Lets Get Real! I've Been Reading A "regrets" Thread

[jennlhp 39]

I would LOVE an answer go your last question too. I was supposed to be sleeved on 9/11 but chickened out for the same reasons you have. I'm just so scared. Like you, I read the horror stories and they stuck to me. I also "think" and over analyze everything! I'm hoping to get back on the wagon and reschedule my surgery.

[Izuri 428]

Now, I have a question that I should have asked then but didn't..... If I go down to 500-600 calories a day I'm sure I'd lose 2lbs a week. Is the only reason for having this surgery is to be able to go down to 500-600 calories a day without being hungry? I'm not sure that 2lbs a week is worth removing 90% of my stomach. It seems to me that if I can somehow survive on 500-600 cal a day on my own, why do this? My other concern is ok, what happens after the honeymoon period when my body is accustomed to 500-600 calories a day. Do I then gain weight on 900 calories a day? Is the sleeve just a way for me to stay on a starvation diet for the rest of my life?

I actually am glad that this thread got posted, even if it was an accident. Most of us have had doubts here and there throughout this process. It's really a great thing to put out how you feel and have the community support you and acknowledge that they felt that way once too. I think there are probably many people pre-op on here that are feeling on and off doubtful and just haven't posted about it.

For me, the sleeve is not only about consistent weight loss, but also maintenance. I have read a number of posts from members who are a year or more out who are still doing great and feel restriction. Is it the same amount of restriction as when they started? No. But it's enough to keep them at their goal weight.

As for the 500-600 calories a day, it never would have been possible for me without the sleeve. Without the removal of ghrelin I would have been hungry all the time. It's really incredible what power you have over food when it no longer rules your life. The ability to not feel hungry has given me a fighting chance in realizing how I feel before I eat and making healthy choices. I actually eat somewhere around 700-800 and maybe a little more some days if I'm at school for a long time. I work out almost every day now. I am losing weight still and am down about 43 pounds since July.

You also need to keep in mind that whatever calories you need to lose weight is a deficit from how much your body needs to maintain. That is why most people on maintenance have added a few hundred calories into their day. I worried about these same things pre-op, but I love my sleeve and given the choice I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.

[LT1002 138]

You'd be amazed at how little food 500-600 calories is. I'd suggest using MYFitnessPal now to track how many calories you're taking in pre-VSG so you have a good idea how much it takes to make you full. I would never have been able to limit myself to that pre-sleeve - I take in about that much now, post-VSG, and the quantities are very small.

As for foods - I'm 9 weeks out and can pretty much eat anything except salad and raw veggies. I eat steak - good source of Protein - and stick with leaner cuts and avoid sauces and toppings. I can only eat about 1/3 of a 6 oz. steak, though, whereas in the past I would have eaten the whole thing plus the sides. My dog is very happy that I've had this surgery, since she gets my leftovers.

The first few weeks are miserable, but it really does get better.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

To answer your question about 500 to 600 calories, I lost more like 10 lb a week except for stalls. At 3 months i still am eating around 700 calories a day, not sure. i don't count calories, i just focus on 3 oz Protein a meal and getting in as much liquids a day as i can. i have 6 meals a day and always try and eat a high quality extended release Protein Shake with Water at or right before bed. it helps your body burn calories all night. There have been a few stalls so far of varying lengths, but you still lose inches and have other NSV during this time. Even though I stalled out for sometimes 10 days, I did not stress out about it. We have already won by having this surgery. If you just follow the basics and eat cleanly, you will be a big success. Good luck!

[june13sleever 223]

I am going for a steak tonight! Yummy protein! I eat all meat! While a couple bites of salad is nice unless it is my version of a salad...beans, edamame, chicken, chick peas, eggs, a little avacado and lettuce...a garden salad seems like a waste of space! But a yummy grilled ribeye!!! Can't go wrong with that. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but it could be a year before you get there. You will be so focused on weight loss and clothes and working out and watching yourself shrink for the first year you won't miss much!

[FishingNurse 1,210]

I live on steak, cheese, and veggies/ salads. Oh and lattes. Life is great! No regrets!

[Annie B 89]

I'm also glad this got posted - even if by accident. Some of the responses have been incredibly helpful to me and I am grateful to have found this website - just today, actually. I will be getting my surgery date in about a week. This is a permanent, life-changing decision - if we aren't experiencing some apprehension, then we haven't fully investigated this surgery.

Someone mentioned that many of us have doubts prior to the surgery but just aren't sharing them. I completely agree - I have type 2 diabetes - on insulin for about 4 months. I have lost and gained weight over and over - and now am just slowly going up. Without weight loss, I will be facing 2 knee replacements and complications from diabetes and obesity. From a health perspective, this decision is a no-brainer for me. However, when I hear about potential complications I start having doubts. When I hear the success stories, I get excited.

I agree with the person who stated that we should bring our doubts forward to our surgeon. I am reading all I can, researching all I can and writing down my questions. For me, this has been a long process. I looked into WLS several years back. I wasn't ready and still felt I could do it on my own... I was wrong, my diabetes was no longer able to be managed by oral medications and couldn't maintain any weight loss successes. So, here I am - doubts, concerns - about post-op pain, dumping syndrome, ability to return to work, etc. and reading everyone's experiences, and compiling my question list... and staying away from the "regrets" page because I need to focus on the whole picture.

Thank you everyone!

[grannyk 58]

If you're allowing stories (and do you know for a 100% certainty that these stories are completely true?)

Thank you, LilMissDiva, for acknowledging that not everything posted on here may be a true story!!! It is so nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks that sometimes...K

[desertmom 297]

Hi DanaInNewOrleans

This answer might upset some sleevers but here goes nothing.

I still seriously regret the fact that I could never stay on the normal plan with exercise and 1500 to 1700 calories long enough to lose all my weight and keep it down.I would do that for 4 months,have tremendous success and then just lose it,not to find the "normal" again.I lost 70 pounds in 4 months that way.

Now,after the sleeve whenever anybody asks me about it as they want to do it as well because I have lost so much weight my answer is this.I wish that I understood before the sleeve what I understand now.There is no easy answer or a quick solution to the weight problem.

If I had just been a plodder I would have been thin now.Meaning,If I wasnt 100% successful on Monday,if I had just gone back on plan on Tuesday instead of giving up again,I would have kept on making progress,even if it was slow.If I didnt always expect perfection from myself in this and if I didnt always have this all or nothing thinking pattern,I would have been ok.

It was the instant results and the miracle to fix my inability to say no to myself that made me fail all the time.Knowing how hard this is for me now,I wish I could,WITH THIS POST SLEEVE EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE,have another go at eating healthy and exercising.

The problem is we dont have the experience before hand and hind sight is always 20/20.

I ate 1500-1700 cals for 3 days last week when I stopped smoking and gained 4 pounds.It might be Water weight as I did eat carbs, but on my 1500 plan before I ate bread and rice and Pasta and would never bounce weight up that fast.O,and I did exercise on 2 of those 2 days.

What I have to come to terms with now is the following:

1.The sleeve is permanent in more than just losing your stomach.You will also never be able to eat too many calories again without big gains.I dont know why it is like this,it just is.Look at people's maintainance menus and see how litle they eat.IF I AM WRONG,PLEASE LONG TERM SLEEVER VETS,COME AND CORRECT ME!

2. It was very seldom physical hunger that drove me to eat the way I did before.A lot of my issues was headhunger.It is still there.I can out eat the sleeve should I prefer to.I have to find different,external coping skills (big problem for me!)

Would I do the sleeve again?of course as I wouldnt know all these things if I didnt.Would I suggest the sleeve to anyone?For sure.BUT,I warned myself 6 months before the sleeve that I would have to do something drastic to save my life if I couldnt figure this out somehow and I gave myself 6 months to lose ANY weight or to make ANY positive changes which I couldnt and I didnt,thus the sleeve.

This is not the easy way out.It for me at least,has turned out to be the hard way especially since my weight loss grinded to a screeching halt at 6 months and I now have to work very hard for every pound I want to lose.

I am greatful I did this as I am determined not to fail,something I couldnt find in myself before.I like not being able to binge as this has taken a lot of the self condemnation away from me.I do feel more normal in a way now than I have ever felt before.

Good luck in your decision.And if you decide to not do it now,dont give yourself 10 years before you reconsider.Give yourself a reasonable short amount of time to make some changes.If you cant,dont waste your life dieting like I did without any real results.

Just one ore thing.RNY is also restrictive with dumping and often lactose intolerance and Vitamin issues long term.That seemed to me like a starvation diet with lots of added complications and still no guranatee to stay thin,sleeve seemed like a superior choice as it didnt have the additional issues,all things considered!And I dont really feel like Im on a starvation diet.Well,not always,only when I feel like eating a lot...lol

Ok Everybody, I just found this post by me by mistake. I had no idea it actually got posted and I have no idea how it got posted. I was in the waiting room at my surgeon's office typing it when I got called in by the NUT. I just stopped typing and thought I'd go back and finish later. Well, after my appointments with both NUT and NP I felt better and just never went back to it and forgot about it. I must have hit a submit button and not realized it. While I was looking for a recipe in my content page I saw that it got posted. Thank you all for your responses -- I'm so sorry I did not respond. I think that was a day I had like 50 notifications and I must have overlooked it.

So let me update that post....

One of the NPs had suddenly left the practice and my NP was doubling up on patients so I was in the waiting room for a while that day and I had too much time to think ( I'm dangerous when I think too much!) and worry. I was supposed to see the NP first then NUT but because NP was running so behind the NAT saw me first. I went over my little diet diary and I told her there was no way I could stomach the Prescriptfit program I was supposed to be doing. She said that was no problem , not to worry. We went over my food diary which showed I stayed between 900-1200 calories and I lost only 2lbs in 30 days. ( and that 2lbs was probably only because I was sick a few days before and didn't eat anything for 24 hours) She said not to worry....just as long as you don't gain. I went on to explain that this is one of my concerns and the main reason I am here for the sleeve. Will it still work for me if my body is at the point that I cannot lose weight on 900-1200 low carb calories a day. She said yes, but you will lose slower than most and I especially need to utilize that "honeymoon" period after surgery to get off as much as possible. She said they ( the practice) would be happy to see me lose 2lbs a week.

Now, I have a question that I should have asked then but didn't..... If I go down to 500-600 calories a day I'm sure I'd lose 2lbs a week. Is the only reason for having this surgery is to be able to go down to 500-600 calories a day without being hungry? I'm not sure that 2lbs a week is worth removing 90% of my stomach. It seems to me that if I can somehow survive on 500-600 cal a day on my own, why do this? My other concern is ok, what happens after the honeymoon period when my body is accustomed to 500-600 calories a day. Do I then gain weight on 900 calories a day? Is the sleeve just a way for me to stay on a starvation diet for the rest of my life?

Anyway, these are the thoughts going through my head. I'm still excited about doing this even with the concerns-- I think mostly because it feels like I'm taking control rather than feeling like my body is out of my control, which is an absolutely demoralizing realization.

Thanks again everyone for all the encouragement and support.....

[carolc 94]

Hi Dana,

You sound a lot like me pre-op. I was so resistant to weight loss that even at 1000 calories a day the lbs wouldn't drop. Even at my heaviest, i ate a very healthy diet. It was so frustrating. I asked the NP the same questions and she responded the same way. Fast forward to 6 weeks post op...

It works! I am down 25 lbs and 27". sure, I wish it was more but I am happy that it is working. I have zero hunger, I eat my 500 calories; 1/4cup of Protein each meal plus one shake, drink 64oz Water, exercise and the scale moves. I don't miss any food although I would like a glass of wine on occasion...but I can wait. Before, dieting was torture with constant hunger and zero results, now it is basically effortless.

Best of luck to you!