Just had my consultation for bariatric surgery...

I didn't read through all of the replies from the other posters, but I did want to chime in with my opinion.

Most people fail to lose weight and keep it off because they are "dieting". If we are able to put the "dieting" mindset aside, and look at it as a lifestyle change, it begins to be much different. You can't expect to eat right and healthy for 6 months, drop 30 pounds and keep it off after you return to your old habits, in order to keep the weight off, you have to do whatever it was that helped you lose that weight to begin with. I'm not trying to bash you or impede your decision, but I just don't understand the difference between losing weight naturally and in a healthy way, compared to surgery which will basically force you to eat the way you would had you just changed your diet in the first place? I guess that's where I don't get it. I have known people who were morbidly obese, given an "expiration date" by the doctor, and then watch them change their entire eating habits, and successfully lose the weight themselves, it can be done. I just don't see why someone would want to be forced into making the change compared to doing it on their own.

Either way, good luck on whatever it is you decide. I think you will get conflicting advice and information here, because there are those who have had WLS, and those who have busted their rear's for a year or more instead.

Good for you for making a choice that will benefit yourself. I had gastric bypass on December 15,2010. I have lost 160 pounds and had similar issues as you. I had 2 back operations and was not able to exercise. I tried everything to get the weight off before I had the surgery so those that don't know others medical issues should really not comment on changing anything. I will be the first one to tell you it is not an easy choice. Yes I will tell you that you MUST change your eating habits. Yes I will tell you that you will second guess yourself when you try to eat something and it makes you sick. I play refrigerator roulette a lot. I also happen to attend Le Cordon Bleu to be able to help those that had the surgery. I knew how to cook but I wanted to learn technique. I have taken recipes that I loved and have lower the calories and stuff to benefit those that are trying to reteach themselves on eating better. Nobody can make you happy but you, so if this is what you need to be happy don't let any of these people on here make you feel bad. I am actually trying to put on 20 pounds and it is not as easy. Yes some people revert back to their old eating habits and do regain the weight then there are those that don't. I am here if you have any questions please feel free to friend request or private message me. I hope you make this choice to be healthier and happier!

Just when I thought I'd seen it all... some of the comments on this thread blow my frigging mind.

Unfriggingbelievable.

Surgery is NOT the answer to not being able to control yourself. If you have such a poor relationship with food, you WILL find a way to stay fat even if your stomach is 20% of it's normal size. Get some help to identify the cause of the poor food relationship and fix that. Obviously this is my opinion and I'm not a professional. However, I understand food addiction.

I had WLS almost 5 years ago and it was the BEST decision I ever made. It was also the hardest!!! I have gone from over 300lbs to 144lbs and I still struggle with food choices daily.

WLS is not easy and it wont have lasting results if you dont change your food choices, and exercise. Almost 80% of all WLS patients gain the weight back, not great odds. The surgery only works for about a year, we call it the "honeymoon phase" after that you will have to work to get any more weight off. Also in the year you will have stretched your stomach or "pouch" (thats what we call it). Once you have the pouch stretched look out, you can start eating alot more than before.

Ultimately the choice is always yours, just make sure you choose the right WLS for you and know exactly what you need to do for LONG lasting results.

I feel only a few commenters have hit the nail on the head in all this discussion of dieting and surgery. If all that was required to get fit and healthy was diet, exercise, surgery and willpower we'd all be successful, slim and trim for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately for 99.9999% of us overweight/obese/morbidly obese people there is a food-mind-emotion disconnect that MUST be addressed sometime during the process of losing excess weight--failure to connect the dots will result in failure to maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime.

I was successful in losing 75 pounds through diet, exercise, lifestyle change (blah, blah, blah) but I didn't address the mental-emotional aspect of WHY I turn to food as my drug of choice. As a result, I regained back all 75 pounds and then some. Now I'm taking another run at it, this time with the help of MFP and being mindful of the mental and emotional processes that bring on the craving for food. I'm forever questioning my perceptions that give rise to the emotions (which set the cravings in action) and I'm working to reduce or redirect the stress in a more healthy way.

At the ripe old age of 22, being in the positon of having to (and wanting to) turn to surgery to correct obesity proves there is much more going on than simply a weakness for Big Macs and fries. Please take the time to explore the What, Who, Why, When and How of your emotional eating episodes while you await your surgery. No one can tell you exactly why you eat the way you do--the reason why is different for every single one of us here. It is something that you need to work through yourself (or with the help of a therapist if you feel you must). If you don't come up with clear answers and solutions to your emotional eating problem, I can guarantee that you with either eventually fail at keeping the weight off after surgery, or, worse yet, find another unhealthy outlet (such as the aunt who turned into an alcoholic) to ease your bottled up stress and pain.

Removing the excess weight either through surgery or just diet/exercise will both work for you, the choice is yours to make. But getting your mental processes/emotions (when it comes to using food as your drug of choice) in check before surgery and/or during the diet/exercise period is imperative to your sucess.

I wish you all the best.

I didn't read all of the replies so I don't know if this was brought up but ... do you ever plan to have children. Cause it is not safe to have children after the surgery. The baby won't get the nutrition it needs.
Think this through a lot.
Plus it is not a guarantee, you can gain the weight back. Your stomach can stretch back out.

This statement is ABSOLUTELY FALSE.

Uh...I can attest to the fact that THIS IS FALSE!! I had my VSG in October of 2009, found out I was expecting my FOURTH child in April of 2010. Gave birth to a COMPLETELY HEALTHY AND FULL TERM baby boy in December of 2010.

Ignorance is irritating!!! Ugh

OMG really? I think I know more about it than you, considering I actually have been pregnant. Considering while pregnant you need to be able to eat a certain amount to keep both you and the child healthy it is incrediably difficult. Plus it's the nutrients that is the issue. Maybe you are going for a different type than the one I was going for but the food would not stay long enough to get ALL of the nutrients from it. I talk to the doctors, and specialists about it specifically and they told me, each one of them, flat out that it would be very dangerous to get pregnant to the child as it could cause developement problems.

I am not bashing the surgery, as I went in to have it too. It is her choice, if she wants more power to her and I wish her all the success in the world. For some people it is the extra help that they need. I posted what MY doctorS had told me to give her another thing to consider or bring up to her doctors if she was considering it.

Just because you do not agree with the conversation that YOU were NOT there for is no reason to be attacking me.

Plainly put, until you have a uterus, back off.

What I find even more disturbing than your ignorance is the ignorance of your doctors, if, in fact, that was what you were told. While it's usually advised not to get pregnant for at least a year after wls, it does happen before the year is up and the result is usually a full-term, healthy baby. Oh, and for the record, I have a uterus, so I guess I'm qualified to give my two cents.

Well, what can I say.
It seems this forum is full of preachers rather than those who support.

'Im a personal trainer, I know best'.
'I know someone who died'
'All I did was count my calories.'
'My relative is in the medical profession and got scared by stats'
'Why would you want an elastic band squeezing your stomach?'

...etc.

Pfffft. Absolute nonsense!
Patients here all know the risk that they are undertaking by having the op.

Who in their right mind, would WILLINGLY put themselves under the knife, especially when they know its not a 'quick fix'?

There are far too many people here who think themselves 'holier than thou'.

Each person's mind is different.
Each person's story is different.
Each person's body is different.

And again, it would transpire that I'm sure these people have not one iota or any tangible grasp on the intricacies of the whole process.

True, I too have no respect for those who, for their whole life have been stuffing their face full of junk food (with no emotional or psychiatric issues) and then have surgery - even less so expecting these people to be treated by the NHS!
I personally lead an active lifestyle and wince at the mention of McDonalds etc.

My question is this...
If you are not having surgery, or think that's it's a good idea, why are you replying?

Surgery, whether it be the Laprascopic Band (which, for the non-educated, is a saline-filled restrictive tourniquet - not a 'rubber band'! (some people!.. really! ...sigh), the Gastric Bypass or the Gastric Sleeve, are procedures prescribed for those who NEED it and who are past the stage of mere 'dieting'. It's an aid to get them to the stage where they will be abe to manage their effectively.

Fair enough, some people have managed to somehow do it without 6 - 8 rods being shoved into their abdominal cavity and having large portions of their stomach sectioned off/ removed and then having their intestines cut and rejoined to reduce the absorption of what they eat... for others, this is not an option.

I came here, to chat to others; those pre and post op, to find out their stories and how they are coping through the process of a life changing and harrowing experience and for support, not have to listen to people who 'think they know better'.

Are you a dietician?
Are you a doctor?
Are you morbidly obese?
If you answered no to these, then why are you here???

Anyway, I'm on the road to getting my life back and banishing the disease of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome from my body.
I can't wait to start leading a 'normal' life and be who I finally am inside, on the outside.

I did all my stuff--my nutrition appointments, my psych evaluation, my consultations, my naso gastric test, etc. Everything was approved by insurance and I was supposed to have my surgery on June 7, 2012 (I had out of pocket expenses totaling nearly $3000 too.) I did my pre-op on May 30 and all was set. Then June 5th I got a phone call that my insurance company denied the surgery. It's now been in appeal 3 times. My final decision comes up in 5 days. I'm not holding my breath. Insurance companies really tick me off!