Serial Yo-Yo Dieter considering surgery (questions & concerns)

[BadGuy40 1]

Long story short, I have a beautiful baby daughter who means the world to me. Don't get me wrong, there's 1,000,000 reasons to do this in the first place, but it breaks my heart to imagine passing down bad habits to her or (at worst) her losing her father.

I know exactly what it takes to lose weight. Calories in, calories out. Just stick to that, and you'll lose. Its insanely simple - yet somehow I can't stick to it. Logically it seems idiotic to not get a handle on this. I mean no judgement, I'm just speaking honestly. Somehow, I CANNOT get a handle on this. I'm at the point where I'd call this addiction. food is tied to my emotions. At my best, I'll go months and months eating right (enough) and lose 50+ pounds. I even lost 120 in younger days. Somehow, the motivation eventually drains from me and its like nothing will stop me from checking out . . Its just not 'there' anymore. Before I know it, the weight is back.

I've been down the same road so many times. The thought of going down it again, dedicating my life to it, is draining. I'm fatigued and I haven't even started (again) yet.

I'm not sure where to go from here.

Questions:

1 - What is the success rate, no BS. I mean long-term success where people are living happy lives and food (one way or another) isn't their end-all be-all.

2 - I keep hearing you have to make a lifestyle change, diet, lose weight, eat right, etc. . . I'm also hearing if you don't, you can grow your stomach back and gain weight again. This sounds incredibly discouraging, because if it was that easy, wouldn't we all just do it without surgery?

3 - What is the best option for long-term success?

Apologies for the vent session. I'm at the end of my rope and I'm frustrated.

[Losingit2018 1,170]

I had many of your exact same questions when I started my surgery journey. I just had surgery one week ago so I am not a pro at this.

Statistics say that the success to failure ratio is 60/40 so you can indeed put the weight back on. Seems to me that the key is to have the determination to make the changes and stick to it.

I intend on tracking my calories/fluid/protein/carbs even after I reach goal. I also intend on weighing daily so that if I do gain a few pounds, I catch it quickly.

I had the sleeve. Although it will relax after some years down the road, it will never grow back. My tool will always be there to use for life.

I have seen people with regain just go back to the basics of where they started. They typically lose the weight and are more cautious the second time around from what I have seen.

Most programs offer a free seminar. Maybe you could attend one near you to get more information.

Good luck to you!

[Losingit2018 1,170]

I forgot to mention this. The thing that caught my attention about your post was the fact that you had been on so many diets only to regain that you gave up dieting. I did exactly the same thing. I felt that yo yo ing was worse than being overweight.

[Albus 129]

I’m in a very similar position as you and if your name is any indication of your age a similar age!

Like you I’ve dieted many times and often have lost 50lb and even more on a couple of occasions but I always seem to end each year heavier than the previous...

After a lot of research and soul searching I decided to go for WLS and out of the options have gone for the sleeve - makes most sense to me from a physiology point of view and could potentially be ‘upgraded’ if required. My surgery is on 30th of this month and I’m looking forward to it!

Success rates are pretty good with something like 80% maintaining at least 50% excess weight loss over 5 years. Obviously it involves work but it should make the work easier, I wouldn’t say I’m an overly emotional eater but once I start I have difficulty stopping and hopefully this will give me a hand to control this!

Interestingly I was chatting to a friend yesterday who had one 5 yrs ago (I just found out) she weighs 280lb which I must admit made me doubt my choice but previously she was 420 with diabetes and various other health problems which have gone. Speaking to her though she has real deep rooted food issues which are still present and will still choose foods she knows she can eat more off rather than Proteins as she struggles to eat much of them!

I’m pretty confident it’ll work for me and there’s no reason it won’t for you

[Sadiebug 206]

I am exactly the same way and was nervous going into surgery thinking it would be yet another 'quick fix' and I would eventually gain all of my weight back. One of the reasons I chose the RnY was because I figured it might give me some negative feedback when I ate things with a lot of sugar or fat. That didn't exactly play out because I'm one of the lucky ones who does not experience dumping syndrome...but the fear of getting sick carried me long enough to get through the cravings and carb/sugar withdraw. I'm only a little over a year out so I can't speak to keeping off the weight long term but when I start to see bad habits creep back in I am much quicker to stop them right away. Mainly because I put so much effort into this surgery - it's not like a diet that I can just quit. My insides were cut apart and rearranged and sewn back together and I can't undo that. If I "cheat" not only am I risking weight gain I'm also literally risking my health, especially during the first several months. And that extra motivation (or fear) has kept me from falling off the wagon so far. I also recommend looking into therapy to address the food issues. That way when you are a few years out you have other tools to fall back on instead of the food.

[JerseyJules 862]

On 4/2/2018 at 7:38 PM, BadGuy40 said:

Long story short, I have a beautiful baby daughter who means the world to me. Don't get me wrong, there's 1,000,000 reasons to do this in the first place, but it breaks my heart to imagine passing down bad habits to her or (at worst) her losing her father.

I know exactly what it takes to lose weight. Calories in, calories out. Just stick to that, and you'll lose. Its insanely simple - yet somehow I can't stick to it. Logically it seems idiotic to not get a handle on this. I mean no judgement, I'm just speaking honestly. Somehow, I CANNOT get a handle on this. I'm at the point where I'd call this addiction. food is tied to my emotions. At my best, I'll go months and months eating right (enough) and lose 50+ pounds. I even lost 120 in younger days. Somehow, the motivation eventually drains from me and its like nothing will stop me from checking out . . Its just not 'there' anymore. Before I know it, the weight is back.

I've been down the same road so many times. The thought of going down it again, dedicating my life to it, is draining. I'm fatigued and I haven't even started (again) yet.

I'm not sure where to go from here.

Questions:

1 - What is the success rate, no BS. I mean long-term success where people are living happy lives and food (one way or another) isn't their end-all be-all.

2 - I keep hearing you have to make a lifestyle change, diet, lose weight, eat right, etc. . . I'm also hearing if you don't, you can grow your stomach back and gain weight again. This sounds incredibly discouraging, because if it was that easy, wouldn't we all just do it without surgery?

3 - What is the best option for long-term success?

Apologies for the vent session. I'm at the end of my rope and I'm frustrated.

Its no so simple as calories in and calories out to lose weight. There is a combination of things physically and mentally going on that you need to master to do it. I battled my weight my whole life and was very active and worked out 3 to 4 days a week at 300 lbs. I lost and gained 20 to 35 lbs over 6 or 7 times. I opted for VSG surgery in 2014 after trying everything else my whole life with no success. I wound up backing out of surgery last minute. My doctor said something to me at that point, he said "your body will not let you lose the weight at this point in your life, it will fight you every step of the way" he also stated that I would probably be back after a year or two. I tried unsuccessfully to lose weight 3 more times from that point and wound up back in his office 2 years later exactly.

I havent looked back since and am down 80 lbs and healthy as ever. I know that I could not have lost this weight without the surgery, now its up to me to keep it off. It is a lifestyle change for sure, and you have to embrace it. Im not super strict with my diet as I want a sustainable and realistic diet I can maintain over time. I am still very active and work out 4 to 5 days a week and have never seen such great results in my life. It makes losing weight doable for sure as you simply can not overeat to the point of gluttony. You simply are forced to eat like a normal person does.

For me the best option for my desired results was the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy as I didnt want to look to malnourished and get too thin. Im at 220lbs now which is perfect for my large frame and muscular build. i could get lighter if I got much stricter, but whats the point of that? I rather live life..