Sleeve Gastrectomy and Stopping Weight Loss

This post is in response to a reader's comment. She asked me if I was able to stop my weight loss after the gastric sleeve. Her concern is that she would loose too much weight and be unhealthy looking.

I have not heard of anyone having a problem with stopping their weight loss after a sleeve gastrectomy unless they have a medical problem. I know of a person who was one of the rare people who had difficulty keeping all food down after the surgery. She was on the verge of getting too thin. However, her body finally adjusted and she became able to tolerate food. Once this happened, she was able to stabilize and even gain a little back.

My personal experience was that I eventually reached a point where my weight stabilized. This happened when I was close to my goal and I was happy staying at that weight. I could have cut my calories a little and lost more.

If I overeat on high calorie foods I can gain weight. Occasionally this happens. But then I can cut back and loose those few pounds. I keep a close eye on it now. Having this type of weight loss surgery allows you to be in control of your weight loss.

Hopefully this answered the question. If not, ask me another one!

Obesity Surgery in Mexico

Obesity surgery is a proven method of improving lives and heath but a lot of insurance companies still deny coverage for it. When they do cover obesity surgery they often only cover gastric bypass and not other forms such as gastric sleeve.

If you are in this situation and need to pay for weight loss surgery yourself, cost is a real factor. The good news is that obesity surgery in Mexico and other countries is much less expensive than here. It sounds scary but I know a lot of people who have successfully had it done in Mexico. You need to check out the surgeon and hospital carefully just like you would do here. But don't let the idea of going outside of the US for obesity surgery scare you, it's a viable option.

Baby It's Cold Outside

A wave of Canadian air has been paying us a visit. I don't mind the snowbirds but please leave your arctic air at home! :) I can't seem to get warm and have been looking longingly at infrared suanas.

Actually I was looking at an infrared sauna to see if it might help my husband's back. At this stage I will consider buying him anything that might help with the back pain from a herniated disk. There is still no date in sight for surgery to correct it. The far infrared saunas are supposed to help with a lot of physical problems. I am going to do some more research on it before I make any decisions.

Diet Food Delivery, Now That's Convenience

I have said before that I am for any kind of diet or weight loss program that works for you, not just weight loss surgery. I was talking to a friend who is interested in one of the diet food delivery programs. One of her main problems is that she doesn't cook so she eats out a lot. She heard about these programs and thought that it would be a solution for her. She asked me to help her find a program.

After a little looking around I found BestDietFoodDelivery.com. It has extensive information on the top diet food delivery services. The companies covered are Medifast, Nutrisystem, Diet to Go, Zone, E-Diets and Bistro MD. What I especially like about the site is that user contribution is encouraged. There are posts from people who have used the various diet food delivery services with their thoughts and experiences regarding them.

After reading through the site I can see where a diet food delivery program can be a great way to lose weight. You don't have to stress about making food selections and counting calories. It takes the problems of shopping and cooking out of the equation. The dieter can just pop their entre into the micorwave and enjoy their meal. It even looks like a great time saver. I think that once my friend makes her decision she is going to enjoy her diet food delivery plan.

Life after Gastric Sleeve

I have gotten away from hanging out on the sleeve gastrectomy board on Obesity Help. It seems to be part of the progression after weight loss surgery. At first you need the support of fellow vsg people. You need others going through the same thing to compare experiences with. But as your gastric sleeve becomes a way of life and you get used to your new body you move on.

We often call our surgery day out new birthday. It's when we start a new, healthier life. I compare my whole experience so far to an accelerated childhood. I went from my birthday when I was very needy, to childhood where I gained confidence and leaned about my world, to adolescence where I began separating myself from my weight loss surgery family, to adulthood where I am independent.

I no longer think about my sleeve gastrectomy on a daily basis. I no longer think about what to eat or how to eat. It is all second nature for me. I just live my life like anyone else.

It Happens at Any Age

When I was a teenager, I thought only teenagers had acne and that it would magically go away as you got older. Boy was I wrong. I have a dear friend fighting it even now and she is in her late 20's.

Fortunately, treatments have improved since I was a teenager. LOL Let's hope so! The murad acne complex is helping her. I hadn't heard of murad acne treatments before. But then, I'm not really up to date on a lot of things. I really should step away from my computer every now and then. Anyway, she is having success with the acne complex and I thought someone out there might need the information.

WLS Friendly Recipe

It's been a while since I posted a weight loss surgery friendly recipe. I don't really think of my recipes as gastric sleeve friendly any more, it is all kind of second nature to me now. I cook foods that I know I will be able to eat. For me that means moist meats. I still do not tolerate dry proteins like dry chicken or pork. But I don't really like them to begin with so why try to eat them and upset my little gastric sleeve tummy?

This recipe is a crock pot favorite with both my husband and myself. It is super simple. I just eat the meat but for others I serve it over pasta. You could accomplish the same thing by cooking it slowly in the oven. Try 325 degrees, covered for about 3 hours or until very tender.

Beef pot roast, whatever is on sale
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I like Classico roasted garlic and onion)
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Place everything in the crock pot. Cover. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours. It will be falling apart tender. Shred with a fork. Serve over pasta.

I hope ya'll are having a fantastic weight loss day!

Handling Stress After Weight Loss Surgery

I had my vertical sleeve gastrectomy 16 months ago and I have successfully lost 100 pounds. I have been wondering lately how much I would currently weight if I had not had the surgery.

It has been a difficult year. My husband had his second heart bypass in 11 months in November. The first one failed. I have felt a lot of emotions and dealt with a great deal of stress over the past year.

Before my weight loss surgery I always turned to food for comfort. If I was sad, or lonely, or stressed, food was my solution. My gastric sleeve changed all of that. I will not say that the change was always welcomed by me. There were times when I wanted to eat and felt very frustrated that I could not. What I will say is that I am glad that my weight loss surgery forced me to deal with problems in a different way.

I am certain that without my gastric sleeve I would have piled on more weight this year, probably another 20 or 30 pounds. My high blood pressure would be even more out of control. Who knows what other health problems would have developed. I am grateful to have had my weight loss surgery when I did.

I'm Experimenting, Look Away!!

The blog is looking stale to me so I am experimenting with new templates. You may see some weird stuff going on so feel free to ignore it for a few days! LOL I look different since my weight loss so the blog should as well. Hopefully it will have a fresh new look when I get done with it. If not, then at least I tried!

Happy New Year Everyone

I wish all of you a very Happy New Year. The economy may be in a nose dive but what the heck, we're skinny, right? LOL At least we are eating a lot less this year so the grocery bills aren't what they used to be.

I don't want to get all serious here, but I do have some thoughts about how the sleeve gastrectomy has seen me through some difficult times. I promise to be back later to blog about it.

Merry Christmas Ya'll

I know I've slowed down posting here. I needed a breather for a while, I think my husband's health problems took more of a toll on me than I expected. But not to worry, I am feeling better already after a little time off. I plan to pick things back up after the first of the hear.

I wanted to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope your holiday is a happy one. Be sure to give your loved ones a hug and let them know what they mean to you.

Keeping Your New Years Resolutions

I've been thinking about some New Year's resolutions for this year. I actually kept mine for 2008. I resolved to stick with my gastric sleeve eating plan, eat healthy and get to my goal weight this year. It feels good to have seen it through. Of course, having my vertical sleeve gastrectomy was the motivation for all of this.

Whatever I finally decide upon for my resolution, I found a great place to help me. It is called GoalForIt! and it is designed to help you establish, manage and track your goals. They have recently added a New Year's Resolution tool to the site. It looks like a great place, they have tools to help you and you can network with other people. I plan on working my gastric sleeve this year!

Whatever Works For You

Just because I had weight loss surgery does not mean that is the only form of weight loss that I support. I think that a person should do whatever works for them. A lot of people can't have gastric sleeve surgery due to other health issues or they are just not ready to take that step. If they are lucky they might even be looking for a way to lose weight before they are heavy enough to qualify for weight loss surgery.

Diet pills have a place in the war against obesity. There are people who have successfully lost weight and maintained a weight loss using them. The difficult thing about diet pills is figuring out which ones are safe, legitimate pills and which ones are useless. You can't go to the manufacturer's site to find out, they are going to say their product is the best no matter what. But you can go to DietPillsGuru.com and get straight answers.

You can use DietPillsGuru for all kinds of information on diet pills. They have them listed by name or by type such as all natural. They also have categories to explore like herbal, cheap, hoodia and new diet pills. There is an archive of interesting articles on various products or you can keep up with the latest news on the subject by subscribing to their feed. This site is a great resource for diet pill information.

Where's the Snow?

I love living in Florida. I really do. Ask me any other month of the year and I will tell you that I am here because I don't like cold weather. I don't like being cold and now that I have lost weight I get cold even easier than before. I don't like wearing sweaters and coats even if I can wear cute ones now that I'm skinnier after weight loss surgery. But in December, just for Christmas, I would love to see some snow!

It's Beautiful

I always complain about it. I always dread doing it. But once the tree is up I love it. LOL It must be the kid in me but I love shinny things and lots of sparkle. I've been collecting hand blown glass ornaments for years and I am still amazed at how beautiful some of them are as I unwrap them.

I started to go back to my brass ornament tree this year. I collected those before the glass one. Some of them are antiques. But I couldn't face all that polishing! I should get them out and gradually get them all cleaned up through out the year so I can use them again.

OK, off to enjoy the spectacle of a decorated tree. And maybe enjoy a little holiday treat. At least this year it's little, my vertical sleeve gastrectomy tummy won't let me eat too much. I still love my post weight loss surgery tummy!

Tick Tock

I remember when watches were just watches. They all pretty much looked the same and nobody spent much money on them. Now watches are a major fashion statement. Some celebrities spend more on a watch than many people will make in a life time. I was watching TMZ the other day and saw a celebrity wearing a watch that was so encrusted with diamonds I can't believe he could raise his hand. And I thought my weight loss surgery was expensive!

Those over the top ones aside, I have to admit there are some really beautiful ones out there. I go for the more classic styles myself. I like a watch that will not be out of style in a year or two. There are some very reasonably priced Seiko Watches that fit that category. There are several in their stainless steel with diamonds line that I would love to have. They look much more expensive than they are. Since my weight loss surgery my old watch is too big!

Favorite Blogs

Visiting blogs is one of my favorite pass times when I have the opportunity. Sometimes when I am working on line and need a break I will visit some blogs to refresh my mind and think about something besides business. With the holiday this weekend I indulged myself and visited lots of blogs.

I have decided to share my list with you. The topics are all over the place but I enjoy them all. You may even find something you like yourself. Here they are.

Fat Girl Goes Fit

Panino Lover

Friday Is The Day

Many people like the Thanksgiving holiday because of the food and getting together with family and friends. I have to say that holidays are certainly different since my vertical sleeve gastrectomy weight loss surgery. I still like the food, but my little vsg post weigh loss tummy doesn't hold much.

Then there are shoppers. They like Thanksgiving because of Black Friday, the Super Bowl of shopping. LOL I am always conflicted about it. I like the deals if there is something in particular I am shopping for, but I hate the crowds. I don't do crowds well. This year there is also the consideration of the economy. We have definitely cut back as many people have. I wonder what this Friday will be like. Will it be super crowded with people desperate for bargains or will it be a wasteland with everyone staying home?

Something To Consider

There are so many people looking for work these days. It is sad to see people lose jobs that they have had for years. I know my area is being hard hit just like the rest of the country is. While it may sound funny to talk about starting up a new business there are good opportunities out there. Just because the economy is bad is no reason to give up your dreams. I never gave up my dream of weight loss. Just like I was successful after weight loss surgery a new business can be successful in this economy.

Let Down

Remember when I blogged about how excited we were anticipating the return of 24 to television? Ummm, scratch that. LOL My husband and I were there front and center but we both thought that it was a big disappointment. We sat down with our popcorn, something that I love to snack on since my weight loss. We were expecting the beginning of the plot for the season, you know, the whole 24 thing that the show is based on? Instead it was two hours of Jack running around. There really was not much point to the whole thing. I hope when the actual show starts it is better, if not I'll scratch one more show off my viewing list. Bummer, there's not much left to watch!