Layla

My impression is that you deceive yourself on a number of levels. All of us fat people do it. The most basic truth I ever told myself was "There is no way I will lose 100 pounds and keep it off without this surgery." I have lost 85 since July 2011. Your anecdotal comments about people in your family who are fat but still alive are a rationalization for not taking the step you know you need to take. And if you think you are "in the driver's seat" with your eating being your master, you need to think again. I know this sounds harsh, for which I apologize, but it is no service or help to you to encourage you to continue in self decpetion. You cannot lose the weight as much and as permanently as you should, or you would have done so. And as we ALL know, health is only a portion of our pain. Do you really like being treated by society like a person a little lower than a criminal? If you can honestly tell yourself that none of the fat hatred you are surrounded with every day hurts you, then by all means, yo-yo for the rest of your life. As for myself, I am overjoyed to have been sleeved, and HATED being fat every second (though really like myself in general) And I do NOT believe for a minute you'd be happy at 175 for the rest of your life. There are NO guarantees in this life, but the previous commenter, talking about this surgery having been done for decades for other medical reasons, is absolutely correct. The first few weeks post surg are not particularly easy, but I urge you to go with the sleeve if you can do it. And at the very LEAST, take a long cold look at what you are telling yourself about your problem with food. All the best...