Weight loss surgery or NO?
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jennyc777
Posts: 10 Member
I have been struggling with my weight for years. I am a yo yo dieter. In order for insurance to cover my weight loss surgery, I need to gain 25 pounds. Should I do this? Has anyone had the sugery done? What are the pros and cons? I am capable of losing weight. I have lost 80 pounds in 2010 only to gain it back. It just seems like the older I get, the harder it is to lose.
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Replies
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you've done it before, why not just lose on your own again. gaining 25lbs to qualify for surgery is insane. you do realize after surgery you'd have to change your eating anyway, right? why not try that first?28
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To each their own, but I think that if you need to GAIN weight in order to be eligible for the surgery it's totally counterintuitive. Why not try logging in MFP and eating at a reasonable deficit for a couple of months? Focus on losing 25 rather than gaining 25 ...11
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Gain weight to qualify? Errrr.....no. Really. No.16
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Yeah... no. This is not a good idea.3
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WLS can be effective for those who would literally die without it, but there can be a LOT of side effects after the surgery. You should only consider it as a last resort. And if you have to gain weight to get it, you should not be getting it.9
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Wait, gain wasn't a mistype?5
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Weight loss surgery is meant for those that have been unsuccessful in their weight loss attempts in the past and desperately need to lose weight NOW to ease their health problems.
You are not in that category, so you shouldn't use it as an "easy way out". Why risk the complications of a surgery, the loose skin from abnormally fast weight loss, and the sudden requirement to eat significantly less to maintain your new body when you don't have to?9 -
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »
I've read it all. Dropping out of this one to avoid a ban, enjoy guys.21 -
NO!!! WLS is not a magic cure. It is not magically going to solve all reasons you had in the past yo-yoing. After the surgery you are still going to have to put in exactly the same discipline and effort as before the surgery.6
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You don't "need to gain 25 lbs to qualify for surgery." You're 25 lbs short of needing it. Therefore, you don't need it and shouldn't get it. WLS is a life-long commitment, with life-long consequences. It doesn't fix anything on its own. You need to commit now to taking that 80 lbs back off, and this time, have and follow a maintenance game plan. If you're willing to sit back and let the weight gradually come back on without the surgery, that's exactly what will happen with the surgery.10
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You'd still have to diet, track and log your calories, and watch what you eat after surgery...to gain 25lbs is crazy and a step backwards. You're already 25lbs ahead of the game, so why not log, track, and diet now, at 25lbs lighter?? With surgery you still lose weight at a rate of about 2lbs a week, do you realize it would take you like 12 weeks to lose the 25lbs you gained for surgery, before you even started losing anything additional? That's three entire months of losing weight you wouldn't have had on your body in the first place. Not to sound rude, but are you insane?9
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WLS is a tool among many. People who have weight loss surgery but don't change their relationship with food will regain whatever they manage to lose after the surgery.
Don't eat one way to lose weight and then go back to your old way of eating after you reach your goal. Take your normal way of eating and tweak things so that you eat basically your normal way but with smaller portions and/or satisfying substitutions. Experiment to find a way of eating that works for you and is sustainable long-term.1 -
Not if you have to gain weight in order to do it and lose weight. It doesn't make sense. Both of my parent's had gastric bypass and they were told to lose weight before the surgery.1
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I am usually a lurker on the boards and don't post much but felt the need to reply on this one. My story is similar to yours in that I have lost weight previously only to gain it back. I am 44 years old, 4-11.5" and got up to 222 back in 2004. I quit smoking and joined Weight Watchers at that time and lost 93 pounds, getting down to 129 lbs. I then went through some medical issues over the past few years and have since put all my weight back on and then some. As of June of this year I hit my all-time high of 240. I also have high blood pressure, prediabetes and borderline high cholesterol (although I know from previous experience that will all go away with diet and exercise). Of course at my height and weight, I clearly qualified for WLS. My doctor talked to me about it and I actually talked to my husband about it and was seriously considering it. However, then I realized that discipline is discipline no matter what way you look at it and that I would rather do it on my own and be able to still enjoy food. For the most part, I have made an agreement with myself that I'm just going to try to eat healthy foods for the rest of my life. However, if we have a cookout or an event on a certain weekend, I want to be able to splurge once in a while. I was told with WLS that you can't do that because you can only fit small amounts of food in at a time. I also enjoy a diet Coke once in a while. My understanding is you can't drink anything carbonated. I suppose it depends which surgery you have.
I have a friend who is going to be having WLS done at the end of the year and I don't knock her at all. Each person has their own decision to make. However, she was telling me all the things she has to do and the way she has to eat before she can have the surgery done. Guess what? It's all eating healthy and cutting portions, which is what doing it on your own is about anyway!
Again, I am NOT putting the surgery down as I believe it helps A LOT of people who have a lot of metabolic syndrome issues that are hurting their health. However, I decided it wasn't for me.
I restarted my new eating and exercise lifestyle on June 6th, 2016 and have lost 27 pounds so far. I started at 240 and am at 213 now. I have my calories set at 1200 but I usually have a day on the weekend where I go up to 1800. I also walk at least 10,000 steps a day (which I have to make an effort at since I have a desk job), try to get 2-3 days of light strength training in, and I eat back about half of my calories. After I am down under 200, I am going to set my calories at approximately 1400, which will be my TDEE when I am at goal weight. That way I know that is where I need to be at, ON AVERAGE, for the rest of my life. Basically, if I want to eat a lot more on a specific day then I need to step up the activity. I don't really look at it as a daily thing but as a weekly thing. I also don't rely on the scale but on my measurements.
Like I said, I urge you to really consider all the pros and cons before you make any decisions. WLS has helped many people; however, I think if your BMI is not high enough (you stated you need to gain 25 lbs before even qualifying), surgery should not be something you should consider.
This is completely my opinion. I just felt I needed to comment on this one. Good luck!40 -
In your particular case, I'd say a big fat NO. Sorry.4
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When you think you have seen everything.10
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@wwkwag. Great post. I also qualified for surgery at my highest weight. Instead I used MFP, eating how I plan to eat for the rest of my life, and am back to my high school weight. I'm still overweight and still have 20 or 30 lbs to goal, but I already have people telling me to stop losing because I'm getting "too skinny."10
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Unfortunately, now that the surgery has become much more popular I know too many WLS individuals who are heavy...again. They never learned to portion control/eat right/make sustainable choices. The reality is if those are things you do not fix: YES you may lose weight in the beginning, but long-term you will end up right back where you started... So I vote: NO. Work right now on making you a better you, skip the WLS (you DON'T need it!), and make your weight loss stick this time around.
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@PaulaWallaDingDong GREAT job! What a difference in your pics!2
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