Should I get gastric sleeve?

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cupcakecomatose
cupcakecomatose Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
this is something I've been debating with myself for a while...
I've been struggling with my weight my entire life. The last time I was at a normal weight was when I was 5.
I've started a lifestyle change and I've been eating clean and exercising regularly for about a year and I'm very comfortable with it, but I'm not losing any weight. I lost 10 lbs, and then that's it. Once a couple years ago I lost 30lbs, but gained it all IMMEDIATELY back!!
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Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Are you eating at a deficit?
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    Calories consumed...not the cleanliness or lack thereof of food determines weight loss
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Are you eating at a deficit?
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    Calories consumed...not the cleanliness or lack thereof of food determines weight loss

    Yep this^^^^
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    And you are only 25. Having this type of surgery does not guarantee results.
  • cupcakecomatose
    cupcakecomatose Posts: 3 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Are you eating at a deficit?
    Yes I'm eating about 1,500 calories a day

  • HippySkoppy
    HippySkoppy Posts: 725 Member
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    Give MFP a proper chance:

    Log your food, everything you eat.
    Weigh everything you eat. Use digital scales for accuracy. Use USDA listed foods in grams.
    Eat at a reasonable deficit and eat the foods that you know you enjoy in a way that is sustainable for the long term.
    Get in some exercise that you enjoy (Walking is a great start) - for your health and your mental spirit it really does help to lift mood.
    Be patient - you have struggled with your weight for a long time and it will take a long time for it to leave - this is where patience and persistence pay off.
    Read, read and then read some more. MFP is one of the best resources around. Get yourself some like minded friends on here to support you.
    Maybe think about getting support IRL - if you have binge eating issues etc etc seek counselling and support. Ask family and friends if that works for you, to support you in your endeavour.

    You don't sound really taken by the idea of surgery....I totally understand. It was offered to me when I was 268 lbs and I looked around at the other ladies in my life that had gone down this path and they were ALL struggling. There were malabsorption issues, vomiting, constant pain and now down the track only 1 has kept her weight off the rest have regained all and more of what they needed to lose, but they STILL suffer with pain et etc.

    I wish you all the best.

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    cupcakecomatose wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Are you eating at a deficit?
    Yes I'm eating about 1,500 calories a day

    Weighing your food?
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    personal choice but id make a serious attempt at calorie counting and lose the weight without surgery, A deficit is all you need. A gastric band is not guaranteed success.
  • cupcakecomatose
    cupcakecomatose Posts: 3 Member
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    shell1005 wrote: »
    My usual response unless someone's weight is actively and currently causing them serious and permanent health problems that are so severe that they warrant a surgery that can have dramatic and devastating complications...then, no.

    I do understand, I do....that weight loss can seem overwhelming. It can seem like a mountain that you just aren't able to climb, however...and I mean this...if I can do this, so can anyone else. I am no one and nothing special. You just have to do it though. I'd talk to your doctor about more support. I'd get a dietitian. I'd talk about a referral to a support group. I'd be asking for anything and everything before I even considered going under the knife.

    Thank you very much for this response, it is very difficult and it's nice to know someone understands
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
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    cupcakecomatose wrote: »
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Are you eating at a deficit?
    Yes I'm eating about 1,500 calories a day

    What's your average carbs : fat : protein ratio? (Or just go to http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings and change your Diary Sharing to Public.)

    I ask because of your screen name - cupcakecomatose - I am very familiar with the "sugar coma" and losing weight has been so much easier since I focused on eating more protein and less foods with added sugar.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,902 Member
    edited September 2015
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    (Edited to delete weird double post)
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
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    http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Obesity/40490
    From that source, yes they lost weight BUT:
    -34.3% of patients who had sleeve gastrectomy as their primary procedure and 50% of those who'd had it after a failed gastric banding still had a BMI above 35 kg/m2 after 5 years.
    -Over 5 years of follow-up, 77.9% of patients developed vitamin D deficiency, 41.2% had iron deficiency, 39.7% had zinc deficiency, 39.7% had a vitamin B12 deficiency, 25% had a folic acid deficiency, and 10.3% developed anemia.
    -These deficiencies occurred "despite routine supplementation, in a higher rate than we had expected," the researchers wrote.
    -They also found that re-operation due to insufficient weight loss was needed in eight patients, or 11.8% of the study population.

    It's certainly not the easy way out given some of these complications. And the problems you have currently in keeping the weight off won't magically go away post op. What's going to prevent you from gaining it all back if you haven't learned how/why you're not losing or keeping it off?
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    I was told that I qualified for surgery. It wasn't so much "suggested" to me. It just came up in a conversation with the doc about my weight. That was one wtf moment in a long series of wtf moments that convinced me to turn it around. MFP, which I happened upon by accident, was exactly what I needed to help me do it on my own. I just reached my halfway point this Monday. 55 lbs down, 55 to go.

    It's important to know that even after surgery, you still have to balance your calories in vs. calories out, and you have to pay even closer attention to nutrition than you do now, as failing to get enough protein, iron, fat, etc. in your small portions will cause loads of complications (my mom knows all about that). I understand that different procedures have different malabsorbtion risks. You can teach yourself how to "eat around" the surgery and regain weight (again, mom). It is by no means a "set it and forget it" arrangement. Just like losing on your own, it takes long-term commitment and never-ending vigilance in order to be successful.

    The uninformed will call WLS the "easy way out." Those people are idiots and you shouldn't listen to them. Do your research, talk with your doctors, and make the best choice for YOU. It may be the boost you need, but you may not need it at all.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    cupcakecomatose wrote: »
    this is something I've been debating with myself for a while...
    I've been struggling with my weight my entire life. The last time I was at a normal weight was when I was 5.
    I've started a lifestyle change and I've been eating clean and exercising regularly for about a year and I'm very comfortable with it, but I'm not losing any weight. I lost 10 lbs, and then that's it. Once a couple years ago I lost 30lbs, but gained it all IMMEDIATELY back!!

    Not on the advice of internet randoms.
  • vlovell24
    vlovell24 Posts: 61 Member
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    The risks are pretty high with the surgery. It's just not worth it. My best friend had it done on August 17th. Seven days later she was in the icu with a blood clot from her ankle to her groin, and a pulmonary embolism. She spent 2 weeks in icu, and now she is meeting with specialists at UofM who are going to try and save her leg. If they cannot fix the massive 2 foot clot, she is going to have her leg amputated. She was a perfectly healthy 35 year old that needed to lose 100lb. No high bp, no other comorbid conditions. Now, she may be a skinny 35 year old woman with 4 children and no leg.....hmmmm.
  • NotGnarly
    NotGnarly Posts: 137 Member
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    I had sleeve surgery and regret my decision. I had it done about 3 years ago and only lost about 50ish pounds. Of course others have success and I'm definitely not the poster child for the surgery but I did hit 50% of the excess weight loss. I don't like the long staple line and having these metal staples in me for the rest of my life. I had a horrible acid reflux episode a couple of nights ago while sleeping. Woke up with a choking feeling and coughed up acid into my mouth, nose, and inhaled it into my lungs. The next day it hurt to take a deep breath. Just be prepared to not be able to eat right before going to bed. I still have restriction this far out and can only eat about 2 chicken wings in one sitting or maybe 1 and a half drumsticks or 5oz of steak. The good thing is no malabsorption so that's a plus but since you wont have malabsorption everything you eat will still be absorbed. It's a restriction only surgery. If you can get portion control down without the surgery, then please do not get this surgery.

    I now eat 1700 cals on non workout days and 2000 cals on workout days and am losing weight. I had to do a metabolism reset a couple of weeks ago because I wasn't losing weight at 1200 cals. Now I'm much happier and wished that I would of taken the time to learn my body back before I thought of the surgery as a solution. The surgeon putting me on a 800 calorie diet right after surgery made sense when I was first out of surgery but eventually you do get hungry and you find that the 800 cals doesn't work and you're just miserable. Screw that! Also the surgeons diet caused me to lose a crap ton of muscle. My thighs felt like mush. Sorry for giving you my whole life story but looking back I probably wasn't a good candidate for the surgery. I don't want to discourage you though but I honestly wish I would of given MFP a fair shot. Good Luck with whatever you decide.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    vlovell24 wrote: »
    The risks are pretty high with the surgery. It's just not worth it. My best friend had it done on August 17th. Seven days later she was in the icu with a blood clot from her ankle to her groin, and a pulmonary embolism. She spent 2 weeks in icu, and now she is meeting with specialists at UofM who are going to try and save her leg. If they cannot fix the massive 2 foot clot, she is going to have her leg amputated. She was a perfectly healthy 35 year old that needed to lose 100lb. No high bp, no other comorbid conditions. Now, she may be a skinny 35 year old woman with 4 children and no leg.....hmmmm.

    Holy crap. I thought what my mom is going through was bad enough...
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    edited September 2015
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    cupcakecomatose wrote: »
    this is something I've been debating with myself for a while...
    I've been struggling with my weight my entire life. The last time I was at a normal weight was when I was 5.
    I've started a lifestyle change and I've been eating clean and exercising regularly for about a year and I'm very comfortable with it, but I'm not losing any weight. I lost 10 lbs, and then that's it. Once a couple years ago I lost 30lbs, but gained it all IMMEDIATELY back!!

    I'm sorry, but I'm gonna get a little "tough love" on you. NOBODY "immediately" gains back 30 pounds. It just does not happen. You gained weight over time and gained it back because you stopped making an effort and were eating in a surplus. Also, eating "clean" isn't going to make a difference if you're not eating at a deficit.

    I know weight loss is a struggle. Like you, I was an obese child. I was a toothpick until 4 and by 5 I ballooned up. I slimmed out in 5th grade, but by 9th grade I was heavy again. In 12th grade I was my heaviest at 190 pounds. However, I lost the weight and kept the weight off. The most I ever gained back was 30 pounds and that was due to my own negligence, not my body. Do not consider weight loss surgery until you know you've truly tried to lose weight. You lost 30 pounds once and can do it again. What do I mean by truly trying?
    1. Weigh ALL food with a scale before eating it. Yes, even packaged items, fruits, vegetables. Everything! Not using measuring cups, not measuring spoons, but a digital scale. Weigh everything but liquids in grams. Use measuring cups for liquids only.
    2. Make sure you eat at a deficit. Going by your weight now, you can afford to shoot for at least a one pound loss per week.
    3. Get some exercise. It doesn't have to be drastic. Try walking for 15-30 minutes a few times per week and build from there. Walking works wonders.
    4. Do NOT eat back all of your exercise calories MFP gives you. MFP overestimates calorie burns. Eat back 50-75% of your exercise calories.

    I'm 99% sure you will see weight loss in a month or less.

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