Need opinions...Have I given dieting a fair shot?
(deactivated member)
on 10/1/12 10:47 pm
on 10/1/12 10:47 pm
Everyone on here has had such good insights and ideas, but I'd like to add that I have always struggled with compulsive eating and that is not something that surgery addresses. It makes it much harder to eat large quantities of food but the surgery fixes your stomach and not your head. I still have to be conscious about what and why I am eating and deliberately choose healthy foods that are in my program. This surgery is a tool but not a prescription for never having to diet again. Rather it allows us to lose weight quickly to be motivated to eat well for the rest of our lives. I still get bored with having to take my vitamins and count carbs and protein grams and exercise most days. This isn't a magic bullet that will end all that so like others have said you must be realistic. If you eat emotionally now, that won't change and you will need to figure out ways to cope with emotional eating or the weight will come back even with RNY. This is a huge decision and I hope you come to the answer you are comfortable with. Best of luck to you!
Ah, therein lies the problem.
You were dieting.
To lose weight and keep it off you have to change your lifestyle. That means finding a way to:
a) Make the things you like to eat more healthful
b) Committing some foods to moderation and even extreme moderation (and learning to stick to that)
c) Learning to make decisions based on your new lifestyle (trade-offs, learning toxic situations to avoid, holistic health plan, etc.)
d) Moving more!
Those are the essentials to making a total lifestyle change that will support permanent weight loss. Diets just don't work! They are temporary and you hit the nail right on the head. Eventually restriction gets boring, you go "off" your diet and you regain.
But you don't have to give up everything you love to lose weight. You just have to know how to make smarter decisions.
That being said, WLS sort of pidgeon holes you into some of these changes (if you allow it to) by the physical side effects and also by virtue of the fact that most people who have their guts rearranged to lose weight take their process pretty seriously and want to comply if for no other reason than that.
But WLS doesn't require much more of you than what is required for a normal, healthy fit person to thrive. It's just that we aren't healthy and fit at the outset so the road to GETTING there is sort of hard. But think about it. We eat mostly protein, complex carbs, lots of fruits/veggies, take vitamins, drink lots of water and exercise. How is this different from a healthy lifestyle? It isn't!
Yes, you have restriction and are more likely to get sick at the outset, but five, ten, fifteen years down the line the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle are what will KEEP the weight off.
So if I were you I'd just think about if you are willing to make that commitment. Because just like diets fail, you CAN fail WLS if you don't change your lifestyle. The weight CAN come back and you WILL sorta be back to square one in a lot of ways, which can be disheartening.
Good luck in your decision.
You were dieting.
To lose weight and keep it off you have to change your lifestyle. That means finding a way to:
a) Make the things you like to eat more healthful
b) Committing some foods to moderation and even extreme moderation (and learning to stick to that)
c) Learning to make decisions based on your new lifestyle (trade-offs, learning toxic situations to avoid, holistic health plan, etc.)
d) Moving more!
Those are the essentials to making a total lifestyle change that will support permanent weight loss. Diets just don't work! They are temporary and you hit the nail right on the head. Eventually restriction gets boring, you go "off" your diet and you regain.
But you don't have to give up everything you love to lose weight. You just have to know how to make smarter decisions.
That being said, WLS sort of pidgeon holes you into some of these changes (if you allow it to) by the physical side effects and also by virtue of the fact that most people who have their guts rearranged to lose weight take their process pretty seriously and want to comply if for no other reason than that.
But WLS doesn't require much more of you than what is required for a normal, healthy fit person to thrive. It's just that we aren't healthy and fit at the outset so the road to GETTING there is sort of hard. But think about it. We eat mostly protein, complex carbs, lots of fruits/veggies, take vitamins, drink lots of water and exercise. How is this different from a healthy lifestyle? It isn't!
Yes, you have restriction and are more likely to get sick at the outset, but five, ten, fifteen years down the line the basic principles of a healthy lifestyle are what will KEEP the weight off.
So if I were you I'd just think about if you are willing to make that commitment. Because just like diets fail, you CAN fail WLS if you don't change your lifestyle. The weight CAN come back and you WILL sorta be back to square one in a lot of ways, which can be disheartening.
Good luck in your decision.
RNY Gastric Bypass 1-8-08 350/327/200 (HW/SW/CW). I spend most of my time playing with my food over at Bariatric Foodie - check me out!
I'll be short and sweet here... I spent most of my years between the ages of 15 and 50 either on a diet or gaining it all back. 4 years ago I had RNY and completely changed my lifestyle. I have never been happier! I did take having this surgery very seriously and continue to.
High 250/Consult Weight 245/Surgery 205/Now 109
Height 5'4.5" BMI 18.4
In maintenance since June 2009 
Thank you for all the feedback. You all made me realize something that I am going to talk to my psych dr about later this week. While I still want the surgery, I will be speaking to him and figuring out if I'm mentally ready for the commitment required to be successful. I know there's no reason to waste the time, money, resources, etc if I'm not ready to jump in all the way.
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