VGS going in eyes open?????

Hi I am going on Friday the 4th of September for a verticle sleeve gastrectomy.  I have had so many people tell me how happy they are and I have read about people that are not so happy with weight gain or not loosing enough weight.  My doctor tells me with no excercise and regular diet (not doing any sort of special diet ), I will loose 40 of my 55 kilos that I have to loose.  I am scared now that if I ever eat anything not"good" or "healthy"  that I will be doing this surgery for nothing.  I dont know if I can never eat ice cream again as eating has always been a joy in my life and my everyday has pretty much been about what I will eat next.  Don't get me wrong I have will power when it hits me last summer I lost 72 pounds by diet alone in 4 and a half months with NO excercise.  But the minute I went off my diet over half the weight came right back.  I am tired of fighting my weight and I am not prepared or even able to stay on a strict diet for the rest of my life and I do not want to be on a strict diet for the rest of my life.  I want to be healthy happy and "normal".

Does anyone out there have any advise for me about weather or not I am making the right decision in having this surgery?  Am I properly informed or do I have to be on a strict Diet forever even with the surgery?  I really thought I was ready untill reading some of these posts so please give me help now I am only a little over a week away from my surgery date and I am really scared.

Also has anyone out there had the leak that can occur and if so what happened to you how were you cured of this problem?  THANKS!!!!!

Amina

Sweetie, if you've dieted and lost weight before then this is the surgery for you.  You won't be hungry and when you do get hungry it does not take much for you to be satisfied.  After the surgery you will have to watch your diet until you have lost all the weight you want to.  After that you can start to add some things back in, within sensible limits of course.  And you can have ice cream.  Breyers makes a low carb ice cream that I work into my daily plan almost every day.

You are making the right decision.  I'm a lot older than you and am doing quite well.

I'll agree with the other poster but do know this...if you are not 100% ready to change how you look at food and to make this a change FOREVER there is NO WLS that will give you forever results.  Processed sugar (ie carbs)will undo ALL your success if you are focused on the ALL or nothing.

I recently gained about 10lbs because I let my OLD habits of eating mainly carbs for about 2 weeks creep back in.  And it was "easy" at the time to tell myself it didn't matter.  But the reality is if I wasn't getting on the scale and making MYSELF accountable and monitoring MY behavior and ALTERING it when I saw the problem that 10lbs could have EASILY turned into 20 and so on and so forth.

In my opinion WLS isn't about having intial WILL POWER it's about having the POWER to change your LIFE, your DIET and your EATING HABITS for the long haul.  Please don't go into this thinking it's a "diet" till you get to goal and then after you can go back because just like last year, the minute you go off is a minute to long.

I'd love to know what you mean about "staying on a strict diet for the rest of my life" means to YOU?  If you want to be healthy for LIFE then you have to give your body healthy foods and while YES I have eaten and will eat again "unhealthy" foods I "try" not to over indulge.  If you have food issues they will come to light and might even come back to visit and you should be mentally prepared for that.

Regarding leaks, I have seen several of them and catching it early is key, but only time really heals them for some they  have to go in and surgically try to close the leak.

If you haven't please visit us on the VSG forum.

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Side note about me...food no longer "controls" me the way it used to.  I'm not hungry at all and it's been a blessing, but I do eat for emotional reasons which I'm working on and when I'm bored which is when I had my set back.  The joy of my life was also food and on MANY days I mourn that loss BUT I also rejoice in the many blessings I have gained.

Ms Shell

Hi, Amina! Best of luck and success in changing your life and improving your health.

Any weight loss surgery is highly dependent on how committed you are to re-thinking your emotional attachment to food. You say you want to be "normal," but the truth is that normal people do not use food in the same way that fat people use it. They may eat a few treats, but they do not binge in the way most fat people do. If they have ice cream as a snack, they skip dessert later and hardly give it a second thought. It's about balance, Amina.

People who are of a normal weight and who eat balanced diets do not lead lives that are ruled by food. Learning to deal with our food demons is a daily process. But I won't lie: I keep track of what I eat, I exercise 4 or 5 days a week and I LOVE IT! I never thought I would, but I do! And I know that this is a lifelong journey, not a short-term solution.

Amina

You have some valid concerns, Check out the VSG Forum for more info. 

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/

It is normal for many to have a bounce back of 5-10 lbs, once you start eating carbs and more food in the system.  If you are commited to change, and are willing to work on maintaining, you can succeed.   The weight comes off pretty easily if you pay attention and make good healthy choices, but if you go back to old patterns, eating carbs, sugar and such you can have weight gain.  Carbs "ie Slider Foods" seem to go down really easily, and in great quanties.  Also Grazing you can eat around your tiny tummy.    If you stick to Protein first, Veggies second, some fruit and a little bread/starch you will do well.  

Exercise will help you maintain, along with weighing daily and then if your weight goes up a few lbs you get back on track... it is balance. 

I can gain if I am not careful, but I set a 5 lb limit.  If I exceed it, I am back on writing foods down, cutting carbs/sugar etc out until I lose those lbs.  The WLS gives the tool to help you get back on track.  Drinking fluids really helps me stay on track.  If you are drinking, you can't (or should not) be eating!

Good luck Remember those first weeks are tough, but it does get better.  Keep up on your pain with you pain meds.  I only needed them for 5 days... and then took them nightly for a few more so I would sleep well.

Please go over to the VSG forum with your Questions.

The portion control with having the VSG helps. I love that I can be full on about 4-6 oz of food 1 year out post op. I DO have to make good choices, but it's much easier now. I DO have ice cream every day now. Weigh****chers Ice cream sandwhich 140 calories, 30 carbs. Not bad. I still keep my calories around 1500 right now and am not starving. I do really push protein, and I am VERY careful with simple carbs.For me, this means I've learned to be totally happy without white bread, rice, pasta, etc. Others may eat these things and maintain their weight, but I really don't miss them, so I stick to lean meat, salads, fruits, cottage cheese, whole grain low carb bread and my little treats.

Plenty of VSG people do not exercise. Plenty do. I think it boils down to controling what you eat. The hunger control for me has been VERY nice. I have a sensation of hunger, but it's NOTHING like it was before surgery. I simply know that I need to eat something, and eat really often (5-6 times a day).

Good luck!

Meg

Thanks to all of you *****plied to my question.  I am nervous but confident that I can do this.  Iwill definitely be posting and hoping for support in the next few weeks so wish me luck everyone!!!!

Thank you ,

Amina

Did you know that the VSG is the first part of the DS? Did you know that with the DS, you DO NOT have to diet for the rest of your life? Did you know you can enjoy eating like a normal person with the DS? You do not have to cramp your lifestyle with the VSG alone. Check out the DS forum. You owe it to yourself to check out all your options before you make a final decision.

Tell us, what happens when you eat a diet of white carbs?  You know, like normal people.

>>>>>>"You do not have to CRAMP your lifestyle???" 

   Because I have no malabsorption, I am capable of processing and using ALL the nutrients that I ingest. That's HEALTH>>>> not just weight loss.I take one chewable multivitamin a day because I want to- not have to. DS'ers have a huge vitamin regimin to stick to, to attempt to stay healthy.

   A DS friend of mine at work (who's only 40) has such severe bone density issues now, she's on shots for life. And, she didn't lose one additional pound after she had the "switch" portion of her surgery as she'd wished for.

   I'm still losing beyond goal, and can hardly make myself eat more than 1600 calories a day. Our sleeve is purposefully made smaller than DS'ers. I should be eating 2000 to maintain. Thank GOD I don't have to force down bacon to keep my weight stabilized.

   That being said, if I was not able to have lost all my weight with the VSG, I would have considered the switch portion, but why jump on that before he knows if he'd need it or not.

    Just my two cents.

Meg