Bariatric surgery? Or not? I may be chickening out...
Options
Replies
-
I had gastric bypass 5 years ago and it saved my life. I am no longer diabetic, I no longer take statins, I joined a gym. I do the 3-Day (60 mile breast cancer walk) every year, I sign up for 5K's, most of my friends now are from the gym, eat healthy, are fitbit friends, or friends here too.
My diabetes was reversed immediately which was my motivating factor. (I don't know your situation, but if you are diabetic and have PCOS and you're over 40 it's pretty much impossible to lose weight)
5 year later -- I have kept 100 of the original 120 I lost off. I have ZERO complications from surgery - in fact I could eat just like anyone else and easily go back where I was. It is a lot of work Sugar doesn't affect me (darn!). The need to fix your emotional eating or mental health issues that got you there in the first place don't go away. Seeing the fat girl in the mirror doesn't go away. I have been tracking my food here for 1000+ days because it keeps me on track and I know I could go backwards so I work hard.
I would do it again in a heart beat. - BUT if you don't have a good support system, or you live with others who are overweight with no urge to change, you have a bigger battle on your hands. I have seen a few friends go completely backwards after because their husband liked them fat -- kept bringing pizza home for dinner, making fried crap for dinner etc...
I'm pretty sure most people here who tell you it shouldn't be an option, everyone can lost weight on their own if they try -- probably haven't ever been 100+ pounds overweight with co-morbidities If they were and they did it, more power to them. I'd love to hear how many women over 40 with two insulin resistant diseases managed to do it.
Only you can decide -- but remember if you're surfing around the internet -- people who aren't happy are the loudest talkers. (In every situation!) Hate a restaurant? Blast it all over the internet .. love the restaurant? Tell your friends. Not many take time to post when they are happy
The vast majority of WLS patients never post a thing because guess what? it's much more common to have no issues
Sorry for the babble --- I get really annoyed by people who judge or think its the easy way it. It's anything BUT easy - but I know it saved my life.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I'm tired of people knocking others for their method of losing weight. I for one am grateful for Herbalife Shakes for helping my sister save her life by assisting her to lose 145 lbs. I am grateful to my bariatric surgeon, dietitians, and psychologists for helping me to make the right decision for me. I had band surgery 2 years ago and I've lost 75 lbs so far. I'm doing well although I will continue to preach that the band is NOT a cure IT IS ONLY A TOOL! It takes just as much hard work to lose weight before the band as it has since I've had the band. I workout faithfully every day and I log all my food. I do struggle at times with wrong food choices, but I am able to see that with logging every day. Losing weight is the hardest job any obese human will ever have to do; regardless of the tools you use to assist you!!! By the way, MFP is a tool used to lose weight - any equipment used in a gym is a tool used to lose weight - surgery is a tool used to lose weight. YOU CANNOT MAKE A BLANKET STATEMENT THAT SURGERY IS NOT A VALID WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT! Yes, it is NOT the right decision for everyone - neither is NOT having surgery a right decision for everyone! In my opinion, obese people should be encouraging one another and celebrating with one another, NOT JUDGING ONE ANOTHER for the tools they are using to lose the weight!
To the original poster, good luck making the decision for YOU! I pray God gives you peace whatever your decision!0 -
I had gastric bypass 5 years ago and it saved my life. I am no longer diabetic, I no longer take statins, I joined a gym. I do the 3-Day (60 mile breast cancer walk) every year, I sign up for 5K's, most of my friends now are from the gym, eat healthy, are fitbit friends, or friends here too.
My diabetes was reversed immediately which was my motivating factor. (I don't know your situation, but if you are diabetic and have PCOS and you're over 40 it's pretty much impossible to lose weight)
5 year later -- I have kept 100 of the original 120 I lost off. I have ZERO complications from surgery - in fact I could eat just like anyone else and easily go back where I was. It is a lot of work Sugar doesn't affect me (darn!). The need to fix your emotional eating or mental health issues that got you there in the first place don't go away. Seeing the fat girl in the mirror doesn't go away. I have been tracking my food here for 1000+ days because it keeps me on track and I know I could go backwards so I work hard.
I would do it again in a heart beat. - BUT if you don't have a good support system, or you live with others who are overweight with no urge to change, you have a bigger battle on your hands. I have seen a few friends go completely backwards after because their husband liked them fat -- kept bringing pizza home for dinner, making fried crap for dinner etc...
I'm pretty sure most people here who tell you it shouldn't be an option, everyone can lost weight on their own if they try -- probably haven't ever been 100+ pounds overweight with co-morbidities If they were and they did it, more power to them. I'd love to hear how many women over 40 with two insulin resistant diseases managed to do it.
Only you can decide -- but remember if you're surfing around the internet -- people who aren't happy are the loudest talkers. (In every situation!) Hate a restaurant? Blast it all over the internet .. love the restaurant? Tell your friends. Not many take time to post when they are happy The vast majority of WLS patients never post a thing because guess what? it's much more common to have no issues
Sorry for the babble --- I get really annoyed by people who judge or think its the easy way it. It's anything BUT easy - but I know it saved my life.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
I'm tired of people knocking others for their method of losing weight. I for one am grateful for Herbalife Shakes for helping my sister save her life by assisting her to lose 145 lbs. I am grateful to my bariatric surgeon, dietitians, and psychologists for helping me to make the right decision for me. I had band surgery 2 years ago and I've lost 75 lbs so far. I'm doing well although I will continue to preach that the band is NOT a cure IT IS ONLY A TOOL! It takes just as much hard work to lose weight before the band as it has since I've had the band. I workout faithfully every day and I log all my food. I do struggle at times with wrong food choices, but I am able to see that with logging every day. Losing weight is the hardest job any obese human will ever have to do; regardless of the tools you use to assist you!!! By the way, MFP is a tool used to lose weight - any equipment used in a gym is a tool used to lose weight - surgery is a tool used to lose weight. YOU CANNOT MAKE A BLANKET STATEMENT THAT SURGERY IS NOT A VALID WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT! Yes, it is NOT the right decision for everyone - neither is NOT having surgery a right decision for everyone! In my opinion, obese people should be encouraging one another and celebrating with one another, NOT JUDGING ONE ANOTHER for the tools they are using to lose the weight!
To the original poster, good luck making the decision for YOU! I pray God gives you peace whatever your decision!
This. Absolutely this.
Until you have walked in my shoes, please don't tell me I could have done it differently.
Having said that, I would never encourage anyone else to have WLS of any kind. Unless a person and their medical advisors tell them it's necessary, it's none of my business. And once those advisors do say that, it's none of my business that they have surgery.0 -
It's about a lifestyle change. Surgery sometimes forces you down lifestyle changes that you wouldn't necessarily keep up if your body didn't force you to do it. So, the question you need to ask yourself is could you keep up the pre-op diet permanently? If you couldn't (and you shouldn't be able to) then keep researching the surgery, OR find another weight loss tool, like a support group that you meet with in person, go on walks together with, etc. I had RNY in 2012 with a BMI of only 36. I knew I needed to do it NOW, and I was not willing to wait around for my health to worsen (pre-diabetic and had PCOS, depression, anxiety etc which was all taken care of with the surgery). You can check out my profile for more information, and feel free to message me. I do not regret one second of it, and I continue to lose weight, even though I've met my doc's weight goal of 145, and am now 136. I've never been more satisfied and happy in my whole life. I've even had a baby since the surgery.0
-
So here i am, 1 week from surgery and thinking I should give it 1 more go. One major thing that is sparking this is the pre-op diet...weight it coming off, how motivating...
Bariatric surgery is a last resort for extremely overweight people who have proven through time and multiple interventions that they can't lose weight and keep it off on their own. That involves, among other things, several successful weight loss attempts followed by eventual weight regain. If just losing a few pounds on a pre-op diet is making you rethink your decision to have surgery, you probably haven't tried hard enough to to change your habits in the past and should postpone your surgery until you have truly tried and failed with everything else, probably several times. Put another way, if the idea that just because you've lost a few pounds on some diet you may be able to lose all your excess weight and keep it off for the rest of your life doesn't strike you as delusional, you probably haven't been through this grind enough times to really know you need the surgery.
Best of luck to you.0 -
I had attended the required counseling sessions and was getting ready to start the physical checkups when my endocrinologist told me that she thought I could lose the weight on my own. I'd started exercising and changing my diet in order to lose the required 20 or 30 or whatever it was they'd asked, and suddenly I was dropping weight like a stone. She said, "I'll give permission if you really want to do it, but let's hold off for 3 months, okay?" I agreed to that.
And here I am. I never went back for the surgery at all. I'm really glad that I didn't, to be honest. My two cousins and my aunt all had the surgery (as a matter of fact, my doctor would have been the same one they'd used) and only my aunt's been successful at keeping it off. My cousins ... not so much.0 -
my friend at work had it done. He was big, and he lost significant weight, but he is still a large man, and still somehow eats very large portions of food in one sitting.
i've watched 'my 600 lbs life' a lot. obviously that does not make me an expert lol. its about very overweight people gettting the surgery.
some succeeeded some did not. Basically all of them had some sort of issue, wether that be a tragedy or a short coming of thier personality, that they needed to work through to succeed.
it seemed as though that for some it clicked upstairs and some it did not. those that did a lot of true reflection found success, those who didn't really examine thier problem did not.
seemed like the surgery itself was superfluous. its certainly far from an automatic fix0 -
In my experience the surgery is not the route to go down, I had a gastric bypass 4 yrs ago, lost a minimal amount of weight and then joined weight watchers to help monitor what I ate, 4 yrs later i have gained back 80% of what I lost.
I have now started a fitness plan and see a pt 3 times a week and although I'm only 2 months in I have had dramatic inch loss and couldn't be happier. I would have saved myself a lot of money if I had invested in exercise and not having an operation.
Good luck on your weight loss journey, whatever it may be :0)0 -
I'm looking for individuals who have started down the path of Bariatric Surgery only to decide NOT to proceed and focus your effort on losing it without surgery.
I am currently on day 5 of my 2 week pre-op diet. Surgery is scheduled for May 19. I have not gotten this far without an immense amount of research and thought. In fact, I have been considering the surgery for 5 years. Earlier this year, I got to the point where I clearly am not losing it on my own (without the "tool" of the gastric sleeve) AND I am miserable in my skin. So here i am, 1 week from surgery and thinking I should give it 1 more go. One major thing that is sparking this is the pre-op diet...weight it coming off, how motivating...
I have to change my lifestyle either way (with or without the sleeve)...so why not do it without going through major surgery?
Anyone out there been at a similar crossroads?
yes! I had a bypass 1992 and I weighed 360 and I was 32 and 5 foot 4 inches and miserable. I had no support, family telling me not to had a super stressful job and 2 kids. the Boom moment for me was when I realized what I had done...I was walking 5 miles a day, swimming laps 1 hour a day (7 days a week) eating 1200 calories a day.....AND GAINING! for me, that was the incentive I needed to go thru with the surgery....regrets?....only that I didn't do it sooner! I also know someone who had the sleeve recently also just had this and the results are fantastic! I hope this helps! Good luck!
[/quote]0 -
i did all the work and pre classes and had my gastric bypass scheduled for Oct 24 and i called 6 days before and chickened out and i am glad i did i did not start my life change then actually took me 4 months later but here i am doing it on my own 32 lbs down. with that said getting the gastric bypass s not the easy way out i have friends that have done it 1 had a great experiance ,1 gained all her weight back and the other is nothing but sick all the time so everyones different u need to sit down and decide for you what you need to do what scared me the most was the fact that sme peoples sugar drops and you can pass out after the gastric bypass and besides being over weight i am pretty healthy good luck0
-
I just had bariatric surgery 2 weeks ago. I am so happy I did and I have no regrets. The surgery was easy. I was off pain meds in less than 24 hours after and ready to go home. I felt so good I could have came back to work in less than a week but chose to take the time off anyway. I am losing a pound a day and am already in one size smaller pants. But you have to do what right for you but I would recomend it if you have a hard time losing weight.0
-
The answer to your question should come from a discussion with your doctor, the clinic's psychologist and your significant other....not from members of MFP. Everyone's situation and health issues are unique. I believe you are not ready for the surgery if you are not at this point 100% committed to the process. At the seminar I attended with the HeathEast Bariatric Group in St. Paul, Minnesota I learned that only 5% can keep off the excess weight after losing it on their own. No wondered I have struggled with my weight my entire life. After a year long process I had the gastric sleeve procedure 05/12/2014. I'm doing fine and don't regret my decision. Good luck with your decision.0
-
So here i am, 1 week from surgery and thinking I should give it 1 more go. One major thing that is sparking this is the pre-op diet...weight it coming off, how motivating...
Bariatric surgery is a last resort for extremely overweight people who have proven through time and multiple interventions that they can't lose weight and keep it off on their own. That involves, among other things, several successful weight loss attempts followed by eventual weight regain. If just losing a few pounds on a pre-op diet is making you rethink your decision to have surgery, you probably haven't tried hard enough to to change your habits in the past and should postpone your surgery until you have truly tried and failed with everything else, probably several times. Put another way, if the idea that just because you've lost a few pounds on some diet you may be able to lose all your excess weight and keep it off for the rest of your life doesn't strike you as delusional, you probably haven't been through this grind enough times to really know you need the surgery.
Best of luck to you.
It is a HIGHLY Viable solution for someone with diabetes as well. I was not "fat enough" to have gastric bypass on my own (5'4" and 270 isn't fat enough? Whatever) ---- I got approved because my diabetes was getting worse no matter what we tried to correct it. To get approved these days you have to jump through hoops, many companies require you try multiple diet plans for a minimum of 6 months. I did all of this and nothing worked. I went into surgery 270#, diabetic, shooting insulin in my gut and taking tons of medication.. I can out and never took another medication. Diabetes and all of the complications it causes far outweigh any fear I had. Not everyone has gastric bypass because of the weight, I did it to get rid of diabetes and the weight loss was a bonus.0 -
To me if a person is physically capable of doing it without surgery then they should.0
-
My surgery scheduled for June 6th. I am scared to death. I'll be honest with everyone. I am lazy. I love food. I stress eat. The stress I have in my life is still here. I am 48 and I want to live the next 20 or so years feeling good. Right now my feet hurt so bad. My legs hurt. Just wanted to share a little of my story.0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 394 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 944 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions