My doc wants me to lose 20 lbs before scheduling my pre-op appointment. The reason she gave is that it will make surgery safer. It is my understanding that the standard 2 week pre-op diet will still take place after this 20 lb weight loss. I've been sticking to around 1200 calories, avoiding wheat, and limiting fat and carbs while maximizing Protein. It's been 3 weeks and I am down 13 lbs. YAY ME!

The problem is that I'm not suffering like I normally would be on week 3 of a diet. I'm starting to have second thoughts. Should I see how far this eating plan will take me and maybe avoid surgery or should I learn from EVERY past experience that I will plateau, get discouraged, and binge myself back to a net gain and possibly have to start the whole process of approval again? On the other hand, what's to keep that from happening even if I do get the surgery?

I know it's a decision I have to make for myself, but any input would be appreciated.

@@chrispina Only you can make that decision, but my first thought was that the fact that you capitalized 'EVERY' is a clue -- (which I can totally relate to BTW...) -- EVERY time I've tried, I've usually lost weight - but then gained it back and more -- I do not want to live that way anymore. Surgery will be a fabulous tool to help me lose--and keep it off for good. But again, your mileage may vary )

PS - our stats are almost exactly the same except I'm 5'9" and just a few pounds diff than yours...

Edited January 19, 201511 yr by della street

I've been told that "oh well if you lose weight on your preop then why don't you just do that to keep losing weight?" Ummm I don't wanna live on liquids my whole life...

I've been very successful pre-op too. The reality for me is: losing up to 50lbs is easy for me. What is hard? Keeping it off for more than a few months at a time.

I know that I need this tool to give me a fighting chance to keep the weight off. I'll be sleeved in 10 days and I'm ready to embark on my new life!

My husband asked how I was doing on my pre-op diet and I said I'd lost between 9 and 10 lbs -- he said "great!, see you can do it!" I said thanks (he really is *very* supportive...), but all it proves is that I can starve myself for a few days and lose a few pounds -- all it would take for me to gain that hard-fought 10 lbs back is dinner at our fave Mexican food place (cheese enchilada, rice, beans, chips, and of course nachos smothered in cheese, and maybe a lunch at Five Guys Burgers with a large order of fries. Of course, with a *diet* Coke, lol or truly not so lol -

I lost 60 pounds prior to surgery. I've heard from others on this site who lost 70-150 pounds prior to surgery. Yet, we still got the surgery. My main reason is that I know I could easily fall into the 99% who gained it all back and then some if I didn't get WLS. 50% who have had WLS keep it off for life. I went with the best odds for keeping it off...WLS.

Not to mention obesity is a disease. Would I ignore meds to resolve any other disease? Nope, so why would I not have a medical procedure done to resolve the disease obesity?

@@chrispina, I had that debate too. For me, the decision came back to statistics from a clinical trial on long term weight loss that my primary care physician showed me, which I have posted below:

Dietary/lifestyle therapy provides <5 kg (11 lbs) weight loss after 2-4 y, pharmacologic therapy provides 5-10 kg (22 lbs) weight loss after 1-2 y, and surgical therapy provides 25-75 kg (55-165 lbs) weight loss after 2-4 y. Weight loss of > or =5% baseline weight is not consistently associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk factors.

The conclusions very clearly showed that I was much more likely to have success via WLS.

Link to the study abstract is below.

Systematic review of long-term weight loss studies in obese adults: clinical significance and applicability to clinical practice.

I've had this same debate with myself and others in my life. I lost 42 lbs on pre-op diet. Maybe I didn't really need surgery?? Everyone told me it wasn't worth the risk etc, and if I could do this why couldn't I just keep on doing it? Was told not to lose anymore or I'd be disqualified for surgery! Ok so I've regained almost 20 lbs..... Holidays etc. I couldn't schedule surgery because sleep apnea diagnosis/treatment seemed to take forever. Now have appt w surgeon in 3 weeks. So back on diet for me until then as he wanted me to lose 30lbs. This pre-op period has been up and down for me as far as deciding to definitely have surgery and what surgery to have. The ease with which I regained was eye opener for me. It's all my life-long weight struggles in microcosm.

I need to get back on the wagon mentally more than anything. I'll be reading these boards daily cause it really helps with mind-set!

Yeah, no.

You need the surgery.

Really.

I'm great at losing weight... I can starve myself like a pro.

The difference is, after the sleeve - I'm losing weight like I did on the HCG diet, but I'm not hungry. Cheating does not live at the back of my mind because I enjoy the food that I eat and I have no room for any more.

Have the surgery.

I see this post a lot with people who are having second thoughts. Be honest with yourself. If you could have done this before why haven't you? As a happily sleeved person I can only say, "yes you should have the surgery." However ultimately the choice is yours. Be honest with yourself and try not to use this pre-op diet as an excuse to back out.