I'm asking this not because I think going through this process is easy by any means. It takes courage and determination to make those lifestyle changes that are needed to be successful with sleeving. I'm asking this because I'm a little scared about committing to this surgery. I read and read the forums, and I am packed full of information. But in my stupid little head i keep thinking. "if you do this then your a failure, you can lose weight on your own without getting cut open and parts removed". I'm 47, 320 lbs, and on every blood pressure/choloesterol med known to man if feels like. My dad died of a heart attack at 38 and my doctor says they are treating me like I've already had a cardiac event.. which i havent.

Did any body else out there struggle with making the decision to sleeve? Did you feel like a failure because you couldnt do it "on your own"? How did you over come those voices?

Congrats to all of you and many successes in the future.

Mike

Is sleeving the easy way out?

Not only no but HELL NO!! It's not the easy way. At all. It is going to take work and determination. You are going to have to make the right food choices to succeed.

Let me put it to you like this. If you get sleeved and you lose the excess weight and your health improves drastically, will you feel like a failure?? I am guessing you would not.

I wish you the best of luck and I'm sure you will do well, as long as you are ready for the change.

I had planned on starting my weight loss surgery program in November 2012 and having the surgery during my Christmas vacation weeks. I’d be sleeved and back at work. Then I’d astonishingly start losing weight, with on one being the wiser.

But I chickened out before I made my 1st appointment. I am not the kind to do anything as permanent as having most of my stomach removed. Heck, I won’t even get a tattoo. My motto: Always have a way out, a backup plan, a way to undo things if it’s a mistake.

But at the beginning of December, I reevaluated my situation and fell back on the tried and true questions that motivated me to get through sticky times in my career and college.

1. Do you want to be in this same situation a year from now?
   
2. Do you see things getting better without going through this?
   

And the answer to both was a resounding, “NO!”

This is the hardest "easy way out" I've ever done!

This is not a miracle cure and you have to put blood sweat and tears into it! literally!

There is still a chance of "failure". so easy?

No! I feel no sense of guilt or personal failure choosing this procedure, In doing so I have given my self a fighting chance.

Not at all. To go through what we have to pre and post-op was not easy. However, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Absolutely, 100% no!! The sleeve is not the easy way out. For folks like you, me, and every other human that struggles with morbid obesity, we CANNOT lose weight and keep it off without the sleeve/bypass/band. It is almost impossible to do. So, first you have to accept that as a fact. Trust me, sleeving is not easy, but it is a great tool that will help you succeed. If you have failed at every diet you have ever tried, are obese now, and cannot see a future that does not include you being overweight, then you really have no choice but to have this done. Considering your family history and the fact that you weigh 347 pounds, what are you waiting for? Take that step, have it done, and begin a BRAND NEW LIFE. I know it is scary, and I faced the same things and had the same questions and voices in my head, too. But, you know what scared me more: realizing I was headed for open heart surgery, stroke, or a diebet coma sometime in my future if the weight did not come off. The thought of having a heart attack and waking up with a ventilator down my throat scared me enough to finally make the decision to take my health seriously. The thought of all the horrible things that can happen to us that struggle with weight is way more scarier than a 30 minute sleeve surgery. What do you have to lose?? The weight, of course. You CAN DO THIS!!! Those voices of doubt you are hearing are the same voices that, if you listen to them and let them rule over you, will laugh at you when you DO have a heart attack---and as you stated in your blog, you are already being treated like you have had a heart attack. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't wait any longer. Get to your doctor now and get this process started. You cannot afford to wait. Please don't wait too much longer---the longer you wait, the more damage your obesity will do to your body. I urge you to confront your fears, find a support system/group, and get started on your new life. There is no way any doctor, considering your history, would not be on board with you losing weight and getting healthy---if they are not, then find another doctor. Best wishes to you!!!

Hey Mike. I can tell you firsthand that its not the easy way out at all. Its easier to get full - a lot easier. But the same diet issues still arise. What you eat, when you eat, and the emotional changes are very much like a regular diet.

It is a lot easier to follow your chosen diet plan because most of your stomach is gone and the hormones that indicate hunger are gone too. But the want to is still in your mind. You still have to overcome the same desires for food.

The thing is - if any of us were going to do it on our on with regular diet and exercise, we would have done it already.

I'm about to be 47 too. I've been on a diet lots of times. Lost weight then gained it back. Then gained some more.

This is the last diet I'll have to be on. I got this surgery to give myself no choice in portion size and self control.

It works pretty good too:)

Having the sleeve is easy like having a mastectomy is the easy way out of breast cancer or not drinking is the cure for alcoholism.

The sleeve is simply a surgery...it's only one part of curing obesity.

I'm asking this not because I think going through this process is easy by any means. It takes courage and determination to make those lifestyle changes that are needed to be successful with sleeving. I'm asking this because I'm a little scared about committing to this surgery. I read and read the forums, and I am packed full of information. But in my stupid little head i keep thinking. "if you do this then your a failure, you can lose weight on your own without getting cut open and parts removed". I'm 47, 320 lbs, and on every blood pressure/choloesterol med known to man if feels like. My dad died of a heart attack at 38 and my doctor says they are treating me like I've already had a cardiac event.. which i havent.

Did any body else out there struggle with making the decision to sleeve? Did you feel like a failure because you couldnt do it "on your own"? How did you over come those voices?

Congrats to all of you and many successes in the future.

Mike

Yes, being sleeved is an easier way out. It helps that 80% of your stomach and 65% of your hunger hormone are being removed. That being said, it still takes work and effort to reach your goals.

I guess I'm not as worried about "taking the easy way out" because I do it every day. I drive my car instead of walking. I use my AC instead of faning myself. I bug my groceries instead raising vegetables and killing pigs. I get my oil changed by someone else instead of doing it myself. Every single day I take the easy way out and I have no problem at all with that.

I'm sorry others are struggling and they can't do what I'm about to do but that's not my issue. I have the money and I have the time so yes, I'm taking an easier (not easy) way out. If others don't like it, they can talk to me after they sell their cars and start hoofing it for a couple of years.

Hi mike, here's a way of looking at it that helped me, you have a medical condition and you are dying from it; you have just been offered a surgical solution for it. Should you do it ? For sure if it was cancer we would be relieved to hear that news, we can remove the part that is making you sick , surgical risks be damned!

Thanks all, i wasnt implying it was easy and didnt mean to offend if i did. I know its tuff, u have to be hard core and committed and i admire all of you that had the guts to do it. I just dont know what makes me think i can change my lifestyle if i have the surgery if im not tuff enuf to change it without? My ego says i should be tuff enuff to do it on my own. Im a hardcore biker, i should be man enuff to stick to something. But my reality is i cant or i wouldnt be in this situation. Just battling demons of pride and ego i guess.

From what you've described, it sounds like you are like 90% of Overweight America. We are inundated with processed sugar and pre-made meals... Fast food in a world where we are always watching the clock.

If diets in our environment really worked, the success rate would be much higher. It's a multi-million dollar industry. Why? Because when it doesn't work, we try another diet, or pill, or exercise gadget.

I like to think I have great self-discipline. And, I know lots of other people who are overweight who are devoted to their career, their family, their home care. Successful people. Yet, we cannot conquer weight loss.

GS has the best long-term success record of every weight-loss alternative I've found. If there has been ANY failure, it's with everything that came before it. It's a tool to better our lives, every bit as much as the tools we use to invest in our future.

With your health in such danger (as is mine), this is the best gift you can give yourself. And, if you want to think its easy, then do it! Frankly, I don't have time to focus on any other diet plans. This "easy" way is allowing me to live. LIVE. In your case, it isn't about looking better or having pants that aren't as snug. It's about saving your life. Grab the BEST TOOL available to get your health back.

Bikermike,

What if having the sleeve is the easy way out? In a lot of ways it is, it practically guarantees you success, even if you still continue to eat bad foods, and not exercise, you will still be limited in what you can eat, so you'll lose weight by default of not being able to consume as much. What if having the surgery makes you hugely successful and you don't have to feel hungry, or like you're starving, or miserable and depressed. Is that the 'easy way out'? Maybe. The sleeve like everyone before me has said, is a tool. It's a tool for success. When you tighten a bolt, are you taking the easy way out to tighten it better and harder by using a wrench as opposed to just your fingers? It's kind of a silly excuse to say that something that will help you to do a job better, faster and more efficiently is actually a 'failure', the sleeve is sort of a short cut really, and nothing more. It's not a magic pill, the sleeve won't keep you thin if you don't use it right, just like a wrench won't tighten the bolt without using it properly. I can see in your post, that you're scared, change is scary. You will have to go through a per-op diet probably, which in my opinion was the hardest part, you will probably not be able to consume the same things immediately, and you definately won't be able to consume the same quantities, but you have to ask yourself, are you ready to give up your addiction? If the answer is no, then don't do this surgery. I'm not saying that in a snarky or cynical way, I mean it. If you are not ready to lose this weight, and to give up your bad food choices, and make a change, don't do this surgery, because you will be miserable, you will feel like you were forced into it, and you will probably regret it. We all have to decide what is best for ourselves. Part of the process of this surgery is going to a psychologist, and sometimes a support group. I would suggest you go talk to a psychologist and try to figure out what other issues are behind your food addiction, and why you are afraid to lose the weight. What is the root of making you feel that getting this surgery would make you a failure, when you would be succeeding at giving yourself a second chance at life. Good luck on whatever you decide. This is a long road, and not the easiest of journeys, but if you do decide this is the journey for you, do it for you, do it for success, and do it for life.

My name is Catheryn and I am 59 soon to be 60 year's old in July I had my sleeve done on 2-14-13 was in the hospital over night and went home the next day, really wanted to go home night of sleeve but my ins stated I had to stay over night, went in that morning the next thing I know a hour or 2 later they told me I did great and by he 4th hour they had me up walking, it felt like I had done about 50 situp's no pain just sore, go for it you will be glad you did, people tell me that I look younger.

Thanks all, i wasnt implying it was easy and didnt mean to offend if i did. I know its tuff, u have to be hard core and committed and i admire all of you that had the guts to do it. I just dont know what makes me think i can change my lifestyle if i have the surgery if im not tuff enuf to change it without? My ego says i should be tuff enuff to do it on my own. Im a hardcore biker, i should be man enuff to stick to something. But my reality is i cant or i wouldnt be in this situation. Just battling demons of pride and ego i guess.

I didn't think you were implying it at all. What you feel is normal while researching, and reasoning out, good and bad reasons to have this surgery. This forum is a great place to voice those thoughts and concerns.

It's just hard when the voices in our head try to have a screaming match with our brains. Sometimes it just so much commotion that some of it has to come out.

No worries, you are in a safe zone here. :ph34r:

I'm asking this not because I think going through this process is easy by any means. It takes courage and determination to make those lifestyle changes that are needed to be successful with sleeving. I'm asking this because I'm a little scared about committing to this surgery. I read and read the forums' date=' and I am packed full of information. But in my stupid little head i keep thinking. "if you do this then your a failure, you can lose weight on your own without getting cut open and parts removed". I'm 47, 320 lbs, and on every blood pressure/choloesterol med known to man if feels like. My dad died of a heart attack at 38 and my doctor says they are treating me like I've already had a cardiac event.. which i havent.

Did any body else out there struggle with making the decision to sleeve? Did you feel like a failure because you couldnt do it "on your own"? How did you over come those voices?

Congrats to all of you and many successes in the future.

Mike[/quote']

Mike, this is going to sound bad, but looking at your post I really think your evaluation a failure might be a bit off.

I can somewhat relate to your situation. Fortunately my dad is still around, but he had his first heart attack at 36 years old. He was in the army and fell out in the middle of a morning PT run. He was taken to the hospital where they determined it was a cardiac arrest, and performed his first angioplasty.

23 years later I am 39 years old (3years older than he was) and about 130lbs heavier than he was.

tick tick tick tick

That was the time bomb I had become. How much time could I have had left? Probably not much. I had tried a few times to lose weight unsuccessfully. But I remember back to building hot rods there was a number of occasions when a part was just too tight to slide into place by hand. The answer was to get the proper tool to accomplish the job. Usually that meant a big prybar or a Big F-ing Hammer. The end result was the modification was completed. No, I couldn't accomplish it without additional leverage, but the end result was success.

My sleeve was 1year ago next month. So far I've lost 100lbs(188 now) and that's even with a couple slips.

The best news for me is that due to my success my father was sleeved in February and has so far lost over 50lbs & is on his way to coming off many of the meds that he has been on for years.

Now it's your turn. Grab that B-F-H and start hammering your way to success.

You are NOT a failure till you stop trying.