Weight loss surgery: Yes or No?
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evilfairies
Posts: 98 Member
I joined MFP several years ago and did really well for a while. I lost 75 lbs over one year and never felt better in my life. But then I fell off the wagon and gained back all of that weight and then some. For reference, I am 300+ lbs.
Over the same time frame, I have had three different primary doctors (due to moving, not because I'm picky!) tell me the day I met them that I should have weight loss surgery. While I was losing weight in my own I said no to surgery, but now that I'm back where I started, I am beginning to reconsider.
My family of all normal-weighted people do not support me having surgery and I don't know if I can do it without their support.
What do you guys think?
Over the same time frame, I have had three different primary doctors (due to moving, not because I'm picky!) tell me the day I met them that I should have weight loss surgery. While I was losing weight in my own I said no to surgery, but now that I'm back where I started, I am beginning to reconsider.
My family of all normal-weighted people do not support me having surgery and I don't know if I can do it without their support.
What do you guys think?
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Replies
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With weight loss surgery you need to be able to do what you'd need to do without as well: manage your weight. You can easily cheat by for example constantly eating chocolate paste. Plus you'd need to be on vitamins and minerals for the rest of your life, including vitamin B12 shots.4
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Why not try the healthy eating approach for a period of time, see how it goes and then decide?4
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I am also 300+ @ 345 right now, and was 400# 18 months ago.
You have done this before.
Weight loss surgery can have dramatic results on your weight loss, this is a fact.
I'm sure your doctors have told you many of the benefits, as well as risks.
There are many videos of success and failure stories on youtube that I am recommending you go check out, if you have not already.
The one thing that weight loss surgery doesn't correct for you is your food choices, and the desire you have for food.
I'm willing to bet your #1 issue is sugar.
Look at the food choices you made when you lost 75#.
Look at the food choices you made since gaining it back. And then some.
I'm also willing to bet a couple things happened.
1. You went cold turkey on a number of things.
2. You binged when you couldn't live without them anymore.
3. Even when losing that 75 amazing pounds (great job!) your sugar intake was still above 100g a day.
4. You snacked on sugary things.
When you are a fatty like me, like you, and many others... you aren't just dealing with eating TOO much food.
You have to learn new things, and to value those outcomes.
I stopped sugar, and haven't looked back. I don't miss it. For me, and many others, quitting sugar wasn't 'easy' but after insulin levels ... level out, and your body starts to fuel itself more evenly throughout the day... cravings dissipate, and your energy steadies.
So here's what I think about weight loss surgery:
I say don't get it yet. It's irreversible and the effects of cheating, and trying to get all your sugar, and sweets, and foods that you just cant live without... will have devastating effects on your mental health, and physical health. I've seen it, and i'm sure you have too.
Go see a therapist, and a nutritionist.
Why?
For one... being a doctor in something, doesn't make you a world class genius. It makes you very informed in a field.
Every specialist will recommend a 'cure' based on their field of study.
You've seen the specialists on the human body, the doctors.
A therapist will help you figure out what your relationship is with food, sugar, carbs, marketing, and how you've been brainwashed into thinking certain foods are what you need. Further it will help you work on self esteem issues and the like.
A nutritionist will help you talk through the effects various foods have on your body. Talk about insulin levels, ketone levels, and keto diets, paleo diets, aitkins diets, diets diets diets.... and what makes them effective.
But also talk about... how you can transition from a 'diet' into a 'lifestyle'.
Last thing and ill shut up.
Weight loss surgery is a momentary action that changes your life forever.
If you want to change your life forever, take momentary actions many times a day, for the rest of your life.
Commit to yourself, and a healthy lifestyle. You'll have to do that with or without a surgery.
Either way, you can do this. You've done it before. Learn from your failures, and optimize!
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You do need to stay on vitamins after surgery but you don't NEED shots. Just take vitamins.
It won't solve a real eating disorder. If you're obsessed with eating ice cream, you'll still eat it, but...with gastric bypass, it may make you sick, which kind of takes the fun out of it.
You'll get really full, super fast. Which means that if you fill up on protein, there's not a lot of time to eat garbage.
I have a close friend who lost a lot of weight after surgery. She still has more to go but she indulges in a glass of alcohol once in a while (maybe once a day) and likes a frozen coffee drink a little too often. She still grabs some fast food, but doesn't eat a lot of it.
So basically, she's not restricting herself at all and probably eating at maintenance because of it. However, she's lost almost 100 lbs and feels great.
You do whatever you think will help you live longer and happier.2 -
Always no, unless there is an immediate health risk.
Whether you do it or not, you'll have to learn to manage your food intake. It's a fact. If you do surgery and can't get a handle on that, you'll not only have wasted a lot of money, but you might end up with more health issues because of the surgery.
So either way... you're going to have to learn to eat better. Why waste all that money when you'll have to put in the same effort either way?7 -
I won't ever consider it simple because I've seen it NOT work. My dad had lapband surgery 11 years ago. He weighed around 500 lbs and lost a good 200 lbs or more. He looked great, felt great, but then, one stressful life event after another, and he gained it all back. About 5 years ago he had another surgery, gastric sleeve, he lost maybe 100 lbs that time, but gained it all back. For my dad, and for others that I've seen, they never learned HOW to eat. They still had terrible eating habits and a terrible relationship with food(I.e using it to cope). I won't say it's a bad choice for everyone, but if we can do it by using a plan (like MFP) and we actually learn what our bodies need and how weight loss/weight gain works for US, it's my opinion that we'll be able to loss the weight and (most importantly) keep it off.
Just my 2 cents...
Feel free to add me as a friend. Having people who are working towards the same goals for support has helped me tremendously!11 -
no2
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You have lost the weight before, you can do it again. MFP works. However, you have to do what is best for you. I just think you can save money by not having the surgery and use that money to buy yourself new clothes, you're going to need them.
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evilfairies wrote: »I joined MFP several years ago and did really well for a while. I lost 75 lbs over one year and never felt better in my life. But then I fell off the wagon and gained back all of that weight and then some. For reference, I am 300+ lbs.
Over the same time frame, I have had three different primary doctors (due to moving, not because I'm picky!) tell me the day I met them that I should have weight loss surgery. While I was losing weight in my own I said no to surgery, but now that I'm back where I started, I am beginning to reconsider.
My family of all normal-weighted people do not support me having surgery and I don't know if I can do it without their support.
What do you guys think?
Weight loss surgery alters your body but you still have to do the work to eat fewer calories and maintain that. The surgery has risks and side effects. I think you should use MFP and try losing with it for a year again and then see if you are ready for surgery or not. Either way you go you have to make changes for life and make an effort to maintain your loss.
Some things to think about:
Why do you think you failed to maintain your weight after losing? You say you fell off the wagon. What was "the wagon"?
Was your diet too restrictive and unsustainable? I think this happens a lot when people diet. This time don't change what you eat so much just portion sizes.
Did you stop weighing yourself regularly?
Did you stop logging?
Did your lifestyle change? Did you start a more sedentary job or stop exercising?
Are you an emotional eater? Work on developing new coping tools. Seek out therapy if you need to.
Did you develop a medical problem or start a medication that changed things?4 -
Always no, unless there is an immediate health risk.
Whether you do it or not, you'll have to learn to manage your food intake. It's a fact. If you do surgery and can't get a handle on that, you'll not only have wasted a lot of money, but you might end up with more health issues because of the surgery.
So either way... you're going to have to learn to eat better. Why waste all that money when you'll have to put in the same effort either way?
This.
Surgery does nothing to address the reasons why you struggle with your weight. I know several people who had various wls procedures done and they've regained all their weight back, plus some.1 -
I agree that if there isn’t an immediate need then don’t do it. Achieving a healthy weight and lifestyle require developing the proper balance between food, rest, exercise, and hydration. It takes time to develop these skills. Quick weight loss methods do not equal effective weight loss methods. Even the weight loss doctor would require that you lose a certain amount of weight before the surgery in order to be able to maintain structure after the surgery if you want to be successful in the long run. After all is said and done you will still need to learn the proper methods to lose and maintain. So why not just do it on your own?0
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This is anecdotal evidence, so take it with a grain of salt. I've personally known three people who have had the surgery. Of those three, two of them are as big or bigger than they were before. And all three of them have a whole host of other health issues, that were either a direct result of, or were at least aggravated by the surgery. The two that gained it back gained because they could not handle the new dietary restrictions and reverted back to their old poor diet as soon as they were able. The third one hasn't gained, but she is miserable anyway, losing the weight was supposed to fix her health issues, but she still has a lot of them and more besides.
I would love to see actual numbers on long term (7-10+ years later) success rates and patient satisfaction.
I would not do it. As others have said, maybe it's time to speak to a therapist.2 -
A close relative of mine had this done a while back. She lost about 50 pounds pretty quickly & was happy with her progress, despite having been hospitalized for low potassium due to malabsorption syndrome. She & another relative came to visit me & stayed with my family. We went to a local mall & she had to make multiple bathrooms stops throughout. We had lunch & afterward she was in the bathroom every 10-15 minutes. When eating homemade meals, I would listen to her talk about how she can hardly eat anything because she just gets so full. Then she would proceed to pick & scoop & bite & lick on leftovers as we're cleaning up & putting the food away, essentially doubling what she'd already eaten for dinner.
Fast forward a year later & she claims she hit a plateau for a year & hasn't lost any additional weight. She has about 50 pounds left to lose. And she has no idea how to do it. She's joined WW twice in the last year. She tried a short stint here on MFP, but quit because it was "too complicated." Her doctor also put her on Dopamax (aka Topamax) to help her out...
If you don't know how to eat to lose weight (or, more importantly, to maintain your weight) surgery is going to provide some temporary relief at a dramatic cost, with no guarantee that you'll keep it off.7 -
Having surgery is a personal choice and differs for many. I know of several friends and family members who have gone through the surgery. Out of the 5 people I know 4 have gained all the weight back plus some because they did not get their mind right with food. They used the surgery as a way to get thin in a hurry but never changed their relationships with food. The one person who had the surgery who has kept is off completely changed his lifestyle the year before having the surgery and he has been able to sustain that loss for over 3 years now. You say you lost 75lb once before and fell off the wagon. You obviously put the work into losing the weight so you need to figure out why you failed in keeping it off. Was it your relationship with food, was it because you were stressed out? are you an emotional eater? Like the above poster said I would ask myself those questions and take a deep look into what you really want. Surgery is no easy fix, its brutal on your body and to put yourself through it when you are not mentally ready to make a change in your lifestyle for GOOD is only going to end in failure as the surgery is not going to change any of the things that caused you to gain the back this time around. I am a lifer in yo you diets, gain lose, gain again until I took a step back and asked myself the hard questions and decided I couldn't continue this destructive cycle. If it was me, I wouldn't do the surgery... but as I said when i started this post, it is a personal choice and differs for many. Good luck!2
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Thanks guys! I guess the general consensus is for me to spend time trying to lose weight on my own again for now and see where it goes from there. My current primary doctor basically told me that "there is no other alternative" than to have surgery but I think he's wrong. I can lose the weight on my own. (And KEEP it off, preferably!).6
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evilfairies wrote: »Thanks guys! I guess the general consensus is for me to spend time trying to lose weight on my own again for now and see where it goes from there. My current primary doctor basically told me that "there is no other alternative" than to have surgery but I think he's wrong. I can lose the weight on my own. (And KEEP it off, preferably!).
Maybe consider finding another PCP.5 -
evilfairies wrote: »Thanks guys! I guess the general consensus is for me to spend time trying to lose weight on my own again for now and see where it goes from there. My current primary doctor basically told me that "there is no other alternative" than to have surgery but I think he's wrong. I can lose the weight on my own. (And KEEP it off, preferably!).
This was the issue one of my bariatric acquaintances ran into. Both she and the Drs who talked her into it fell pray to the erroneous belief that health=slim. It does not. Yes there are health issues associated with higher body fat percentages, but not everyone who is overweight is otherwise unhealthy and not everyone who is slim is necessarily healthy.
She didn't change much other than the surgery, and while she is indeed smaller, and before she ate too many calories, comparatively she was much much healthier before the surgery. She wasn't making very many smart healthy food choices before and neither she nor the "professionals" who claimed to be helping her put much effort into helping her learn otherwise. And now that it's too late to go back the surgery has complicated her ability to actually be healthy. She's dealing with malabsorption issues and will likely always struggle to get proper nutrition.
I had to get healthy to lose weight, I didn't lose weight to get healthy.
I think so many Drs push the surgery because they believe it will mean they will be less likely to deal with any weight related health issues you may already have or might eventually develop. Basically he's trying to make you someone else's problem. He's looking at you as a set of numbers and stats on a chart. Not as a person. You don't have to put up with that. If he won't see YOU, then try to find someone who will.
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If you gained the weight back, it's because of eating behavior. Weight loss surgery DOESN'T address your mental eating behavior, which it's why it's NOT UNCOMMON for people to have had it done, to slowly regain weight again after an initial big weight loss.evilfairies wrote: »I joined MFP several years ago and did really well for a while. I lost 75 lbs over one year and never felt better in my life. But then I fell off the wagon and gained back all of that weight and then some. For reference, I am 300+ lbs.
Over the same time frame, I have had three different primary doctors (due to moving, not because I'm picky!) tell me the day I met them that I should have weight loss surgery. While I was losing weight in my own I said no to surgery, but now that I'm back where I started, I am beginning to reconsider.
My family of all normal-weighted people do not support me having surgery and I don't know if I can do it without their support.
What do you guys think?
And remember, it's surgery. Once you get it done, there's nothing you can do to reverse it. Think long and hard about future about it.
Weight loss is about calories in and out and if you can address why you overeat, then you can learn a behavior to learn how to eat less.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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evilfairies wrote: »I joined MFP several years ago and did really well for a while. I lost 75 lbs over one year and never felt better in my life. But then I fell off the wagon and gained back all of that weight and then some. For reference, I am 300+ lbs.
Over the same time frame, I have had three different primary doctors (due to moving, not because I'm picky!) tell me the day I met them that I should have weight loss surgery. While I was losing weight in my own I said no to surgery, but now that I'm back where I started, I am beginning to reconsider.
My family of all normal-weighted people do not support me having surgery and I don't know if I can do it without their support.
What do you guys think?
A dietician or bariatric surgeon are probably in a better position to advise you whether you personally need the surgery or you don't. Online you'll get a lot of people who have plenty of anecdotal "I knew so-and-so and they did it and just gained it all back", but anecdotes are not necessarily evidence. Though a lot of the commenters above me are right, you will still have to learn how to eat properly and your eating habits will change drastically after surgery regardless of which one you have done. Going through a process is better than just going directly to the surgery, my mom is in the midst of the process now. She'll not only have to go through a slew of very detailed tests but also multiple appointments with a dietician, psychiatrist, surgeon, nurses. It's likely going to be a year before she even has a surgery date. I will say though I am following one man who's just had the surgery done, he's been documenting the process on his youtube channel and talked about all the ways he's tried to lose weight over the years. He's literally done everything. Long story short, I'd push for a recommendation to a dietician who's far more well-versed in nutrition than your primary doctor likely is, and go from there. Surgery is a daunting process as it is, and if you don't have a support at home it will make it even harder.5 -
I looked into surgery at one point, but decided to just count calories and exercise, since you still have to do that before and after having the surgery. This way I have money for the boob job I'm going to need.6
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