Can't afford weight loss surgery

evileen99

Chiming in with what everyone else said--if you don't change your eating habits, WLS isn't going to work. I know two people who had the surgery, and they're now fatter than they were before the operation because they kept their old eating habits.

Since you're a student, take advantage of your school's mental heath facilities to get help figuring out WHY you overeat. Then, as others have said, lose the weight naturally and save your money for any skin removal surgery you might need.

Good luck. I know it's not what you want to hear, but even with the surgery, you're going to have to follow a very low calorie diet for the rest of your life if you want to be thinner. You can do that for free and without the risks/side effects of surgery.

cbstewart88

Take the money the surgery would've cost and bank it. Starting today, do the MFP thing and work to lose 1lb/wk for two years. That is 100 lbs!!! Then using the "surgery" money, treat yourself to a trip to Paris and buy a new wardrobe!!!

ninerbuff

Surgery DOESN'T change your relationship with food nor your behavior with eating. If you're obese, you got that way by over consumption. Till you fix that issue, surgery is nothing more than a band aid. Gotta change your behavior first. And for many that do it, they end up losing weight anyway.

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Silentpadna

nicolerasmus94 wrote: »

I'm 21 years old ... I feel like my mental health would improve a great deal as a result...

Only you can make the decision you are talking about. There are points posted by others on both sides that have merit.

So I'll nitpick for a second instead. The parts of your post that would concern me are above. Be very careful if you are depending on this for mental health reasons. Quick fixes may help - sometimes they don't. And I'm not saying that in a perjorative sense. WLS helps in the right situations. But your mental health may be in a worse position if the WLS doesn't give you the long-term answer you are looking for.

But...there are underlying habits that got you where you are. You can change them. You do not have to change all of them immediately. For example:

You can cut out one snack.

You can start by weighing your portions without changing anything. Then make small adjustments there.

You can start with very modest deficits.

You can start walking. Progress over time.

Just start with one of them. Then add another. Then another, etc. It's not a race. It's a life.


At 21, time is on your side. You can start any of these things well before WLS if you decide to have it. If you do, the chances of the surgery being successful will increase. You also may realize that the surgery along with its associated risks is not necessary. Remember some of the risk of the surgery is not just its complications, but the risk of it not working for you.

WillingtoLose1001984

nicolerasmus94 wrote: »

I'm 21 years old and have been obese nearly all of my life. It's always been hard for me to lose and keep off weight, so I've been thinking a lot about surgery lately. I feel like it could be really good for me, but I am a student and will be for a couple more years, so it will be a while before I have substantial income. It would be great if I didn't have to wait that long though as I feel like my mental health would improve a great deal as a result, along with my physical health of course, and that these would help me to finish out school strong. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone on here was able to receive financial help for their procedure and how you went about doing that?

If you can't afford it or insurance won't cover it ( I'd go to an introductory bariatric meeting to find out, thann either use MFP or another app to track calories. Don't be too hard on yourself! Take your time to lose the weight. You are still young. If I was 21, I'd just try to lose a pound a week for 2 years. I wish I had done that! Now I'm 33 and want kids and feel like that time is getting short!

Sayanogo

If you have urgent health issues caused by being overweight, I think surgery might be a good choice. Talk to your doctor about it if you haven't. An educated medical opinion is tons better than dreaming of a surgery thinking it will help.

If you don't have urgent health issues, then you have time to lose slowly. Take that time. Learning how to develop a healthier lifestyle is what's important. If you don't develop one, surgery won't help anything. You'll just gain the weight back, be out of time and money, and have faced the complications of surgery for nothing.

I second the idea that you should use the mental health services available at your school. Work on bettering your quality of life. You have time to grow into a healthier person.

estherdragonbat

My father and sister have both had WLS. This is going back a few years, so the complications my sister experienced may no longer be as common. My father did well initially, but the weight is starting to creep back. He's fighting to lose it again.

When I was 103lbs heavier, he was pushing me to get on the waiting list. I decided against it for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that I'm a vegetarian. Whole grains and beans area major part of my diet. And are generally not safe to eat after WLS. I saw my father have to give up fresh bread, because he could only handle toast and crackers. I didn't want to have to give up so many of my basic staples.

I started MFP just over 17 months ago and I've dropped 103lbs making small changes, keeping most of the same foods (I've consciously cut back on bakery desserts and I tend to order foods at restaurants that are easier to track. Example: I'll go for a 10" pizza over a salad-bowl sized serving of pasta. If I'm having pasta, I go for stuff like canneloni, where I can look at 4-5 entries in the database and ballpark it, as opposed to the 'chef's signature dish with an original sauce', etc. But I haven't given up desserts or pastas; I just mostly opt for homemade and weigh my portions.)

amusedmonkey

From what I know, surgery patients need to lose weight for 6 months before they go into surgery. Pretend you're in the pre-surgery phase and start counting calories. You may or may not be able to get the insurance to pay for yours, but after 6 months you may find yourself saying "hey, this isn't as bad as I thought" and change your mind about surgery. Stick around the forums here and you'll pick up quite a few tricks that don't require you torturing yourself for weight loss. Even if after a while you decide to you still want the surgery and manage to get funding, you will have acquired a few skills to help you with weight management post-surgery.

WillingtoLose1001984

estherdragonbat wrote: »

My father and sister have both had WLS. This is going back a few years, so the complications my sister experienced may no longer be as common. My father did well initially, but the weight is starting to creep back. He's fighting to lose it again.

When I was 103lbs heavier, he was pushing me to get on the waiting list. I decided against it for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that I'm a vegetarian. Whole grains and beans area major part of my diet. And are generally not safe to eat after WLS. I saw my father have to give up fresh bread, because he could only handle toast and crackers. I didn't want to have to give up so many of my basic staples.

I started MFP just over 17 months ago and I've dropped 103lbs making small changes, keeping most of the same foods (I've consciously cut back on bakery desserts and I tend to order foods at restaurants that are easier to track. Example: I'll go for a 10" pizza over a salad-bowl sized serving of pasta. If I'm having pasta, I go for stuff like canneloni, where I can look at 4-5 entries in the database and ballpark it, as opposed to the 'chef's signature dish with an original sauce', etc. But I haven't given up desserts or pastas; I just mostly opt for homemade and weigh my portions.)

You can eat a plant based diet after surgery. There's a bariatric doctor on youtube who talks about it.