Coming out of the closet...LONG
I just finished posting on another post about failed WLS - here is my response. The other post was older and I know how quickly we move on to the new post.
The main post is herehttp://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/4394204/X-post-Why-Bariatric-Surgery-can-fail-Part-II/
I wanted everyone to hear my story.
As painful as it was for me to read this article, I found it to ring true to me. I am 9 months post op and have lost about 40 pounds.
Before I am blazed about exercise, carbs, etc., let me say that I have followed the rules just like everyone else on the board. My body simply is not responding to the surgery.
My restriction is still tight. It was super tight in the beginning. I lost weight at a good rate for about the first 5 weeks, then it slowed to a creeping crawl.
I lost very very slowly for the next 12 weeks, even though I was going to the gym 5/6 days a week, working with a personal trainer and eating/drinking as recommended.
After that 12 weeks, I stalled. It has been 5 months and I weigh only a few pounds less than I weighed at 4 months out.
I read a post by Old Medic and it broke my heart. He was emphatic with what he said (link to post below) He said everyone cheats sometimes...no big deal. Then he wrote "Other than that, relax. This is as close to a screw-up proof method of losing weight as you can get. Just stick as closely as you can to the basics, don't worry all the time, and you WILL peel off that weight.
That statement broke my heart. I have stuck to the diet 95 -98 % of the time, with little to no results.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/4392005/Are-you-lookin g-to-fail/#36302876
This has been emotional devasting to me. Everyone is astounded that I haven't lost the amount of weight I expected. I am astounded. I have sought support everywhere I can find it.
I am still fat! I have little hope of making it to goal...ever!
With that knowledge, it is increasingly difficult to visit the board and read of everyone else's success.
I know many of you are thinking....Lurknomore is crazy. I lose weight without even trying. She/he has to be cheating all the time. I remember when I ate (fill in the blank) and I lost x number of pounds.
I am here to tell you....YOU are wrong if you are thinking like that. I suspect there are others out there that have had the same issues as me. Most are afraid to post about it. I have been afraid too.
I didn't do everything wrong....but my body and the surgery failed me.
You want to know the worst part. I had no co-morbidities and I was self pay. NOW, I can say I do have increased energy. I feel better then pre-surgery, but I am not happy with the amount of weight I have lost.
The emotional distress is the same for me as it was pre-surgery. I wake up everyday wondering what I need to do today to lose weight....when the HARSE reality for ME is.....IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHAT I DO, I AM NOT LOSING WEIGHT!!!!!
It's like a life sentence of being fat. This must be how an innocent man feels when he is found guilty of a crime and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He knows he is innocent, but no one believed/believes him. Yet, he has to serve the sentence, with no hope of ever being free.
I have been sentenced to a life trapped in a body that will not allow me to lose weight. I sware, my body could live on air if it wasn't for getting hungry. Oh yeah...I was one of the lucky ones that never lost my appetite.
Sad and depressing as it is...that is my reality. So Yeah! It can fail.
Bt the way...in case you are wondering.....I had the sleeve with the reknown Dr. Alvarez.
The main post is herehttp://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/4394204/X-post-Why-Bariatric-Surgery-can-fail-Part-II/
I wanted everyone to hear my story.
As painful as it was for me to read this article, I found it to ring true to me. I am 9 months post op and have lost about 40 pounds.
Before I am blazed about exercise, carbs, etc., let me say that I have followed the rules just like everyone else on the board. My body simply is not responding to the surgery.
My restriction is still tight. It was super tight in the beginning. I lost weight at a good rate for about the first 5 weeks, then it slowed to a creeping crawl.
I lost very very slowly for the next 12 weeks, even though I was going to the gym 5/6 days a week, working with a personal trainer and eating/drinking as recommended.
After that 12 weeks, I stalled. It has been 5 months and I weigh only a few pounds less than I weighed at 4 months out.
I read a post by Old Medic and it broke my heart. He was emphatic with what he said (link to post below) He said everyone cheats sometimes...no big deal. Then he wrote "Other than that, relax. This is as close to a screw-up proof method of losing weight as you can get. Just stick as closely as you can to the basics, don't worry all the time, and you WILL peel off that weight.
That statement broke my heart. I have stuck to the diet 95 -98 % of the time, with little to no results.
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/VSG/4392005/Are-you-lookin g-to-fail/#36302876
This has been emotional devasting to me. Everyone is astounded that I haven't lost the amount of weight I expected. I am astounded. I have sought support everywhere I can find it.
I am still fat! I have little hope of making it to goal...ever!
With that knowledge, it is increasingly difficult to visit the board and read of everyone else's success.
I know many of you are thinking....Lurknomore is crazy. I lose weight without even trying. She/he has to be cheating all the time. I remember when I ate (fill in the blank) and I lost x number of pounds.
I am here to tell you....YOU are wrong if you are thinking like that. I suspect there are others out there that have had the same issues as me. Most are afraid to post about it. I have been afraid too.
I didn't do everything wrong....but my body and the surgery failed me.
You want to know the worst part. I had no co-morbidities and I was self pay. NOW, I can say I do have increased energy. I feel better then pre-surgery, but I am not happy with the amount of weight I have lost.
The emotional distress is the same for me as it was pre-surgery. I wake up everyday wondering what I need to do today to lose weight....when the HARSE reality for ME is.....IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE WHAT I DO, I AM NOT LOSING WEIGHT!!!!!
It's like a life sentence of being fat. This must be how an innocent man feels when he is found guilty of a crime and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He knows he is innocent, but no one believed/believes him. Yet, he has to serve the sentence, with no hope of ever being free.
I have been sentenced to a life trapped in a body that will not allow me to lose weight. I sware, my body could live on air if it wasn't for getting hungry. Oh yeah...I was one of the lucky ones that never lost my appetite.
Sad and depressing as it is...that is my reality. So Yeah! It can fail.
Bt the way...in case you are wondering.....I had the sleeve with the reknown Dr. Alvarez.
Dear lurknomore: Something is not right and I acknowledge your frustration, sadness and depression. I don't believe you have failed--I just don't think you have found your formula. I have full confidence that you will find your formula for success and it will be completely different for YOU from everyone else. I know when you find it, it will be the winning formula that will help you shed the pounds. Step back from what you believe is the the harsh reality and just know you will find your way. And your way is not the same as everyone else--you are unique and the weightloss is being stubborn because you are being required to BE different and do it differently.
You will figure this out.
You will figure this out.
Thanks for the encouragement. I won't lie...this is HARD for me.
I expected to lose weight at least similarly to how others have lost.
I have tried many formulas, less carb, no carb, more protein, more water, more exercise, less exercise...nothing seems to really last. I did have some success with Atkins induction diet. But after a month, even that halted.
I wonder if my body adjust too quickly??
I am feeling more and more like it is metabolic. Thats what most of the veterans on here think. I know they are not doctors, but experience is a good teacher.
I plan on getting tested this month, maybe I will find the missing link????
I expected to lose weight at least similarly to how others have lost.
I have tried many formulas, less carb, no carb, more protein, more water, more exercise, less exercise...nothing seems to really last. I did have some success with Atkins induction diet. But after a month, even that halted.
I wonder if my body adjust too quickly??
I am feeling more and more like it is metabolic. Thats what most of the veterans on here think. I know they are not doctors, but experience is a good teacher.
I plan on getting tested this month, maybe I will find the missing link????
A helpful thing, especially when dealing with situations that are touchy, with folks who have felt they have to defend themselves is to click on "latest posts" and you can answer a lot of questions for yourself, and then they dont have to rehash stuff that they have said multiple times.
We were given the same nutritional information, with the addition of keeping your carbs at less than 40 g per day that you were given, that would have been her first round of attack.
Didnt know if you knew that about the latest posts. Its really helpful sometimes.
We were given the same nutritional information, with the addition of keeping your carbs at less than 40 g per day that you were given, that would have been her first round of attack.
Didnt know if you knew that about the latest posts. Its really helpful sometimes.
Sorry to be the fly in your ointment, but maybe its that 2-5% of the time that you don't follow the plan that is sabotaging you? If you are eating less calories than you are burning, you have to lose weight. It is a physical impossibility not to. Even if your metabolism slows WAY down, your body still burns calories just by being alive. I don't recall the exact number, nor have time to look it up at the moment, but I recall hearing somewhere that the human body burns something like 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day just with breathing, your heart beating, and your bodies basic functions to support life going on. So if you laid in bed never moving for 24 hours a day, and had someone bring you 1,200-1,600 calories of food a day (or whatever the number is), you would maintain weight. I have had several doctors tell me that as long as you are otherwise healthy that yes, surgery, medications, etc can ASSIST weight loss, but the basic tenet is to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume, REGULARLY.
So long story short, you are either not being honest with us and yourself and not following your plan more than you are saying, or if you are telling the truth there is something else wrong with you. Perhaps you should get your thyroid tested or something else. Because a true stall can last a few weeks to a month or so. But if you ate less calories than you burned regularly for 12 months, you would lose weight.
So long story short, you are either not being honest with us and yourself and not following your plan more than you are saying, or if you are telling the truth there is something else wrong with you. Perhaps you should get your thyroid tested or something else. Because a true stall can last a few weeks to a month or so. But if you ate less calories than you burned regularly for 12 months, you would lose weight.
Wildfan - I would encourage you to wait until you are 9 months out and THEN be able to tell me that during the entire 9 months, that you never ate a piece of bread, or a cracker or anything with any amount of sugar in it. I doubt you got to be overweight enough to need WLS and then...POOF....you have surgery and like magic the cravings and desires to eat anything except protein and water left you.
I appreciate the time you took to respond, but to be frank here, you don't know what you are talking about.
I KNOW that scientifically, it seems impossible to NOT lose weight is you don't consume a certian amount of calories. But then again, if that formula worked, none of would have had our stomachs removed.
When I say I am not on program part of the time. I mean I may eat a cracker or have a piece of fruit. I am willing to bet if we compared diets, that you and may others eat way more and possibly less healthy than I do.
The ENTIRE point of the post was to make folks aware that sometimes, without a good reason, our bodies simply don't respond like everyone elese to WLS.....nuff said
I appreciate the time you took to respond, but to be frank here, you don't know what you are talking about.
I KNOW that scientifically, it seems impossible to NOT lose weight is you don't consume a certian amount of calories. But then again, if that formula worked, none of would have had our stomachs removed.
When I say I am not on program part of the time. I mean I may eat a cracker or have a piece of fruit. I am willing to bet if we compared diets, that you and may others eat way more and possibly less healthy than I do.
The ENTIRE point of the post was to make folks aware that sometimes, without a good reason, our bodies simply don't respond like everyone elese to WLS.....nuff said
Please read my second post on this thread. I apologize if my first post came across as critical, it certainly wasn't meant that way. But I do stand by what I said, it is a physical impossibility, IN AN OTHERWISE NORMAL, HEALTHY BODY, to eat less calories than you burn yet maintain or gain weight. As many others have said, you should start seeking different docs, because there has to be something else going on with you. Whether it be hormones, thyroid, metabolic issues, etc. If you are following plan and not losing weight, there is something else going on.
As for your comments on me personally, every one is different. I am just over 7 weeks out, and have already gone through a 2 week stall. But my experience has been VASTLY different than a lot of the stories I have read on here. I am eating anything I want, and have never once had the foamies, vomited, gotten any nausea, or any of the other side effects I read about here. But in 7 weeks, at a surgery weight of 384, I am now only down to 346. 38 pounds in 7 weeks is not quite what I had envisioned when I had my surgery. So whether you believe me or not, I feel your pain.
As for your comments on me personally, every one is different. I am just over 7 weeks out, and have already gone through a 2 week stall. But my experience has been VASTLY different than a lot of the stories I have read on here. I am eating anything I want, and have never once had the foamies, vomited, gotten any nausea, or any of the other side effects I read about here. But in 7 weeks, at a surgery weight of 384, I am now only down to 346. 38 pounds in 7 weeks is not quite what I had envisioned when I had my surgery. So whether you believe me or not, I feel your pain.
Maybe this will be the same for you...maybe not.
But for what it's worth, I was exactly the same. Now, I did have issues with Protein Shakes for the first few weeks..kinda made my chest hurt, but it passed.
It wasn't until around my 6 month, that I started having some issue with foods. Can't eat potatoes in any form, tried a couple of fries and had to get them out. Took a bite of Pizza..same thing. Not forceful vomiting, just burping and spitting. Bacon had the same affect.
Hope that doesn't happen to you, but just know if it does, you are not the first.
:-)
But for what it's worth, I was exactly the same. Now, I did have issues with Protein Shakes for the first few weeks..kinda made my chest hurt, but it passed.
It wasn't until around my 6 month, that I started having some issue with foods. Can't eat potatoes in any form, tried a couple of fries and had to get them out. Took a bite of Pizza..same thing. Not forceful vomiting, just burping and spitting. Bacon had the same affect.
Hope that doesn't happen to you, but just know if it does, you are not the first.
:-)
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