3 years later....... 12/2/14..... this is me today 1/16/17 Still going strong

[Notoriousbig]

^^^^^On point Ann2!!^^^^^

[Pam G]

^^^^^On point Ann2!!^^^^^

as per usual!

[Shirl]

I feel wonderful.........Attachment 26501 12/2/13 - 1/16/17

You LOOK wonderful!!! Congratulations! Truly inspiring!

Maybe there's a better phrase for what I mean when I say "work your sleeve."

But I define the phrase "work your sleeve" as the opposite of "let your sleeve do all the work."

I've read hundreds of posts to the tune of, "I'm getting a sleeve because I'm tired of being on a diet and want to eat like a normal person." What these patients reveal as they post here is that they hope that being sleeved will:

* magically resolve their disordered eating issues,

* absolve them of any responsibility to choose healthy foods instead of primarily fast food and highly processed foods,

* not require them to include regular exercise as part of their post-op lifestyle,

* eliminate the need to use WLS eating behaviors for the rest of their lives (eating protein first, chewing more, eating slower, not drinking with meals, not grazing between meals, etc.),

* not require them to learn how to manage better life's never-ending stresses (small and large) without using food to self-medicate their discomforts and pain.

Their posts reveal that they don't understand that WLS alone can't fix their obesity. They don't understand that long-term success is about changing their lifestyles permanently. In some cases, they don't know this because it hasn't been explained to them how WLS actually works. In other cases, they've been told that WLS requires a permanent lifestyle change, but they imagine that advice doesn't apply to them.

These are the folks who ask (even before they're sleeved) which ice cream they can eat post-op, how many weeks post-op must they wait before drinking alcohol, whether they really have to stop smoking before surgery, and if anyone else has pureed mac and cheese or a Big Mac during the puree phase. (These are actual, not fictional, posts I've often seen on WLS message boards.)

I'm not saying that long-term success requires perfection of any of us. But it does require that we use our sleeves to support the healthier choices we make after surgery if we want to be successful WLS patients.

(This is only my opinion, of course.)

Yes and yes and all kinds of yeses!

I just read a study that said only 12% of 192 participants maintained a 75% of the weight loss after three years, meaning whatever weight they had lost they regained 25% - it was greater regain for the rest of them. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8651838

Regain was attributed to returning to previous lifestyle choices. Granted this study was NOT done on bariatric patients, but other than our sleeved which would give us greater motivation to make life long lifestyle choices. It is sooo easy to return to old habits.

Congratulations again to all of you who are beating the odds!!!

[htiek123]

5'9

[ghost_ryder]

Thanks Keith, based how good you look and your height I may have aimed to low. Oh Well. Keep up the good work you are doing great.

[htiek123]

Keith, you look wonderful. Congratulations.

I'll hit 3 years this coming August. I'm still down exactly 100 pounds -- weighing 135 for over a year now.

Life is so very wonderful.

The sleeve is a miracle. If you work it.

It is a miracle.....

[htiek123]

Thanks Keith, based how good you look and your height I may have aimed to low. Oh Well. Keep up the good work you are doing great.

Thank you very kind of you to say........

[Leslieann]

BINGO Ann2!

[Leslieann]

PS You look fantastic Keith!!

[NYCGIRL000]

You look amazing! do you find it was easy to keep the weight off even a year after surgery?