Lifestyle Change To Lose Weight vs Surgery To Lose Weight

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Replies

  • redemmy79
    redemmy79 Posts: 3 Member
    I had gastric sleeve nearly 3 years ago. Best decision I ever made strictly for my health. You still have to use tools like MFP to get the job done healthily. There are no easy fixes. Every option on the table can be sabotaged. It's a long and sometimes very difficult road, but worth every minute when you're waking up feeling well and fueling your body rather than punishing it.
  • happytree923
    happytree923 Posts: 463 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.

    Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.

    If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?

    Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?

    I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.

    My understanding from the cinematic masterpiece My 600 Lb Life is that surgery is supposed to be for people who need to drop a lot of weight quickly to avoid major health complications. On the show the surgeon gives his patients low calorie goals that they could not sustain without surgery but then they can drop like a pound a day for a while. Obviously most people are not that extreme but I think it's the same idea, it's supposed to help with compliance to get someone out of the 'danger' zone fast.

    I also agree that for the vast majority of people, this approach does not make any sense.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,846 Member
    Maxxitt wrote: »
    I would choose lifestyle over surgery for ANY condition for which a life style change would bring desired results. Surgery is fraught with risk and possible complication and the benefits need to substantially outweigh the risks. Even minor surgical procedures have been complicated for me (8 weeks of dealing with cellulitis one time, 4 days in the hospital following hemorrhage another time), which is the context for my opinion.

    That's my philosophy as well.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    Based on all your previous threads under many user names you are not ready for surgery

    This.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    The same weight loss principle applies either way. Eating fewer calories than you burn = weight loss. The only difference between the two is that the surgery renders you physically incapable of taking in more than very few calories at a time. Honestly, I'd say it's much more of s "lifestyle change" than losing weight the regular way.
  • SomeMorr
    SomeMorr Posts: 220 Member
    edited November 2018
    Danp wrote: »
    Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.

    Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.

    If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?

    Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?

    I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.

    I am still pre-surgery, posted earlier in the thread...

    One of the things about the requirement to lose weight and modify behaviors is to show that I can actually do it for post surgical compliance - for my own success. I changed my eating habits six months before surgery was on the table and I lost about 18lbs but I tend to stick at this weight, since I have fluctuated around this weight for a couple of decades. My doctor didn't ask me to lose weight but they were pleasantly surprised that I did.

    Short term success of losing weight prior to surgery (i.e. the old fashioned way) does not always reflect long term significant success since most people considering surgery have had continued problems with losing and keeping weight off. Most doctors don't ask surgery patients to lose 50+lbs before surgery (unless their weight is too high for surgery), and in those cases they need to lose so much more weight that 50lbs is barely a drop in the bucket.

    Surgery is mostly like a "reset" button - yes, a person will lose significant weight immediately after surgery and that gives them a chance to start over with managing their weight/food/exercise with the changes that they have started implementing before surgery. If they go back to their old ways, then they blew their shot.

  • Jenneke0269
    Jenneke0269 Posts: 28 Member
    Danp wrote: »
    Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.

    Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.

    If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?

    Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?

    I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.

    The weight loss required pre-surgery is a result of the liquids-only pre-op diet. That diet is meant to empty your stomach completely, food and stomach acid; and to shrink your liver. The liver is one of the largest organs in your body, and it rests "on top" of your stomach (when you're lying down) so it would be in the way of the surgeon, making it much harder to do.

    Also, another reason you can't "just continue" the pre-op diet is because it's inherantly unhealthy. It doesn't provide all the nutrients and vitamins you need, it's a very short-term diet for medical purposes, not something you can live on.

    Your second point that "well, you would have to change your diet anyway", that's exactly the point! You have to change your diet to get accustomed to the physical changes in your body after surgery. You go from having a stomach the size of a small melon, to one the size of a small banana. (If you got the sleeve, a bypass ignores the stomach all together, food never enters the stomach) You physically cannot eat more than a couple of ounces at a sitting.

    Source: I had the sleeve 4 months ago

    Unrelated to the above, but if anyone who's had surgery, or is planning on it want to chat, send me a friend request, I'm happy to chat, share recipes, and etc.