How is this different?

I have not had surgery  (VSG) yet due to money issues however I am close to getting those taken out of.  Lately, I have been on the fence thinking how is this going to be any different than the millions of diets i have been on before?  I see people who I know have had lap band and they have not lost very much weight.  Is this going to happen to me with the VSG?  Will I have to diet forever?

The difference is appetite control. With the VSG, they remove most of the stomach that makes ghrelin, the hormone that makes us hungry. Most obese people have way more ghrelin than normal weighted people. So this gives either no hunger or a very light hunger that over time might grow to a natural hunger, if that.

Without being hungry all the time, it's easy to eat only as much food as you burn.

With Dieting and Exercising and No Surgery, you don't get appetite control. In fact, the longer you are a on diet, the higher your ghrelin levels rise.

With a band, you only get hunger control if you get proper restriction and some people can't get that. Their bands are always either too tight and they are barfing everything up or too loose and they are hungry even though they had surgery. So that's one reason some people with bands don't do that well. (Though my niece has done great with it. I guess she found her sweet spot.)

As for dieting forever, I think that's up to you and how you look at it. You will have to watch your weight, just like a normal person. You won't be able to always eat everything you want when you want it. No one can do that. But counting every calorie, depriving yourself constantly? That's kind of up to you. Some people are willing to do that to maintain the absolute lowest weight possible. And some aren't. And some are happy with the weight they are at without dieting constantly and some aren't.

I'm in the "aren't" camp. I'd rather be 5-10 pound over my idea weight and be happy.  

Though most of the time, I don't even have to make that choice and my Happy Weight and Ideal Weight are the same.  But right now I have a head injury and not only can I not workout but the headaches often cause me to be hungry and so I'm at my  "winter weight" of 10 pounds over my idea weight even though it's Spring and usually by now I've started to lean out again as I made my way down to my Summer weight which is 5-10 lb. lower than my Winter weight.

Hi,



Mac gave very good advice.



I had my surgery last July. I, too, had many reservations thinking what difference will it make. It is hard to explain, but I seldom get hungry (I do get "head hunger" sometimes), and many times the foods I want are NOT processed carbs. I do find that I reach for healthier foods and have increased my activity.



The sleeve has been the best gift I have ever given myself. It has helped make me accountable and truly find a way to change my lifestyle. As Mac said, it is up to you once you lose your weight on what your ultimate goal is. I try and keep carb count down, but I do eat high protein, fruits, veggies, whole grains and a "treat" once in a while. I am at goal though. During the losing phase,the first few months, very low carb and high protein. As time went on in the losing phase, I started eating healthy carbs and even though my carb counts are higher than most, I am happy and it's worked for me so far.



Good luck!

I did not have VSG, but I will tell you one main thing WLS helped me with.

It helped to give me the opportunity to change my lifestyle and they way I think about food.  In the beginning you can eat very little.  I listened to the veterans on this board and took their advise on how to maintain this and make it a lifestyle instead of a diet.  I think it is important that you know you are going to change your lifestyle and this is not a diet.  I used the losing phase to experiment with different foods and found lots that I actually love now that I would never have tried before.

Good luck with your decision.  It is a life altering one!!

Linda

I had an RNY and not a VSG, and I agree with Linda.  This is not a diet, but a lifestyle change.  In order for me to be healthy, I cannot eat what I ate presurgery.  I have to do what the vetrans recommend about a high protein, low carb diet, or my lab test results start dropping.  Thus, these changes are not for 6 months or a year, but permanent.  If you're not ready for permanent changes to your eating habits, you will be putting yourself at risk.

Hi there! First thing I would say is that WLS is NOT a diet plan but a lifestyle change that can't be reversed in the case Of a VSG but with lap band you can defeat it's restriction and if you look at the % of success for the types of WLS you would see Lap band as very low. I have a DS which is a step up in WLS due to mal-absorption but also has the VSG portion as well for restriction. You might do well to visit the various Weight loss support groups in your area to talk with the people who live WLS everyday. I had wanted the lap band till I talked with the groups and found the happiest to be the DS group and research also pulled me to DS. Talking with Doctors and support groups and research are all tools to a better decision. Except for lap band VSG is the least radical of all the WLS and the DS the most radical. Each WLS has it's quirks so measure twice and cut once as a old carpenter would say. Take care...Jeff