So, Why Am I Doing This?

I had been getting excited about my upcoming surgery and the results...the change in lifestyle and all that. Then I started reading that it's only about a 2-3 lb loss per week---which sounds like every other diet plan.

 

Sooooo....why am I doing this?

My doctor isn't putting me on a pre-op liquid diet, so I guess I won't have a big whoosh loss right before

surgery, either.

 

If you're curious, I'm 5'7". Size 24 jeans, size 2-3x tops.

Consult weight: 280

Current weight: 267

Because this plan you can stick to, the others you could not...Remeber the "tool" that everyone talks about. It's a diet with a huge help. Before it was like going into battle without weapons and now you'll have the mother of all weapons. That's how I look at it.

Everyone's experience is different.  Have you tried dieting?  Have you been able to keep the weight off by yourself?  In my experience, I lost a lot of weight in the first three months, probably around 60lbs or more.  Then by the time I hit my 7 month mark, I had lost a total of 100 lbs.  I will be at one year in a a few days and will probably be at around 120 lbs.  During this process I have learned to eat differenlty, I have learned what triggers my eating, I have changed inside and out.  I have been able to do this without fighting the hunger monster.  I hope that I have learned over the last year, that I can't eat anything that I want to eat all of the time.  For me, it saved my life, I am no longer pre diabetic, I am no longer on blood pressure medicince, I no longer have high chloestrol, I can breathe, I have been released from my heart doctors.  I am actually healthy and have been given a second chance a life!

If you think you can do this on your own and keep it off then by all means, don't have the surgery.  You can not look at this as a "diet", you need to look at as an additional "tool" to help you lose the excess weight while you are trying to learn new eating habits and learning to live a healthier lifestyle for the rest of your life.

Please don't do the surgery if you are not ready to change your life permanently or you will be very disappointed and will probably regain the weight you lose in this journey.

I could always lose weight, but I'd gain it back with a vengence when I went off the diet.  The surgery makes it possible to sustain the loss long-term, if you follow your plan.  I never lost more than 60 pounds without falling off the diet and gaining the weight back.  So far, I've lost 160 pounds and I think I'll get to goal and sustain the loss.  Its just so much easier with the restriction and the change in my body and food drives. 

Three pounds a week may not sound like much, but three pounds a week for a year is 156 pounds.  I'll take that! 

Good luck with your weight loss journey, whichever way you go.

Carol

Because nothing else has worked for you in the past, and you're out of options.  If you're having the surgery to lose weight, then DON'T HAVE THE SURGERY.

Yes, you heard me right.  You have to not want to die a slow, miserable death from complications of obesity.  You have to want to change the life of your family; end the cycle of poor health and illness.  You have to want something more for yourself than you've had this far.  

This isn't about losing weight - it's about fulfilling the destiny you were always supposed to fulfill.  This isn't about what size jeans you're rocking - it's about rocking and rolling in those jeans.  

Do you want to put an end to the vicious cycle of diets, losing weight, gaining weight, and using medicines to keep your body together?  Are you committed to doing whatever it takes to discover the real you?  Doing whatever it takes means just that - it's not just surgery, it's not just a diet; it might mean intense therapy to help you face the reasons why you got here.  It very likely means putting yourself out there; risking the possibility of embarrassment in order to move your body.  It means being truthful with yourself and others.  It means asking for help.  It also means surrendering to the process.

If you do exactly what your doctor and nutritionist tell you do, you will succeed.  I promise.

 

You're going to be amazed at how food is going to be kind of a drag for awhile. That appetite hormone, ghrelin, will be greatly reduced. I can literally watch cooking shows and feel not one bit of hunger. I look at people eating hamburgers and fries and it's like...eeewwww...gross. Do they smell good? Sure. But the thought of eating it is like..no way. You'll be surprised at how protective you feel about your new tummy, too. You're not going to want to do anything to injure it or trigger a negative reaction like the foamies and slimies or acid barreling up your esophagus and burning the back of your throat. Yes, that last one happened to me. Once. Lesson learned!

Having a sleeve is NOT like every other diet plan.

First off, this is not a diet.  It is a complete lifestyle change.  You are deciding to alter your anatomy (and ideally your behavior) to attempt to lose weight.  What other "diet" has you do that?

Like so many others here, I too have lost weight in the past, only to see it come right back, no matter what I did or tried.  As both my PCP and surgeon told me, "We know you can lose weight.  You just can't keep it off."  They didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

Why did I do this?  Let's see.  Here's what's happened since I had surgery in July:

-Off my diabetes medicine (hopefully FOREVER) in August.

-My doctor declared me no longer diabetic (hopefully FOREVER) in October, 3 months post-op.

-Cholesterol is lowest ever.

-Blood pressure meds nearly gone.

-I can run again.

-I can cross my legs again.

-I can fit into chairs in the theater and at sports arenas without issue.

-I have turned my wardrobe over twice since July.

-I can stand all day to teach (and now prefer to do this instead of sitting on my lab stool to teach).

-Lower back pain is gone.

-I no longer eat until I am uncomfortably full.

-I have a powerful tool that I am using with the behavioral changes I've made and skills I'm learning in my weekly support group to be successful.

So what if I'm "ONLY" losing 2-3 pounds a week?  Losing that much a week is losing at a good clip, and as another poster already said, at 3 pounds a week, is 156 pounds a year.  Nothing to sneeze at! 

You really need to evaluate why you're planning to do this.  If you're doing this because you think you'll lose crazy amounts of weight without changing your attitude or behavior, you may want to re-evaluate your plan.  Having WLS of any kind requires serious commitment and behavioral change.  The surgery is a tool, and the doctor doesn't operate on your head or your psyche.  And in my opinion, those are the things that most often need the most work for anyone.

Good luck.

Look at my profile and the pictures there, especially the one with 10 months of me.  I will be 1 year out on Dec. 28.  I have tried zillions of diets.  I never lost more than 40 lbs.

 

This works.  It's still work, but it is effective if you do your part.

Btw--I started in a size 24 pants.  The pants I have on right now are a size 4.  Less than a year.  And they are loose.  My "dream" goal was size 6 (I am short).

It is worth it.  You will lose more than 2 lbs/week for a while.  In my profile you can see my monthly "stats."  You theoretically could just drop your calories way low, follow the low-carb, low-cal, high protien food plan, and get the same results.  But I will pay you $1,000 if you can actually do that and stick with it long enough to lose 100 lbs and maintain that loss for 1 year.