Curious -- could you have done it without Weight Loss Surgery?

[Vikingsfan8178 62]

Just so you know, I have not even met with my WL Doc yet. We meet tomorrow and I am excited to meet him.

I am 36 and have honestly been fighting with my weight for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of feeling overweight were in 3rd grade. For a long time, due to my participation in weight lifting and athletics, I could maintain a somewhat healthy weight even though my body fat % has always been higher than I wanted.

Fast forward to being married with 2 kids, 36 years old with a desk job. I am at my heaviest weight ever and I have been "meaning to get it together and lose some weight" for the past 5 years (at least).

There is a part of me that would much rather try to lose this weight without such a life changing event like surgery. With that said, why haven't I?

If I am honest with myself, I have gotten to the point where I don't think I will beat this without a tool like weight loss surgery. I don't want to be in this position, but it is what it is.

Did anyone else struggle with these feelings?

[Stevehud 1,790]

Heck yes Im 3 weeks post-op and i still struggle with them, even though i see the weight loss and I have never been able to do this before i still wonder if I could've done it on my own. The simple answer is no, i lost 30 pounds in my pre op diet, that took 2.5 months. ive lost 30+ pounds in 3 weeks after surgery, so that is the ultimate difference is time, i could've done the weight loss if i had the will power to do a really aggressive diet and exercise plan for about 2 to 3 years. But I believe I can do this with the surgery in a year or less. so to me it was a matter of 3 years of losing or 1 year of losing then maintaining. also seeing the scale go down so fast is a great motivator to keep going. Look to yourself for the answers you need. Ask every little question you can think of, read every post you can, the more informed you are , the better off you will be.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

Well, I think you should try one.more.time. to convince yourself. I spent a year of angst, of trying to at least stop gaining, before I committed to the sleeve. I think that bad year helped set me up for success - I was really quite determined by the time of my surgery.

[phillyfan99 45]

Just so you know, I have not even met with my WL Doc yet. We meet tomorrow and I am excited to meet him.

I am 36 and have honestly been fighting with my weight for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of feeling overweight were in 3rd grade. For a long time, due to my participation in weight lifting and athletics, I could maintain a somewhat healthy weight even though my body fat % has always been higher than I wanted.

Fast forward to being married with 2 kids, 36 years old with a desk job. I am at my heaviest weight ever and I have been "meaning to get it together and lose some weight" for the past 5 years (at least).

There is a part of me that would much rather try to lose this weight without such a life changing event like surgery. With that said, why haven't I?

If I am honest with myself, I have gotten to the point where I don't think I will beat this without a tool like weight loss surgery. I don't want to be in this position, but it is what it is.

Did anyone else struggle with these feelings?

I was in the same boat as you. I am 37, 2 kids married, desk job and been up and down on weight.... my highest being 320+ and lowest being 235... Starting weight before preop diet was 282 (four days ago) today I am 276...

4 years ago while a visit to my PCP I discussed weight lost surgery. He said he thought it would be a great idea for me as he has seen me struggle for 13 years so I took his advice and visited the DR and discuss surgery. He gave me all the required paper work and said call me when you are done all the tests... I got home and said what am I doing to myself am I trying hard enough to lose the weight... I questioned it so many times that I threw the paper work away.. I work my but off to lose weight to only gain it back every time.

Here I am four years later back to the same doctor, all tests completed and waiting for approval from the insurance for surgery which is scheduled January 16th.

I must say I am so ready for this. I been reading this site for months, talking to people who had the surgery and reading the internet to get the most information I can to be successful.

[Babbs 14,681]

Yes! I have lost weight without WLS. HUNDREDS OF TIMES! But did I keep it off? Of course not! I had this surgery not to lose weight, because I can lose weight like gangbusters, but to receive the amazing tool to help me learn to eat in moderation and make what I'm putting in my mouth count to be healthy. Although the weight loss is obviously icing on the cake (mmmmm cake), the ultimate goal is a complete lifestyle change I intend to maintain even after I hit my goal weight. And I know now with this tool, if I work it correctly, I can continue to maintain a healthy weight. I'm in it for the long haul!

[enjoyinglife 313]

Nope!!! I have lost weight in the past but would always gain it back and then some. I am very happy I had it done. I fully admit though that I haven't spend a lot of time pondering if it was the right decision. Relentless forward motion!!!

[Elode 8,093]

@@Vikingsfan8178 No, I really don't think so. Sure I could lose weight and sometimes quit a bit but I would always put it back on plus some! I road that roller coaster ride for years, I finally got sick of it and got off! I was always hungry, even after eating a good size meal one hour later I was hungry again. I am fortunate right now that I don't have any hunger and it's the best (oddest) feeling in the world! I have no regrets! I couldn't be happier!

[Healthy_life2 8,330]

@@Vikingsfan8178

With a BMI of 42.(morbidly obese) I could diet but to exercise was hard. I was carrying an extra person. I.have been over weight most of my life. I have lost and could never maintain. This has drastically changed my health and extended my life. No regrets.

[HumanMerelyBeing 287]

No!! Could not have done it without this - was absolutely headed for a non-stop cycle of trying and losing and gaining and trying and losing and gaining for the rest of my life.

I had to get really honest with myself prior to my decision to have surgery. It came to accepting that the decision for me was between surgery and accepting the fact that I would never get this under control in my lifetime. At that point, I knew.

I told very few people of my surgery. The night before, I told one of my aunts who was quite upset with worry and urged me several times in the conversation to try one more time on my own. She is also heavy and told me she recently recommitted to healthy eating, exercising, etc and she knew I could do.

Well, needless to say I went forward with the surgery and have lost 115 lbs in 11 months. She is still the same weight as the day of the conversation.

I am so very grateful for the decision and surgery and even though you have to do your part, I can honestly say I've done my part before and it has never ever ever worked list this.

Good luck!!!! You won't have any regrets!

[SuperDave 1,115]

I lost 150 pounds on my own before surgery, so the answer is yes I could do it. But even after that 150, I had 100 pounds to go to hit my goal, and losing was getting harder. So the surgery for me was a way to push through to the end and help keep the weight off once at my goal. I am happy that I lost a lot on my own, as it gave me confidence that I could do it and maintain. But at the same time, I have absolutely zero regrets about having the surgery when I needed more help.

All that being said, wondering if this is the right choice is 100% normal. I would worry more about someone who jumped in to a completely life changing procedure without a second thought. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in that category as well, and they seem to be the ones who fail.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Hell no, I didn't need this surgery to lose weight. I've lost weight so many times before. However, it was getting VERY hard to lose weight as I grew older. (I'm 69.)

But apparently, demonstrably, and empirically, I needed this surgery to have a last-gasp chance at maintaining any weight loss long-term.

And that's why I had WLS.

But like @@CowgirlJane says, if you're not sure, try it again and see if you can lose all the weight you need/want to lose and if you can keep it off. Between 3-5% of people who lose weight through diet and exercise alone are able to keep it off. Maybe you will be part of that 3-5%. Somebody has to be.

I wasn't.

[Vikingsfan8178 62]

When I was in college, I went from 257 to 185 in about 8 months. I did this to compete in a Natural (drug free) body building competition.

I know how hard that was (losing through extreme dieting and exercise) and to think now I would have to lose that plus another 50 pounds. With my schedule (wife, kids, work) and the fact that I am 15 years older than I was back then, I just don't know that I could do it. And even if I did, I don't think I could keep it off.

I think I could lose 30 pounds on my own. Maybe 40. But that doesn't get me to where I need to be.

I am a confident person and I have always believed in myself. With that said, I understand the reality of the situation and I have been "wanting" to lose this weight for far too long and I think if I could have done it on my own, then I would have already done it.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

I've never maintained a weight loss (and I have had many, including one really big one) in my entire life. So for me, no. This is about keeping it off.

[della street 213]

Awaiting my surgery date as we speak, and no, I could NOT do this on my own. Highest weight 389 (!), then did a dr-supervised diet (extreme protein/no carbs) and lost almost 100 lbs over about 1.5 years -- but still had 100+ to go -- and I just could NOT be starving myself and eating dry chicken any longer (I'm actually now a vegetarian; can't stand the sight of meat because of that diet...) Anywho, over about 6 months to a year, I gained almost 40 lbs back and finally got insurance that w/cover surgery -- been on a mission to get all requirements done and now my application is in the hands of BCBS -

So do it on my own, as in, do it and keep it off FOREVER? Without surgery, no way, no how --

[Jim1967 3,569]

I went from 393 to 219 back up to 488 in 10 years time. Yes, I can lose weight on my own without WLS. Maintaining has always been the problem for me..