I want to believe that I can do this on my own. Many people will tell me that along the way, I know.

But I have been so motivated before that I could have sung from the rooftop my weight loss anthem, and I still failed. The problem is now that I am older and have tried many times and see my weight higher than ever, I don't get that blind faith in myself anymore. I know that I'm a very strong person, and ambitious and nice and have a lot of good qualities. But I am not good at self discipline. Especially with food.

The flip side of this is there is hope. Statistically and medically what I have chosen is normally very successful. And people who have chosen gastric sleeve sing it's praises. I thought ppl would hate it. But the more I read, the more I hear over and over again "the best thing I ever did" and "wish I'd done it sooner."

I understand that weight loss surgery can be offensive or appear extreme to the general public. Maybe it seems I'm overly commited? Or maybe less comitted? Maybe it seems like cheating or an easy way out. Maybe it seems too extreme and hard when I could do it the old fashioned way.

None of this really matters to me. At the end of the road, it has to be what I chose I can live with. And right now I know I have to chose a life of morbid obesity, or a life with weight-loss surgery to help me escape. Which is more dangerous? What is more risky? Which has more potential for happiness? These are my questions to answer, no one else's.

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I go through the same thing, and went through the same thing it took me over 3 years to find me and say "hey GURL, are you going to continue on the road to being sick and getting sicker by the day JUST TO PLEASE OTHERS? " nobody's being sick with you they're just looking on the outside, NOT UNDERSTANDING that EVERYTHING is going WRONG on the inside. OF MY BODY, so I went to my Father in heaven and I asked him to make a way next thing you know I get a new doctor I get a new surgeon and my date is on October 2nd 2017. ...everything happened so fast it scared me but I had to pump my faith up and know that I'm doing right by me!!! I want to be able to take care of my son better meaning be more active in his life be able to go to the amusement parks in ride the rides with him instead of sending him by himself, I want to be able to run the track field and go to the skating rink and do everything that a child wants to do should be there right there with them. All that to say you are making the right choice for you nobody can live your life for you but a lot of people like to try keep the faith Keep On Believing God has ordered your steps and mine be blessed and enjoy being sleeved[emoji7] [emoji7] [emoji7] [emoji7] [emoji7]

I am about 8 weeks post op. I have struggled with my weight for many years. I started thinking about WLS a few years ago and I talked myself out if it because I thought I could lose through dieting. For the past 5 years, I have spent so much money on different programs, fad diets and endless meetings. All this time, my weight kept going up. The final aha moment for me was when I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. It was then that I realized I need effective treatment for obesity. Like most people, my biggest regret was not getting sleeved sooner. But then again, I think I needed to hit rock bottom to appear irate this tool. I have lost about 30lbs so far by just following the program to the T. I did not even look at the band when I was seeking treatment. Just didn't want the idea of a foreign object in my body that is movable.

I big deciding factor for me was I am 37 and the only con I can see to not go thru with the surgery is I can't binge eat anymore or drink alot of beer. 2 things I've already done for 20 years. Now I combatted alot with countless hours in the gym but with really no gains or changes cause of my bad eating/drinking habits. So now I've realized how miserable I am FAT and can't imagine living the rest of my life trapped in my body. That's how I know surgery is the right decision for me. I've already lost 35 lbs and have huge goals I wanna accomplish. I dream and Aim high. And honestly they'res no reason we all can't get the life we all envision.

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The simple fact of the matter is, only a small percentage of people who lose weight can keep it off over a five-year period. There are studies that show this conclusively. Doctors no longer dispute this. It's been years since a doctor suggested that I lose weight, because research shows that when we lose weight our metabolism drops, and it stays at the slower rate even after we regain the weight. That's why dieters who regain the weight often gain more than they lost. It's a losing, or rather gaining, battle. So doctors have generally shut up about weight loss, except to suggest, as mine did, bariatric surgery. It's the only thing that gives us a chance of keeping the weight off.

It's not a character flaw or weakness that gets the weight back on, but the fact that our bodies want it back. This was a great survival strategy when food was scarce, but with our current abundance of food, it's a real problem. I mean, the fact that after surgery our weight loss can stall for weeks at a time when we're eating less than 800 calories a day is crazy, right? Not when you think about the history of our species and how the body will do whatever it can to keep us alive when we're starving.

We're fighting years of evolutionary success at staying alive during hungry times. It's not about willpower.

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I love the decision to have sleeve surgery. Wish I would have done it long long ago. Have lost 75 lbs. In 6 months and am really enjoying life

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Im 9 weeks post op and down nearly 70 pounds. Im 47 and want to see my boys graduate high school and get married. You will be surprised how people will respect your decision and support you.

This ia not cheating. This is smart.

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This was me.
My serious overweight/obesity has been a 25 year battle of yo-yo dieting. consistent exercise and emotional eating. You'll see from the attached graph that it became my choice to stick with surgery this time. (The red line is BMI of 23 ... ideal weight/mass. All masses are in kilograms.)
I'm 61+ and, in Australia, 65 is the cut-off for surgery. I have good health insurance. I have seven grandkids.
Yours is your choice.

Wow. I see by your graph your efforts never even brought you close. That's how I feel

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4 hours ago, stroral said:

think about the history of our species and how the body will do whatever it can to keep us alive when we're starving.

We're fighting years of evolutionary success at staying alive during hungry times. It's not about willpower.

Hear, hear to that.

Condensed commonsense.

While I can't promise you'll experience what I have, 9 weeks out, I've yet to be hungry. I eat to get my minimal nourishment. I have moments where old habits kick in but I soon realize I can't eat it or go ahead, but I can only eat a bite or two.

The next day the scale has me down another pound.

An old time member on this board once said she considers this weight maintenance surgery and not weight loss surgery. I couldn't agree more. I was like the graph shown earlier. Lost 50+ pounds more times than I can count. Never could keep it off. I've kept my 135 lb loss over three years now with no signs of that changing.

Add me to the "wish I'd done it sooner" chorus!

My mother had the sleeve done a year ago. She said her biggest regret was not getting it done in her 30's. I was going to wait, try some more on my own. Add to the yoyo that has been the last 8 years. Instead, with her support I have a tool to assist me for the rest of my life. I am super excited for this transformation and to be a healthy example for my girls.

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