Hope Assassin

I was never particularly obese, however I started an SSRI regimen (zoloft) due to some severe panic attacks, anxiety and depression in my mid 30's. As time went on, side effects of the SSRI included weight gain even though I'd never really changed my eating habits, and since I've a sedentary job, a family to take care of and am only moderately physically active, my weight just kept going up over time, until it broke the 30+ BMI barrier.  I've managed to lose up to 50 lbs on my own through fasting, diet and exercise many times over the last several years however the weight slowly but surely crept back up over time, usually a year or two, and I'd be right back where I started, and as of late, it would be worse than when I started losing.  The biology/physiology of your body does not care about your free will, inspiration, beliefs, environment, circumstances - it will relentlessly seek out whatever "it" thinks is its metabolic set point.  Barring bariatric surgery, fighting against your metabolic set point is, and I can confidently say this after years of fighting it, an exercise in futility.
If you are "cut out", designed, family history afflicted, etc - with a propensity to gain weight, save yourself the trouble right now and commit to bariatric surgery so that you can increase your quality of life 1000 fold, -actually- shift your metabolic set point and maintain a weight loss for life.
 
At the end, before I chose to pull the trigger on the gastric sleeve, the only fear I had was the fear of not having it and the complications that inevitably arise from being overweight/obese - high cholesterol/lipids, triglycerides, slow progression of cardiovascular disease, reduced energy, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and a host of other obesity related diseases, which come upon a person as age progresses.
 
RNY bypass seemed way too harsh, plication seemed too new/unproven and I'd heard of people having a stitch pop - rare, but happens, baloons are way too new/unproven, and the only thing that made sense was removing a part of the stomach, i.e. sleeve gastrectomy.
I cannot impress upon you the futility of permanent weight loss without bariatric surgery. Please do your due diligence and I am certain you will arrive at the same conclusions as me and millions of others have.