I am the only one to blame for what I am. I am a 24 year old man with no self control when it comes to food. I have recently decided to try for gastric bypass surgery and have attended a seminar on it. I have my first appointment on the 10 of April. I have the highest of hopes for this chance to change. I am willing to do anything to be around for my little boy and my wife.

Any advice for someone beginning this journey

Edited April 2, 201511 yr by RichWyant

Hi there,

I started this journey in July of 2014 with my first visit to the Bariatric surgeon. Having gained and lost weight most of my life, I still wasn't convinced during that visit that I was going to go through with it. While I am now only 9 days post op, here are a couple of things I have held onto throughout the journey so far.

1. Write a letter to food., Tell it how you feel and what you need to change.

2. Listen to your dietician and nutritional classes if you need to take them.

3. Adopt healthier habits pre surgery so it is easier to adjust post surgery.

4. When surgery day arrives, be prepared for some physical and emotional pain. But realize that each day gets better.

5. After surgery, follow the diet you are given and LISTEN to what they tell you.

I hope this helps and good luck to you

Read, read, research and then read and research again. Yes listen to your doctor and NUT but also self advocate. ( I see some crazy things come from both NUTS and surgeons on aftercare) Go to good sources like https://asmbs.org. Remember this is not a casual surgery...it will impact you the rest of your life. It involves much more that just adjusting the volume of the food you eat. To be successful long term you have to change what you eat and what drives you to use food as a coping mechanism. If you don't you CAN gain all your weight back.

And after you have done that...read more!

Hi Rich. I am 4 months post op, and am still getting used to this new me. The one thing that I want to tell people who are about to or considering bariatric surgery, is it will not change your attitude about food by itself. Just because you can't physically eat as much as you used to, doesn't mean you won't want to. This is the hardest thing you will ever do and believe me it's worth it. But you don't magically stop wanting to eat donuts or a whole pizza.

I am so proud of you for making this decision and wish you the very best. I have just started and I feel great! An you will to.