having gastric bypass surgery in September
Options
Replies
-
I hate this thread so much. Bariatric surgery is definitely the "easy way out". I can understand the need for surgery in the instances when a person is so overweight that their mobility is affected, death is knocking at their door and a "quick fix" is needed to save their life. Otherwise, this surgery is ridiculous. If you are physically and mentally capable enough to get in your car and drive to the store to get the food that's making you obese, then you are able to start a little exercise routine, make better food choices, and get yourself to a therapist and nutritionist and work on your relationship with food.
If you've lost weight in the past and failed to keep it off because you've failed to truly change your lifestyle, then bariatric surgery is STILL not going to help. You'll still have a warped relationship with food, only this time your body physically cannot hold the volume as it did pre-surgery. I know SEVERAL people who have "eaten through" their surgeries (i.e. stretched their stomach back out) because the true issue was not addressed.
Your relationship with food needs to be evaluated and altered, NOT your body.
But have fun vomiting, feeling stuffed, and taking lots of pills for the rest of your life (if you are one of the small percentages who actually succeed). I'll be over here losing weight AND eating three slices of pizza
I can't even understand the reasoning in those cases - general anestesic is tough on the body and lots of other operations are not performed on people deemed too sick to handle it. Obesity is in its core a positive feedback loop gone all wrong - the bigger and heavier you get, the less is your motivation to move, and the more depressed you get, the bigger is your motivation to eat. Some are still mobile, others are fed by their family. Either way, relationship with food has to change.
Every patient is instructed to lose weight before the operation too, and do that. So I think nobody is served by thinking WLS patients can't lose weight "on their own". I believe WLS is primarily performed on people who repeatedly lose and gain large amounts of weight. After all, it's not usually the losing part that is difficult, but keeping it off.
This practice is a sad, sad business.0 -
Don't do it!!! Worst mistake of your life0
-
kommodevaran wrote: »Every patient is instructed to lose weight before the operation too, and do that. So I think nobody is served by thinking WLS patients can't lose weight "on their own". I believe WLS is primarily performed on people who repeatedly lose and gain large amounts of weight. After all, it's not usually the losing part that is difficult, but keeping it off.
Pre-surgery weight is lost due to VLCD. VLCD is required so as the liver shrinks for surgery.
I think if people need to use weight loss surgery as a tool who are we to tell them otherwise or judge them for going through with it.
0 -
I hate this thread so much. Bariatric surgery is definitely the "easy way out". I can understand the need for surgery in the instances when a person is so overweight that their mobility is affected, death is knocking at their door and a "quick fix" is needed to save their life. Otherwise, this surgery is ridiculous. If you are physically and mentally capable enough to get in your car and drive to the store to get the food that's making you obese, then you are able to start a little exercise routine, make better food choices, and get yourself to a therapist and nutritionist and work on your relationship with food.
If you've lost weight in the past and failed to keep it off because you've failed to truly change your lifestyle, then bariatric surgery is STILL not going to help. You'll still have a warped relationship with food, only this time your body physically cannot hold the volume as it did pre-surgery. I know SEVERAL people who have "eaten through" their surgeries (i.e. stretched their stomach back out) because the true issue was not addressed.
Your relationship with food needs to be evaluated and altered, NOT your body.
But have fun vomiting, feeling stuffed, and taking lots of pills for the rest of your life (if you are one of the small percentages who actually succeed). I'll be over here losing weight AND eating three slices of pizza
I haven't had weight loss surgery and probably wouldn't consider it, but I can say with absolute certainty that it isn't an easy way out.
A lot of your post comes across as being quite judgemental.
0 -
I don't think it's funny that the OP only received scorn when she was seeking support for a decision she had already made.
The OP was not asking whether or not to have the surgery. If you don't agree with her decision, why answer her? Why not just pass on the thread and let people who have had the surgery answer her? Why is your opinion when you weren't asked so important?
0 -
I read recently of a young woman getting ready for surgery...She started working with the dietician ...and lo and behold she lost weight....She continued working with the dietician....and never signed up for the surgery... I'm a nurse and have seen a lot of problems...my neighbor has been in and out of the hospital ever since...they've about lost him..multiple times from leaks etc. Everyone here is just encouraging you to really look at your options...If you don't have the fortitude now...You might not have it later....after the surgery. Take good care of yourself.0
-
"I actually do want to see a therapist possibly. And i have so much support and visions of me and how i would like to look and feel so i can go to the gym everyday and not be worn out after 20 mins walking... i just need the initial push."
I have to tell you...EVERYONE is worn out after 20 mins of walking when they first start exercising. That is completely normal...no matter what size a person is. But the more you do, the longer you can go, and eventually the easier it becomes. I hope you have great luck this month with your surgery. Just make sure that you commit yourself to making healthy lifestyle choices so that you can maintain any loss you do realize. 0 -
I have up on reading after 30 posts or so and may have missed supportive comments. But I cannot believe how moralistic people are being. It is great ifyou can lose 150 pounds through diet and exercise - more power to you. But don't judge others who feel they can't. Some people have struggled all their lives with weight and really do have bodies that struggle to lose. It's not just self control. And if you are one of those people and you try over and over to lose weight and get stuck or regain after 30 or 40 pounds then it can be intensely demoralizing and make you want to give up. In this context it actually takes courage to consider and do the work required to get surgery. It is so far from a quick fix. I know because my partner did it. He went on his first diet when he was 10. He was overweight since he was 3. Being overweight shaped his whole life. Over 10 years together, I saw him struggle with this. He did weight watchers, changed his lifestyle and would lose up to 40 pounds but then stall for months and gradually regain. Was it a failure of will power? Who knows and who cares? What I know is that he wanted to find a way to be able to play with our son and really be there for him and made the drastic decision to get surgery. Nothing easy about it - included having to document weight loss efforts for 6 months prior, take time off from work for surgery and recovery and then commit to changing his eating for life. This is not a quick fix. It took him about a year to lose 140 pounds and he's kept it off for more than 2 years since. And his life is immeasurably better. He is able to run and so does - that would have been very hard on the body at 365 pounds. We hike and bike and walk all over with our son andtakeactive vacations. And, for those who suggest therapy, the psychological space created by weight loss has allowed him to focus on issues crowded out previously. It was absolutely the right decision for him and I'm very proud of him.
I was also worried that he would have to eat tiny amounts for life. He never restricted cals as much as I've seen others do post-surgery. I suspect that has been part of what has allowed him to maintain so easily. I'd estimate he eats around 2,000 protein heavy, nutrient rich cals each day.
Hugs to theOP. Don't listen to the scolding. Find blogs of people who've done this successfully, start developing a game plan for post surgery, surround yourself with a strong support system and start down a new path. yes, some people relapse but you can succeed. Good luck!!!0 -
peter56765 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Why question the plan? Because too many people view this as a quick fix and easy answer. It is neither. And if you don't make the necessary changes in lifestyle the weight will come back and you end up far worse off.
And the rest of us view it as an unneccesary, hard and dangerous answer. You still have to do the things everybody else have to do to lose weight - eat less, move more. But in addition you'll have a crippled stomach and intestines, life long malabsorbtions, and you can never eat your favorite foods again, and never a normal adult sized meal, without risking pain and vomiting.
I have started calling this operation "barbaric surgery".
And yet the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method. Most people who try to lose weight "the normal way" fail. Surgery should not be anyone's first resort but if repeated attempts at weight loss have not been successful, surgery is better than continuing the yo-yo cycle of losing and regaining - never mind the negative effects this has on your mental health too.
Nobody said that people can't keep the weight off after surgery. One person that I've seen so far said she's kep her weight off.
Please back up your assertion with peer reviewed research.
I posted up stream of four women (my sister in law and her three sisters) who were not successful with keeping the weight off after gastric bypass, and that's in real life.
It's on page 2 of this thread and it's trivially easy to find with a google search but I'll repost here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470459/
The conclusion:
"At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required."0 -
peter56765 wrote: »peter56765 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Why question the plan? Because too many people view this as a quick fix and easy answer. It is neither. And if you don't make the necessary changes in lifestyle the weight will come back and you end up far worse off.
And the rest of us view it as an unneccesary, hard and dangerous answer. You still have to do the things everybody else have to do to lose weight - eat less, move more. But in addition you'll have a crippled stomach and intestines, life long malabsorbtions, and you can never eat your favorite foods again, and never a normal adult sized meal, without risking pain and vomiting.
I have started calling this operation "barbaric surgery".
And yet the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method. Most people who try to lose weight "the normal way" fail. Surgery should not be anyone's first resort but if repeated attempts at weight loss have not been successful, surgery is better than continuing the yo-yo cycle of losing and regaining - never mind the negative effects this has on your mental health too.
Nobody said that people can't keep the weight off after surgery. One person that I've seen so far said she's kep her weight off.
Please back up your assertion with peer reviewed research.
I posted up stream of four women (my sister in law and her three sisters) who were not successful with keeping the weight off after gastric bypass, and that's in real life.
It's on page 2 of this thread and it's trivially easy to find with a google search but I'll repost here:the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470459/
The conclusion:
"At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required."
Thank you, I saw your link later on when I figured out the conversation was started last month. However, you say this:the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method
When in fact that is not what the conclusion says at all:At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required
Therefore, the motivation to eat at a calorie deficit to lose, and to eat at maintenance to maintain weight, are the actual requirements.
@jgnatca is one of those people who has been motivated to make lifestyle changes, which is why she's so successful. However, it has been my perception she's more the exception than the rule.0 -
MamaMollyT, I am off all prescription medications, have lost a buttload of weight and kept it off, my blood pressure is in normal range, my cholesterol is in normal range, and my diabetes is in remission. I have regained my mobility and I now regularly sign up for runs. I am one of the success stories from bariatric surgery, and I am not alone.0
-
@jgnatca is one of those people who has been motivated to make lifestyle changes, which is why she's so successful. However, it has been my perception she's more the exception than the rule.
This is where the (vocal) internet gives skewed results. The success rate is more like 45% of post-bariatric patients are successful over the long term. And most experience years of improved health outcomes.
I was entered in to a program here in Canada that works hard to improve outcomes by providing the counselling and education to assure success. Patients who may be poor candidates are screened from the program.0 -
MamaMollyT, I am off all prescription medications, have lost a buttload of weight and kept it off, my blood pressure is in normal range, my cholesterol is in normal range, and my diabetes is in remission. I have regained my mobility and I now regularly sign up for runs. I am one of the success stories from bariatric surgery, and I am not alone.
But, would you say you are more an exception than a rule? That's my perception, anyway.0 -
peter56765 wrote: »peter56765 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Why question the plan? Because too many people view this as a quick fix and easy answer. It is neither. And if you don't make the necessary changes in lifestyle the weight will come back and you end up far worse off.
And the rest of us view it as an unneccesary, hard and dangerous answer. You still have to do the things everybody else have to do to lose weight - eat less, move more. But in addition you'll have a crippled stomach and intestines, life long malabsorbtions, and you can never eat your favorite foods again, and never a normal adult sized meal, without risking pain and vomiting.
I have started calling this operation "barbaric surgery".
And yet the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method. Most people who try to lose weight "the normal way" fail. Surgery should not be anyone's first resort but if repeated attempts at weight loss have not been successful, surgery is better than continuing the yo-yo cycle of losing and regaining - never mind the negative effects this has on your mental health too.
Nobody said that people can't keep the weight off after surgery. One person that I've seen so far said she's kep her weight off.
Please back up your assertion with peer reviewed research.
I posted up stream of four women (my sister in law and her three sisters) who were not successful with keeping the weight off after gastric bypass, and that's in real life.
It's on page 2 of this thread and it's trivially easy to find with a google search but I'll repost here:the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470459/
The conclusion:
"At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required."
Thank you, I saw your link later on when I figured out the conversation was started last month. However, you say this:the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method
When in fact that is not what the conclusion says at all:At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required
Therefore, the motivation to eat at a calorie deficit to lose, and to eat at maintenance to maintain weight, are the actual requirements.
No. It's the combination of the weight loss surgery with the lifestyle change that has proved more successful than anything else. Everyone who starts any diet is motivated to eat at a calorie deficit to lose weight but more people are successful at maintaining the required lifestyle if they've also had surgery. Those are the findings. It's not hard to imagine why this is so. As others upthread have noticed, you will become physically sick if you overeat after surgery. That's a powerful motivating tool, albeit a pretty harsh one. In contrast, without surgery, you only get the pleasure that comes from overeating, and then are stuck with the guilt afterwards.
Edit: I am editing this post to add that I have not had weight loss surgery so I really have no dog in this fight. As humans, we'd like to think that we are not slaves to our instincts like overeating when excess food is available (a very valuable instinct for our ancestors), but the truth is that our rational mind does not always win the battle. But it also means we can be responsive to negative stimuli like when you pull on your dog's collar to make him heel. That's what weight loss surgery is and yes, it's pretty draconian. But we need solutions that address the reality of who we are, not the ideal that we wish we all were.0 -
@SLLRunner , the hard statistics say I'm the "rule". There are indeed surgery failures, and they can be horrible and visible. That's what people see. Many women in my post-bariatric support group don't tell many people they underwent the surgery, as there are people who won't understand. It's a major decision, with a great deal of work to qualify, wait for surgery (Canada has waiting lists; eighteen months after qualifying), and then work to recover. After all that, who would want a random stranger to blurt that they took the "easy way out"?0
-
GaleHawkins wrote: »Hey everyone im having gastric bypass a month from Friday... eek im wondering if anyone else here has had it or planning to do it... im starting my own diet for the next 2 week's.. not going crazy with it but going to eat pretty healthy. Then after two weeks i start my pre op diet.. oh boy... just looking for advice or friends
@rny91415 I looked for a post surgery update. If I missed it in this thread I am sorry but I am wishing you success.
I wrote to her, wished her well, and asked her to come back and update us.
0 -
peter56765 wrote: »peter56765 wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »allenpriest wrote: »Why question the plan? Because too many people view this as a quick fix and easy answer. It is neither. And if you don't make the necessary changes in lifestyle the weight will come back and you end up far worse off.
And the rest of us view it as an unneccesary, hard and dangerous answer. You still have to do the things everybody else have to do to lose weight - eat less, move more. But in addition you'll have a crippled stomach and intestines, life long malabsorbtions, and you can never eat your favorite foods again, and never a normal adult sized meal, without risking pain and vomiting.
I have started calling this operation "barbaric surgery".
And yet the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method. Most people who try to lose weight "the normal way" fail. Surgery should not be anyone's first resort but if repeated attempts at weight loss have not been successful, surgery is better than continuing the yo-yo cycle of losing and regaining - never mind the negative effects this has on your mental health too.
Nobody said that people can't keep the weight off after surgery. One person that I've seen so far said she's kep her weight off.
Please back up your assertion with peer reviewed research.
I posted up stream of four women (my sister in law and her three sisters) who were not successful with keeping the weight off after gastric bypass, and that's in real life.
It's on page 2 of this thread and it's trivially easy to find with a google search but I'll repost here:the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3470459/
The conclusion:
"At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required."
Thank you, I saw your link later on when I figured out the conversation was started last month. However, you say this:the fact still remains that more people are successful keeping weight off with bariatric surgery than any other method
When in fact that is not what the conclusion says at all:At present, weight loss surgery is the most effective and sustainable treatment option for severe obesity as long as the individual is motivated to make the lifestyle changes required
Therefore, the motivation to eat at a calorie deficit to lose, and to eat at maintenance to maintain weight, are the actual requirements.
@jgnatca is one of those people who has been motivated to make lifestyle changes, which is why she's so successful. However, it has been my perception she's more the exception than the rule.
This end part is the big misconception here. It is NOT the case that people who lose weight with weight loss surgery would still be able to do so if they are willing to "eat at a calorie deficit to lose, and to eat at maintenance to maintain weight" without surgery. The whole point is that there are people for whom obesity is a life long problem - often starting at a very young age - and for whom traditional calorie in/calorie out management DOES NOT WORK. However, these same people are fully capable of the willpower they are so horribly castigated for supposedly failing to employ once their body starts working with them rather than against them. The myth that obese people are just all lazy or insufficiently motivated to "do what it takes" is a dangerous one that keeps people from getting the help that they need and in general allows society to shame obese people and add to the already significant obstacles they face. The fact that people would need to deal with that level of shame and moralism on a weight loss support thread is rather horrifying to me. I understand people on these boards work really, really hard to take off weight and that can lead to the belief that if only other people worked as hard as them they could do it too - and that they can come to resent people they see as evading the hard work they've put in. But such feelings should be recognized for the personal issues of the people who have them - not as scientific fact. They are based on ignorance and one's own insecurity - understandable perhaps, but better kept to one's self and understood to be feelings that should be battled and overcome not confidently indulged.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 402 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 998 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions