Lifestyle Change To Lose Weight vs Surgery To Lose Weight
evangemini4
Posts: 120 Member
Pros & Cons on these two plans
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Replies
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Both will require a lifestyle change. If you haven't been able to do it without surgery, why do you think you will be able to do it with the surgery?32
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Yep ... I have a cousin who went the surgery route. It's not an easy fix, she has had to make bigger changes than I've made.15
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You still have to change your lifestyle with surgery, because you can't just continue with the eating habits that have gotten you to the stage where you're considering surgery.
https://www.drmalladi.com/lifestyle-changes-bariatric-surgery/
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Surgery in itself is not the solution with high success rates.
Combine the Surgery With a change in eating behavior for the greater chance of meeting your goals.
I know five people who have gone for one of surgical options (there are several ) and all were required to modify eating behavior for several months prior to surgery.
Three of the five did not mainting the modified eating plan after surgery and have regained most of what they lost. And they still have the unpleasant digestive side effects of the surgical procedure.
Changing behavior is a lot less costly than surgery; seems worth a serious try first.
Good luck to you and good fitness to us all!
Amyfb13 -
I think you should do whatever you feel is best but please remember that both require a lifestyle change.
In most cases the surgeon will suggest that you try to change your lifestyle. It's not necessarily easy. Either way will require work and dedication.
It comes down to how bad do you really want it? If you want it bad enough, you'll make it work.
There's no easy way to out and no quick fixes. Any route you pick will require work.10 -
There is a genuine risk to any invasive surgery. Lifestyle change is the logical first step, surgery the last resort.12
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I was desperate so I thought about it and read up on it a little. In the end, I figured if I had to lose weight to be considered for surgery, I should be able to keep losing, and did, 150 lb. Lots of risks to surgery, lots of potential complications for years after, and no guarantee of permanent results.23
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Both you will have to change the amount of calories you consume to lose weight and maintain your loss.
Non-surgical weight loss is simple calorie reduction. You don't have to eat a particular list of foods or do particular exercise. You can find what suits you. You can choose to lose faster or slower. It is up to you to figure out what you will do and stick to it. You don't have to spend a bunch of money.
Surgery is expensive and has risks and long term consequences should be discussed with your doctor and researched thoroughly. I personally would choose it as a last resort. I think some weight loss surgery involves counseling and such support but not necessarily all. You may have to change more about your life permanently. You can regain weight you lose after surgery and will be judged even more harshly because you had surgery from my observation.4 -
Surgery is for people who for various reasons have failed at losing weight through other means. It's not a small deal, makes permanent changes to your ability to absorb vitamins, and has serious risks. It's a better option than remaining morbidly obese. It's not even in the running to be a better option than losing weight without surgery, if that's an option for you.
Why not try losing weight by logging first? No one has to put you to sleep and cut you open, there's no painful recovery time. Just log your food, log your exercise, and eat the correct number of calories to fuel your body. It can work - I've lost 125 lbs and gone from morbidly obese to maintaining a normal BMI for over a year now.12 -
This profile pic looks familiar but the poster I am thinking of had a lot more than 9 posts. OP, if you are who I think you are, you overthink the whole thing way too much. Just get into a moderate calorie deficit for a couple of weeks and take it easy.9
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MelanieCN77 wrote: »This profile pic looks familiar but the poster I am thinking of had a lot more than 9 posts. OP, if you are who I think you are, you overthink the whole thing way too much. Just get into a moderate calorie deficit for a couple of weeks and take it easy.
It's the same guy just new username11 -
I've only known one person IRL who had the surgery. It was successful in that she went from obese to healthy, and she found it to be easy to maintain - UNTIL she started having complications (she had the band).
She had to go through a couple more surgeries, and they had to remove the band for a time. Despite 6 years of eating less, she almost immediately went back to eating too much, and in less than a year was back to being obese again. She's back to losing now that they've put the band back in, but if she ever needs to have it removed, it seems like the changes never really did take hold - she still ate until she felt "full" and without the band, full meant far too much food almost immediately.2 -
I've had three relatives who had weight loss surgery. One (a distant cousin) died from surgery complications. The other two lost weight, but are still overweight years later, and never got to their "optimal" weight ranges. They had to change their eating habits dramatically after surgery. One was not able to eat more than half a hot dog--no bun, just the meat--at a time.
On the other hand, I lost 100 pounds over about 2.5 years without surgery by staying within my calorie goal. I changed the way I ate, but my changes were mostly about using less oil while cooking, eating smaller portions, replacing some carbs with green veggies, etc. I never went through a "half a wiener" phase.
Overall, I prefer the way I did it rather than what my relatives did. It's much less risky and seems less miserable.11 -
I am in the process of being approved for surgery. I have lost weight on my own (5-70lbs at various attempts) but gained it all back - Ive been overweight since I was a child. My BMI is at the low end of the surgery minimum but I have 100lbs I could stand to lose. I have weight related conditions that make me hurt every day and that require medication.
There is a huge lifestyle change that you are taking with surgery. I am going for the gastric sleeve and basically for the rest of your life you have to:
1. not eat and drink at the same time
2. eat small portions, about one half to one full cup of food total per meal
3. chew your food until it is mush
3. take vitamins due to your inability to get all of your needed vitamins from food anymore (malabsorption is more for bypass, but you'd have a hard time getting enough food in with the sleeve to get the vitamins)
4. Track/log your food to ensure you are getting enough protein before other macros
5. Sip (not gulp!) enough water per day, not with your meals, to avoid dehydration and possible hospital re-admittance
6. EXERCISE just like you would on a non-surgical plan
7. Work on your relationship with food
In short, you have to decide if the downsides are something you are willing to take on. You have as much, if not more, work involved with the surgical route. Not to mention jumping through insurance hoops to get approved, or the cost if you go the self-pay way.7 -
HoneyBadger155 wrote: »I've only known one person IRL who had the surgery. It was successful in that she went from obese to healthy, and she found it to be easy to maintain - UNTIL she started having complications (she had the band).
She had to go through a couple more surgeries, and they had to remove the band for a time. Despite 6 years of eating less, she almost immediately went back to eating too much, and in less than a year was back to being obese again. She's back to losing now that they've put the band back in, but if she ever needs to have it removed, it seems like the changes never really did take hold - she still ate until she felt "full" and without the band, full meant far too much food almost immediately.
This is fascinating! I don't think I've ever seen another example where it was so clear that the WLS was the specific reason the person was able to maintain a healthy weight. There's plenty of cases where the surgery didn't have a long-term effect, and some where it did but no way to know if that person would have been able to get the same result if they were given the same support that they got with surgery. It's too bad it's impossible to know ahead of time which patients would fall into the "WLS really is the only way this person will be able to maintain a healthy weight", and which patients would benefit more from long-term non-WLS interventions.
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I did non-surgery and used MFP. I actually started using it almost knowing it was going to fail because I was pretty insistent that I needed WLS to lose weight. Lo and behold I was very, very wrong. I've lost 100lbs and kept it off for a year and have no food restrictions.
I have friends who have done WLS and also lost the weight. They look good and are happy and have kept it off, also. They do seem to have more food restrictions, though.
I think both require equal effort, just in a different way. If you can get MFP to work for you and count those calories, I'd say that's probably optimal, but sometimes you have to go big--so if that means WLS, then so be it.
Ultimately what works for each individual is exactly that...individual.6 -
I would choose lifestyle over surgery for ANY condition for which a life style change would bring desired results. Surgery is fraught with risk and possible complication and the benefits need to substantially outweigh the risks. Even minor surgical procedures have been complicated for me (8 weeks of dealing with cellulitis one time, 4 days in the hospital following hemorrhage another time), which is the context for my opinion.5
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Both require a lifestyle change.
I have a lovely family member who is learning this now, unfortunately, two years post surgery. She got down to a healthy weight less than a year afterwards, losing about 120 lbs or so. As of today, she has regained 70 of it because she didn’t make long term changes. She is not the only person I know that has done this, either.
I would certainly never call this surgery ‘the easy way out’. If anything, I think it’s actually harder, based on what I have seen.2 -
evangemini4 wrote: »Pros & Cons on these two plans
Well surgery forces you into a drastic lifestyle change and then of course there are all the complications associated with the surgery. Now not everyone will stick to these new changes long term, because it's a huge overhall all at once. This can lead to regain and even further complications depending on the WLS.
Just making small lifestyle changes that you can sustain will (In my opinion) be easier and the risks are minimal.
WLS works great for some people and it's just what they need to get them going in the right direction. It's not for everyone and it certainly isn't the "easy" route.
I personally lost weight (over 100 lbs) just by making lifestyle changes.3 -
Based on all your previous threads under many user names you are not ready for surgery14
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I had gastric sleeve nearly 3 years ago. Best decision I ever made strictly for my health. You still have to use tools like MFP to get the job done healthily. There are no easy fixes. Every option on the table can be sabotaged. It's a long and sometimes very difficult road, but worth every minute when you're waking up feeling well and fueling your body rather than punishing it.2
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Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.
Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.
If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?
Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?
I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.14 -
Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.
Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.
If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?
Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?
I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.
My understanding from the cinematic masterpiece My 600 Lb Life is that surgery is supposed to be for people who need to drop a lot of weight quickly to avoid major health complications. On the show the surgeon gives his patients low calorie goals that they could not sustain without surgery but then they can drop like a pound a day for a while. Obviously most people are not that extreme but I think it's the same idea, it's supposed to help with compliance to get someone out of the 'danger' zone fast.
I also agree that for the vast majority of people, this approach does not make any sense.1 -
I would choose lifestyle over surgery for ANY condition for which a life style change would bring desired results. Surgery is fraught with risk and possible complication and the benefits need to substantially outweigh the risks. Even minor surgical procedures have been complicated for me (8 weeks of dealing with cellulitis one time, 4 days in the hospital following hemorrhage another time), which is the context for my opinion.
That's my philosophy as well.1 -
singingflutelady wrote: »Based on all your previous threads under many user names you are not ready for surgery
This.4 -
The same weight loss principle applies either way. Eating fewer calories than you burn = weight loss. The only difference between the two is that the surgery renders you physically incapable of taking in more than very few calories at a time. Honestly, I'd say it's much more of s "lifestyle change" than losing weight the regular way.3
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Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.
Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.
If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?
Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?
I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.
I am still pre-surgery, posted earlier in the thread...
One of the things about the requirement to lose weight and modify behaviors is to show that I can actually do it for post surgical compliance - for my own success. I changed my eating habits six months before surgery was on the table and I lost about 18lbs but I tend to stick at this weight, since I have fluctuated around this weight for a couple of decades. My doctor didn't ask me to lose weight but they were pleasantly surprised that I did.
Short term success of losing weight prior to surgery (i.e. the old fashioned way) does not always reflect long term significant success since most people considering surgery have had continued problems with losing and keeping weight off. Most doctors don't ask surgery patients to lose 50+lbs before surgery (unless their weight is too high for surgery), and in those cases they need to lose so much more weight that 50lbs is barely a drop in the bucket.
Surgery is mostly like a "reset" button - yes, a person will lose significant weight immediately after surgery and that gives them a chance to start over with managing their weight/food/exercise with the changes that they have started implementing before surgery. If they go back to their old ways, then they blew their shot.
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I did surgery (lapband) and it didn't make a bit of difference. I finally had to have it removed. There are lots of side effects from surgery and it isn't magic. As others have said you must change your lifestyle either way. I came here and lost the weight after my lapband was removed just by eating less and moving more. I have maintained for a year (over 100 lbs. lost). Surgery is nothing more than a tool. I'm not sure which surgery you are looking at but I would do some research on those who lost with it and whether they maintained the loss. Some do but some don't. It's a drastic step and I totally understand but you need to be honest with yourself about what it entails and what you will need to change to make it work. I think there's a board on here somewhere with folks who have had the surgery and they could likely tell you more.7
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Let me start off by stressing this is not a shot at those that have chosen surgery as an option.
Every time I've seen/heard/read anything about surgical weight loss I've heard the same thing. Firstly "I had to lose X amount of weight before the surgery" and secondly "You still need completely change your eating habits and rigorously manage your calorie consumption after the surgery" and this is what has me confused.
If you need successfully lose weight to get the surgery and even after the surgery you need to actively manage your weight anyway. Then why not just continue doing what you were doing prior to the surgery that was seeing you successfully lose weight and employ the same habit changes and calorie consumption management that would be required post surgery without the surgery?
Again, this is not a shot or a go at people who've had surgery. It just seems so illogical to me to undergo a procedure when a) you're already successfully losing weight and b) you'll need to do all the things to continue/maintain your weight loss anyway. Why not just skip the procedure?
I'm obviously missing something so I thought I'd ask.
The weight loss required pre-surgery is a result of the liquids-only pre-op diet. That diet is meant to empty your stomach completely, food and stomach acid; and to shrink your liver. The liver is one of the largest organs in your body, and it rests "on top" of your stomach (when you're lying down) so it would be in the way of the surgeon, making it much harder to do.
Also, another reason you can't "just continue" the pre-op diet is because it's inherantly unhealthy. It doesn't provide all the nutrients and vitamins you need, it's a very short-term diet for medical purposes, not something you can live on.
Your second point that "well, you would have to change your diet anyway", that's exactly the point! You have to change your diet to get accustomed to the physical changes in your body after surgery. You go from having a stomach the size of a small melon, to one the size of a small banana. (If you got the sleeve, a bypass ignores the stomach all together, food never enters the stomach) You physically cannot eat more than a couple of ounces at a sitting.
Source: I had the sleeve 4 months ago
Unrelated to the above, but if anyone who's had surgery, or is planning on it want to chat, send me a friend request, I'm happy to chat, share recipes, and etc.1 -
I had gastric sleeve surgery 5 years ago. I chose to do it because I was pushing 400 lbs and my situation was not good. I chose to do it because I felt it would get me out of danger faster than I could do it on my own, and it did. I am healthier than I have ever been. That said, no, it isn't easy. There is really NO easy way to lose and maintain a large amount of weight, surgery or not. It takes hard work and commitment and sometimes it's freaking exhausting, but I have no regrets and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I have a quality of life that I never imagined I would have and I feel amazing. I was very lucky that I had no complications, and I recovered quickly. I also followed my surgeon's instructions which is critical. I have found that people who have more complications and less success generally don't follow instructions.5
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