Diet before surgery going too well?

[chrispina 18]

My doc wants me to lose 20 lbs before scheduling my pre-op appointment. The reason she gave is that it will make surgery safer. It is my understanding that the standard 2 week pre-op diet will still take place after this 20 lb weight loss. I've been sticking to around 1200 calories, avoiding wheat, and limiting fat and carbs while maximizing Protein. It's been 3 weeks and I am down 13 lbs. YAY ME!

The problem is that I'm not suffering like I normally would be on week 3 of a diet. I'm starting to have second thoughts. Should I see how far this eating plan will take me and maybe avoid surgery or should I learn from EVERY past experience that I will plateau, get discouraged, and binge myself back to a net gain and possibly have to start the whole process of approval again? On the other hand, what's to keep that from happening even if I do get the surgery?

I know it's a decision I have to make for myself, but any input would be appreciated.

[della street 213]

@@chrispina Only you can make that decision, but my first thought was that the fact that you capitalized 'EVERY' is a clue -- (which I can totally relate to BTW...) -- EVERY time I've tried, I've usually lost weight - but then gained it back and more -- I do not want to live that way anymore. Surgery will be a fabulous tool to help me lose--and keep it off for good. But again, your mileage may vary )

PS - our stats are almost exactly the same except I'm 5'9" and just a few pounds diff than yours...

Edited January 19, 2015 by della street

[heav85 123]

I've been told that "oh well if you lose weight on your preop then why don't you just do that to keep losing weight?" Ummm I don't wanna live on liquids my whole life...

[BloomingLotus 179]

I've been very successful pre-op too. The reality for me is: losing up to 50lbs is easy for me. What is hard? Keeping it off for more than a few months at a time.

I know that I need this tool to give me a fighting chance to keep the weight off. I'll be sleeved in 10 days and I'm ready to embark on my new life!

[della street 213]

My husband asked how I was doing on my pre-op diet and I said I'd lost between 9 and 10 lbs -- he said "great!, see you can do it!" I said thanks (he really is *very* supportive...), but all it proves is that I can starve myself for a few days and lose a few pounds -- all it would take for me to gain that hard-fought 10 lbs back is dinner at our fave Mexican food place (cheese enchilada, rice, Beans, chips, and of course nachos smothered in cheese, and maybe a lunch at Five Guys Burgers with a large order of fries. Of course, with a *diet* Coke, lol or truly not so lol -

[ProjectMe 909]

I lost 60 pounds prior to surgery. I've heard from others on this site who lost 70-150 pounds prior to surgery. Yet, we still got the surgery. My main reason is that I know I could easily fall into the 99% who gained it all back and then some if I didn't get WLS. 50% who have had WLS keep it off for life. I went with the best odds for keeping it off...WLS.

Not to mention obesity is a disease. Would I ignore meds to resolve any other disease? Nope, so why would I not have a medical procedure done to resolve the disease obesity?

[NewBeginning2015 46]

@@chrispina, I had that debate too. For me, the decision came back to statistics from a clinical trial on long term weight loss that my primary care physician showed me, which I have posted below:

Dietary/lifestyle therapy provides <5 kg (11 lbs) weight loss after 2-4 y, pharmacologic therapy provides 5-10 kg (22 lbs) weight loss after 1-2 y, and surgical therapy provides 25-75 kg (55-165 lbs) weight loss after 2-4 y. Weight loss of > or =5% baseline weight is not consistently associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk factors.

The conclusions very clearly showed that I was much more likely to have success via WLS.

Link to the study abstract is below.

Systematic review of long-term weight loss studies in obese adults: clinical significance and applicability to clinical practice.

[gumbi 9]

I've had this same debate with myself and others in my life. I lost 42 lbs on pre-op diet. Maybe I didn't really need surgery?? Everyone told me it wasn't worth the risk etc, and if I could do this why couldn't I just keep on doing it? Was told not to lose anymore or I'd be disqualified for surgery! Ok so I've regained almost 20 lbs..... Holidays etc. I couldn't schedule surgery because sleep apnea diagnosis/treatment seemed to take forever. Now have appt w surgeon in 3 weeks. So back on diet for me until then as he wanted me to lose 30lbs. This pre-op period has been up and down for me as far as deciding to definitely have surgery and what surgery to have. The ease with which I regained was eye opener for me. It's all my life-long weight struggles in microcosm.

I need to get back on the wagon mentally more than anything. I'll be reading these boards daily cause it really helps with mind-set!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Yeah, no.

You need the surgery.

Really.

[scstxrn 213]

I'm great at losing weight... I can starve myself like a pro.

The difference is, after the sleeve - I'm losing weight like I did on the HCG diet, but I'm not hungry. Cheating does not live at the back of my mind because I enjoy the food that I eat and I have no room for any more.

Have the surgery.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

I see this post a lot with people who are having second thoughts. Be honest with yourself. If you could have done this before why haven't you? As a happily sleeved person I can only say, "yes you should have the surgery." However ultimately the choice is yours. Be honest with yourself and try not to use this pre-op diet as an excuse to back out.