Aztec4Life wrote: »

My real name is James for anyone interested, LOL. I'n VERY HAPPY with my weight and other health measurables (blood work #s excellent, blood pressure, resting heart rate, etc). I was on 7 prescription drugs and now NONE. Was diabetic and have a current A1C of 5.0. Oh, and I eat 3-5 fruits a day so that stuff about sugar in fruit...

I'm almost embarrassed to say but I haven't had too many struggles. When I met the surgeon on Jan 15, 2015 I walked up the hill by my house and haven't stopped walking since (other than a couple months late last year battling shingles) And my emotional and mental health are probably the best they've ever been. I can be blunt sometimes because I see a lot of folks stressing too much. I take things one day at a time. I eat A LOT but stay away from processed foods for the most part.

My girlfriend and I reward each other when we reach various health goals (weight loss, running 5k, etc) She's got me a few tattoos and we got each other annual passes to Disneyland last year. I feel I can continue this lifestyle indefinitely. I know eventually I'll stop losing weight and will probably gain some as I age but I'm ok with that. Being able to live my life to it's fullest has been a great blessing.

Samquentin wrote: »

Hi! I try to be active, but mostly just read for the hints/encouragements/other's questions/comments.
-I am 9 weeks post op as of yesterday, lost a total of 80 pounds so far, 50 pre-op, and 30 post-op. In my opinion, my weight loss is going good. My body is changing so much, and I realized, I lost my double chin. wooo!!!
-I really don't struggle much, I stick to the plan given to me by my surgery team, focus on getting my protein and water, and at least 150 cardio minutes a week. I love that I can be more active now, and don't get out of breath just walking!
-My mental aspect is AWESOME! I've struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life, I notice now my I'm much more positive and happy. I see lots of people say they struggle after surgery with missing food, I never did. bonus!
-My overall weight goal is to hit 160, and see where I am at. My small goals are every 25 pounds. My big goal is to run, I just am not sure how to start yet, by I told my husband last night @Aztec4Life is my running spirit animal! I'm just in awe with him!!
-I totally want a new tattoo, and to get to maintenance, and reward my self with an arm lift.

chubby_checkers wrote: »

-I'm here but not crazy active on the board.
-Weight loss is ok. I had VSG in March 2016. I've lost 80lbs and I'm up 8lbs from my lowest. I'm sort of maintaining at the moment so I need to get back to it. I have not yet reached my goal. I want to lose another 50lbs.
-I have always struggled with food. That hasn't changed. It's a day-by-day struggle that I don't always win.
-I'm currently injured and am not able to workout in the way that I want. This is part of the reason I gained 8lbs back. I'm being pouty and pessimistic about it rather than trying to find a work-around.
-I don't really set small goals. Overall/large goal is to meet my goal weight.
-I don't have any goal rewards either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFGWnqNf6t0

clcmfp wrote: »

Hi! I had VSG on 2/22/17. I'm down about 78 pounds, so going well, I think.

The only thing I struggle with right now is social eating. Over the summer, I go to a lot of cocktail and dinner parties and have a lot of guests come stay with us. While I don't drink, I have a hard time not picking at appetizers or eating more than I would on my own or higher calories foods than I would normally. At this point, I try to combat it by regulating the rest of my day and trying to be aware of what I'm eating rather than grabbing mindlessly. Passing on dessert is hard, but helps!

The mental side of weight loss is fine. I was a bit depressed with the mental part of surgery from about week 3 to week 8, but that has passed. I missed my friend, food. But then the weight loss takes off, eating becomes easier, I have a therapist, and it just gets easier to accept.

Goals? Be more active, get the last 35 pounds off within a year of surgery, long term goal is learning to maintain this weigh loss which is something I've never been able to do. Long term reward is plastic surgery to repair the damage of being fat for so long.

garber6th wrote: »

Hello everyone :-) I had VSG surgery almost 4 years ago. For the most part, I really had no troubles and everything was great for a while but my weight did creep back up because I went down a slippery slope. I gained back about 30 lbs of the 200+ lbs I lost and have been chipping away at it by getting back to the basics that I know work. I was hard on myself for the regain but I realized that overall, I still kept off a LOT of weight and my health in general is amazing. My doctors and surgeon are both super happy with my success, but I will be happier when I am back down to where I was before the regain.

One thing that has helped me with the mental aspect of weight loss is that I started therapy a year before I even considered surgery. I knew that if I didn't get my head right, I wouldn't get my health right. I am glad I did that because losing a couple hundred lbs can be amazing but also overwhelming, especially for a woman. It was a challenging adjustment to say the least. I still see my therapist to keep myself in check and it really does help. I know that I didn't get to almost 400 lbs because I had everything under control, so I believe in taking care of my mental health is an important part of everything I have been doing to take care of my physical health.

My company has a wellness program that I participate in so I have monthly goals that I set with my coach and that really helps. My goals right now are to do cardio 5 times a week, strength training 3 times a week, and to make sure I weigh myself at least twice a month. I don't usually reward myself for reaching goals, to me reaching them is reward enough, but I did decide that when I lose the 30 lbs I regained, I am going to get a new tattoo :-)