Will this be the next diet I fail at?

[Painter Girl 3]

I am still in the research phase and have started my 6 month pre op visits.... I saw something on Youtube (such great sharing going on there) that scared the crap out of me.... a doctor was saying after you loose a lot initially, your body will try to have a new metabolic set point and you will start to regain your hunger again.... and there are some people that gain more weight back, because your body's metabolizm is changing again.... Here's that slippery slope that I have fell down all my life...... This really scares me ya'll.... But I want so desperately to be thin.

If I do such a DRASTIC PERMANENT surgery... I don't want to have to worry about regaining.... Absolutely scared out of my mind that I will be fat again, with a tiny stomach.... God please help me. Is this going to be yet another "diet" that I am going to fail at ???

I'm sure a lot of you have been researching this as well. Please let me know what you have discovered.

[bikrchk 1,313]

Yes, this is a drastic and permanent treatment. But for the first time ever, I don't feel like I'm on a "diet". That word brings up thoughts in me of what I can't have and honestly, I feel like I can have it all now, I just can't over eat any more. If I do there are consequences, (puking or dumping) and I'm not likely to repeat that behavior anytime soon which was my cycle before. When I fell off the wagon, I'd fall long and hard. I'll be 2 year out in October maintaining a 90ish pound loss for over a year, (longest ever). I exercise 5x per week first thing (stationary bike and some light strength training at home, not a gym rat by any means). I worry about regaining every day, but it doesn't control my life and neither does food anymore. If I gain a few pounds, I give up empty calories like treats and alcohol, eat a little smarter and bump up my exercise a bit till it comes off. I can MANAGE my weight now for the first time in my life. As far as a new metabolic setpoint, I kind of believe that, which is why I started exercising and building muscle and why I ate as many calories as my weight loss could bear, (about 1200 per day), because I wanted to land in a manageable place for long term maintenance. So far, so good. Good luck in your decision!

[ShrinkingPeach 1,291]

The biggest thing I see here is that you need to make sure you understand that the sleeve is just a tool. You still will need to change your eating habits for the rest of your life to be thinner. The sleeve cannot do that for you. It will restrict how much food you can consume in a meal but it will not control how much you COULD eat throughout the day.

To lose the weight you will need to eat properly, exercise and stay forever cognizant of what choices you make. I am not quite halfway to my weight loss goal and I felt like I would be the one that failed also but I am making great strides. Do I get hungry? Not really but I don't expect that to last forever. I am hoping by the time the hunger pains come back I am in my routine and will not want those unhealthy foods I ate before.

For me I have to change the relationship I have with food. This isn't a "diet", diets are not permanent. I can't center my life around meals and ideas of food. I plan out what I need to eat to stay on track and exercise 5 days a week.

As they say, the surgery is on our stomach's but not our brains. We have to train ourselves to see food as nourishment and not entertainment or something for comfort.

When you see someone on here asking "When can I eat _____ again?" It typically means they are trying to use the sleeve as the fix, I see success stories all the time from people who truly use it as the tool that it is. Good luck on your path to a thinner you!!

[joatsaint 2,814]

I too had the same doubts and fears before surgery. But there's no comparison to a diet vs. WLS. It's a completely different world. But you have to be ready to change.

When I finally committed to WLS, I was at my lowest point mentally. I was ready for a change. I was willing to give up anything and everything to change.

I see too many questions asking the same thing. "When can I eat X again?" And I think to myself, "You may not be ready for WLS."

There are some WLS failures. Some because of medications, metabolic disorders and some people just aren't ready to give up their favorite foods. You have to ask yourself, "Am I ready to give up processed foods and eat healthier for the rest of my life?"

I can tell you, that for the 1st year, my new Sleeve did most of the work. I lost 130lbs.

After that it became my responsibility to choose the right foods and portions.

But by that time, I had engrained new eating and exercising habits into my life.

The next 40lbs were all me! I had to watch my caloric intake, what I ate and how often I ate.

But it's a cake walk compared to the mental battle I had with head hunger pre-op. There's just no comparison.

That little nagging voice that told me I was hungry 24/7 was gone. Whether it was the psychological impact of "this is what I had to do to lose weight" or the size my new Sleeve that did it, I don't know. What I do know is that I'm in control of my eating since WLS.

I can regain the weight if I don't stay on top of what and how much I'm eating. But now it's completely my choice. :-)