New Here (kind of long)

Hi,

A good friend of mine recommended tis site to me. I snooped around a few boards beore- I like the vibe of this board best.

A little about me- I'm a a married mother of 2 young boys. My weight last week a the Dr's was 330; but my highest weight was 334. I'm a weekly weigher and today I weighed in at 321.8. (BMI went from 50.9 to 50.4 :-)

I'm looking into WLS. I've always said that I *need* to be able to lose weight on my own. Then I thought...I used a indivudual therapist to help me work thru some life issues, a marriage counsler to work thru some marriage issues... so why am I excluding WLS as an option to work thru weight issue? Its a tool...I should consider it. So I am. 

I plan on attending a seminar on 3/10. I've been reading alot on this site and can say that I'm not at all sold on WLS...if anything leaning more towards not...but will still learn what I can to make an informed choice that works well for me. 

About prior weight loss stints..only one. I've only ever tried to lose weight once- and did so quiet successfully with weigh****chers. Went from 308-258. Maintained for a about a year before I I realized that I needed to deal witht the life issues that were causing me to pack back on the weight.  So I'm in a much better place emotionally to work on my weight.  I could do WW again..but really I know I don't need to covert everything I eat to points...basic premise of weight loss is calories in vs. calories out.

So now I'm watching calroies,  exercise 3X's weekly @ the gym,  journal every bite that I eat and am learning about WLS.

Welcome to the OH! You will find a lot of information here to help you decide if any type of WLS is for you. Best wishes to you!

Welcome!

Welcome and I agree - there is much to learn and some really smart people on here who can share their experiences.  It is quite a journey - - and not always easy.  Good luck to you!

Welcome!  Hope you find the answers you're looking for, one way or the other.  I can tell you that I researched it for 2 years, evaulated 3 different docs and their programs, went to 2 seminars by 2 different docs, lost 60 pounds all by myself to get closer to 300 pounds by the time I had surgery, filled out all the paperwork - even had the psych eval and then I pulled up short just before the presurgery apt with the surgeon I chose.  I had decided wls was just crazy, I was a sane and reasonably intelligent adult - surely to goodness I could loose weight by myself.  After all...hadn't I just lost 60 pounds on my own? 

Fast forward 2 years to 2008.  I had gained 47 of those lost 60 pounds back, arthritic complications were forcing me to consider the possibility that I might not be able to keep my job, and I was facing the fact that I would probably die before my much healthier husband.  In early 2009, I finally moved on the decision to have wls to prolong my life. 

Now I'm only 8 months out, and I don't know much...but this I am sure of: The tool of restriction that my RNY gives me is the strongest weapon I have ever had in my battle with excess weight.   And for me, I am equally sure, I stand a far better chance now at reaching and keeping a more normal weight than ever before in my life.  I wish I could have done it without wls.  But I'm thankful I had it now.  And I hope you can come to the decision that's best for you in the days ahead as you continue to explore your options.  connie

Welcome! It's good to be open minded, you will fit in well around here.

There is alot of information to be obtained from this site, showing all sides of wls...the good the bad and the ugly lol I hope it will help you to make the decision that is best for you.

My wls saved my life and is constantly keeping me in check even when the devil in me tries to do otherwise. If I eat something I shouldn't, I definitely pay for it, and best of all at least i didn't eat that much of it because of the restriction. My wls is the angel sitting on my shoulder encouraging me and sometimes bending me into submission to do the right thing. It is just what I needed, and I hope through your research you will find just what you need too so you can achieve your goals and live your happiest life possible.

Congratulations on all the work you have done so far. counseling is a wonderful way to face the problems up front, with out doing that first, whether wls is chosen or not, most will fail without that assistance first.

Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the warm welcomes everybody!!

Welcome to our little corner of OH! 

As you know WLS is just one of the tools.  Ultimately, whether you have WLS or not you are still welcome here.  I had done WW 3 times in my life and 3 times did a medically supervised fast with HMR.  I was "successful" at all of them.  I am the queen of knowing how to lose weight.  What I never could do was keep it off.  I like WW but ultimately I always found myself getting to the point where something would come up and I could not keep up the momentum. 

The main things I gained since my VSG are 1.  I am no longer constantly voraciously hungry and 2.  I can only eat about 1 to 1-1/2 cups of food at one sitting now.  And that makes me satisfied.  I find that the WLS tool gave me a fighting chance to be able to keep weight off just like "the normal people do".  I dont have that much of an appetite anymore and as long as I follow the rules of protein first it does not leave that much room for "snack" foods that I might want to eat due to "head hunger".  I never understood people who could forget to eat because I was always hungry but now I actually do have to remind myself to eat occasionally.  It actually takes some effort to try to eat 80 g of protein a day. 

Good luck to whatever you ultimately decide.  All are welcome here. 

Welcome to our forum.. I am happy that you like what you see here,.. I love it here because I feel like the people here can truly relate to me and the restrictions I have had better than light weights. I stay here because the people here are so kind hearted and really do care about each other.. and the support is great..

I give you credit for going through counceling.. that was a major decision and it sounds like it was a success.. WLS is a major decision too and you must do all the research necessary to know for sure if this is right for you and what surgery is right if you choose to have it.. So do all the research you need to and take all the time necessary..  I will tell you this.. this is not an easy way out.. it is a lot of work and you have to be faithful to the tool to make it work.. you have to be in the right frame of mind(sounds like you have that licked).. and be dedicated to do this for life..

I wanted to tell you that any questions you need answered I am sure you will find the answers here.. all you have to do is ask.. there are some pretty smart cookies here.. and I am sure they will help anyway they can..

You are welcome here even if you decide to not have surgery.. you will still need support to loose the weight.. and you need to loose it to be here for those kids..

I will tell you this... I have dieted all my life and I have been very sucessful in loosing but I was never sucessful in keeping it off.. I would gain it all back and more.. I did this for so many years and did so much damage to my body.. by the time I decided to have surgery I had sleep apnea and uncontrollable blood pressure problems.. it took me 5 years of fighting the insurances to finally get the surgery, buy then I had diabetes..I had had two mini strokes and have arthritis so bad I could hardly move.. I had menstrual problems and had to have a d&c and then be put on Depo Provera injections to correct the heavy bleeding.. I have worn out my knees. my sleep apnea worsened so much my machine is now set at the highest setting.. I was taking 15-20 different medications a day.. I was surely going to die.. The doctors told me the next thing to happen was a heart attaack and that I probably wouldnt survive.. I have lost 96lbs now.. and I am off all the medications.. I take my vitamins daily and a small pill for bladder nerve damage.. and thats it.. all my heath problems are correcting themselves.. I still have a long way to go.. I still need to loose over 80 lbs.. I still have the Cpap for the sleep apnea but I hope it will be gone by the time I loose the rest of my weight.. my knees are so much better.. I am exercising for an hour a day... I am walkling a mile on top of that.. I could have never done that before.. sure I lost weight before but the health problems were all still there.. the only difference now is the restrictions in eating.. it is literally saving my life.. I would do it all over again in a heart beat. and I am glad to have a beating heart today.. I thank God every day for me choosing to go this path..

I hope you are able to make an informed decision.. only you can do that.. we will be here to support you in what ever that decision may be..  welcome again to the over 50BMI forum.. the best forum on OH in my opinion..


Huggs...

Welcome to our little corner of the web :)  I love your analogy about getting help and tools with certain issues.  I have never looked at it that way before, but it makes complete sense! 

I've had many people tell me over the past 10 years to look into weight loss surgery.  I always told myself that I needed to fix my head and then my eating habits would change.  I think when I began to see the real statistics of those that keep it offf when losing weight this way that I began to feel a bit of helplessness about "doing it on my own."  I've lost chunks of weight many times over the years, but it never stayed off and my hunger (real and head) was never satiated.  

Oct 2008 my PCP tells me he wanted me to seriously consider it.  Boy did that **** me off :)  But, by the end of Dec. 2008 I was back in his office, telling him I wanted to learn more.  I had done some serious research about the pros and cons and had a heart to heart with myself about the help I really needed.

I'm am over 3 months post op, down 88 lbs toal, lost 40+ inches, lost 10+ BMI points... and I feel great.  I still have a LOT of weight to lose... at least another 110 lbs.  My hunger is in check, with the help of my counselor I'm changing my relationship with food, and I feel like there is hope for the feature.

So, it was right for me.  But no one, I mean NO ONE, can tell you what is best for you on this topic.  It's something you have to do all the research on, talk honestly with yourself about, and really come to terms with.  It's not a quick fix - this is harder than any diet I was ever on pre-op.  

I hope you hang out here to learn more, and even if you decide surgery isn't right for you - stick around!  This is a great group of people and everyone here understands what it's like to struggle with large amounts of weight.

Best wishes!