Your help and advice please

Hi, I have just joined the group and I am thinking of having a sleeve in the new year. I have seen a consultant who thinks it’s my best option . I am really struggling with one thing : to lose and maintain weight you need to be forever on a diet so how does the sleeve really benefit as a diet alone will do that. The reason I am considering it as because I can’t stick to a diet forever, I can diet and lose weight but same old story when you stop. Would this be the same after sleeve surgery. Thx for any help you can give

The reason the sleeve works is you physically can not overeat. You lose quickly, which is totally motivating.

But you're right, I'm 6 years from surgery and I still do have to eat properly. But while losing I got in the habit of healthy eating and exercising, plus I REALLY love the way I look (totally normal!!), so there is no way I will go back to my old habits. Now after all these years I can eat so much more than early on. It would be very easy to regain. So, yes, you will have to commit to healthy eating for life.

Thanks for your advice sraebaer, really helpful. I’m sure you know how I feel prior to actually committing to surgery......Am I doing the right thing ????

It is definitely life changing, but its ALL good. You will have to see a nutritionist who will discuss life after the sleeve with you. As Sharon said, you physically will not be able to eat and if you do overeat, you will be so miserable that you will NOT want to feel that way again. You will lose weight quickly, but its important that you learn the tools that will help you keep the weight OFF.

Thank you kenson for your valuable advice ����

I think you're doing the right thing, it was absolutely life changing. From a huge size 22 to a size 8 in less than a year. But it would be SO EASY to go back to eating crap, that you seriously need the commitment. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide.

I want to thank Sandown for the post and Kenson and Sraebaer for your response. I am also asking myself if I am doing the right thing. The reason I question this is because every since I have been considering this surgery I seem to be struggling more with eating the wrong foods and binging. I have actually put on 5 lbs, which is very depressing. I think I am using food because I am saying goodbye to my love/hate relationship with food. I feel bad about it because I know that it would be helpful if I would practice some of the committments that I will be making after surgery. I am hitting rock bottom at a new level and the day of surgery cannot come soon enough. Jan. 3rd I will see my doctor and set the date. I know I am ready for this lifetime committment but right now just dont have what it takes to stop "using." Any response is greatly appreciated.

Not gonna lie, it is hard. Not at first since you cannot physically overeat and can literally eat pure crap and still lose weight the first year. It gets hard usually around year 2. You're able to overeat by then by grazing. A lot of people do gain the weight back. There are a few of us here, sraebaer and Kenson being two of them, who have been committed to not going back to where we came from. Those two ladies follow the rules, do it the right way, and are successful. I do not do it the right way. I eat junk - all of it. But when my weight creeps up, I nip that right in the butt and starve until it's back down. The sleeve is magical for about a year then you have to put in the work. If you want it badly enough, you can do it.

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Originally Posted by Sandown64

Thanks for your advice sraebaer, really helpful. I’m sure you know how I feel prior to actually committing to surgery......Am I doing the right thing ????

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The "right" thing is always self-care, however makes its healthy way into your life.
I'm post op 2 + years, and beyond the benefit of a body that fits into clothes well (yes, I can be vain), my HEALTH is so amazingly better. No high blood pressure, no more diabetes, no high cholesterol, and YES, I do eat differently now.

I truly admire women like Ann2, sraebaer and the other long term folks on here who are out living adventures and making memories that will be forever for their family and friends. My memories are not so much adventures as being fully present with my 6 adult-children and their kids, and with my beloved husband and friends. I had lots of years where I could not go outside our home, and it was isolating and depressing. Not because of my size as much as because of the impact my size had on my health issues.

Even my chronic CAD, CVA's and failed triple by-pass are no longer imperative issues to be addressed daily. They are do-able, and leave me able to live a full and yes, fun, life!

SO yes, for me it was a right decision. We were self-pay, and to spend that much money on oneself, after raising kids through grad school, seemed so "frivolous". But to a person, my family only wishes I could have done it sooner.

Hugs on your journey. Keep asking questions.

I'm approaching my 5 year anniversary! You will have to commit to a new lifestyle because YOU CAN GAIN IT BACK! Overeating will make you miserable. Watch yourself after the 1st couple of years as grazing can get you, plus watch what you drink. You can drink excess calories. You don't have to think of it as a diet. It is a lifestyle change. You will enjoy the progress the losses and milestones..watch out when things level out. I read blogs and forums about the lack of exciting milestones after a while. Stay strong when the scale doesnt show progress, and the compliments slow down. Remember, you didn't go through all of this for nothing! That's what keeps me motivated. I refuse to gain the weight back as I have felt great without the excess weight! Good luck!

Well as the old saying goes there is good news and bad news. The bad news first. Yes you will have to make permanent dietary changes. You will have to make permanent lifestyle changes. You have an eating disorder like all of us here and you need to change.

Now the GOOD news.Yes dieting is difficult, however the Gastric Sleeve is an incredibly powerful weight loss tool. I said tool not solution. What the sleeve will give you is a smaller stomach that can only take a certain amount of food thus less calories. With almost all sleeve patients you will only be able to consume a much smaller amount of food. You will have to learn how to do that. I found it is not that hard. In most patients the surgery will take away the powerful urge to eat, its still there but to a varying smaller degree. This helped me a lot. You will lose weight quickly. This will motivate and reward you. As you lose quickly you can walk more and you will feel less and less uncomfortable. This is a powerful motivation. You will soon look and FEEL better. As I have said before attack the sleeve. Eat less, walk more, consume better quality foods, drink more fluids and exercise more. As you lose you just might feel like doing these things.

In summary is the sleeve surgery a diet? No. It is a powerful tool to greatly assist your desire to BE A BETTER MORE HEALTHY PERSON. You can do this and as I usually say you are worth it. Get all the info you can to help you make this choice. I was like you I could lose 30-50 lbs just to regain it all back. Not anymore. My weight is stable for the last 18 months. It worked for me better than I thought it would. For me It was not that hard. For others it might be. I wish I did it 10 years sooner. Take charge of YOUR life!