Success On Preop = No Need For Surgery?

[smithpy 117]

So I'm on my third day of the preop diet. It's not easy but I'm sticking with it, excercising and losing weight.

My question is, if I can stick to a preop diet shouldn't I be able to stick with a diet without surgery?

I'm really nervous about whether I'm jumping the gun. Help!

[luckylady131 51]

So I'm on my third day of the preop diet. It's not easy but I'm sticking with it, excercising and losing weight.

My question is, if I can stick to a preop diet shouldn't I be able to stick with a diet without surgery?

I'm really nervous about whether I'm jumping the gun. Help!

I've thought this very thing! I'm day 9 of my preop diet (I decided to do 2 full weeks). But in the end, I'm sticking with the surgery because I know I can "diet". I can loose 20-30lbs pretty easily. It's getting past that and KEEPING IT OFF that I fail. So I can yoyo diet all I want. That's not healthy either. So off to surgery I go to keep it off for good and get my health back!

The question is - it's easy to loose weight when all you eat is liquids and Protein shakes. But what happens when you put "real food" back into your diet?

[Jenn31MA 149]

Congrats on losing weight and sticking with it on the preop diet! Not to kill your momentum or anything but i feel that most of us can lose weight..its the keeping it off we have trouble with. Have you ever been able to lose the weight and then keep it off after? I dont know about you but i do good for 3 or 4 months...drop 30 to 40lbs...then get complacent and the next thing i know ive gained 35 to 45 lbs back with in the year. My main reason for doing this surgery is Portion Control (which im horrible about) and the fact that i cant keep the weight off. I feel the sleeve will force me to keep my portions down which in turn will help keep the weight off. Ultimately its your decision...good luck!!

[smithpy 117]

Well I've been fat for 19 years do I've never kept it off long term. I feel like something's wrong with me for not being able to do it the traditional way. My hubby had surgery in Dec and he has no regrets. He looks and feels fantastic. He was diabetic and now is free of all his meds. It felt like he had a legit reason for the sleeve, but it feels like I'm having to do it because I'm lazy. My surgery is 3 weeks away and I'm getting cold feet.

[MegInNOLA 531]

Oh, you're in the mind game I was in for a while. Yes, if you continue to eat and exercise the way you're doing right now, you probably DON'T need surgery. There, I said it. Now the question is, will you?

Part of the reason so much medical history is required prior to surgery is that it forces us to look at our relationship with food, weight loss, and all the trials/failures we've had with various programs. I saw in my own history a pattern of a few months of eating right, exercising, and (no surprise) losing weight, corresponding roughly with the summers when I, as a teacher, was off work. And every single time I did it, EVERY SINGLE TIME, I gained it right back, plus a little more. I read that there is only a 5% chance that someone with more than 100 pounds to lose will be able to lose it with diet and exercise and keep it off long-term. That was it for me. I realized I needed a tool to help me both lose and KEEP OFF the weight.

Let's face it--we all know how to lose weight. Every single person here has probably lost more than their body weight over the course of time. It's the keeping it off that's the trick. And that's where having the sleeve and regaining control over our dietary habits is such a big deal.

[MegInNOLA 531]

Well I've been fat for 19 years do I've never kept it off long term. I feel like something's wrong with me for not being able to do it the traditional way. My hubby had surgery in Dec and he has no regrets. He looks and feels fantastic. He was diabetic and now is free of all his meds. It felt like he had a legit reason for the sleeve, but it feels like I'm having to do it because I'm lazy. My surgery is 3 weeks away and I'm getting cold feet.

Oh bless your heart. The EXACT SAME THING happened with us. My husband was brittle diabetic, had the surgery in 2010, and boom, lost the weight and is off all meds. Me, 100% healthy except for being fat (well, creeping numbers in blood pressure and sugar, but basically healthy). I felt like I should have the strength and the willpower to lose the weight "the natural way." I put it on, why couldn't I take it off?

I could! I kept taking off the same 35 pounds over and over and over, only to regain it over and over and over. The sleeve helped me lose all the excess weight (still losing now at 15 months out, slowly, sure, but it's still coming off) and I know I have that tool for the long term.

HUGS to you. You're not a personal failure if you need a tool to help you succeed with weight loss. The entire deck is stacked against us. Think about it this way--what advice would you give a loved one who was struggling as you have struggled? Wouldn't you want them to use whatever tool would help them get healthy and live longer? Be as kind and as open to your own life.... you are most definitely strong and capable. Using a tool doesn't mean you aren't. It's actually a smart thing to do.

[smithpy 117]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I was really ok until the surgery date was set. Now it seems so real.