You'll never succeed without surgery.
Mosiak
Posts: 41 Member
I don't want surgery, I don't think I need it and I don't think its necessary for me to have it. That said, I am constantly seeing that in order to succeed and keep the weight off I have to have surgery, otherwise I'll never achieve my goal weight and even if I do achieve it I am doomed to gain it all back and more.
A gastric bypass surgeon said in an interview "You (the patient) can at most lose 20lb and keep it off successfully by normal means, anything over that you need surgery to keep off" .. what..?
Today I was reading an article about an obese woman and her struggles with dieting in her youth, she later learnt to accept her body and to accept that losing and keeping the weight off was a pipe dream, and there for she just had to learn to love herself the way she is... again,... what?
I fully understand that its quite easy to gain everything back, it is very easy for formally fat people to slip up and the weight gain will be very fast, but to say its impossible seems really strange to me.
For the last 11 months I've been on my weight loss journey by normal means, I've gone from 315lbs to 244lbs, so ive lost roughly 70lbs so far. In those 11 months I've gone on a week vacation twice where I ate a lot of junk like crisps and bbq, alcohol and sugary snacks of all kinds, both those times I did indeed gain weight, but both those times after I went back to my normal eating habits and routines the weight dropped again fairly quickly.
I don't count anymore, I've gotten used to and automatically aware of calorie intake, I do however occationally count on random days to make sure that my instinct isnt off by too much. I lift 3-4 times a week for 30-40min at a time, half that time is stretching after lifting weights with various body parts hehe.
So my question is.. am I really just kidding myself? should I just call it quit and sign up for this surgery? A surgery I swore I would never get.
What are your thoughts? and do you have experience with people telling you you're just setting yourself up to become obese for the second time in your life?
A gastric bypass surgeon said in an interview "You (the patient) can at most lose 20lb and keep it off successfully by normal means, anything over that you need surgery to keep off" .. what..?
Today I was reading an article about an obese woman and her struggles with dieting in her youth, she later learnt to accept her body and to accept that losing and keeping the weight off was a pipe dream, and there for she just had to learn to love herself the way she is... again,... what?
I fully understand that its quite easy to gain everything back, it is very easy for formally fat people to slip up and the weight gain will be very fast, but to say its impossible seems really strange to me.
For the last 11 months I've been on my weight loss journey by normal means, I've gone from 315lbs to 244lbs, so ive lost roughly 70lbs so far. In those 11 months I've gone on a week vacation twice where I ate a lot of junk like crisps and bbq, alcohol and sugary snacks of all kinds, both those times I did indeed gain weight, but both those times after I went back to my normal eating habits and routines the weight dropped again fairly quickly.
I don't count anymore, I've gotten used to and automatically aware of calorie intake, I do however occationally count on random days to make sure that my instinct isnt off by too much. I lift 3-4 times a week for 30-40min at a time, half that time is stretching after lifting weights with various body parts hehe.
So my question is.. am I really just kidding myself? should I just call it quit and sign up for this surgery? A surgery I swore I would never get.
What are your thoughts? and do you have experience with people telling you you're just setting yourself up to become obese for the second time in your life?
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Replies
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The real secret is that there is no secret. Eat healthy and stay active and you will lose the weight and keep it off. You can do this.22
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A surgeon wants to do surgery.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest
Lots of people on MFP have lost weight without surgery.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300359/most-helpful-posts-success-stories-must-reads#latest18 -
If you can do it on your own, avoid the surgery. Lifestyle v Pain and still no guarantee of keeping it off. Lots of former surgery patients stretch their tiny stomachs and gain weight back. It's not all easy for them or an automatic answer either.8
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Nice post. Well done on your loss so far!
To me you seem very positive and sufficiently motivated, all in all in the right state of mind. So much so that I wonder why you're asking yourself whether to do the surgery.
You've got it. You've lost a lot already and like you said after you came home from a holiday you got back easily to your new normal eating habits. So you have it all. And you're exercising on top of it.
So in case you're still unsure - no, don't get the surgery
A cautionary note: once you get to the smaller numbers of healthy weight you might need to go back to counting because there you'll only count on a small couple of hundred calories deficit and you can easily make errors there.
Good luck and don't give up.14 -
Keep in mind that surgeons do operations for a living. Of course they will try to convince you that you will fail without their "help". Articles are full of *kitten*, to sell, and to nourish people's excuses. YOU have taken a different path. You have chosen to take responsibility, doing the job, walking the walk. You will succeed. In fact, you have already succeeded. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.18
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You are doing awesome! Keep up the good work! I know of a lot of people who have had weight loss surgery who have gained the weight back. I know of very few who have kept the weight off. I think if the people who have had the surgery did the things necessary to have the surgery without the surgery, they could have lost weight too. Weight loss surgery is also dangerous. It has probably become safer in more recent years but I still know of people who have died from it within the last 2 years.
I considered having the surgery also. I'm glad I didn't. Weight has been an issue for me all my life. Part of my weight issues are inherited but a lot of them are learned bad habits. I have lost 90 pounds this year, the 2nd time in 4 years that I have lost a large amount of weight. I am doing it in a much more healthy manner this time. I hope to keep the weight off this time but I am fully aware that I could put it back on. We have to make lifestyle changes and daily choices to keep the weight off. We can do this! We must support each other on our quest for healthy lifestyles.6 -
fattothinmum wrote: »If you can do it on your own, avoid the surgery. Lifestyle v Pain and still no guarantee of keeping it off. Lots of former surgery patients stretch their tiny stomachs and gain weight back. It's not all easy for them or an automatic answer either.
I agree totally!!! I have struggled with my weight my whole life... I'm 69. I have a sweet tooth and tend to binge eat.
Thru a lot of therapy, reading and meditation, I have finally, for the 1st time in my life, felt in control of what and when I eat.
I had my stomach staple surgery in 1982, after the birth of my son, when I ballooned to 210 lbs. It was sucessful to a point, losing 70 lbs, but I could hardly eat any types of food and vomited most of what I ate, and eventually blood. I then had surgery to reconstruct my stomach, and eventually regained the weight, although I excercised and walked daily, but never changed my eating habits.
Then I had gastric bypass in 2004 because I was up to 242 lbs, and had complications during surgery and almost died. I was hospitalized for nearly a month. This time I was able to lose 70 lbs, and kept it off for about 4 years, before the weight gain started again... I did not use the surgery as a tool, and thought I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted... did not exercise. Slowly it crept until I hit the 200 mark... I was shocked, had almost died!!! And for what???
I joined an Overeaters group, and sought therapy, to help me see why I had regained the weight twice...
Without boring youall, let us say that I had an "ah ha moment", and could see how destructive my thoughts were.
I have since joined a water aerobics group, exercise 3 days a week, take my dog for frequent walks, and found a hobby... knitting.
I am currently on a restricted diet, one that I was sure that I could never follow before, and am having to plan my meals and log whatever I eat... in otherwords, be proactive and responsible to myself. For the first time in my life,
I have HOPE... I may not ever get "skinny" enough... but I know that I am the answer, not any pill or surgery.
I am "GOOD ENOUGH" to take charge and be myself, whatever the future may be.14 -
I know three people that have had bariatric surgery, and all three of them are just as fat, or worse, as before. One of them is having tremendous health problems, all a consequence of obesity, and is probably going into a nursing home soon (in her early 40s!!).
What they have in a common is a refusal to control their food intake. They're always talking/posting about food, both pre and post surgery.
So yeah, it's not the operations. OP, it sounds like you're doing well. Keep your mind right, and you can be, and stay, fit.
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I took a good hard look at the surgery option 90 some lbs ago.
- But it's not a given that people who undergo the surgery have any greater success in keeping the weight off than those who did not have it.
- Without the surgery, I have the option of planning my days - most I will be careful but a few I can afford to be less careful. I don't have any "hard restrictions" on what I can eat like I would if I had chosen surgery.
- There are complications to surgery, and at least one person I know was in a comma for a month after it. Very rare scenario - and I don't mean to use it to scare - but things can go wrong.
Anyway, that was 3 years and 90+ lbs ago. I know those lbs are never coming back because I am a completely different individual now - I hate having to go through a day without my exercise. I always think about my hunger level, calories available and what a particular food will provide in terms of nutrition before eating. I step on a scale every day, but I have a bunch of athletic goals now that have taken center stage - speed, distance, max deadlift, max number of pushups, and so forth. Making these requires managing my diet - as would any athlete.
I wish you continued success in meeting your health goals!
-s14 -
You're not kidding yourself. You're doing great, keep it up. And forget the haters.5
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Seems to me you are doing just fine. People who have WLS still frequently regain the weight and/or have serious complications and problems with nutrition. So personally I would just stick with what you are doing.
Yes sure there is a chance you can regain weight. Many do. They do because they never actually made a permanant change in their eating habits.
Sometimes people give up. Maybe they are not ready, really ready to change. Maybe they never will be. That's them. You do you. 4 -
Surgery is not the answer, the 70lb you already shed proves that. Well done x5
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Congratulations on your success so far!
In addition to the success stories here, you should also check out some of the inspiration at: http://www.nwcr.ws/ ... The National Weight Control Registry. These people have lost weight, and kept it off.
I am not against the surgery, for some people it's a great tool because, depending on the type of surgery, it can immediately mitigate some hormonal issues leading them to overeat. Having said that, it's not a free pass or quick fix. The person having the surgery has to be diligent and maintain a strict protocol for the rest of their life. They need to make the same meaningful changes to their diet and lifestyle anyone who wants to permanently lose weight without surgery needs to make.
I know three people who've had one type of surgery or another. Only one of them remains successful, and that is because she has applied herself to making a lifestyle change. She eats healthy food in reasonable portions and has been an ideal post op patient. Of the other two, the first gradually started eating more and more until she stretched her stomach back out. The other? She drinks her calories.
In the end, plenty of people can and do successfully lose weight and maintain that loss without the surgery. Do not believe the often quoted dismal figure of 5%. That is from an old, flawed study. I could ask on Reddit, but I've seen people over there who know what they're talking about cite a more accurate success rate as being 20%-30%.
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I'm exceedingly thankful the surgery exists as an option. My cousin had it, but not just due to weight. He had multiple co-morbidities...type 2 diabetes, blood pressure, and more I'm sure I'm unaware of. For him, getting the weight off NOW was imperative.
At my beginning weight, I likely qualified based on bmi alone. While I have no Crystal ball, my path feels like one I can maintain comfortably. It *can be done.2 -
HECK NO!! You're doing an awesome job! Keep doing what's working and ignore the naysayers!!0
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I think the surgeon wants your business and that's it. You can do this!2
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wookiepants wrote: »I think the surgeon wants your business and that's it. You can do this!
It's like that old saying: Never ask a barber if he thinks you need a haircut.
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I'm 190lbs down ...no surgery just hard work and dedication. Keep doing what you are doing!12
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It sounds like you're doing just fine on your own. Congrats on having come so far!
What I don't understand about the surgeons attitude is, people DO manage to gain weight even after gastric bypass. Surgery isn't the end all be all if one doesn't adhere to the aftercare needed to maintain it. It's no foolproof guarantee either! That's a weird approach he/she took in my opinion.....2 -
My nephew had this friend, a really wonderful man, who was a very rollie-pollie guy who was miserable about his weight. He was the first person I knew who had stomach surgery to lose weight. And lose he did. It was rapid weight loss and he ended with a lot of really hanging excess skin that he had surgery to remove. He looded fab! ... but he couldn't join in with his buddies at their joint dinners because he could only eat a tiny bit of food at a time and when he attended those buddy-meals he invariably overate and made himself sick. So, he fell in love instead and got married and moved away. About 3 years later I saw him again and he was the same rollie-pollie he had been before having the surgery. He was divorced and had eaten himself back to his previous stature during the aftermath. Then, about a dozen years went by and my nephew died. His buddy came to the wake and he was now a very handsome and slim middle-aged man. I asked him what he did ... and he said he counted calories and exercised. But, because he had that stomach surgery originally, his digestion was compromised and he had to take many supplements to keep his micronutrients where they needed to be. I don't know when I'll next get to see this man, but I hope that he is still living the life of a slim and healthy guy.\
You do what you think is best for yourself. My story was about one man who I know and how he got to be a beautiful man on the outside to match the beauty that he was within.4 -
Even with surgery you would have to work to lose weight and work to maintain weight for the rest of your life. That is true however you lose weight.
I would not choose the surgery.4 -
It's stories like yours that I find so inspiring. Congratulations on your weight loss so far too. You've got this, keep up the good work!3
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I hope you are still active in your journey to a better healthier you. I'm in my sixties, Yes weight can come back. That's why you learning a new lifestyle is so important. The world is made a big bags of snacks. That seem like they are made to eat the whole bowl. Pop tarts that are packaged with 2 pop tarts, but 1 tart is the serving size. This sight is so positive because it has so many options with learning Maintenance. Being true to you. It will be a constant for me so I keep a food diary for life.... better to be adding life/ and feeling alive.2
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We have to figure out the mental part of why we got where we were to start with. Otherwise, if that doesn't change then *that* is what causes the gain again. Whether you count calories or do a fad diet or have surgery... if you don't change the mental part that started it you'll end up right back there. Having said that, it seems like you're doing great and well on your way. I'd personally use that negativity to motivate me.3
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So true I know some one had the surgery 3 times none have worked . Very sad yes I thought the same... Motivate me how you got this far,0
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I will be having WLS in a couple of months. I won't go into my history, but I'll just say that it's the best option for me.
That said, if you can do it without surgery, do it. Why go through all the pain and difficulty of WLS if you can do it another way?3 -
Massive eye roll at the surgeon, who clearly has loads of experience with people who *don't* end up on his table. Utter bunk. I lost 120lbs. 10 years ago, and even through two pregnancies, I have never once even approached putting half of it back on, much less all of it. I'm still close to goal. There are no easy answers, even with surgery. But the answer is simple. Hard work and persistance. Losing it took me nearly 3 years. Rome isn't built in a day, and neither is making a permanent lifestyle change. Don't give up.
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No surgery is NOT necessary, it sounds like you're making progress without it anyways.
A gastric bypass does NOT guarantee you won't gain the weight back either- I know someone personally who got one, lost weight, then over time ate more and more and stretched his stomach back out and gained all the weight back.
And I know another person who got a different but similar surgery, lost weight, then got stuck at a certain weight that was still too high/unhealthy and couldn't lose more but also couldn't eat healthy because her stomach was now so small that high fiber foods like veggies upset her, so she ate chocolate & rich foods instead. She was also chronically dehydrated because she couldn't ever drink enough water because of her tiny stomach. She also got tons of indigestion.
Don't listen to that surgeon!!! They just want to make money off you!
Actually I think a lifestyle change, healthy eating habits and exercise are fare MORE effective than surgery, as long as you continue forever. Surgery is risky and may not work long term. Diet and exercise is effective and works as long as you continue with it.
I like the YouTube channels Obese To Beast, Fat Meets Fire, and Jeremy Reid. All were obese men who lost the weight with only diet & exercise- mostly weightlifting- and are now fit healthy body builders! I also like Cookie Miller, she went from obese to fit naturally too and is now a personal trainer. Check them out for some great motivation!
Good job and good luck with your goals!1 -
Surgery=bandaid.1
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