Newbie - Consultation 11/15

[lbraxton]

Good morning! My name is Trina and I'm considering the gastric sleeve. I've attended a seminar to obtain information regarding the different WL surgeries available to me and I've decided that the sleeve will be my best option. With that being said, I'm still battling with can I actually lose the weight on my own w/out surgery and I have to do this for me and not worry about how it's done and just use this an opportunity as a fresh start. I've been diagnosed w/sleep apnea and high blood pressure and I'm just tired of being tired. Since contemplating the surgery, I've lost 10lbs and am still focused. Unfortunately, I've been here before and that's why I'm seriously considering the surgery. Has anyone else felt like this? Any thoughts?

Good luck to all that have started this journey.

[KariVSG]

You got this. Welcome to the new you

[ghost_ryder]

Congrats on taking the first step. I went through the same mental gymnastics and eventually decided on having the sleeve surgery. It went all the way to the day before surgery, I had lost 22 lbs on a longer modified pre-op diet. Why cant I do this on my own? Because I will lose focus and slip back to the old habits.

So far in the two and half months since surgery, I have tried several of my old trigger foods to find I hate them now. My palete has changed since surgery. Diet Dr Pepper is aweful, KitKat was Blah, and several other items I no longer enjoy. In the four months since I started my high protein low sugar diet I have certainly changed not only how much I eat but what I like when I eat. If you use the months following surgery to change your habits, you will amke life long changes.

[garyshoe]

Good morning! My name is Trina and I'm considering the gastric sleeve. I've attended a seminar to obtain information regarding the different WL surgeries available to me and I've decided that the sleeve will be my best option. With that being said, I'm still battling with can I actually lose the weight on my own w/out surgery and I have to do this for me and not worry about how it's done and just use this an opportunity as a fresh start. I've been diagnosed w/sleep apnea and high blood pressure and I'm just tired of being tired. Since contemplating the surgery, I've lost 10lbs and am still focused. Unfortunately, I've been here before and that's why I'm seriously considering the surgery. Has anyone else felt like this? Any thoughts?

Good luck to all that have started this journey.

I too had similar medical concerns - sleep apnea, diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. I had the sleeve procedure on Sept 28th. My weighin on the day of surgery showed I had lost about 30 lbs on the pre-op diet and I was concerned that perhaps if I finally took the dieting seriously, perhaps just a diet change would do it. However, I am now down slightly more than 40lbs and I believe the sleeve process forced me to look seriouosly at lifestyle changes so it was key to my continuing losing. Now that I am on the soft food phase, i can honestly say the sleeve makes me significantly less hungry and also I eat much less. So the sleeve procedure is helping me.

[pgonzalez1973]

Hi Trina, I felt the exact same way as you. I too was diagnosed with sleep apnea, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. During my preop diet I lost 18lbs and was asking myself why can't I do this on my own? do I really need surgery? I have tried diets all my adult life and honestly have lost up to 60lbs, it's not a matter of can you do the diet or not, it's if you can maintain and stay out of bad habits. That being said I decided to move forward with the procedure and so far I have no regrets, I'm not going to lie it's not easy but well worth it when you start seeing results. So far I've dropeed 30lbs pre+post combined and feeling very motivated. Good luck to you!!

[RehabNurse]

I'm still battling with can I actually lose the weight on my own w/out surgery

Most of us can lose weight on our own without surgery. Since my mid-teens, I've lost a couple of hundred pounds over the years (30 pounds here, 60 pounds there, etc.).

Here's the caveat...95 percent of us regain it all back plus more without surgery. We focus on weight loss when the real challenge is keeping the weight off for life. Weight loss surgery is the only proven tool in our arsenal to offer a fighting chance at maintaining whatever we lose.

Good luck to you.

[WANAGL]

WELCOME!

I spent eight long years trying unsuccessfully to rid myself of health-related weight gain, only to gain more and become MORE unhealthy!
This is hands down the best decision I ever made for me and my health.

Best of luck as you embark on your journey!

[enuffzenuff]

Hi Trina,
I am 1 week and 2 days post op and can tell you this. I experienced the same exact feelings you have while looking in to the surgery. It is a life changing moment and is a big decision to make. It took me a long time to actually go for it. The emotional roller coaster is one hell of a ride. I did tons of research and talking to people and realized this was for me. The question of can you lose the weight on your own, well I think when I asked that question to myself I answered yes I can. The question I had to answer was could I maintain it after I lost it and that answer was no. For years of "dieting" I would lose the weight and then gain it back 2-fold. Once I came to peace with the fact that I will have to change my habits and the way I live then it was so much easier to deal with.

[jamma]

I am just one week post-op, and called one surgery off 3 years ago. In that time, I lost weight, regained, my health worsened, I became inactive, every physical thing exhausted me. I finally said that the weight was such a barrier to the way I want to live my life. My husband and I are very social, we live on a lake, have many grandchildren, we travel, play golf, follow our local team. We have such a full life and I wasn't enjoying any of it. I tried so many times to keep the weight off, but when I started thinking of this surgery as a tool to get me the life I longed for, that changed my mind. I will never be free of temptation, of the desire to "just read a book" instead of going kayaking , I mean the surgery doesn't make you a different person, but it will help you be the person you know you can be. Hope this helps decision making.

[lbraxton]

This hit home...I feel the same way you felt, can I maintain it and the honest answer is NO. I haven't been able to so I figure why NOT try something different that has proven to work.

Thanks so much for those words of encouragement

[lbraxton]

Great job!

[lbraxton]

Thank you! Getting excited and scared at the same time!