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Everyone has these issues and concerns. This is serious stuff! Your family is concerned about something drastic but they have not walked in your shoes. My wife was really against it at first but over time has come around and is just concerned. I personally have waffled on the decision but in the end realize there are three things that impact my decision. First, if I do nothing different I will continue to be overweight. I've lost weight in the past (a lot of it) but it comes back. Hunger is powerful motivator. It is primitive emotion, just think of the animals around you. They will always eat if given the opportunity. What keeps wild animals thin is not metabolism but rather lack of excess food. Hunger will always drive you. Yes some people can eat as much as they want but we ain't them! The first year hopefully I will be able to divorce eating and hunger from each other and learn there is a difference between the two. I will learn to not eat all the time. I am a diabetic that is weight controlled for now but I know it will slowly become a problem if nothing is done. The second factor is volume. I know I will not be able to just anything I want at the volume I want. Our stomachs are designed to expand to work in a feast/famine world. The problem is now there is no famine for us, just feast. By severely reducing the volume I can eat at one time I will not be physically able to consume, consume, consume. If I try to consume to much it will come back out. I imagine the is not pleasant so I will naturally try to avoid it. It is not worth shoving food in to throw it back up. Third is dumping. My research is that the things that cause dumping are those food you want to avoid anyway, RNY or not. My sister has the sleeve (so not as likely to dump) but certain foods disagree with her. For her it is just not worth the discomfort of those food. Cakes and bread are a problem for her. Much more than a bite or two she knows she will have a problem. Just not worth it for her. I guess a forth one for me is the type of surgery. I am not really a good candidate for a sleeve since I have GRD but the success rate of the RNY is so much better. I always look at the average (not the best case, not the worst case) and the RNY weight loss is significantly better at getting close to ideal weight. My last thoughts are these. Give your family time to come to terms with it. It has taken me months to resolve this in my own head and just as long for my wife. I was able to articulate that I wasn't doing this look or even feel better. I am doing this for my health. I want to have a higher quality of life for longer.

I'm not sure you'll have to give up all Chinese food unless you choose to. It sounds like you are a fan of the flavors, not necessarily turned on by the grease and quantity; my favorite part of the buffet was always the appetizer section, and I'd eat two platesful of that stuff before ever looking at the entrees! If I were you, I'd be looking for Chinese recipes you can cook at home, looking for flavors and spices you can eat/enjoy. I know that's what I will be doing... once I can actually think of Chinese food again, LOL! Honestly, I didn't have this surgery so I can eliminate large groups of foods from my diet. All along I have said that I am going to use my sleeve as a tool to help me with portion control and food choice, but I'd be lying to say I'm never again going to have an adult beverage, or some bites of pie, or a couple of fried clams. My goal is to stick to ONE or TWO small servings, bites, etc., of whatever I CHOOSE to eat. I was never good on either portion control or food choice, but now I am getting REALLY good at it (yesterday's fiasco not withstanding...)

I am more than 6 months post-op and doing well. My weight, blood levels, etc., are all at the point that my surgeon hopes to see at a YEAR post-op; she and my Nut were both very impressed and supportive at my 6month visit. I am saying this just so people realize I AM following the program... mostly... It is school vacation week and I decided to treat myself; I went to the Chinese buffet for lunch. Nobody else in my family likes this kind of meal, so I usually take myself to lunch once or twice a year. I have been doing really well with portion control, so thought I was ready. I ate the filling from two crab rangoons, the meat from inside one dumpling, a small chicken meatball, most of a 3" piece of chicken teriyaki, a 2" piece of boneless rib, and part of the meat (no skin, no coating) from a piece of chicken wing. I'd been eating slowly and was feeling full, but not bad, so I decided to have some ice cream. I LOVE the soft serve at the buffet, and thought I'd be OK. Four slow, small bites of ice cream and I was hustling off to the bathroom, where most of my lunch came back up! You might wonder why I thought Chinese buffet would be an OK thing. Well, I have had eggs foo yung several times since surgery, successfully. I buy the quart-sized box, don't eat the rice or gravy, and one box gives me one or two dinners AND three or four lunches. I mean, it's mostly eggs and veg (and grease... but I scrape off as much of the gravy as humanly possible). I thought if I am OK with this, I should be OK with the appetizer-type foods- and a treat trip to the buffet is a vacation tradition for me! Looking at it now, I realize I ate way more than I'd usually eat in a meal; it looked like not much because of the parts I wasn't eating, and it's SO MUCH less than I used to eat, but when I think about the sheer quantity of the food, I can see what the problem was: TOO MUCH FOOD! You know what else, though? I didn't enjoy it like I used to enjoy it. I don't revel in the greasiness anymore- fat/grease makes me kind-of want to gag a little bit. However, my relationship to food has changed. I realize now that part of my food-affair was the sheer quantity of food that I could eat. I can't eat like that anymore, and I don't miss it. Don't get me wrong- some of that food yesterday tasted delicious- but it's not the same anymore, and I am fine with that. Honestly, remembering how I felt all afternoon and evening, I don't think I'll be tempted by the Chinese buffet again!

I have surgery on Monday 4/24. Good luck!!!

I finally got my date I am going for surgery may 10 I am excited but nervous all at the same time is it normal to feel all different emotions

My insurance approved in about 1 week

Thanks so much for this reassurance

perhaps his case is a rarity. I have zero problems drinking or eating. I take my vitamins religiously. Im sleeved however.

The body needs carbs to regain weight (insulin is a building hormone). White sugar actually gets adrenaline going, which is counter productive since adrenaline is a weight loss hormone. (Ever see a skinny sugar junkie? I have!) So, concentrate on complex carbs, healthy fats, proteins, and vitamins so the body has everything it needs to start building again. Exercise should be moderate cardio (30 minutes, 3 times a week) OR walking 3-5 miles per day. AND weight lifting 2-3 times a week. I have no way of knowing how many carbs y'all should aim for, as it just depends on your own metabolisms. A good general starting point is 150g/day. If that seems high.. well it has to be to get you gaining. If it seems low, then add 50g a day to what you are currently consuming. Increase the carbs by 50g/day each week until you stop losing weight.

I wish I had stayed off because this is the story of my life. I've been going hard, meeting my protein requirements and exceeding my water. I abstain from sf beverages and spread my protein throughout the day. I just find it so unfair that I've been near perfect while other people are seeing great losses.