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urasweethart
urasweethart Posts: 123 Member
I am 5'10 and weigh in at 312. I go for my Initial dr apt on Thursday for VSG. I want this so bad yet am afraid that something will happen and I wont get the surgery. I have been over weight for the last 12years and honestly feel like I will do what ever it takes to lose my weight. I have gone through several modified liquid diets with my dr and I always seem to gain the weight back. I am worried about the psychological assessment because in High school I fought with anorexia and bulimia. does anyone have any suggestions or encouragement, anything for me.

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  • Mangopickle
    Mangopickle Posts: 1,509 Member
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    The biggest thing you have to realize about WLS is that it does not cure food addiction. If you medicate the stresses in your life with food you will need to work on this. Anyone can out eat WLS and 50% of pts do. I quit emotional eating/medicating with food almost a year before the surgery. Now when death and destruction come into my life I pray, I grieve, I deal, I do NOT eat to escape or feel better. I also no longer reward with food. That said I still have trigger foods that I no longer eat. I am unable to portion control wheat, rice or potato and no longer eat them. If you are not emotionally ready this surgery will only put you in a worse place. I have seen pts get the surgery who spiraled into depression when their emotional crutch of eating was drastically altered. I have also seen pts who refused to give up their binge/trigger/Kryptonite foods. For success you have to choose every day to stick to the 70%protein, 25%veg-no potato,5%whole grain carb lifestyle. Good luck. My diary is open, feel free to look
  • csmccord
    csmccord Posts: 272 Member
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    Mango is right. When starting my journey through RNY, I was told that 50% of weight loss surgery patients gain it all back. It's very easy to cheat, and stretch your stomach back out. It's actually easier to cheat with the RNY than it is with the sleeve.

    Regardless, after about the first 6 months you will have to start putting the work in. You'll still need to work at maintaining your weight. You'll still need to regularly step on the scale, to regularly weight or measure your food.

    I'm 20 months post RNY, and have been maintaining for a few months now. I weight about half of my food, however, I tend to eat the same things for breakfast and lunch eat day, so I'm used to portioning those out correctly. I'll still weight them one or twice a week to make sure I haven't had "portion creep". I also spend about 4 or 5 hours in the gym weekly to help maintain weight and lose some additional body fat. Since hitting my current weight, I've lost about 5% body fat while still keeping same weight. Just mainly changing body composition now.

    The point is, you still have to do the work. There is no easy fix for weight loss. That being said, it was absolutely the best decision that I could have made. I got my life back. Sure, I'm skinnier, and "normal" looking, however the health benefits far outweigh the other advantages. Within 4 months of surgery, I was off my blood pressure pills, my sleep apnea resolved, and I no longer had fatty liver disease. As a plus, I gained massive amounts of self-confidence, and lost a 147 lbs!

    The surgery forces you to change your lifestyle from the start. You essentially have a reboot to your diet. Just make sure to maintain it! The psych eval isn't so bad. They just want to make sure you're a good candidate to lose it permanently. If you've not had issues with eating disorders recently, and have dealt with the issues that caused them, then you should be good. Or at least I would think so!
  • ginnybsaved
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    So in other words this is not for the week lol. I am ready Lord!
  • ginnybsaved
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    I go to the seminar Monday but I have been educating myself big time. Thank ladies for all of the info.
  • diditonthefloor
    diditonthefloor Posts: 3 Member
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    I started the required six month classes about a year and a half ago and had to drop out to travel and care for my senior dad. I just started the six months series all over again last night. At first I was frustrated because it made me realize that had I finished, my surgery would be over and I'd be 6 months post op and probably down 80lbs or so. LOL. then I got realistic and realized I'd used the time wisely; I learned a LOT more reading on my own, through youtube, etc.

    I've come to realize that I will ALWAYS have a food addiction, even after vsg, but that vsg is a TOOL to help me manage that addiction. I need to remember that.

    I was a muscle bound athlete and in my twenties, I was bulimic in the sense that if I ate something I wasn't supposed to have, I'd punish my self unrelentingly and pay back the calories three fold through sweat. But we all grow up, and even grow to accept our bodies, sometimes to our own detriment. (Curves are good - rolls aren't! LOL.)

    So ANYWAY... What I'm trying to say is that in the psycho assessment, you acknowledge the past and talk about the tools you plan to use in the future. That's what I plan to do. :)