Barrr

I am a 50-year-old man who struggled with my weight most of my life, starting with being an overweight kid. No diet or exercise program produced tangible, good results. At my annual physical in March I weighed in at 405 pounds. I take no meds, and up to this point, my most serious health issue has been sleep apnea that I was trying to handle with CPAP (mostly unsuccessfully). Given my alarmingly high weight, my doctor recommended that I look into the bariatric surgery option.
I eagerly started the process, looking at it as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for getting back to normal body weight and gaining a quality of life I have not enjoyed for a long time.
The bariatric program I joined requires that patients lose 10% of their weight before even being scheduled for surgery. Insurance also requires at least 3 months of engagement with a managed weight loss program. I was determined that despite my past struggles with diets, I will do whatever it takes to make the cut.
I met with the program's nutritionist and had a very nice discussion with her. Then I went home, and threw out the materials she gave me (calorie counting book, etc), and ignored all her directions and advice. I dove into reading and research and started implementing a diet largely based on Matthew Weiner's A Pound of Cure vegetable-focused program. I had immediate success, losing 20 lbs in the first month (guaranteed, a lot of that may have been water weight held onto by insulin). I kept reading and experimenting, incorporating advice from Sten Ekberg (Master Your Health), Eric Berg, Dave Asprey (Bulletproof Diet), Jason Fung (fasting strategies), and many others.
At this point, I am three months into my pre-op personally directed diet. I have
lost a total of 70 pounds have a current weight loss rate of 1 lb / day feeling great COMPLETE resolution of my sleep apnea issues 120/80 blood pressure (was somewhat high at the beginning of the program) went from a size 4XL to wearing 2XL (depending on cut of clothing) 48 inch waist to 42 inch waist not counting calories no hunger or craving issues I am just starting to discover the research (a recent Nobel Prize-winning one) regarding Autophagy and its related health benefits brought about by intermittent fasting, and many other possibilities.
Next week I am scheduled to meet with the bariatric program's PA, do my weigh-in, and (pending insurance approval) schedule the surgery.
I am torn and in doubt.
The last few months have been some of the most exhilarating experiences in my life. Gaining control of my body and my overall health in the way I have done in such a short period of time is amazing.
The bariatric surgery option, which just a short while ago seemed like a Holy Grail lifesaver to me, seems full of pitfalls and restrictions on the methods I can do to manage my body weight and health. I was looking forward to trying out possibilities with time-restricted eating, and using longer fasts (triggering autophagy) to eliminate loose, hanging skin that might come about otherwise with significant weight loss.
On the other hand, I still weigh 335 pounds and am nowhere near my goal of a healthy 200. What if my weight loss stalls out well short of that goal?
The sensible answer might be to simply wait, see what happens, and re-engage with the program if it seems necessary to keep pushing past a stall point.
However, for reasons I do not want to detail, I might not have this option after this year. Under these circumstances, if this was your only chance to move ahead with a Gastric Sleeve operation, would you do it? Any other thoughts?
Your help is greatly appreciated.

I am a 50-year-old man who struggled with my weight most of my life, starting with being an overweight kid. No diet or exercise program produced tangible, good results. At my annual physical in March I weighed in at 405 pounds. I take no meds, and up to this point, my most serious health issue has been sleep apnea that I was trying to handle with CPAP (mostly unsuccessfully). Given my alarmingly high weight, my doctor recommended that I look into the bariatric surgery option.
I eagerly started the process, looking at it as a once-in-a-lifetime chance for getting back to normal body weight and gaining a quality of life I have not enjoyed for a long time.
The bariatric program I joined requires that patients lose 10% of their weight before even being scheduled for surgery. Insurance also requires at least 3 months of engagement with a managed weight loss program. I was determined that despite my past struggles with diets, I will do whatever it takes to make the cut.
I met with the program's nutritionist and had a very nice discussion with her. Then I went home, and threw out the materials she gave me (calorie counting book, etc), and ignored all her directions and advice. I dove into reading and research and started implementing a diet largely based on Matthew Weiner's A Pound of Cure vegetable-focused program. I had immediate success, losing 20 lbs in the first month (guaranteed, a lot of that may have been water weight held onto by insulin). I kept reading and experimenting, incorporating advice from Sten Ekberg (Master Your Health), Eric Berg, Dave Asprey (Bulletproof Diet), Jason Fung (fasting strategies), and many others.
At this point, I am three months into my pre-op personally directed diet. I have
lost a total of 70 pounds have a current weight loss rate of 1 lb / day feeling great COMPLETE resolution of my sleep apnea issues 120/80 blood pressure (was somewhat high at the beginning of the program) went from a size 4XL to wearing 2XL (depending on cut of clothing) 48 inch waist to 42 inch waist not counting calories no hunger or craving issues I am just starting to discover the research (a recent Nobel Prize-winning one) regarding Autophagy and its related health benefits brought about by intermittent fasting, and many other possibilities.
Next week I am scheduled to meet with the bariatric program's PA, do my weigh-in, and (pending insurance approval) schedule the surgery.
I am torn and in doubt.
The last few months have been some of the most exhilarating experiences in my life. Gaining control of my body and my overall health in the way I have done in such a short period of time is amazing.
The bariatric surgery option, which just a short while ago seemed like a Holy Grail lifesaver to me, seems full of pitfalls and restrictions on the methods I can do to manage my body weight and health. I was looking forward to trying out possibilities with time-restricted eating, and using longer fasts (triggering autophagy) to eliminate loose, hanging skin that might come about otherwise with significant weight loss.
On the other hand, I still weigh 335 pounds and am nowhere near my goal of a healthy 200. What if my weight loss stalls out well short of that goal?
The sensible answer might be to simply wait, see what happens, and re-engage with the program if it seems necessary to keep pushing past a stall point.
However, for reasons I do not want to detail, I might not have this option after this year. Under these circumstances, if this was your only chance to move ahead with a Gastric Sleeve operation, would you do it? Any other thoughts?
Your help is greatly appreciated.

Interesting... is your doctor prohibiting you from coffee because of your Gastric Sleeve in general, or do you have other health conditions to warrant this?

I am pre-op, but my research indicates that many bariatric surgeons are OK with their patients drinking coffee once they are in the solid food phase. Check out Matthew Weiner on YouTube among others regarding this topic.

Interesting... is your doctor prohibiting you from coffee because of your Gastric Sleeve in general, or do you have other health conditions to warrant this?

I am pre-op, but my research indicates that many bariatric surgeons are OK with their patients drinking coffee once they are in the solid food phase. Check out Matthew Weiner on YouTube among others regarding this topic.