Lifestyle change vs. Surgery

This article may help put it in perspective: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/obesity-research-confirms-long -term-weight-loss-almost-impossible-1.2663585

I'm a week post op and I really wrestled with this too.  I can't tell you that it's so much easier after the surgery.  No hunger pangs at all.  

Why don't you try to follow the pre op diet and post op diet and exercise hard core and   find out for yourself ?  Maybe you are one of the small %  that can lose weight and keep it off long term.   I tried it countless times and now I have my tool. 

The surgery does a lot more than make your stomach smaller so you can eat less. There are fundamental hormonal, metabolic, and endocrine changes caused by the surgery. One example is remission of diabetes. For most, you go into surgery with Type 2 diabetes, and come home with normal blood sugars. It's like a switch was thrown. No amount of willpower can do that.

What the surgery does is very complex. If you can get the same results with willpower, I wish you luck. I couldn't.

That was me...

I had the surgery done in Mexico. The PCP here who was going to do my follow-up wanted blood-work for a baseline. Well, found out I had diabetes. My blood-sugar was over 240 (100 is normal). So he put me on medication, said my kidneys were strong (apparently I hadn't had it for long), and said go ahead with the surgery.

Now? No medication. My sugar level is down to 100 (some times even less) and I'm three weeks post-op.

The surgery saved me from some potential bad health problems that were apparently, just around the corner.

Have you NOT tried a "lifestyle change" yet?  WLS is a last resort, not some trendy new outfit that boldly matches up plaids with polka dots, so if you've not given it your all at diet/exercise, then you're not ready for this.  Unlike that trendy new outfit, this isn't something you can just return at the Walmart counter to get your money back for either.  Revisions add more risk and cost to the game, and for some, insurance only covers one wls per lifetime, to TAKE that time and learn all you can, because it looks like you're just getting started.

I wish I had the actual study to share, but my surgeon shared some statistics with me that stuck in my head:

• If a person loses 50lbs with diet/exercise, they stand a 75% chance of regaining.
• If a person loses 100lbs with diet/exercise, they stand a 97% chance of regaining it.

How's your luck against those odds?

Now the next thing is that the different wls procedures each attack obesity differently, so after you've extinguished the lifestyle change thing, your fears and uncertainty should start becoming more clear to proceed.  Learn everything you can about the RNY (gastric bypass), VSG (sleeve) and DS (duodenal switch).  It's important to understand the differences and compare them to your own diet history and results, since you don't have one yet.  Some people will do great with the VSG, while others need the extra metabolic push that the RNY and DS gives. 

• Become an expert on each procedure
• Read the boards dedicated to each procedure to learn what they are asking about, raving about and complaining about.
• Read the revisions board to learn about potential failures and complications that can arise

Good luck with the lifestyle change, though.