Biggest Loser on Discovery channel/Oprah

Documentary on his struggle with weight loss!! I really want to scream at the TV do the surgery !!!! 

Kelly

I watched on TIVO last night. I felt the same way. I know the surgery isn't the answer to everything, but I think it would be a good option for him.  He has shown that he can lose the weight, but he obviously hasn't shown that he can keep it off. Plus the depression on top of the weight gain has really put complications into his life. Obesity is a lifetime struggle.  I felt so bad for him as I was watching.

Meh, I don't know.  I know surgery has worked for me, so far, but I also believe that you have to have the correct mindset for surgery, and I don't think Eric has it.  He's sad because he's no longer in the limelight, and his wife kept stating "Biggest Loser just dumped him."  She claimed they didn't know what to do afterwards to keep the weight off.  But hey, I'm sorry, a little common sense helps as well.  Even I know that you can't stop exercising and start to eat like you used to an expect to maintain a 200 pound weight loss.

I honestly don't think Eric has the mindset for the surgery now.  There is a reason we do so much education and research ahead of time, and why we have to pass a psych eval and pre-op testing. 

Weightloss surgery is a tool - not a cure.  I have to tell myself that every single day.  I have to make conscious decisions about what I put in my mouth, how much activity I get, how much I drink, when I eat, etc.  I know that I will always have the capability of putting the weight back on...evenutally I'll feel hunger again...eventually I may get stupid enough to test whether or not I dump...I have to take an active part in my health - which I didn't do before.  The only thing Weight Loss Surgery has done for me that I couldn't do on my own was get off the insulin.  Do I appreciate my surgery?  Heck yes.  It's made me more conscious.  It's given me confidence that "yes I can do this."  But I also know that I'm the one that HAS to do this.  In an instant, i could be right back where I was by making bad decisions.

Bernice, do you feel that a part of your mindset regarding weight loss surgery came after you got the surgery or do you feel that the midset has to be entirely there beforehand? I ask because as a pre-op, I'm determined as all get out to get this surgery and I researched like a mad woman and gotten all the tests and seen all the specialists, but I worry that there is so much I don't know and Im hoping that comes with the surgery.

I do what I gotta do to get this surgery and I want it so much so that I can be healthy and yes, thin. Mostly to save my life, but also i feel like I need some HELP! A tool, like you said. WEight loss can be such a black hole of loss and gain for me...it's the ONE THING in life in which I've never succeeded. The only stinkin thing. I don't look at it as a cure-all or a magic solution, but I do look at it as my key to success. Finally.  I'm wondering if I have the correct mindset and if not, what I can do to get there before surgery?

Laura all great questions.  I am only four weeks out so certainly not an expert - but in my mind before the surgery I did all the research, asked all the questions really felt knowledgable but it was still a "leap of faith" that it would work.  I kept telling myself it worked for so many people - people I knew personally and all of the fine people on these boards that there must be something to it that you can't understand until you have it.  Now after having it, I go around all the time saying "this is weird" usually because I am in some place that I would expect to challenge me and it doesn't or at least doesn't do it as much as I thought it would.  Like Bernice, I too don't believe this will last forever and that there are many more challenges in the future but I do think there is a mindset "correction" that somehow comes along with the surgery.  If nothing else - I often say to myself, I didn't let them rearrange my guts so that I could then run off and ignore their rules.

Hope this helps

Well put - very well put! See that's kind of what I was hoping for. There is just so many things that I can't know in advance or set myself up to expect. That must be the control freak in me. :) I think that this is in large part a leap of faith...but not blindly or irresponsibly. The good kind of leap! :) I do have this deep rooted fear that somehow it will be like that movie "Awakenings" where the patients come to life but it's short lived because the medication they get stops working after a while and they revert back to a comatose type state. Anyway, I digress...but I think you know what I mean. I'm scared...what if this doesn't work too? Perhaps that's just self doubt knocking on my door...a familar guest. I just want to get to a point where I have some control!

Thanks so much for your insight. :)

Laura,

I asked the psychiatrist at my psych consult lots of questions.  Although I was there for him to "approve" me for surgery, it was very important for me to have questions answered so I could be sure I would do well and succeed.  Having the surgery and being off all my preop meds was success in itself for me.  The weight loss a bonus.  Now that I'm into my fifth month postop, I try and stay as active in support groups as I possibly can.  I think support is very important to be and stay successful.  The fear alone of dumping is enough to defer me away from sweets and things I shouldn't eat at this point.  I am still in the honeymoon period, but I do fear my appetite and the cravings will return at some point.  This is going to be a lifetime of work and determination for me, but I'm up for the challenge and truly believe that I will get to my goal and be successful.  Never before this surgery had I ever lost more than 23 pounds.  I'm down 60 now and couldn't be more pleased.

Good luck to you. 

Debbie

Thanks so much Debbie for giving me your perspective. I think I will look into participating in some of my surgeon's support groups beforehand. I think they are generally for people who've already had the surgery, but you know what? I learn so much from you all on here and that plus all of my research and hard work should put me in a good place. Or at least better than I am now! Dieting is a nightmare when I have to struggle so hard for negligible results. ThanksDebbie. Best of luck to you as you go through the first year!

Laura - check into it - I know my surgeon requires you to attend a support group meeting prior to surgery.

Laura,

I also started going to support groups before my surgery and have attended ever since.  You'll learn so much by the success and also the failure of others.  Take in as much information as you can....good luck to you.

Debbie