tonbra32

I am a newbie still in the early stages of the process. Finding this forum has been a good thing as I hear what others have gone through. As I am researching having WLS for myself, I want to pose a question that I am trying to formulate a ready response for. How would I explain to someone who has not struggled with weight why I cant just simply reduce my intake and viola! I can loose the 120 lbs I need to lose? It seems there are some people who assume I just don't have any willpower, and that weight loss is simply a behavioral problem. Over the last 25 years it seems I gain a little at a time, then when I try to lose, my body lets me drop 15 lbs then stops everything. I hit that plateau that I have never gotten past despite having worked REALLY hard on. I will tell you... I am an engineer with two masters degrees and two board certifications. Will power has never been one of my problems. I don't eat bad, and have taken even further steps over the last year to eat right. No pizza, pasta, sugar, etc. I eat a lot of lean meat and greens. The problem is I lose to a point then my metabolism seems to stop; my body waits me out and then if I lose my routine for a few days (like traveling) then I lose momentum. In the past, weight loss efforts ultimately stop because I get demoralized and I give up and quit caring. I dont need to give anyone an answer to why I am choosing WLS.. Frankly its none of their business; however, I do want to know what other people have found to explain this metabolic resistance. I know Grehlin is responsible, but what have you all come to on this?

I don't mean to imply the weight problem is ALL a medical thing... Definitely behavior plays a roll. Had I had better habits in my 20's, I would not be here now. The problem is not that I am here, I cant get it off no matter how hard I work at it, and I can only keep a portion of it off. I have found that I have lost 20lbs since May (5 months) and have kept it off by using my fitness tracker, daily monitoring my caloric and fat intake and regular weighing myself. When I am not weighing, that when things tend to go sideways because I am also not tracking my food. I have become fanatical about tracking my intake... If nothing else to prove to the dietician and my wife that, no, its not what I am eating that is casing me to stall.

I had my first WLS consultation at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) this week. They took a blood draw to check my vitamin levels and found my ferratin was high at 700. I already have really high triglycerides (~650 range) which is one of the motivators for having the surgery ( comorbiditys from Obesity). Did anyone else have a really high ferratin level and tryglyceride level as a result of your obesity?

Hello- I am researching and exploring the option to get a gastric bypass. As I am reading posts and looking at people experiences post-op with regard to eating behaviors, I see some mention of slow chewing. When one is on more solid foods and/or complex foods I have read some people might take as much as 10-15 minutes between bites as well as chewing thoroughly during that time. Is that slow, deep chewing of food a habit I will consciously need to change and monitor, or does the surgery, the full feeling and the nausea and pain dictate the slow chewing? In other words, will the slow chewing and long time between bites become a natural thing because of my new stomachs capacity?