If we could change our lifestyle we wouldn't be fat!

[Kcarr1120 15]

Ok, so I know that upon undergoing any wls one must "change his lifestyle toward eating healthy". I just don't understand how that happens when we have gone thru our lives unable to "change our lifestyle" in order to lose weight and keep it off....how does having bypass really help in the LONG RUN with that?? I don't want to go thru surgery just to gain my weight back...

[jackie-o 22]

WLS is just a tool! After you have the surgery you are not hungry and you sure can't eat very much at all. You have 1year to practice good eating habits and lose a ton of weight. Ultimately it is up to you. I had surgery on April 3rd and as of today I have lost 60 pounds. I have 38 more to go. Being thin and losing weight feels better than over eating to me.

[renjames 30]

Remember we gained weight over time, loosing it will take time also, but the future is great and a healthier one. We have the rest of our lives to enjoy the journey.

[oldoneyoungagain 200]

WLS is just a tool! After you have the surgery you are not hungry and you sure can't eat very much at all. You have 1year to practice good eating habits and lose a ton of weight. Ultimately it is up to you. I had surgery on April 3rd and as of today I have lost 60 pounds. I have 38 more to go. Being thin and losing weight feels better than over eating to me.

Totally, totally, agree with you that WLS is just a tool and they work. I have been maintaining my weight loss with the band, eating the same, Protein, veggies, some fruit. But when that band was removed, guess what the carb carving came back, I didn't introduce carbs back but there seemed to be a switch that turned on and can't find the off switch.I'mm fighting the cravings but it is a bad Totally have to watch it, yet I have put on a couple of pounds. So if the protocol is followed, for those of us who have problems with weight (yes we can lose it on our own) but that tool does a little something more that we can't do without it. It does signal the brain when you are full, the stomach is smaller, we eat less and without it would we be eating the same amount of food on our own that we were eating before. . All I can say, I have fought this battle for 40 yrs. Tried pills, you name them and I probably used them. Weight Watchers, TOPS, Nutrisystems, Jenny Craig. Loss the wait until i quite the program and couldn't make a go of it.. So you can have a tool that is there to help and make it a little easier

in controlling the amount you eat that should last a life time. Or you have weight watch, ginny craig etc, attending weekly classes. How you want to lose, is how you want to do it. choices are yours, There is no easy tool to weight loss. You have to study them all and find the one that works for you and thenstick to it. I'm sold on the RNY and sincerely it works.

[deaddemmama 474]

For me, I had the mindset that if I was going to undergo major, drastic surgery, I really had to examine whether I was truly ready. It took a lot of soul- searching. For me,, I had to examine the reasons I overate: boredom, stuffing feelings, etc. Then I had to address those reasons...I still am doing so in therapy and in support group.I. also have the positive mindset that I won't regain the weight...I'll stay on the program,,and I do it one day at a time

[SoccerMomma73 1,867]

It's so much easier to change your lifestyle when you aren't starving to death all the time and when you physically can't eat a quarter pounder with cheese, Large fries, and a milkshake....and if you did manage to eat a decent sized chunk you'd be sick as a dog....for me, eating healthier is a million times easier because it's what makes me feel good. I'm not perfect! I had 1/4 of a cupcake yesterday.....but 1/4 of a 400 calorie cupcake is much better then the whole thing and I was totally satisfied with what I had, no feeling of deprivation and wanting more like I would have had pre-op.

Now...exercise is a whole different story, I have to pretty much force myself to do it, but in, once you get into a habit, you feel so much better...plus the ever decreasing number on the scale really pushes me to keep rolling with it.

It's all about habits and this surgery makes I so much easier! It's pretty much magic in my book!

HW 312, pre-op (RNY) 255, current weight 210

[DiminishingDawn 50]

It helps but to be honest, once you get past the 2 year mark, things tend to change significantly. At that point, your eating disorderly come into play again. It WILL come down to a lot of willpower and resiliency. People that didn't change their habits will fail. I know quite a few people that had surgery after me and have gained their weight back. This is a tough ride. I am 7 years out.

[oldoneyoungagain 200]

Would any of you compare food addiction to alcohol or drug addiction? If you know you are addicted to food and want to change, then you have various groups to help you control your addiction to make your tool work, just as an alcoholic or a druggie has their group. It is only when you have hit rock bottom, whatever your bottom might be that any any type of weight loss procedure will work, because that will be your main goal. It has been proven these tools do work, as long as you work them. Maybe the simiplist suggestion is once an addict always an addict no matter what the addiction is. You have to be honest with yourself and fight the battle until the day you die or nothing that they have now or in the future fo help with WL is going to work. Just my opinion and thoughts.

[deaddemmama 474]

I would compare food addiction to alcohol or drug addiction. I think being honest about using food to mask feelings is key. That being said, the two addictions are different in that one can abstain from drugs and alcohol but obviously not from food. ...one can only abstain from injurious eating behavior. I think wls can be a great tool to learn to do that. But it only works if you work it.

[shershrinking 53]

Yes i think i am physically and psychologically addicted to food.

Some folks smoke or drink, gamble, do drugs. Or shop None of that holds the appeal for me that food does. Shopping comes close...

[DLCoggin 1,788]

Ok, so I know that upon undergoing any wls one must "change his lifestyle toward eating healthy". I just don't understand how that happens when we have gone thru our lives unable to "change our lifestyle" in order to lose weight and keep it off....how does having bypass really help in the LONG RUN with that?? I don't want to go thru surgery just to gain my weight back...

Although not the answer that you (or I) would really like to hear, the fact is that science does not yet have the answer regarding exactly how RNY works. Statistically, the fact that it works in a very high percentage of cases is indisputable. But exactly "how" it works is an entirely different, and much more difficult, question to answer.

For example, the results of a study published on April 30th of this year found that "Gastric bypass surgery alters the hormones and amino acids produced during digestion, hinting at the mechanisms through which the surgery eliminates symptoms of type 2 diabetes...". You can see the full article at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gastric-bypass-surgery-hormones-relieve.html

In another separate study published the same day, April 30th - "Scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center used a catheter to re-direct the flow of bile from the bile duct into the small intestine, producing the same metabolic and weight-loss benefits as bariatric surgeries such as gastric by-pass. They named the procedure bile diversion, or BD." You can see the full article at: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/04/30/5382960/study-finds-possible-alternative.html

And a third study published on April 21, 2013 found that -

"While bariatric surgery helps people drop pounds by rerouting the digestive tract so the stomach holds less food, a new study by researchers at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital shows that changes in the bacteria found in the gut may have more of an impact on weight loss.

According to the study, conducted on mice using the specific Roux-en-Y method of gastric bypass, the surgery almost immediately transforms bacteria into microbes most often found in slender people."

Full article at: http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2013/04/21/7847/altering-gut-bacteria-could-rival-bypass-surgery-effects/

The good news is that the unparalleled success of RNY has resulted in very substantial increases in interest and research dollars aimed at a better understanding of "how" the surgery works. It is clear that the answers are much more complex than simply limiting the amount you can eat by reducing the size of your stomach. The bad news is that the wheels of medical research move slowly. It will likely be several years (if ever) before we have definitive answers regarding changes in all of the processes that early indications point to being changed by the surgery. In the meantime, the odds of successfully alleviating or eliminating obesity and more than 30 co-morbidities associated with obesity are overwhelmingly in our favor with RNY.