What Scares you about WLS??

I am pre op as well and going back and forth being scared and being excited and scared and excited and so on. I have been going to the gym for the last month every single day and doing a pretty serious routine of cardio and weights - takes me a good 2 hours - and I burn an average of about 600 calories per session. I have lost a grand total of 2 lbs in the last month. And I am NOT overeating to compensate! So what scares me the most is going through the surgery and all the discomfort, reflux, pain etc. and then having mediocre results even when following all the advice and the plan of the surgeon. Maybe I was just not meant to be thin? Maybe I'm playing God with my own body and I shouldn't? I am scared of that mostly.

Hi,

If you are doing this much at the gym, remember you are building some muscle.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  And you are doing something good.  Once you have the sleeve you will have the restriction and you will only be eating about 800 calories per day.  I promise you that you will see the results.  And remember the 1st month after surgery is the hardest month that you will ever do. 

Don't just your success right now by the scale.  The restriction of the amount of food will be very helpful.  Right now I have no idea of what kind of foods you are eating.  Usually we eat a lot of carbs and that is why you are not losing weight.  Eating mostly protein is what will help you more.

It is VERY normal to have all these feelings and emotions that you are having.  You are doing the RIGHT thing.  Keep doing it.  Stay in touch and ask questions if you have any.  I am always here if you need something.

Hugs,
Suzanne

Thanks for the encouragement! Muscle and fat weigh the same however. Fat has more volume and muscle is denser and leaner but weight is the same. Its like a pound of feathers and a pound of nails... Its still a pound. Just the volume is different. I don't eat carbs as I am diabetic so I have cleared carbs out of my life mostly, hence my weight loss thus far over the period of a little over a year. I eat a low carb high fat diet with the occasional indulgence. I figure I eat about 1500 cals a day and burn at least 5-600 at the gym daily plus what it takes for my body to breathe! I do get pretty discouraged by it all because I see friends do a whole lot less than me and lose fast and furious. My metabolism is basically shot so I hope that the VSG will kick start things again. But the insulin resistance thing is a ***** for storing fat and creating fat and holding on to fat. Not fair at all!!!!

what scares me is that in the end it would just be like doing atkins and losing a tonne of weight, then gaining it back again except now you have just spent thousands on cutting your stomach out for nothing.  i know we can maintain for a few years with the sleeve but what's it going to be like 10-20 years down the road.  i don't want to develop an eating disorder if the sleeves starts to fail through no fault of my own (however that could happen).  people always bring up these people who  had stomach cancer and had to get their stomachs out and stuff, but were they morbidly obese when they did it and keep the weight off?  or just fricking unobese people trying to stay alive? 

Hi,

I am not sure why you think the sleeve is going to fail.  It sounds like you are just waiting for it to fail. It will require you making good and healthy food choice for the rest of your life if you want to be successful. This is NOT a miracle cure!!!!  You know they have done this kind of surgery for over 100 years--it wasn't for weight loss, but it was for people who had stomach cancer.  These people lost part of their stomach and lived a full and healthy life. They had a restriction because of the smaller stomach.  They just couldn't eat much, and it does take time to eat food.  You can not shovel the food in your mouth and chew it a few times and swallow it--that will be a thing of the past.  You now have to put the food in your mouth as tiny small bites and chew, and chew and chew before you swallow it.

You also should add a little exercise to what you do each day.  Your success will depend on just you and your choices.  It is a very do able thing.  You have to have your head in the right place, and if you don't NOTHING is going to work for you.  This is all about YOU and no one else.

I use to have some thoughts just like you too, but once I started losing weight and saw this I could do this and I knew I would always be able to keep it off it became a lot easier.  Half the problem with being fat is how our brain works and talks to us. You have to take control over what your brain signal and what it is sending to you.  That is possible to do with some work.

I wish you great success and I want you to know that you can do this if you want it bad enough.  Thanks for having the courage to say how you feel.  Saying how you feel is half the battle, you can do this.

Hugs,
Suzanne

i don't think the sleeve is going to fail, i just wrote the worst case probably impossible scenario.  like if after ten years people just started gaining back because their metabolisms were weird or something freaky.  not that i think that is going to happen but i guess it comes down to not knowing because it's only been used for weight loss in the last few years, i know it's safe because of the stomach cancer patients.   i haven't had the surgery myself.  am thinking about it.  i absolutely realize you can screw it up yourself, but i'm not meaning that,  i'm just talking about some freaky thing that might happen.  kinda like when people who get the RNY lose their benefit of malabsorption after a couple of years but still need to take vitamins.  that wasn't their fault it happened it was a design thing.  does that make sense?

in other words if the sleeve for some reason had something go wrong and just stopped working one day for some catastrophic reason that wasn't our fault it was just a flaw in the design (which is most likely not going to happen but still a little fear inside), i might as well have just followed atkins instead of getting surgery. 

it's what 'scares me' the most.  not that it's going to happen i just wrote what would scare me. don't think i'm all messed up.

Hi,

I honestly think you are worrying about things that are never going to happen.  I understand how people might do this not having the surgery--you have NO idea how we feel or think.  But, once you have it, you really do gain a lot of confidence in your ability to be sucssess for the rest of your life. 

Try to think in more positive ways.  Don't always think about the "what if's"  If your head is not in the right place when you have this surgery it will be more difficult for you.  Keep up the good thoughts and start taking control over your thoughts instead of the thoughts controlling you!

Hugs,
Suzanne

dude im not worried about it at all.  i just wrote something to add to the thread.  lol. 

didn't realize you made this thread to answer each and every question with your strong opinion.

Thanks, I hear what you are saying.  I wish you nothing but
success dude in what every kind of weight loss you chose to have.

Suzanne

I am terrified I will not be able to keep the weight off. i know I can lose it. I've done that a zillion times.

I know this is going to sound corny, but i have to say it.........The enemy has put the emotion of fear in all of us. Whenever i get afraid (which is all the time) I ask God to take the fear away and He does. Everytime. The unknown is scary. Knowing I have a Safety Net makes the scary go away for awhile.

Sharon