weight loss Tell me again why I'm doing this?

[aTXtumbleweed 7]

My surgery is Tuesday (13th) and I'm down 9 lbs in less than two weeks on the pre op diet. That would be 18 lbs a month (if I could maintain that rate) and I only need to lose 135 lbs!! Won't take me long ... right? I'm starting to wonder why I'm having surgery if I can lose weight on my own!! Then I remind myself that I can't (or wouldn't) stay on this diet ~ if I wasn't having surgery. This weight loss is not sustainable - for me anyway. Once I start to eat normal again I'll gain any weight loss right back. I know me - I need the help for the long haul. What bugs me is that the diet is so much less food than I'm used to eating daily and I've ONLY loss 9 lbs. Should be more like 20 if you ask me!! LOL Any one else start to have doubts about having the surgery when they see the weight lost on the pre op diet?

[Shrinkingmom 218]

Losing has never been the issue for me. Once I set my mind on dieting I could lose large amounts of weight. I have literally lost hundreds of pounds over the years but I can't maintain it and end up adding more on with each gain over time. As my surgeon said, I had dieted myself right up to 321 pounds! This surgery is a Godsend for me! I knew I wouldn't keep it off and I struggle with that fear even now!

[SuzyB 182]

I can lose weight however keeping it off is the part I cannot manage to do long term. And then when I start to regain, I can't stop myself. That pattern of behavior got me in this place. Now I need to have a tool I cannot ignore.

[LeanerLena5426 61]

Losing has never been the issue for me. Once I set my mind on dieting I could lose large amounts of weight. I have literally lost hundreds of pounds over the years but I can't maintain it and end up adding more on with each gain over time. As my surgeon said, I had dieted myself right up to 321 pounds! This surgery is a Godsend for me! I knew I wouldn't keep it off and I struggle with that fear even now!

Oh my goodness, that's my story EXACTLY!

[gamergirl 4,610]

My surgery is Tuesday (13th) and I'm down 9 lbs in less than two weeks on the pre op diet. That would be 18 lbs a month (if I could maintain that rate) and I only need to lose 135 lbs!! Won't take me long ... right? I'm starting to wonder why I'm having surgery if I can lose weight on my own!! Then I remind myself that I can't (or wouldn't) stay on this diet ~ if I wasn't having surgery. This weight loss is not sustainable - for me anyway. Once I start to eat normal again I'll gain any weight loss right back. I know me - I need the help for the long haul. What bugs me is that the diet is so much less food than I'm used to eating daily and I've ONLY loss 9 lbs. Should be more like 20 if you ask me!! LOL Any one else start to have doubts about having the surgery when they see the weight lost on the pre op diet?

Oh yes. I just wrote to someone else about this today in a PM. I don't think she'd mind if I shared it here.

"We did pre-ops. R was told to do 14 days, I was asked to do 7. But I did the 14 days with him. To prepare, I cut my calories down to 1200 the week before, gave up sugar, and substituted a shake for one meal. I lost two lbs that week.

In all, I lost "only" 6 lbs and R. lost 8 lbs. but honestly we were eating very clean even before the pre-op. I say "only" because that's more than I have ever lost in 2 weeks, but compared to what you see others report that doesn't sound like a lot. I didn't care I was happy the first week. And then I lost nothing the second week.

And then the panic set in. Only 8 lbs?! On less than 800 calories for two weeks?! I was never going to be able to lose it after the sleeve. After all, I was already following the post sleeve diet! Wtf?! And on and on.

I reached out to Susan who said everyone worries they won't be able to lose weight but they do. I was so concerned I asked Dr. Alvarez about it pre-surgery. He said, rather unflatteringly, "At your weight, you will lose weight, don't worry". :-D I was delighted to hear that. (I'm 5'6 and was 222 DOS)

He was right. I have lost 10 lbs this week because I can't even eat 500 calories. Now, I believe I will lose it. Maybe slower than others, maybe faster than some, but for the first time in my life, I feel I have found something that will actually WORK.

It's a wonderful feeling."

It's still early days, but I hope I never forget that I have NEVER in my life lost 18 lbs in 3 weeks before, no matter how little I ate.

I think faith plays a part in the final decision--and I say this although I am trained as a scientist and I am a devout agnostic. But whatever deity it is you pray to or whatever you believe, at some point, it's a leap of faith AND the understanding that although we think we are unique/special/different, we're not that different from other fat bodies around us.

It will work for us just as it has for all the others who have worked it.