I was wondering....

Are there any people here that dieted waiting for approval for WLS and ended up losing so much weight, or just seeing that you COULD lose it on your own, that you decided to NOT hvae the surgery? Im trying to get WLS and started the process this monday with my 1st dr visit, and I have to do a 6 mo diet. Ill be honest...im scared of surgery....its risky....and now my thinking is I will give the 6 mo diet a try, a REALY HARD try and see how I feel at teh end of the 6 mo....and if Ive lost and kept it off, then maybe NOT do the surgery. Any ideas? Thoughts? Experiences?

Yep, we've got those people here.  Started out for weight loss surgery and then got too small for it. 

I think the trick for you being on the six month program is to have a plan to go on to immediately afterward so you don't have weight regain.  Learning how to eat for a lifetime is the key to any plan, even surgery.  We've also got people here who had surgery and are trying to lose weight through dieting now.  Something else you might want to think about.  Even with surgery, you're still on a diet.

Best wishes,

Mary

I am on month two of a six month supervised diet.  I am doing WW.  Believe me , if I get satisfactiory results from this I will not have surgery.  Not because I am afraid of surgery--I just think life would be a little easier if I could remain on a more normal diet.  Surgery is not the "easy" way out.  I have lost 9 pounds so far, I'm working hard to follow new eating rules and will give it my best shot.

Yes I started on a journey to have WLS and had to do the 6 month diet before insurance would even consider my case.  I was diagnosed w/hypothyroidism, began taking synthroid, eating healthy and exercising and by the time the 6 months was over, I didn't weigh enough to qualify for surgery (nor did I have any comorbidities).  After the 6 month diet, I kept doing the same things I did during those 6 months and lost all my weight and have kept it off......doing the same things I did during the 6 month "diet".  Mary's right - it's a lifelong change in habits - eating and exercising, whether it's done with WLS or not.
Best wishes on your journey!  You can do it!
Kim J.

I just finished month two of my 6 month diet.   So far, I'm 16 pounds down and plan to keep plugging away.  I'm going forward trying to fulfill the requirements for surgery.  However, if I do really well after six months, I will certainly rethink my decision.      

I've also just finished month 2 of my 6 months. I also decided to give it a real shot before I chose to have surgery. I fihure, if I'm not successful, I'll have the surgery and at least I will know I did everything I could to avoid surgery.

I've lost 20 lbs so far and fully expect that if I get tough, eat right and exercise, I can lose between 60-70 lbs in the 6 months. That will still leave me with about 60 to lose. If I fail, I know from past experiences that I'll regain within just a few months, so then I'd qualify for surgery.

Hopefully I'll be successful.

Cindy T

Well, I did the research on the surgery and decided it wasn't for me. I went to some free seminars, read a whole bunch of information online, and received a packet of info from the seminar. I decided that it was just too risky. I had lost 50 lbs. in the past, and knew that if I really put my heart and soul into getting healthy, I could do it.

I haven't once regretted my decision. I might lose my weight a lot slower, but I don't have hair loss, I don't have dietary restrictions (I can eat what ever I want in moderation), and I don't have a fear that I could develop a problem later on due to surgery.

I know that the surgery works for some people, but there are a lot of people out there having complications even years later. I'm glad I won't have that.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

HI tina....for starters, you look very young, so by all means, if you move that scale without surgery, boy oh boy, do that!

If you're one of those sneaky petes who are actually getting onto or over 40....you may realize by now that the scale is not our friend - not impossible to drop weight, but if you have over a 100 to lose, what I hear from others is there can be a Mother Stall no matter what you do and you may have to get surgery to get to a reasonable weight.

Have you ever really stuck to a food & exercise plan? it gets more motivating and we mature so much as we get older - the tantrums over "why can't I eat whatever I want and lay about all day" do get less and less! Really! I promise! Not that it ever gets any easier to create and maintain self-discipline.... just sayin'

That is the great part about getting older, we tend to have a more realistic expectation of ou bodies and what we are truly willing to do for health more than looks.

Sounds like you've got a very good attitude, and will do just fine. I've found that the particular (or is that peculiar?) group of mainly ladies on this board are very supportive of each other and lift each other's spirits. It requires surgery or special bras to lift other parts.  From what I've learned, a strict routine will be required of a post-op person anyway, so why not get a healthy start and then just continue it? I would recommend to you, and to all who frequent this board, the CD set I'm currently listening to by Jeff Olson which is the abridged version of his book 'The Slight Edge'. It really is appropriate to what we're trying to accomplish. Those simple disciplines, repeated over time... honestly, they do pay off.



This week I've noticed some muscle development I hadn't seen before. My arms and shoulders are getting stronger. I always said I was a tyrannosaurus (strong legs, useless arms). But doing these simple disciplines, over time, have started to pay off.

Stick with this group, and with your amazing resolve to get your body to health and balance. You will NOT be sorry.

Ruth aka Mom Shap (everybody's mom...)

In my case I lost about 191 pounds with WW and NS. I was paying for it with my severance pay as I lost my job in 2005. I still had about  another 150 pounds to lose when the money ran out and I also happened to meet a new guy who is a Chef. I tell you we both went crazy with eating food. He gained 30 and I  gained back 50+ pounds in like 5 months.   He left my life in May and that month I got the Disability Medicare insurance so I thought I would try to get the lapband surgery but they turned me down this past Thursday. 
So here I sit thinking OK you lost 95 pounds with WW before you went onto NS so WW is cheaper and knowing you did it once you can do it again.  My Medicare insurance will pay for Curves, so this time I will lose about 200 pounds with WW and Curves.   I  Plan to be here a long time and hope to get to know all of you really well. 
Amanda C