I am having my VSG on March 15th. I have every confidence in my surgeon. My doubt is.......will this work for me? I have been on Jenny Craig three times, Weight Watchers twice, HCG drops, Adkins, and caloric restriction. I always gain my weight back. Now that I am menopausal, I can look at food and gain 2-3 lbs. This surgery is my last hope............will it work?

Now I haven't had my surgery yet...but what I've gathered from my new obsession "VSG-er stalking" lol....You/we will FOR SURE lose the weight to begin with...but the maintenance and how much we lose will be up to us and our choices. Youtube has been very informative in actually seeing people and what they have gone through. Many post every week and you even see them when they are having a bad day. I too have tried everything...this is it for me! Hope my ramblings helped.

I never really doubted surgery, but the doubts I had were tied to my previous diet attempts and failures. With VSG, I didn't feel like I was dieting at all. It was easy to follow my dietary guideline. The fact that I've lost all my physical hunger is a huge contributor to my success. At 21 months out, I still never experience true physical hunger.

Losing was easy, maintenance was tricky. I had to establish a new relationship with food. I have to still make the very best choice on what I put in my mouth. BUT, making that best choice is much easier with VSG. I lost 138lbs with VSG in 10.5 months. The first 115lbs were lost in 6.5 months post-vsg so losing was easy for me. I was diligent with my carb intake, and Protein intake. It's a lifelong change, and honestly, establishing better habits, and seeing food as fuel helped me be successful.

I honestly believe that with any of the surgery choices that our amount of success is completely dependent upon on US. No surgery fixes our head hunger or bad habits. Success is a choice, and I chose to make the best choice about 85% of the time. I have been in maintenance for almost a year, and honestly, it's still pretty easy to stay the course. I have indulgences, I eat junk food, but moderation is what keeps me in check. I wanted to be as "normal" as possible, and I firmly believe normal, naturally thin women eat Cookies. Big difference now is I can eat 2-3 cookies instead of the entire package, and I am truly content.

My story sounds like yours - I did everything to lose weight and always gained it back. I was my own worse enemy - I accepted the failure time after time rather than working hard to keep the weight off.

I'm only three months post-op but I feel empowered. I have the tool that will help me be successful this time! I'm 55 yrs old and have never felt more energized! I actually walked up 4 flights of stairs on Friday and did not feel short of breath. I'm almost at Onederland! What a thrill that is!!!

Tiffykins is right - you have to make the right food choices. I also discovered that I'll still have to fight days when I'm very frustrated and want to comfort myself by eating everything in sight. Failure is not an option this time, my future depends on it.

Good luck!!!

Nah... it won't work.

OK really... it can't not work, at least for the first few months. At first, because of the swelling, you're SO restricted it'd be impossible not to lose weight (and please, please don't let a stall freak you out. We ALL get them, so expect it and know that one morning you'll see a huge drop--it's just your body holding Water trying to equalize itself), but there will come a time when it's not the sleeve doing all the work anymore, and it's on YOU to keep doing things the right way.

Through my first 50 lbs or so, I had trouble believing that I'd just keep losing and losing 'til I got where I wanted to be, but when I passed that 200 mark, suddenly I finally let myself believe that YES, I'm gonna do this!! I've been stuck--no, that's the wrong word. Rephrasing: I haven't lost anything in several months now, but that's because I've slipped back into pre-surgery mode, mentally... I'm maintaining just fine, but still have a ways to go. But even with that--I'm down from a tight size 20 jeans to a solid TEN (which I thought I'd be thrilled to see, and am, but it'll get even better!) and even an eight on one lying brand soooo... kinda hard to argue with that!

Anyway yeah--you'll have to experience it to believe it, but it'll work.

We're hand in hand! = 55, surgery 12-9-10, about 36 lbs lost, and I'm almost at onderland too, 207 this morn. Great to meet you! Lu

My story sounds like yours - I did everything to lose weight and always gained it back. I was my own worse enemy - I accepted the failure time after time rather than working hard to keep the weight off.

I'm only three months post-op but I feel empowered. I have the tool that will help me be successful this time! I'm 55 yrs old and have never felt more energized! I actually walked up 4 flights of stairs on Friday and did not feel short of breath. I'm almost at Onederland! What a thrill that is!!!

Tiffykins is right - you have to make the right food choices. I also discovered that I'll still have to fight days when I'm very frustrated and want to comfort myself by eating everything in sight. Failure is not an option this time, my future depends on it.

Good luck!!!