Let’s show some Black Women Losing Weight love to Rashaun who lost 216 pounds with gastric sleeve weight loss surgery. Her starting weight was 511 pounds and working out was a significant part of her transformation. Here is what she shared with us:
I wanted to share my pictures with this group/page. I started my weight loss journey on April 9, 2012 at 511 pounds. To date, I’m 295 pounds. I did have the gastric bypass surgery, which is the sleeve surgery. I was tired of not being able to walk up 2 or 3 steps without being outta breath. I couldn’t go to my daughter school events cause I couldn’t fit in the chairs, so my daughter was my motivation. I changed my eating habits to protein drinks, oatmeal and only veggies. I also drank 3 liters of water a day. I started going to the gym. I would work out in the pool, run 2 miles and then do a hour of water aerobics. I did that 6 days out the week, equaling up to 3 hours per workout session.
michelle says
U look great! Good job! I would love to know what kind of protein drinks u drank and were they store bought or did u mix them urself?
kim says
You look great! Congratulations!
Cherron says
You look great doll, keep up the good work.
Jazzbabe247 says
The Vertical sleeve gastrectomy (“The Sleeve”) is *not* a gastric bypass. It is a restriction-only weight loss surgery. It is also the top half of my surgery, the Duodenal Switch which combines restriction with malabsorption. It is totally different from the RNY gastric bypass, which is more commonly performed in the USA. The RNY gastric bypass malabsorptiion of food lasts for approximately 18 to 24 months, until villi, which absorb nutrients and calories from food in the small intestine grow more dense to compensate for the malabsorption. When this occurs, calorie restricted diets are again necessary to maintain the weight loss by RNY gastric bypass patients.
With the Duodenal Switch, villi also grow more dense, but the configuration creates significantly more malabsorption that cannot be overcome by villi regrowth.
I have had the DS for a little over 4 years, and lost 245 pounds of excess weight in the first year, with only a six pound bounceback.
That said, because of the malabsorption, vitamin and mineral daily megadoses (far more than what an unaltered person would consume) are essential to maintaining health.
However, the weight loss is *permanent*, and increased consumption of protein and complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains) is necessary, along with the supplement regimen.
The DS is not for everyone, but if you are disciplined, and understand the anatomy and physiology of how this surgery works, it could be the answer for you.
Only 75 surgeons worldwide perform this procedure, but for me and many others, it has meant freedom from severe morbid obesity, and what I call “fearful eating”, i.e., calorie-restricted dieting.