Star Dust

Everyone is so different, this is a hard question to answer. I know that when I was *on* and had last 100 pounds, was very into my nutrition, macros, workouts and with a complete restructure of my routines, I was SO thankful that I had chosen natural weight loss rather than a bariatric surgery as a tool. I still thought that when I gained it back and lost 100 pounds again. Now 14 years as passed and each time I've gained weight it's been harder to loose it while following the same nutrition and exercise framework and my body is really starting to hurt. I need to do something quickly because even loosing 100 pounds means I still had about 100 more to loose and I'm not sure I can do that AND maintain it.

At this point you should be totally restructuring your approach to food. It is fuel not there to comfort you with reminders of past routines. I'd really encourage you to wrap your head around maximine protien and nutrients per bite.

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At this point you should be totally restructuring your approach to food. It is fuel not there to comfort you with reminders of past routines. I'd really encourage you to wrap your head around maximine protien and nutrients per bite.

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Get it out! they can do permanent damage. I revised to RNY (self pay) and would do it ten times over. wish i'd just saved myself the 11 years of torture and done it years ago.

Thanks everyone for reaching out to me, I am actually doing better. Today is my second day back, since last week was only four hours a day and its become easier to get in and out of bed. My left side incision is closing like the doctor said it would and I am down 26 pounds since I had surgery 9/18/2017 hope I loose more have a great day guys

No one asks for you to take your time out of the day to read their story. In fact, feel free to block me so that we can stop any issue now or in the future.

The degree to which one should or shouldn't have to put up with something on this forum is not a finite answer. For instance, with regards to basic education, we learned early on to capitalize the first word of sentences. It sends the message that another phrase is beginning and when proper English was omitted from your response, your communication became cumbersome. However, my basic education has also taught me context so you don't have to worry as I understood you as I also understood the OP.

Thank you!! Walk walk walk!! I'll let you know how it goes x

My surgery is coming up, 10/10 - 4 more days. Really scared but cannot wait to get her done.

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i FINALLY gOT mY DATE!! 10/30/17 YAY!!

@blisair09 - I totally get what ur saying; however, I've found it has been a bit easier post surgery, for me anyway, because the hunger hormone (grehlin) has been significantly reduced in my stomach. Without it constantly nipping at my brain (or my back!), it's been easier to distract myself when I get that "mind hunger". Plus, since I decided to go thru this big surgery, I find I want to make sure and give it my all and do it right. I believe for the most part, lots of things change for people after surgery that allows them to be stronger and not cheat as readily as they would have prior to surgery. That's the whole reason for getting surgical intervention...lots of times, ur new anatomy won't LET u cheat, which is a good thing!

Now, that said, I also agree with@stardust that she should have a plan on what to do, post surg, when she gets that mind hunger because it will be there. What has really helped me is I created a schedule of what time to eat, what time to stop drinking Water, on when to take my vits, etc - for every hour of the day. (I'm only 20 days post op so I'm still new to this life). And I just go with the schedule, period. For me, that has helped guide me and not give me room (or time) for cheating.

But bottom line, I don't agree that just because u can't make it on the preop 'starvation diet' that u shouldn't have the surgery. Just my opinion based on my experience.

There is nothing wrong with proceeding as you are and see how far you can take it, and most particularly if you can stick with it. It is certainly a long shot to lose to a normal weight range and keep it off - as others have mentioned, there's about a 5% success rate in doing so. But that doesn't mean that you can't get part way to your goal and learn a lot in the process.
I started out on this WLS venture some 14 years ago when my wife and I got serious about our weight problem, and after doing some investigating on procedures and surgeons, started going to our surgeon's support group meetings. Long story shortened, it took a couple of years to get my wife on the table (she was #1 on the runway with her weight and comorbidities) but in the meantime, starting to comply with insurance requirements, started out 6 month diet/exrecise program. As I would probably taking more time, and was disinclined to play with fad diets, took a very strict no-fad-diet approach to this. Most of us know what we need to do - lower calories, minimize/eliminate junk food, more fruits/veg, whole grains in place of refined white grains, leaner meats, etc. etc. etc. Ultimate weight loss was not the primary goal as much as learning sustainable dietary/lifestyle habits consistent with long term weight control. If i could be amongst that lucky 5%, so much the better, but at least it should make the surgery and subsequent life easier and more stable.
I wound up losing a net of about 50 lb, or about a third of what I needed to lose. As we were still working to get my wife on the table, (eventually self paid) I just let it ride and kept going to see where I could go. Ultimately I couldn't lose any more sustainably, but continued in what eventually was a WLS maintenance life along with my wife after her surgery - I didn't lose any more, but didn't gain any back, either. After about six years our insurance started covering the sleeve, and as I wasn't going to lose any great amount more without surgical intervention, went ahead and restarted the process.
While this did delay things a few years, it also helped make some decisions. As I had developed a modicum of weight control, that helped move my decision toward the sleeve; had I regained my loss or more, as often happens, that would have moved me toward the DS (duodenal switch), which offers better regain resistance than the other mainstream WLS procedures. Also, the fundamentally good dietary habits that I had established (not perfect by any book's standards, but sustainable for me,) made the surgery and subsequent post op loss phase much easier as it helped me resist falling for any of the quickie fad diets many do to "improve" their WLS performance, but also have to unlearn to maintain the loss in the long term.
6+ years later and the weight is still stable.
So, if you are not in a hurry to get surgery, by timing of insurance coverage, or intolerable comorbidities, it can be worth it to wait and experiment with the diet/lifestyle habits. It seems that you are already well on your way.
Really short answer - there's no need to make a yes/no, surgery or diet, type of decision; rather one can easily take an evolutionary plan A/plan B approach and decide, or change decisions, later.

Everyone is so different, this is a hard question to answer. I know that when I was *on* and had last 100 pounds, was very into my nutrition, macros, workouts and with a complete restructure of my routines, I was SO thankful that I had chosen natural weight loss rather than a bariatric surgery as a tool. I still thought that when I gained it back and lost 100 pounds again. Now 14 years as passed and each time I've gained weight it's been harder to loose it while following the same nutrition and exercise framework and my body is really starting to hurt. I need to do something quickly because even loosing 100 pounds means I still had about 100 more to loose and I'm not sure I can do that AND maintain it.

Because you can get surgery to loose weight but it's no guarantee that it will fix a jerk.

This. All. Day.

I have only seen like two people say they regret it and I believe both of them had some personal issues they didn't address before hand.

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Everyone is so different, this is a hard question to answer. I know that when I was *on* and had last 100 pounds, was very into my nutrition, macros, workouts and with a complete restructure of my routines, I was SO thankful that I had chosen natural weight loss rather than a bariatric surgery as a tool. I still thought that when I gained it back and lost 100 pounds again. Now 14 years as passed and each time I've gained weight it's been harder to loose it while following the same nutrition and exercise framework and my body is really starting to hurt. I need to do something quickly because even loosing 100 pounds means I still had about 100 more to loose and I'm not sure I can do that AND maintain it.

Star Dust,
From what my surgeon told me, and also from things that I've read, you can have surgery to remove adhesions. The problem is, that it won't take long before they come back. Doesn't sound like a good solution at all. When I had my open hernia surgery in June, my surgeon told me that he was able to break some of the adhesions apart.
I had to have my wls so that I could lose 100 pounds and get my hernia taken care of. Plus I am 46 and at 334 pounds, the health problems were starting. I am glad I had the wls, even though I have the chronic Constipation.
Hop over to the thread that I started a few weeks ago, I believe it's titled "9 months out with severe costipation". Read through it and you will find some good suggestions for constipation, especially from my friend Berry78. I am going to do some of the things she suggested. They might help you.

Hello,
I feel your pain. I too, suffer with chronic Constipation. I had my sleeve in November of last year. I had problems with constipation before, but not to this extent. I have tried so many things, fiber, Miralax, tea, Fleet enemas, and 2 different prescriptions for constipation. I have been to the ER 4 times with severe abdominal pain over the past several months, with xrays and ct scans, only to find out that I am severly backed up. How embarrasing. I am currently taking 2 doses of Miralax daily and a probiotic called Phillip's colon health. I have been doing this for 2 months. The combination of the two might of helped a little a few weeks ago, but for the past few weeks I have been in severe pain with only a couple of bowel movements. I have drank 3 bottles of magnesium citrate, spaced a few days apart and the only one that worked was the 3rd bottle last week.
Last week, the constipation was so bad that I had a partially blocked bowel. Horrible nausea and child bearing type pain. Now several days past that and I am having the same awful pain and constipation.
My surgeon and gastroenterologist are well aware of my problems. Yes, constipation can be an issue for some people after the sleeve. Also, if you have had other abdominal surgeries like I have (hystertectomy, colon resection, Wls and my most recent, abdominal open hernia), they are known for causing adhesions. After much research, but also coming from my surgeon, adhesions are the likely cause for the constipation.
If you haven't tried the enema, I suggest that and a bottle of magnesium citrate. If you think you may have adhesions from previous abdominal surgeries, then find out more info on that. Be sure and talk to your doctor about the constipation.
I hope you find something that works for you.

That is all so exciting - congratulations!!!

A long time poster on here used to say something I have adopted. She says she considers this weight MAINTENANCE surgery and I agree.

I've lost 50-100 pounds more times than I can count. This is the first time I have EVER kept it off. 135 lbs for three years now.

Can I ask, when you say still having trouble with Water and Vitamins, do you mean changing your routine to accommodate them or do you mean, literally your stomach is having a hard time keeping them down?

For any others who may search for weed or cannabis plus bariatric surgery there are a few more points to consider.
Coughing after surgery is painful. When I had my gastric band it was painful to cough for awhile afterwards. If you decide to use again, take very small green hits from clean accessories and don't hold it in.
Speaking of clean, be very careful with the quality of your flowers and accessories. It can be easy to introduce a bacterial or fungal infection into your body from tainted products.
And also speaking of coughing, it very likely will make you barf post op. At least in the beginning.
A form of edible to try that may be more advantageous to you would be a mouth spray or tinture. The THC is absorbed through the mouth rather than the small intestine where edibles like baked goods, candies or soda is absorbed.
While cannabis may aid in physically healing, it may disconnect you from the psychological healing. Post op is the time when you are learning your new stomach and digestive symptoms as well as reshaping your approach to food. You will want to be paying very close attention so that you can get the most out of the post op honeymoon phase and be as healthy as possible.
And lastly, because of the disconnect in Federal verses State laws, if you need pain meds for any significant amount of time, be prepared to hear from the doctor that you will need to start piss testing clean from cannabis or they won't perscribe anything for you.
(I am a national advocate for cannabis and travel to DC once a year to lobby for safe access policies)
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Because you can get surgery to loose weight but it's no guarantee that it will fix a jerk.

This will be the lady with complications who asks God 'why!!!!??' and he'll say 'my Messengers told you the doctor was a wack job, but you made a choice to worship a false idol and have him perform the sugery anyways'

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What are your plans to turn your mind away from emotional eating after the surgery?