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Honest opinions on weight loss surgery
Replies
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I waffle back and forth on this one. I am someone that was told to "just get the surgery because you'll never be successful at weight loss on your own". Seven years later, I've maintained a 170 pound loss.
It's anecdotal at best, but the people in my life that have had surgery either 1). have had serious complications or 2). don't maintain the weight loss long term.
I think the requirements need to be stricter, the waiting period longer, and be sure doctors give 100% accurate information of everything that can happen. Nothing good can really come out of cutting out a portion of your stomach and should only be used as a last-ditch effort after everything has been exhausted.10 -
Someone commented “it’s a very personal thing” — Not when the rest of us have to pay for it with our medical premiums.
I know many people who had it and regained all the weight. Waste of money and it didn’t help the person who went through it.
By this logic, deciding whether or not to have a child isn't a personal thing. If my health insurance premiums are helping cover weight loss surgery for a few people, they're used to a much greater extent to pay for the costs associated with prenatal and pediatric care.13 -
The surgeries are a terrible idea.10
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Hi , i was looking for some honest opinions on weight loss surgeries such as gastric bypass and sleeves etc. While it's great people are bettering their health do you feel the person who makes hard lifestyle changes and loses the weight on their own works harder ? Is it wrong to feel that way? . I guess to me when you decide to change your lifestyle and really grind for what you want health wise it seems slot harder vs losing weight with surgical help, maybe I'm wrong but I'd like some opinions, like I said it's still grwat when anyone betters their lifestyle
Eh, I don't know. I don't think they are taking the easy way out. All that they go through - pain from surgery, throwing up, leaky butt, etc. They lose the weight fast, so we think it's easy. I think they are FORCED to lose the weight fast, but I wouldn't say that's the easy way.
I'd rather go to the gym everyday and eat well than have to deal with that.
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Thing is, the ones I have seen have lost weight and still share tasty food posts on Facebook. Meanwhile over here, I am trying to make a lettuce leaf look appetising. Unfortunately every now and again I need to eat to train (middle distance triathlon). So not an option I guess.2
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If you don't like lettuce, why eat it?7
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Gotta lose weight and still eat.4
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MissJessAU77 wrote: »Gotta lose weight and still eat.
So eat something you like that fits your calories.
Best lesson I've learned here is I can lose weight without resorting to "rabbit food".10 -
It isn't for me, why risk unnecessary surgery.
Whichever way you choose, I don't feel that any way of losing weight is easy. However you choose to lose weight, you still have to consume less calories than you burn.
Becoming a healthier weight is a huge step in the right direction to becoming healthier.
However you can accomplish that, go for it. No judgement from me.
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On top of what I posted earlier, people really do not understand the dangers of anesthesia. There can definitely be complications, and those individuals that are severely overweight are more prone to experiencing complications. These could result in death! These are unnecessary risks to take for people wanting the lazy way out. Do your research! Become disciplined and you can accomplish anything.9
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I wouldn't call WLS lazy by any stretch. Drastic perhaps. But following this? https://www.bariatric-surgery-source.com/preparing-for-weight-loss-surgery.html#months
Looks anything but lazy.6 -
MissJessAU77 wrote: »Gotta lose weight and still eat.
Well, true, but that doesn't answer the question.3 -
MissJessAU77 wrote: »Thing is, the ones I have seen have lost weight and still share tasty food posts on Facebook. Meanwhile over here, I am trying to make a lettuce leaf look appetising. Unfortunately every now and again I need to eat to train (middle distance triathlon). So not an option I guess.
Usually you're not eligible for the surgery unless you're BMI 35 or above with significant co-morbidities (such as high blood pressure or diabetes) so it seems unlikely that a healthy triathlete would be eligible.
But there are about ten million appetizing ways to eat lettuce, and no reason at all to eat it if none of those work for you. Eat a variety of healthy foods within your calorie allowance and enjoy.4 -
Ive seen ppl who did weight loss surgery and had problems absorbing vitamins and minerals. This in turn cause their skin to look malnourished and unhealthy, not to mention saggy skin.2
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Hi , i was looking for some honest opinions on weight loss surgeries such as gastric bypass and sleeves etc. While it's great people are bettering their health do you feel the person who makes hard lifestyle changes and loses the weight on their own works harder ? Is it wrong to feel that way? . I guess to me when you decide to change your lifestyle and really grind for what you want health wise it seems slot harder vs losing weight with surgical help, maybe I'm wrong but I'd like some opinions, like I said it's still grwat when anyone betters their lifestyle
I knew people who had the surgery but still managed to gain back most of their weight lost. If you don't learn how to modify your bad eating habits, nothing will be a permanent solution.
Also I would never do the surgery. My sister did it and later she got cancer. They couldn't give her certain chemo drugs because of the gastric surgery and she had a very hard time during chemo maintaining proper levels of vitamin in her blood. Vitamin pills would just pass through her body too quickly to be absorbed.8 -
I know exactly two people who had WLS (both had a different kind), a mother-daughter duo. Mom was 47 when she had the surgery, the daughter was 21. I admit that I kind of "look down" on them, especially the daughter, for chosing the surgery over doing it on their own. They had no medical reason for being morbidly obese, they just liked to stuff themselves with junk food.
Mom's surgery has been 3.5 years ago, and she lost a lot of weight, but never quite got in the normal weight range. Last year she had surgery to remove excess skin. For her, the whole procedure was HARD. She had tons of complications with all of her surgeries, she still has lots of problems with eating ... and yet, she has managed to gain quite a few of the lost kilos back. For the daughter, she's lost about 70 pounds in a year and is still overweight. Her weight loss has now stalled and the weight is creeping back up. For her, at least, I foresee a complete regain of all the weight. Her surgery and recovery was much easier.
I really don't see them succeeding long term. Why? Because they thought the surgery would be an easy way out (they declared that themselves, that's not me speculating), and they haven't learned a thing. They had some coaching, but apparently none of that stuck. I met them while grocery shopping two weeks ago, and their cart was full of sweet juices, chips, chocolate, cream and other junk. They don't seem to drink much soda anymore (so that's a plus, I guess), but that's about the only positive thing they've done.
Now, if you go the "traditional" way and lose weight on your own, you're FORCED to change your habits, learn about nutrition etc., otherwise it won't work (well, theoretically, it still could - I guess you could lose weight just eating twinkies if you burned more calories than you consumed).5 -
5 months ago I had reached my highest weight - 170 kg, 375 pounds. "Professional" opinion pointed to surgery but at no stage was I told that at the same time I would have to change to a healthier lifestyle, better eating habits. Not that I didn't know - after all, where did all that fat come from? So I had some blood tests done and told my (new) GP that I would see him again in a year's time. For me it feels like a challenge. a way of learning new things, experiencing life I thought half forgotten. My crutch and support is MFP from day one and all the members I can learn so much from. THANK YOU! There might be a long weight loss journey in front of me but I only concentrate on today, with a couple of thoughts for tomorrow's meal plan. I still worry about 85.000 times a week if it is possible to lose weight and get healthier again. Our home scale still dies when I step onto it but my old clothing is feeling loose or is falling off my waist and my daily recorded food intake on MFP tells me that I am on the right track. Healing after an operation would have taken time, my body would have gone through a stressful time, I would have to be on some sort of medication / vitamin tablets - so far I have avoided all that. I am starting to see food in a different way, I now understand trigger food and food allergies which I need to be careful with. I have not considered the costs involved of an operation but I am pretty sure that my new, healthier meal plan is somewhat cheaper compared to my old way of eating. Either way I will live with my decision for the rest of my life and I prefer to be in charge of my own body. Once you remove bits and pieces surgically, it's difficult - even impossible - to reverse such a decision.15
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neugebauer52 wrote: »5 months ago I had reached my highest weight - 170 kg, 375 pounds. "Professional" opinion pointed to surgery but at no stage was I told that at the same time I would have to change to a healthier lifestyle, better eating habits. Not that I didn't know - after all, where did all that fat come from? So I had some blood tests done and told my (new) GP that I would see him again in a year's time. For me it feels like a challenge. a way of learning new things, experiencing life I thought half forgotten. My crutch and support is MFP from day one and all the members I can learn so much from. THANK YOU! There might be a long weight loss journey in front of me but I only concentrate on today, with a couple of thoughts for tomorrow's meal plan. I still worry about 85.000 times a week if it is possible to lose weight and get healthier again. Our home scale still dies when I step onto it but my old clothing is feeling loose or is falling off my waist and my daily recorded food intake on MFP tells me that I am on the right track. Healing after an operation would have taken time, my body would have gone through a stressful time, I would have to be on some sort of medication / vitamin tablets - so far I have avoided all that. I am starting to see food in a different way, I now understand trigger food and food allergies which I need to be careful with. I have not considered the costs involved of an operation but I am pretty sure that my new, healthier meal plan is somewhat cheaper compared to my old way of eating. Either way I will live with my decision for the rest of my life and I prefer to be in charge of my own body. Once you remove bits and pieces surgically, it's difficult - even impossible - to reverse such a decision.
Keep up the great work: you can do it! How do I know? Because you ARE doing it! Your pants are getting looser, so just keep doing the same thing and you will get there.4 -
You know, there are all these silly people who go out and do sports and exercise all over the place, and some of them always get injured, and then my health insurance premiums have to cover them. What a rip-off.janejellyroll wrote: »Someone commented “it’s a very personal thing” — Not when the rest of us have to pay for it with our medical premiums.
I know many people who had it and regained all the weight. Waste of money and it didn’t help the person who went through it.
By this logic, deciding whether or not to have a child isn't a personal thing. If my health insurance premiums are helping cover weight loss surgery for a few people, they're used to a much greater extent to pay for the costs associated with prenatal and pediatric care.
(yes, that was a joke. please hold your rants until I actually earn them.)
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This comparison makes me very glad that it is considered safe to push a baby through the birth canal at a rate faster than 2 lbs/week.This discussion somewhat reminds me of people thinking moms who have c sections are taking the easy way out. To me that is hilarious. I don’t know that I would ever consider surgery to be an easy way out
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