lifestyle change

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum and have been refered to have surgery. I am excited and really need it as I have done every diet known to man. I have had a weight problem for most of my life and I WILL Admit that I LOVE food. I'm worried about how to cope with the change. But also excited. 

Please any advice on how to feel and think about thus change would be very much appreciated.

Thanks 

Donna

Congratulations on taking control of your life and your weight loss journey.   We suggest you research all your options for WLS and OH is the right place for that.  Once you have reviewed your options surgery wise and decided on what procedure to have your next step is to find a surgeon.  We can help you with that.     ​​ Here are some links that will be helpful in your research.​​

• POPULAR TOPICS
• RNY Gastric Bypass
• LAP-BAND® System
• Duodenal Switch
• Vertical Sleeve
• Realize-Band

​If you have not done so, contact your insurance company and verify if they cover WLS and if so what procedures.​  If you have Medicaid and or Medicare, contact them to verify if they cover WLS, if so, what procedures and if there are any pre-surgery qualifications you have to meet.  Ask for a list of surgeons in your area that take your insurance then we can assist you with contacting those surgeons on your behalf to get you started on your journey!  

Let us know if you need anything else.

Your first step is the most important:  recognizing a problem and addressing it.

For food, you'll see that there is a "mourning period" when you'll miss not being able to eat the large amounts of food you'd been accustomed to doing.  Acknowledge it, then dismiss it.  You'll enjoy the weight loss even more.

Your tastes in food will change, also.  There may be things that you can no longer eat, or things you won't feel the same about, or that will no longer taste the same.  This will make your journey easier, believe me.

Since you're on this website, read EVERYTHING you can, including the bad or complications.  Educate yourself, so when something untoward occurs you're not blind-sided.

I liked viewing the "Before & After" photos and reading the profiles;  it really helped.

It's all individual, so definitely use your own judgement.  What works for one person may not work for you.  

Thanks for the advice and I will sure read all I can. 

I have another problem which is bigger and that is my husband doesn't want me to go through with it because he is very scared about me having surgery. (Understandable ) but I need the help, and the fact that we all need food to live is just making weight loss hard for me As it is for everyone.  I have an appointment on 29th may and I'm both excited and scared. To feel full and satisfied without eating the fridge would be amazing.  

I hope I'm not rambling on and not making sense.  

Thanks for listening 

Donna 

Concern about surgery (of any kind) is not uncommon.  What kind of gets annoying is the concern about WLS.  It is as unsafe as gall bladder surgery, and the benefits are very easy to see.

This isn't just "another diet" as he might think;  it's an entire lifestyle change.  Don't shut him out, because his concerns are valid, but do keep in mind that this will make you healthier than you've been in a LONG time.

I will not push him out as I do understand what he is saying. I just need him to see that this is not really a choice. my doctor is *****fered me to wls as he and other doctors have seen me struggle since forever. The only time I did lose weight was from having Bulimia and that was not fun. So this is my only chance to actually do it. I was thinking to be able to walk without pain I'm my back is just the start of the good it could bring. 

Because I'm in the UK I don't have to pay the thousands it would normally be. I'm 42 and 22st (308lb) the biggest I've ever.been and I'm sick and tired of fighting myself to leave food alone, because 90% of the time I lose and my brain wins. Grrrrrr sorry to sound negative 😟

Donna 

Hello.  If your husband likes to read, give him the articles to read that address his fears.  Maybe take him to a doctor's appointment with you so he can ask his questions.

If eating out and food based entertainment is a major part of what you two do together for leisure activity, he will be losing his eating buddy.  That may make him uncomfortable.

Your health is the most important thing you can get back with surgery.  It may add years to your lives together. 

The surgery is on your digestive track, not your brain, so you will have head hunger and from what I have read it can be fierce after surgery but physical hunger is dulled.  You may want to consider addressing the reasons why you eat other than for hunger.  Have a plan for when those reasons present themselves after surgery, because they will.  Since food will no longer be a coping mechanism you will have to find another outlet. 

I'm pre-surgery and am considering VSG.  I'm an emotional and stress eater so I am trying out different things now to see what works best for me to battle head hunger.  I'm finding that if I listen to my body's cues to physical hunger, eating only when hungry and stopping when I am full but not stuffed, it doesn't take a whole lot of food to satisfy me.  If I get physically hungry again in a hour or two I eat a little bit again.  Viewing food as fuel was a brand new concept to me, and I find it REALLY HARD to change what I've done my whole life.  Some days I'm successful and some days I'm not. 

Do all your research. Best wishes to you! 

My husband was supportive of me having surgery at first, then he got scared.  He was afraid I'd die from the surgery.  I told him that the risk of me dying from the surgery was far less than the risk I would die from uncontolled hypertension, diabetes, increased cholesterol and other weight related ailments.  Once I had the surgery and started getting healthier, he was thrilled!   I tried to acknowledge his fears, but ultimately, the choice was mine.  I think your suggestions are good ones! 

Thanks for your help and support. I had listened to what you have said and I'm going to ask for information regarding my husbands fears. I would never of thought about being his food buddy. But your right, that so sounds plausible. But also I am a stress and comfort eater, so I need to think hard about my lifestyle changes. 

Let the journey begin!!

Donna 😊

My elderly mom and I live together, I'm not married, and all of our leisure activities are centered around food. Going to the grocery store? Let's grab dinner first.  Going shopping?  - Let's grab lunch while we're out.  Movie night - make some popcorn.  One of her first questions to me when I told her I wanted to have surgery was, "Will we still go out to eat?"  I realized that was very important to her, so yes of course we will still go out to eat. But I just won't be able to eat very much.  I might just nibble off her plate.