - just need to be a bit more prepared and do more cooking at home. Exercise is still going well but I’m thinking of shaking things up a bit after Easter - not sure how yet - maybe some classes (which I haven’t done in ages).

Probably the most exciting thing is that I’m now wearing mostly size 16s. Can’t tell you how many times I reminded dh what size my jeans that I wore on Saturday were :-). It’s great feeling “normal”!!!!

Well, I'm very excited as I am now under 100kg (220lbs) for the first time in 15 years. Last week I shopped in the "normal" size section - that was so much fun. Clothes are getting bigger by the day - which can be a little frustrating. I've started losing bigger amounts again now that I've cleaned up my diet (no more choccie cookies for me) and have increased my exercise so I'm doing something nearly every day. Life is great!!! I feel great, look better every day and have so much more energy.

Had to weigh in two days early this week as I'm off on holidays. I lost 1.2kg ((2.6lbs) and managed to reached the 20kg mark for weight loss. That's 44lbs - which doesn't quite have the same ring to it :-).  I am very excited. I have NEVER managed to lose 20kg. I think the most I have ever lost is 12kg. And best of all that 20kg will NEVER return. Sure, the first few weeks after surgery were a little tough but I'm so glad that I had the weight loss surgery. I'm so loving my life now and it's only going to get better. Just realized it's exactly 2 months since my surgery - how quickly time passes - especially when you're successfully losing weight.

Wow!! I can't believe it's now 8 weeks since I had my VSG. A quick run down of the last couple of weeks.

Week 6 - lost 1.1kg (2.2lbs)
Week 7 - lost 0.6kg (1.3lbs)
Week 8 - lost 1.2kg (2.6lbs)

Total is now 19.2kg (42.3lbs)

I'm back doing weights 3 times a week and have started going for a 20-25min walk 3 mornings. Still haven't started on ab work but will do so in the next few weeks.
Had a couple of first - went swimming in the surf (I have lived just 15mins away for nearly 20 years and have never been). I've even bought myself a boogie board so I can surf with my girls. I also went on water slides (the ones where you have to WALK up the hill) for the first time EVER with my kids

Had a good week. Started back lifting weights - gosh I’ve missed it. The first time was pretty pathetic. I went again on Saturday and managed to lift heavier weights so I think I’ll get back my strength fairly quickly. Had a few parties over the weekend and sampled a small amount of baking/chocolate. I’m so happy though as the scales have really started to move and I’m down 2.2kg (4.8lbs) this week for a total of 16.3kg (35.8lbs).

Not much to report this week. I didn’t get to the gym as much as I would have liked but plan to start doing weights again this week so should be back to it 5 days a week. Have eaten out a LOT this week and the had lots of leftovers - I think I only cooked one meal. Luckily this coming week will be quieter. I was very happy with a loss of 1.5kg (3.3lbs) for a total of 14.1kg (30lbs)  in the last 6 weeks. Had to go and buy some new clothes on Wednesday as I was running out of things to wear.