You have to remember that surgery is not magic. Sounds simple, but if you read the regain posts here on OH so many people seem to think the surgery was supposed to do all the work. It doesn't.

I jus****ched my surgeon's lecture on health, weight loss surgery, life,, etc and it was good. As he said (and shown in the Nike commercial), you have to be prepared to leave your old self behind. Reincarnate. Otherwise, weight loss surgery is all for naught.

Good luck. Weight loss surgery saved my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

you'll definitely lose the weight as long as you stick to the program. You'll also keep it off - or most of it off - as long as you stick to the program. The overwhelming desire to eat (and regain) usually comes several months (or a year or two) into it. Hopefully during the first few months when you're really motivated and never hungry, you'll have developed new habits and worked through some of the head stuff and will know how to deal with it (although admittedly, it's really tough sometimes). The vast majority of people feel 100% better, not worse. I, for one, haven't felt this good in years. Also, I'm not sure why you'd hate the new lifestyle. Do you mean as far as eating and exercise? It's definitely a change - although I don't mind it, esp now that I'm in maintenance. As far as everything else, I wouldn't give it up for the world. NO WAY do I ever want to go back to where I was!

Hi all,

I have been reading through this forum and think it's great to have one for bmi over 50. I agree... it's different at a higher starting point. My bmi is just over 54.

I just had my doctor referral a week and a half ago and I am anxiously waiting for my orientation date. I am so eager to get started, but so scared too. I haven't told anyone. Not my sister. Not my best friends. No one. I know I will in good time.

I think I haven't told people because I want to be ready for all their questions first. I figure I am going to be judged. Maybe, if I am being truthful, I am just judging myself. I have thought about this for years, but to finally do it feels like a last resort. Surprisingly, it doesn't feel like a failure. It feels like a real chance at living the life i actually want to.

I have real fear though. What if I go through all this and I still don't lose weight? What if I find the desire to eat overwhelming and regain? What if the procedure leaves me feeling worse than I feel now? What if I hate the new lifestyle?

Since my referral, I picture myself thin all the time, and what I would be doing... I also imagine myself in the new way of eating. I believe I want that more than I want to continue living this way.

It's still scary as heck.

I imagine some of you have felt some of what I feel. What has helped you?

Thanks so much! :)

I know this was posted a week-ish ago but I just saw it and so wanted to chime in.

Gwen, I felt and still feel the same way but mostly just ignore it all. When I first joined I felt really lost on this site because I would see mostly people around 250-ish pounds and think OMG I'm 377 pounds and will never get anywhere. I started ignoring most people's posts if they didn't have weights in the signatures, which sounds ****ty but I was feeling really crappy about my likelihood of getting anywhere.

When I found a few people with starting weights around mine I basically watched everything they posted because their posts meant a million times more to me than all of the 'lightweights' combined. Our experiences are not quite the same - but then again of course they're not.

Those of us that were SMO probably have different expectations of where we want to end up as well. And I don't think that other people can understand that if they weren't as heavy as we have been.

I do still get jealous of those that had the surgery at a lighter weight. I think of how much better my body would have looked if I made the decision sooner. But it is what it is. And we're here of course!

You should be happy with that weigh in! Great job limiting the binge eating too... and hope you hear something back from the behaviorist soon.