Hey all! I used to belong to this a few years ago but lost sight of my journey when life got in the way. I had sleeve surgery back in 2014. Since then I hit my lowest of 124lbs, I’ve gained a lot of weight back and now am sitting at 161lbs. Before I go back into a spiral of complete gaining it back I want to start losing again. I feel like my sleeve does nothing. I don’t eat a lot but I feel no restriction until I’m like deathly bloated (not sure if anyone understands that feeling). Anyone else in this boat? I’m looking for support and help before everything I’ve gone through over the past few years is a waste! I’ve seen the pouch reset by not sure if that helps. My surgeon is little to no help so I stopped seeing him 2 years ago. I asked about a nutritionist but again his office was a nightmare to get through.

So hunger is partially affected by a hormone called leptin, the "satiating" hormone. When we reach satiety, leptin raises the flag to stop. In overweight/obese individuals, the signal often doesn't come until you've overeaten, so yes, most of us here, including myself, know exactly what you're talking about. Obesity isn't about a lack of willpower; it's about a broken brain.

There are significant chances if you ate yourself to the point of obesity, you have an eating disorder, and surgery is only a temporary fix, as you well know. You have to fix your issues around food. Write down every morsel that passes your lips for a week. It will help you identify what you can cut out. Adding sugar syrup to cold brew, eating bread and butter with dinner, snacking as you cook, choosing sweetened drinks over water, and other little bits and bobs really add up. And you would be shocked what you can live without. I used to think there would never be a time in my life where I didn't have soda every day. That sounds crazy now. If you're a woman who weighs 160 lbs. and you're of average height, I promise there's something in your diet you can give up and weigh less for it; even if you think you can't, I believe in you.

I appreciate your reply, and definitely the way you’ve worded it. Because that’s definitely something I didn’t realize when I decided to do the surgery that it’s also mental. I’m going to definitely start tracking better. And see because you’re right I’m sure my diet could do a 360 at this point.

Someone who's definitely "made it" out of obesity is ObesetoBeast on YouTube. He's also a really nice and down to earth guy. He says he's reached a point where it's no longer "hard" to maintain his healthy weight. I definitely recommend him, and he seems to be the kind of guy who doesn't mind people in need of help reaching out to him.