Bariatric surgery or lose weight without it?

I have a friend that is having her surgery on June 11th and I said the same thing! the surgery is a quick fix and she would lose weight if she followed the plan anyways! Doesnt seem worth it to me to be sick more times than not after eating something! I completley agree with you im not going to let her get skinny and me still be fat but im doing it the natural way!

Bariatric surgery comes with big risks; it's one of the riskiest operations going. Both my older sister and my aunt had the surgery, and successfully lost weight without any dire consequences; my sister regained almost all of her weight.. Alarmingly, though, my sister's current doctor can find no evidence, not even scar tissue, that she ever had gastric bypass surgery - he thought her medical charts were wrong! It seems that her stomach had essentially "come undone" and healed itself. It could very well have ended her life. That's one of the biggest problems I see with it. I know two people who have died from complications very similar to my sister's.
Another problem I see with a surgical fix is that there's only one way to gain weight (outside of a few rare genetic conditions), and that is to consume more than you use. Unless you can identify the reasons you chose to do that, and know that you are in control of those things, how would you know you wouldn't put yourself at risk following surgery by eating more than you should, or buy eating in a way that creates malnourishment? If I'm not feeling up to making the right nutritional choices, it's just as easy to fill up on ice cream as on cauliflower.
I'm 47, 5'4' and stay between 250-260 pounds. I'm also recently diagnosed with type II diabetes which runs in my family. My aunht and my sister both share that bloodline, and neither of them have developed diabetes. Diabetes is the only thing which would make me consider surgery. For as yet undetermined reasons, gastric bypass seems to "heal" diabetes. Scientists aren't sure whether it's a rebalance of gut microbes following the surgery, or if it's related to the extreme diet followed after surgery. Except for diabetes, my health is good, and I've always been physically active.
Yeah, there's probably something in my metabolism or genes that makes it easier for me to gain weight than it is for some others, but the reason for my weight is my behavior. Unless I had comorbidities which threatened my life, I can't see considering surgery - to me it almost feels like cheating. I want to be proud of myself for making the right choices and doing what's best for me, I think I NEED that, and I think surgery would take that away.
Just my opinion, but I think you're on the right track. There's a Japanese doctor who has had some success (very small study, only 11 people) controlling diabetes and wieght loss with an extreme crash diet which lowers fatty deposits in the liver and pancreas. I think that's where I'm going as soon as I can find a doctor willing to supervise me. I'm not foolhardy, and diabetes makes extreme dietary changes a little riskier.
Best of luck!

@Jeb...I'm diabetic, got myself off of insulin with diet and excercise...PLEASE research Bitter Melon, cinnamon, Banaba leaf, and Colius forskholin.....combined, they honestly changed my diabetic life.

Disclaimer: I have had the sleeve and am doing FABULOUS. I see a therapist and am working through my food issues so that this surgery will be a lifelong success.

That being said, if you have reservations about it and feel you can do it on your own, then for sure that's what you should do.

HOWEVER, when you talk about "eating like you had the surgery", gee, don't you think people who have had to resort to surgery have tried that and failed? 90% of people who have had WLS have tried everything under the sun and are having surgery in a last ditch effort to save their own lives. Not very many people have 75-85% of their stomach removed on a whim. Nobody in their right mind has their guts rearranged and risks malabsorptive (sp?) issues, which are very unpleasant.

I applaud people who can do it without surgery, I do, but please don't think people who have had surgery haven't tried it all.

Hello fellow Arizonan :flowerforyou:
Set your mind to it, stick within your calorie (etc) range and weigh, measure & log everything.
It IS doable to lose the weight on your own.

My husbands friend just had the gastric sleeve. He ended up having major complications. He got a major infection and also had part of the suture where they removed part of the stomach rupture. He had to have at least 2 extra surgeries. He has been out of work for four months and will be out at least 3 more. I think diet and exercise is the way to go. Also, because our insurance wouldn't cover his surgery and it was an elective surgery they won't pay for any of the medical care for the complications.

Def Listen to the 'voice inside you'!! Before mfp i was 234#'s (at 5'4") and i almost went for gastric sleeve or band..
but didnt.. I joined mfp and lost 41 pounds in 4mo! a friend of mine (same height as me) and weighed 280 got gastric sleeve AND band.. and lost wt SLOWER then me... and is still at only 40 #'s wt loss (same as me/non surgical) and her dang stomach is CUT IN HALF WITH A BAND around IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! :indifferent:
and she had NO INSURANCE and spent 14 grand on this surgery!! yes.. cash..
and she is just like :grumble: you lost faster then me.. where im at basically NON surgery.. im like yep!
and I workout all the time and she never does.. super lazy and didnt change her eating.. besides maybe less.. but now she tells me 9mo after surgery that she can eat a whole hour grazing if she wants.. and she hasnt lost wt in months..!
and this is GASTRIC SLEEVE AND BAND...

I am diabetic, type II. Was diagnosed about 5 years ago. Was controlling it with medication, but now I am on insulin 4 times a day and STILL have high glucose levels. Could you give me more details about the herbs you described as changing your diabetic life? I am SOOO scared. I have been on MFP for 2 months....gained 4 pounds. I am overwhelmed with counting carbs, calories, glucose levels and insulin injections. Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated. I am 5'2" and weigh 245.

Check out the "Type 2 Diabetes Support Group". It's awesome! Lots of people there to help answer questions.

Please don't have the surgery! I know people that did, and they had digestive problems and other complications from the surgery for the rest of their lives!

@Jeb...I'm diabetic, got myself off of insulin with diet and excercise...PLEASE research Bitter Melon, cinnamon, Banaba leaf, and Colius forskholin.....combined, they honestly changed my diabetic life.

I also have type 2 diabetes, and I'm well on my way to getting off insulin with losing weight, diet, and exercise. You don't need to go to extreme surgical measures to get diabetes under control or into "remission". You just have to work at it. Took me quite a few years to figure this one out.

Not sure if you were supporting my statement or not, but i had surgery, hated it and got myself off insulin by using natural remedies. I took a holistic approach to my heath and it has been amazing. anyone who wants info can ask. It IS hard work but nobody has to be stuck with uncontrolable diabetes

holy cow...that poor girl. I see people all the time who "eat thru" their restriction. Then they really feel like failures. I am really trying to do this right...to be honest I never really committed to lose weight before. So...now I'm committed...and thankful for the support. Thank you!

AGREED!!! it's a horrible feeling that i learned to fix I'm so sad for my former self that i didn't learn my lesson sooner but i'm stronger for it

For the surgery to not only work, but LAST, it requires a total change of habits anyway. Might as well do it without the surgery and possible complications!

My husbands friend just had the gastric sleeve. He ended up having major complications. He got a major infection and also had part of the suture where they removed part of the stomach rupture. He had to have at least 2 extra surgeries. He has been out of work for four months and will be out at least 3 more. I think diet and exercise is the way to go. Also, because our insurance wouldn't cover his surgery and it was an elective surgery they won't pay for any of the medical care for the complications.

If ur husbands friend had it in Mexico they may have used the cheap chinese staples. I actually have a Bariatric Surgeon Friend in Tijuana that said that most doctors there use cheap chinese staples and that patients should always ask about that, my friend uses the good stuff and has performed surgery on a couple of my friends and they had 0 complications. Also from what I was informed, if people don't do what they are suppose to do right after surgery then it can and will cause complications. Maybe your hubbys friend ate wayyy too much that his pouch suture came out... who knows. I hope he is doing well now.

I had gone through all the tests and approvals for a Gastric Bypass, I even had a surgery date, but I opted out for a few reasons so now I'm on the same path, trying to lose the weight without the surgery. Good luck on your journey!

Good luck. Lots of people can lose weight without surgery, but usually gain all if not more.

I was up to 350 lbs in January of 2007. I didn't even know how much I weighed because my scale kept saying "error". I got a 2 free week gym membership and decided to go and that is when they weighed me there and i was shocked at how much I weighed. So i just started working out and counting calories. I lost a total of 70 and plateued for 3 years no matter what i did. I still worked out and counted calories. I gained about 10 lbs back. A lot of my friends had weightloss surgery and kept telling me to do it, but i really wanted to lose all my weight on my own with no need of WLS. Well after being unsuccessful I decided to find out more about the new WLS they had out there which was the Gastric Sleeve. So I decided to do that, even though a lot of people were against me doing it. At that point i was 290. I had it in July of 2012, so I am not even a year out but have lost weight slowly with it also. I don't know what is it about my body that it just tries to hold on to fat lol. I am still 216 lbs as of today. However someone thought i was around 150 this past weekend... yeah right.. i wish. So anyways i still think this was the best decision i made, i am no longer taking high blood pressure medicine after over 10 years of taking it.

You will lose weight on MFP if you eat the calories you are suppose to eat, but once you hit that frustrating plateau you may seek wls as ur last resort like i did.