Has Anyonen Ever Failed With The Sleeve?

[Chills562 12]

I hear great stories of success, but I don't think there's much info on horror stories. are there any? I know this is just a tool for me to eat better and exercise. I have proven that my willpower is nil to nothing! How will this surgery help me not stuff my face? I know, I have issues. I was starting to go to overeaters anonymous meetings I think I should return.

[lessofmeismore 1,405]

Hey chills, you and me both, it really is about wrestling your food addiction demons and keeping them down. I know I eat less but I need help dealing with my emotional eating. Food was a comfort for me for so long. I definitely think OA or/and therapy is neccesary if your like me and have a food addiction that had nothing to do with hunger. I ate for so many reasons

[IsB 209]

Nothing wrong with going to a support group for help. To succeed you need to develop good eating habits. No weight loss surgery can do that for you. What's smart is that you is that you understand the situation and are going to do what you need to do to make it work.

[clk 3,519]

OA can really help a lot of people. There's a great book, a very short read, about overeating called "Hungry" by Allen Zadoff. He's not a surgery advocate and didn't have surgery, but it does address his journey with overeating and how he overcame it.

The sleeve WILL prevent you from eating massive amounts of food and it will do it from day one for the rest of your life. Eating enough to stretch it even the small amount it will give will cause you pain and you will simply toss the extra bites of food back up. This is not a pouch that will slowly give way to overeating. It will never stretch out to anything remotely like a preop stomach.

That said, it's possible to eat just about any food with the sleeve, and we have no malabsorption. So if you make the choice to eat massive amounts of, say, ice cream or pudding, there is nothing to stop you. Nothing in the sleeve forces you to eat less calories, at least once you're healed. If you make the same poor choices after surgery, you will not succeed in reaching your goal. Sure, you can't eat a whole pizza, an order of wings and drink two liters of soda. But you could easily consume over 2,000 calories a day if you made them slider foods.

I've seen very few people post about regains on here. I've seen a small number of people come back here because they've only managed to lose a third of their excess weight and need help getting back on track. There could be a larger number of people struggling and they're simply not admitting it out in a public forum. There's no way to know.

Just like any WLS, the sleeve can only take you so far. I think the most important part of reaching and maintaining goal is working on the emotional/mental issues that make us fat in the first place. Beyond that, the sleeve really is only a tool that gives us the restriction we need to feel satisfied with less food.

Don't hold me to it, but I'm pretty sure that every single time someone has posted on here with real issues losing, they admit to not really following a good diet. I know that every regain post I've seen has had to do with people not working on their issues prior to goal and being unprepared for life in maintenance. You would have to WORK at eating the wrong things to fail at the sleeve. But the most important thing any of us can do to ensure a fully healthy body and mind after surgery (and for the rest of our lives) is working through the baggage, not just aiming for a number on the scale. So OA, counseling, coming here - whatever it is that you need to do to work on things - you have to do it. If you don't, you'll get to goal and have learned nothing more than how to lose weight restricting calories and you won't have the tools you need or the healthy outlook to easily maintain.

I, personally, LOVE my sleeve. It got me to goal. It took away my hunger and let me stick to the restrictive diet I needed for the 17 months it took me to hit goal. It gave me the time I needed to work on my emotional eating and overeating issues, which was much easier to do when food wasn't as appealing and it was difficult to eat much. I'm maintaining pretty easily and I now eat pretty much whatever I want but I do it in moderation. I'm normal, and I couldn't have done it without my sleeve.

~Cheri

[lessofmeismore 1,405]

Thank you, Cheri

Always love reading your post

[Sannah 258]

Where so I find OA? I looked it up online and aomethig very religious came up. Is OA god centered?

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[O.T.R. sleever 3,386]

Where so I find OA? I looked it up online and aomethig very religious came up. Is OA god centered?

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Kind of , yes, it is structured like most 12 step programs and turns to "God as you might know him" or a "higher power".

Many times these programs are facilitated through a religious organization.

[DanaInNewOrleans 513]

I hear great stories of success, but I don't think there's much info on horror stories. are there any? I know this is just a tool for me to eat better and exercise. I have proven that my willpower is nil to nothing! How will this surgery help me not stuff my face? I know, I have issues. I was starting to go to overeaters anonymous meetings I think I should return.

I was just thinking about asking this same question!

What is a concern to me is can it fail even if you follow the plan? I guess my fear is this.... I lost 160lbs doing low carb....over the last 5 years or so I've gained back 60-70lbs (depends on the month). I've never discontinued a low carb life. For the most part carbs are not a part of my life. I'm not saying that I didn't cheat here and there but I'm serious when I say that rice, Pasta, bread, potatoes are not a part of my everyday life..... I went back to very strict atkins...did not lose a pound. Decided ok, maybe by body has just become immune to Atkins for losing weight because I've been doing low carb for over 10 years. So I tried Weight Watchers... I GAINED WEIGHT ON WEIGHT WATCHERS. Which I'm sure was because my body was sucking up those carbs like crazy because I had been on low carb for long.

So, after that looong introduction to my question.....

I'm concerned that my body has adjusted to low carb and less calories ( although I averaged 1400-1600 calories not the 600-800 calories with the sleeve) and that the surgery will not have much bang. I asked my surgeon and he said no, that this surgery completely resets " set points". He explained a little bit but I guess I'm still concerned. One of husband Jay's main concerns is that I will go through this as a " a last chance/resort and what if it doesn't work -- you will be crushed. And then what?"

Also, I'm concerned that such low calories will screw up my metabolism even more.

Anyone have any insight on this?

Thanks!

[DanaInNewOrleans 513]

Thank you, Cheri

Always love reading your post

I second that Cheri!

[Sannah 258]

Kind of ' date=' yes, it is structured like most 12 step programs and turns to "God as you might know him" or a "higher power".

Many times these programs are facilitated through a religious organization.[/quote']

Alright. Thanks. Good to know. I am not familar with 12 step programs. I also do not participate in organized religion. So perhaps OA would not be a good option for me.

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[mdefabio 73]

OA is Overeaters Annonymous. Is is based on the 12 step program. Not necessarily based around God as much as it is a "higher power". A higher power for some people can be the universe or for some a door knob. The point is that you believe their is someone or something out there that you can turn control over to. 12 Step programs are not for everyone, but you should give it a try to see if it's for you.

[Butterthebean 8,146]

Also, I'm concerned that such low calories will screw up my metabolism even more.

You won't have to worry about your metabolism if you make exercise a regular and permanent part of your life. Your eating capacity will eventually increase slightly a year or 2 out, but never to the point it is now. The idea is to work hard to reach goal before you get to that point, so once there, you will have no trouble maintaining. But in getting there, you have to learn a way of life that is healthy. You cannot plan on going back to your old ways (as some do) once you reach goal. For me that means always monitoring my food intake and my weight, but it's different for everybody.

And as far as a "last chance" is concerned. The sleeve is not the last chance. You can get a bypass after the sleeve if I'm not mistaken. That's what the sleeve was first developed for, as step 1 of a 2 step process for severely overweight people. But but but....don't let it come to that. Work your sleeve and it will work for you. People who expect the sleeve to do all the work are the ones who end up dissappointed.

[kemo46 82]

Very good topic. I believe that we all have the demons to overcome. food can be used as a crutch and idle time is bad with any addiction. I think what has helped me not only lose the weight but keep it off is human nature. We are results oriented. If we lose the weight, reverse health problems, get off medication and feel better than we have in years, it makes us never, ever want to go back to bad habits, that is what does it for me.

I think you have to replace your old habits with new ones. Mine is the gym, I love working out now and along with golf, it does not leave a lot of bad down time for sitting around eating things we should not. I also eat HEALTHY Snacks ALL DAY, this way I never get hungry and it keeps my metabolism crankng all day.

I feel my restriction in my stomach is just as tight now as it was one year ago and that is the tool that changed my life.

[You would think so... 11]

Alright. Thanks. Good to know. I am not familar with 12 step programs. I also do not participate in organized religion. So perhaps OA would not be a good option for me.

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12 step programs are *not* based in organized religion. Part of the 12 steps is to figure out what *you're* higher power is, whatever that may be. For me personally, my higher power is the universe, as manifested by nature. I have many friends in 12 step programs that do not believe in organized religion (including myself).

I am a long time member of Al-Anon (for family and friends of addicts - very similar to OA) and the program has been and is changing my life. Please don't be afraid of checking OA out. If nothing else, there's alot of information and stories available online.

[tallysfunny 363]

Actually 12 step programs did originate from the bible. They're based on the Beatitudes. However, most 12 step programs have attempted to distance themselves from organized religion. Unless of course you're talking about Celebrate Recovery, which is a Christian based recovery program that follows the original 12 step program format.