When Did You Know You Could Do It?

[Alex Brecher 10,516]

Almost everyone has doubts going into WLS. Of course you worry about whether surgery itself will go well, and whether it will work. But many of us also worry that even if the surgeon does her part, we won’t be able to do ours. We worry that we won’t be able to follow through on our duty of following the diet, since that’s been a challenge for us in the past.

But at some point, every weight loss surgery patient makes the decision to get surgery. It’s your way of saying, “I can do this.” In your own weight loss surgery journey, what were you worried about in terms of your own ability to follow the diet? Were you particularly worried about the pre-op diet, the post-op progression, the long-term (life-long!) nature of the diet, or something else? And at what point did you decide that you could and would do whatever it took to succeed at bariatric surgery?

[Valentina 2,642]

I'll let you know, Alex when that day comes.

Until then, "I'm a work in progress".

[Djmohr 6,965]

Once I made the decision I knew I could do it. I am just one of those people who once on board will not miss her goals.

I will say that came into question last June when I learned I had to have major surgery and I still had 50lbs to go. I knew it would be a long recovery and my ability to exercise anytime soon would be very challenging.

So, I pulled up my big girl pants and knew that I absolutely had to stay on track with the meals portion or I would never get there. I was not going to let all the naysayers that told me I couldn't win.

This is just my opinion but if you stay positive and set realistic goals losing the weight will absolutely happen.

Now of course comes the really hard part, maintenance. I have learned over the past few months of maintenance that you have to work very hard, much harder than the weight loss phase if you want to maintain.

I can only imagine this gets harder as time goes by and of course all of the long term veterans are confirming that.

So, back to the shorter term goal setting for me. If I set goals, I will achieve them. If I give up, I will gain back. I don't even want that lousy 10 to 15% gain. LOL.

[GSleeve822 394]

I seriously didn't know I could do it. I hoped I could do it. I wanted to do it, but I didn't even know what do it meant. I knew I couldn't do it on my own. Even with lots of reading about it, you don't really get what it means to not be able to eat more than a few bites.. when I experienced that, it's when I knew I could do it

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[KindaFamiliar 3,867]

I'm going on 18 months in, almost 240 pounds down and I still don't "know" that I can do it...

With another 80-ish pounds to go, I'm doing what I can...

But as things currently stand, I'm certainly not taking anything for granted...

[Seagull 140]

I'm going on 18 months in, almost 240 pounds down and I still don't "know" that I can do it...

With another 80-ish pounds to go, I'm doing what I can...

But as things currently stand, I'm certainly not taking anything for granted...

240 that is awesome

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[gowalking 10,790]

Same here. I not only didn't know if I could do this thing and be successful...I expected to fail. My eating had been so out of control for so long, I couldn't imagine getting through a day without eating to excess.

It was very much like when I was on medication to stop smoking. I didn't expect that to work either as I enjoyed smoking. Well...I've been smoke free for ten years and don't expect to ever go back. Same for being normal sized. Not because I'm not tempted..but because my tool helps me usually make good choices. I say usually because as a food addict, I am always tempted.

[LoveMyBypass 251]

Right before I made my final decision to go through with the RNY, I had a fear that I might lose too much weight.

I thought, what if I lose the 110 lbs I need to lose but I can't stop after that? What if I keep losing and i look like a walking skeleton? No no no this is too risky. It's not for me!

It's really silly now that I think about it. I'm only 7 weeks post-op, but I'm confident of how much I will lose and where I WILL stop. ????

[lifeofblair 308]

I knew I could do it if only because of the fear of messing it up and fear to eat the wrong things. It's worked for me. Fear is powerful!

[LoveMyBypass 251]

Yes it is!!

[Nurse_Lenora 903]

I never doubted that I could do it. My partner and I decided to start fresh with our diets January 1st 2016. I knew my surgery would be February 2016 so we decided new year, new diet. She decided she would eat my diet to be as supportive as possible.

We were both pretty addicted to sugar. We both live on coffee so we knew giving up carbs would be easier than the sugar. What ever would we put in our coffee? ????

Well, January 1st dawned and we each had coffee with vanilla Premier Protein shake mixed in. Not as satisfying as coffee with cream and sugar but still good.

A week later, we went to brunch and both ordered well, no carbs ...then the coffee came. We both put only milk in our coffee and right then and there I KNEW that not only would I be able to do this but WE would be able to do this together.

I could not have done this without my cheerleader ! We have done it and continue to ! As of today my partner has lost 35lbs and is in maintenance and I have lost 101 lbs and am about 34 lbs from goal.....

[Alex Brecher 10,516]

Thanks for all the great answers! A lot of us seem to still have some doubts, but I think that is perfectly healthy. Being overconfident can just lead to letting down your guard and making mistakes.

@@Valentina, LOL!! I often feel the same way myself. I’m not sure any of us are ever completely sure of ourselves all the time, and we’re all a work in progress.

@, I am glad you did not let your fear of losing too much weight stop you from getting surgery. As you lose weight over the coming months and you get closer to goal weight, I think it will be important to think about what your long-term maintenance diet will be like and how you will transition to it as the time approaches.

@@Nurse_Lenora, It’s great to see your confidence and hard work paying off, and wonderful that you have a supportive partner making the whole thing easier.