Quantity of food Fear

[MasR 0]

Hello Everyone,

This is not easy for me to write I'd really appreciate your help and opinions. I'm a 6'2" 298 pound male with a BMI of about 38-39 and some say I carry my weight well. I am in my early 30's and i suffer from hypertension and high cholesterol. Thankfully I do not suffer from any other co-morbidities except maybe for joint pain.

This is my third go-around with doing this process and insurance from work is going to pay for it. If i had to pay for it out of pocket, I simply would not be able to afford it. Having a family is pretty expensive lol. I honestly believe it's now or never for me because I don't know how much longer I will have this insurance and I've put it off long enough.

I have struggled with this decision for about 5 years now. For one, I know I MUST lose weight but I honestly it's been very difficult and I personally don't see myself as THAT big (but then again i am only 1 bmi point away from class 3 obesity). Many patients usually have a higher BMI than i do when they have the surgery. I have tried losing weight on my own and ill lose 20 to 30 pounds here and there and just gain it right back. I have 2 very young kids at the house and it's really difficult for me right now to get in a good diet and honestly I do not have the will power. I've never had a problem working out but the diet has ALWAYS been my issue. I'm flat out ADDICTED to food. I feel like the sleeve will definitely help me in that aspect.

I've battled through a BUNCH of different things that scare me and has stopped me from getting the surgery in the past. I have been able to move passed those reasons mentally and have to come to peace with this decision EXCEPT for one last reason that I just can't seem to get over. THIS MIGHT SOUND DUMB but the change in the quantity of food is scary. The thought of only eating so little is incredibly frightening to me, so much so that I would like to suggest to my surgeon to remove only 60% of the stomach instead of the 80% that is usually done. In my opinion, 60% is still a hell of a lot of stomach removal making my pouch still significantly smaller than it is now and I'll just feel more comfortable and feel so much more at peace. I understand that mentality could be the major reason that I am in this situation to begin with but again, I just don't see myself as that big, I'm relatively young and thankfully I have not developed any life-threatening conditions just yet. The idea is to get surgery BEFORE that occurs as preemptive measure. I feel that if I could get a 50-70 pound boost, maybe and hopefully that'll be all I need to jump start my healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. Thoughts?

[JessLess 1,163]

I don't think a reputable surgeon would do that. I can eat a fair amount with my sleeve at 1.5 years out. I don't want to, because I don't want to gain weight back. Example: I used to be able to eat half a medium pizza. Now I am full after 1 slice.

The first few bites of most things taste the best anyway. You'll be satiated with less which will help you reach your goal of losing weight.

[S@ssen@ch 745]

You say that you're ADDICTED to food and from your post, you're already plotting to be able to eat more than the surgery intends. So, my advice on this would be that you need to consider counseling for your addiction. This will NOT be resolved by mechanically removing a portion of your stomach. The addiction will always be there. So, while surgery will certainly help, especially at first, you need to take control of your addiction or you will not be successful over the long term.

[catwoman7 10,853]

first of all, yes, you're not as big as a lot of bariatric patients, but I've been working with patient groups for the last three years, and they come in all sizes. There are always some in your BMI range (or at least who appear to me to be in your BMI range), so you won't feel like the lone ranger.

as for food volume, a lot of us (not all - but most) lose their sense of hunger for several months, and many don't have much interest in food for awhile. It was a magical time...at least for me it was. No interest in food? Ha! I wish it had lasted forever! So you may not miss the volume as much as you think you will. Plus you'll fill up pretty fast on not much food. I had RNY rather than VSG, but it's similar - I used to be able to eat half a large pizza at one sitting, and it would be physically painful for me to do that now (even though I can eat much more than I did during those first few months post-op). So unless something is REALLY great and I want to eat it with abandon, it doesn't bother me that I can't stuff my face anymore. Plus I'm very used to eating around 1500-1700 calories a day now (but I'm in maintenance - I didn't eat that much during my weight loss phase). If I eat much more than that, I feel horrible - like a stuffed goose. So anyway, it's not very often anymore that I wish I could eat like I used to.

a lot of bariatric patients who have serious food addictions work with a therapist - so you may find that helpful if you're still having issues with that after surgery. It seems like many bariatric clinics have a therapist on staff....and if not, they can refer you to one who's familiar with food issues.

EDITED to add that I agree 100% with the poster above - if you can't get a handle on the addiction, you're not going to be successful with this, so definitely seek counseling if you're still having problems with it after surgery.

Edited May 13, 2020 by catwoman7

[afterthought 15]

You don't sound dumb at all.

Pre surgery, I don't think I had a signal for being full. I was starving on previous diet's, It was hard for me to imagine that I could be satisfied on small amounts after bariatric surgery. (It caused some anxiety) I lost and gained weight many times.This has been different than all my past attempt's. It's a game changer.

Post surgery, My hunger is manageable and my relationship with food has changed. Dealing with what got me to the point of obesity was key. You deserve having your health back.

[WInston223322 160]

Nope i asked my surgeon and it was a NO you get the procedure they way it was designed.

Next you are way off ..... You are mentally screwing yourself. Eating is not a competition to see how much food you can take, You eat for survival - You will still be able to eat but at Normal Portion sizes

For example i just ate 6 large chicken nuggets with BBQ sauce! Yes before i could have eaten 12 but does it really matter. ALSO FOR YOU WHO ARE GOING TO YELL AT ME FOR CHICKEN NUGGETS i ACTUALLY WANTED A CHANGE TODAY AND FREAKIN STRESSED OUT OVER COVID, PLUS LAZY WAS MAKING THEM FOR THE KIDS.

You need to look around this site Look at the success a lot of us have had from this surgery, Jump into the male forum, You will pay for not doing it big time shortly. Trust me, been there. Do not follow my style where I ended up in a Cardio Ward wondering if i ever would see my kids again. That is why i did it - Like you had no choice and was on a train ride to death!

377 here to 205 Was just tired of being unhealthy

Good luck and FYI mexico is alot cheaper if you have to pay out of pocket

[New&Improved 1,780]

I had the bypass and the stomach is even smaller than sleeve.

I wanted the restriction. I wanted to not eat for 4ppl and now my life is great and my food bill is cut in half.

[NYJenn 1,461]

None of us thought we were “that big” you get used to seeing yourself a certain way. You need to have this surgery, but you also need to explore some therapy.

[New&Improved 1,780]

So true @NYJenn

Looking back at old photos I feel sick to think I actually lived like that for years and wish I had made changes years ago...

[NikkiOwl 24]

I had therapy for years for food addiction and to be honest I think vsg was my best chance at a change. We overeaters are good at rationalizing our addiction to keep it going. That is your addict brain talking. I look at it like this is my one shot to be free of the albatross that food addiction is and can never go back to those foods. I am the type that there is no moderation, so it’s gotta be all or nothing until I am strong enough. You are worth more than a cheeseburger.

[rjan 163]

I started looking into this surgery because I was pre-diabetic and starving all the time. Like I just finished a huge meal, and my stomach hurt, but I still wanted to eat and eat and eat. My hunger has been increasing and getting worse over the past 10 years, along with gradual increases in my fasting blood sugar and other symptoms of metabolic syndrome like skin tags. My dad has diabetes (and got it when he was about 5 years older than I am now), so I knew what was coming.

The thing that really excited me about the surgery was that it provides a mechanism to reset your metabolism, to actually CHANGE your hormonal balance and your set point so that you naturally feel satisfied at a lower weight, and eating less food with less hunger. Now I am 2.5 months out, and I really feel it working - with the smaller stomach, it gets full faster, so ghrelin (a hormone that your stomach makes when it is empty that makes you feel hungry) starts to DECREASE quickly after you take your first few bites. Studies show that ghrelin levels are about 50% lower after bariatric surgery than before. And that has an effect - you really, seriously, truly feel much less hungry, even though you are eating way less.

In contrast, normally when you go on a diet, your ghrelin levels INCREASE compared to when you started. Studies show that after a 3-6 month diet without surgery, your ghrelin levels will increase by 50%. And that has an effect - you are much more hungry and so you want to eat even more and gain the weight back - it may even make you feel like an addict!

Since before my surgery, I would often feel hungry even when my stomach felt full, I can totally see why you'd be scared that you'd still feel really hungry even when your new small stomach is full. And I can tell you from experience - being hungry with a full stomach feels miserable! I can see why you'd be scared of that!

But I really want to assure you - the surgery works as advertised. You will feel satisfied, even when you are eating way less food than before. For me, the change in my hunger is like night and day - it's amazing!

[Babydoll7387 9]

I feel like I have many of the same fears as you. There's a part of me that looks at the surgery as a type of "death" of how I've always been, which in reality is a good thing. There's a part of me that feels like I'm going to be missing out on food afterwards, but I think that's only because I can't comprehend being able to eat so little and feeling full. I worry that I'll regret not being able to eat "normally" even though the quantity of food I can eat is far from normal. However, my excitement far outweighs my fears. I'm in my early 30s as well, and have a young son, and I feel like this will make me a much happier and healthier parent to him. I want to see him graduate high school, and have kids of his own. At the rate I'm going now, that won't happen. I think any kind of change is scary, even if it is for the best.