Down 95 Pounds, 15 To Go !!!!!

So happy for your success ... way to go!!!!  

See you in 12 years 

It's called "The Honeymoon" stage.  Have you read about it?

Yesterday was 14 years since I had WLS.  My first WLS.  It was pretty easy, too.  For 2 years I pretty much ate whatever I wanted and lost weight.  I lost 120 lbs.

And I had the "magic" surgery, the foolproof no brainer surgery that was supposed to guarantee success and lifetime thinness.  At least that is how I heard it.

My signature on my posts always said "120 lbs gone forever!".

I really believed it.

Eight years later I laid down on the operating table 100 lbs heavier and getting sliced and diced once again to fix some physical problems my surgery had caused and while I was open my surgeon revised my surgery to give me a small pouch.  

He warned me before the surgery that I might not lose any weight.  I don't know if the reason he predicted that was because I had failed so miserably with the first attempt but at the point losing weight wasn't foremost on my mind, getting well was.  But I decided that since I was getting a second chance I might as well make the most of it and learn from my mistakes and see if I could do better this time.

Of course doing better wasn't difficult.  I had done so poorly that anything was an improvement.

I won't bore you with my last 6 years but I will say that I did lose the excess weight and unlike the first shot at it I have managed to keep it off.  For now.

Every day I read posts from people who were cured and managed to keep the weight off for years, decades even.  But because they thought they were cured they let their guard down and started regaining, many to where they started and beyond.

My own sister had her surgery a year before me but you wouldn't know it by looking at her.  She too was cured.

No one is raining on your parade.  The truth is you have a very good chance at keeping the excess weight off.  At least a far better chance than you did before WLS.  But easy?  I wouldn't say that at all.  It is doable but it is not easy.  Before it wasn't even doable so I will take doable.  But I sincerely hope that when the time comes when it stops being so easy and starts taking effort you will be prepared for that work.  And a big asset is a strong support group.  A group that you have shared your journey with from the beginning.  Not one that you drop in on every so often to announce that you are back on track and sticking to your program and will take off the regain.  And than disappear again for a few years before coming back and making the same announcement.  And having the same results.

No one is wishing you bad things.  They are just trying to use the benefit of their experience to hopefully open your eyes to just how difficult this may become, so that it won't take you by surprise and you will be prepared to do the work when the day comes.  I hope for your sake that day never does come.  But it sure helps to be prepared for it in any case.

So well said. I hope the OP actually reads it and listens to it. Thanks for sharing your story.

I hope people listen to you Tazz. Every word is golden.

Anyone who has been morbidly obese should know better than to believe their food problems are over. It's never over.

Beautifully written Tazz. #truth

When I started the WLS journey, I read and read all of the veteran comments and understood that all I was getting was a "tool", not a miracle. I know that to be successful in maintenance I have to use ALL my tools: support groups (online and in person), tracking, daily weighing, etc.  With the help of WLS, hopefully I will win the battle long-term.  As warned, I'm am afraid of what will happen when life goes sour, so I hope the with constant vigilance I can keep for on course.  Listen to these people and trust what they say!

You may want to read the story of Icarus.

It wasn't hubris that killed Icarus. It was crappy glue.