Gastric Sleeve

[Mzfudge1229]

Hello everyone my name is Theresa,

I have had the sleeve for over 5 years now. The sleeve did me good justice. I just have believed my stomach has stretch and I need help getting it back small.

[Kindle]

First of all, there is much debate over whether a sleeve can stretch. There is going to be natural relaxation of the tissue that is left, and a bit of expansion, no different than how your intestines expand and contract with peristalsis. I could definitely eat more a year out and maybe a smidge more, now at three years. It's by embracing my new lifestyle that allows me to maintain my loss, not necessarily reliance on my sleeve restriction. But I definitely don't consider my sleeve to be stretched. If your surgeon did a good job and removed all if your fundus, there is no way your stomach can even come close to its previous size.

So why do you think your sleeve is stretched? How much dense protein, like chicken or pork can you eat without feeling over-full? Have you talked to your surgeon or had any sort of upper GI study to confirm your sleeve size? Are you concerned because of regain or something else?

[DonnaH]

Kindle......what is fundus?????

[Mzfudge1229]

Yes, I have gain a lot of my weight back. I know my eating habits had change for a well due to stress. But I have been trying to get back on the right path. But it seems like no matter what I do, my weight ain't moving anymore. I go to the gym with a personal trainer and nothing changes. I just don't know what to do.

[Kindle]

Kindle......what is fundus?????

The stretchy part of the stomach that is removed with VSG. Its the part that expands when you eat. It's also the part of the stomach that produces Intrinsic Factor and a lot (but not all) of our body's Gherlin hormone. This is why we aren't supposed to feel hunger postop (although most to at some point because Gherlin is also produced elsewhere) and why we have to take B12 sublingually or via injections. Intrinsic factor is required in order for our intestines to absorb B12.

[Kindle]

Yes, I have gain a lot of my weight back. I know my eating habits had change for a well due to stress. But I have been trying to get back on the right path. But it seems like no matter what I do, my weight ain't moving anymore. I go to the gym with a personal trainer and nothing changes. I just don't know what to do.

If you aren't already, you should start to track and measure your food intake. That will give you the best idea of what to do differently. Document your calories, Carbs, Protein, and Fluids. Are you Still getting 60-80g protein and 100+ oz of water? How much can you eat at a time? How often do you eat? What is your sleeve capacity (based on dense protein consumption or GI study confirmation)? Do you eat until full or stick with a pre measured amount? Is your regain due to what you are eating vs how much or both? Working with a trainer is great for toning and getting in shape, but what goes in your mouth is going to effect your weight much more than minutes at the gym.

I know this is a lot of questions, but it's the details that will help us help you.

[Christie13]

Everything Kindle said. You really do need to go back to the basics because diet is the biggest part of weight loss...definitely more so than exercise. You can't eat a bunch of high calorie crap food and go to the gym and still lose weight. They say that diet is about 80-90% of weight loss. So while you can watch what you eat and have good weight loss without exercise, the opposite is rarely true unless you are working out for an extremely high amount of hours with high intensity.

[Mzfudge1229]

Ok I'm to the grocery store today, and will start over with everything tomorrow to see how things go.

[Ann2]

If I were in your shoes, I'd eat lots of protein, some colored (non-starchy veggies), no fruit, no starches, no sugar, no alcohol. And drink so much water I'd pee my pants.

Pretend like you were a baby sleever. After a week of eating like that you'll have so much restriction you'll be shocked. And you'll not crave the same crap you're probably eating right now (knowing you shouldn't be eating it).

You CAN do this.

Just do it.

[Mzfudge1229]

Ok thanks, that really help

[DonnaH]

Thank you Kindle. My surgery is tomorrow and i am so excited and nervous.