10 Cold Hard Facts about WLS (Cross-post)

I like your list . I agree about exercise but less as a "have to" - what I am finding is that, for the first time ever in my life, I really want to. Tonight I took a walk in -38C weather! I needed it. I think it is one of the only ways I have left to get my dopamine going! LOL I'll take it - I knew coming into this surgery that I would need, for my long term happiness, to find new and better ways to feel good. I love this aspect of my WLS - I am not obsessive about the scale and I don't obsess over what I eat/don't eat. I just try to be healthy and really notice the benefits of wls. I tobogganed with my 11 year old son for the first time since he was 2 . I could sit and wallow in what was not but I am choosing to be excited about my new life! I remember how it was - truly I was miserable. I feel like I have been set free. 

Anyway - love your list and can relate to them all in one way or another. 

Karen

Hmm, everyone is different I gather.. 

Your truths are yours, but may not be others- depending on SO many different things, including type of surgery.. for instance, and I'm not trying to be difficult and certainly not trying to rain on your parade, just I've seen this type of one-way thinking, and sometimes it helps to have another perspective, and considering the seriousness of some of the issues that WLS can bring about from many sides, I want to add another perspective.. to some this may be a bit down-er, but to those that understand.. they may get it.. and appreciate the alternate views and touch of realism here.

1. some surgeries are darn closer to a permanent solution than others, all require some work/change/maintenance, but some allow a hell of a lot more "normal" life post-op than others.

2. nope, sorry, not everyone has an issue with food- many yes, but not nearly all.. and in grouping all obese in the same class- you show you really don't have a good grasp on what can and does cause the end result of excess weight. Talk to some folks that really understand the metabolic process.. you may learn it doesn't begin and end with an excess of food.

3. nope, plain wrong. Exercise is great for mental health, can help with weight maintenance, balance, strength and general health.. but does little/nothing to for loss.. loss comes down almost squarely on intake, not expense.

4. not even going there, I can and do eat just about anything I want.. but I do mindfully. I don't believe in diets per se, they are what partially got me into this ****** up situation from a very young age.

5. the scale is a  very, very poor tool to measure health.. I agree about that.

6. unless you have a personal airbrusher on staff, you will never look like they do (neither do they, fyi.)

7. Oh, hell yes, I took the EASIER way out.. also the ******g smarter way out. I say this to anyone that asks, no hesitation. I DID this on my own from 300+ to a normal BMI, and slowly regained.. I can tell you from PERSONAL experience, it's not only easier but the only sustainable way to achieve a sustainably healthy weight.. This is a big one to me, if it weren't easier, NO one would do it.. really?

8. life is change, without change.. well.. guess that's called being dead right?.. so embrace the inevitable and at least try to direct it towards a positive place vs where it was heading (slow change towards declining health and pain.)

9. The physical/mental image takes a long time to adjust.. just understand that what you TRULY are inside doesn't change (for good or bad.) Sometimes coming to grips with the fact that you can look better, but you aren't a BETTER person can be a damn painful realization.. back to number 8 for you, work on changing that ****

10. If you walked into it with full knowledge, understanding, and awareness.. yes, otherwise- it could be hell on wheels. It's not a facial, this is life-altering **** not to be taken lightly.

Nice post! I can agree with this MUCH more than I can the OP!

Not sure what your definition of normal is. With my RNY I eat normal just less.

I get the whole slow metabolism thing but for most it was just and excuse. I also had a slow metabolism but it was the junk I ate that made me close to 300 pounds not the salad

exercise even for the disabled is important for health. I live by use it or lose it. Muscles need to me exercised to maintain into old age.

I also can eat anything but if it is too high fat/sugar I know it will reflect on the scale. Saying you can eat anything all the time is not realistic mindful or otherwise

I am not young and have tried almost all the diets out there. I did not do this surgery lightly and did not consider having my insides re-arranged the easy way. The work need to maintain is hard and people need to be aware of this

Normal for one person differs to another, some cannot eat sugar (or won't) some cannot eat high fat (or won't) and others can't handle things like salad, raw veggies or mom's overcooked chicken breast for fear of things such as dumping/getting stuck/whatever. What I meant by normal, is the ability to eat food, without fear and without obsession of every calorie.

I never said anything about slow metabolism. Obesity and it's effects/cycles/causes go way beyond a slow metabolism, most obese don't have a slow metabolism.

I never disagreed about use it for your health aspect of activity, just for weight loss itself- even those that end up finding their inner-athlete tend to also quickly realize their bodies ability to try to maintain energy balance ups the appetite to match..You should find an activity that's sustainable, that you enjoy and will continue to do in order to maintain your health and flexibility/balance.

I never said I can eat anything all the time? I did say I can and do eat just about anything I want, mindfully. If I want a cookie, I have one.. and I enjoy it. I know that if I eat 4 or 5, well.. I need to cut back the rest of the day.. just like anyone else that is aware that they have eaten too much. I don't eat anything and everything all the time, but no food is 'bad" or off limits to me. I gave up the "good food/bad food" dogma years ago.. 

I too am not young, and I have been on every "diet" since about 9years old. I have had much success over the years, but have not been able to maintain until surgery allowed me to find the physical feeling of being satisfied on a small-normal intake of food. Essentially, surgery made it far, far easier for me as I knew where I was broken. Maintaining for the last few years has involved me eating well, and not dieting.. any other choice was not realistic, which is why I spent a good long time researching which of surgeries would fit my lifestyle vs trying to fit my behaviours into my new altered anatomy.

This is all I wish for anyone else; know yourself, and choose a surgery (with full understanding of it) that makes losing and especially maintaining very do-able and not overly difficult or a hardship, mentally, or physically.

I didn't have a 'slow' metabolism---I had a very, very efficient one. One that kept my ancestors alive through countless famines. My ancestors, just like me, could really get by on very few calories, storing the excess as fat for the coming lean times.

My DS 'broke' my highly efficient metabolism, so that it spends more calories on just staying alive. This means that I can eat like 'normal' people do.

I've never been a big junk-food eater. I was raised on meats and veggies---we didn't even eat much fruit. We DID have the occasional home-made ice cream, and lots of watermelon, peaches, and pears in season. (We had our own trees and garden.) I can't abide cooked or canned fruits, so I rarely ever eat pies. And, strangely, since my DS I've discovered that I don't LIKE cake.

But I DO like meat, cheese, eggs, nuts, seafood--all things that my DS means I NEED to eat. And I DO eat these things, every 2.5-3 hours ALL DAY LONG. Hell, sometimes I get up in the night and eat.

No one's journey is the same as anyone else's.

INgirl -

I.LOVE.THIS.

As someone here used to say quite often:  "That is all."

Thank you, dear. (*grin*)

YES!  

I chose earlier to address just the two that are my pet peeves -- "mandatory" exercise and scales -- but, as you say, these "truths" are NOT universal.

Lora

I didn't know that 80% of the stomach is removed! and tossed!  Don't know what I was thinking, but I wouldn't have done it if I knew....

However, I would not have lost 67 lbs without the VSG....I hope I don't blow it later!

Sometimes I have to purge to get rid of the discomfort (more like pain) in my esophagus.  Sorry for the rant....

alese inFL