Looking for help on loosing weight.

theman1010
on 10/4/15 10:56 am

Hi, I am 16 years old. I am very ashamed of myself and how I have become. I currently weigh 400 pounds, and am about 6'1. Despite being 400 pounds, I can get around fairly well. I can only run for very short distances however, going up stairs is hard on me, my friends are able to do things that I cannot due to my weight. I am ready to loose weight, but I do not know where to start or what to do. I decided that I am finally ready to take action and do whatever is necessary to loose weight. I would even consider gastric bypass. I have not really tried dieting before. I am trying to slowly do better by cutting out all soft drinks. Instead of Sodas, I am now drinking green tea and water only. I am not even sure what to do. I need to loose weight, and a lot of it. I am not sure if Gastric Bypass is even an option for someone my age, and to be honest I am somewhat afraid to get it done. I have heard stories of people dying from having it which makes me very afraid. However, I am still willing to do it if necessary. I am also willing to do dieting and exercise. I would like to know some tips for dieting and exercising, or if I need to take another path on loosing weight. The thought of loosing weight crosses my mind every day, now I am finally ready to do whatever I have to, in order to get this weight off.

White Dove
on 10/4/15 11:47 am - Warren, OH

Gastric bypass is pretty extreme for a 16 year old. You need to work on losing the weight and I cannot recommend Weigh****chers highly enough. Giving up the soft drinks is a big step in the right direction. Now you need to learn how to eat a healthy diet. You would have to do the same after surgery.

Join Weigh****chers and go faithfully. The weekly weigh in will keep you aware, their diet plan will show you how to eat. Call Weigh****chers and find out what meetings are available in your area. They have been in business many years because they do know how to help you lose weight.

Real life begins where your comfort zone ends

Maria27
on 10/4/15 12:03 pm - Chicago, IL
RNY on 03/17/15

I spent about three years seriously dieting on my own and learning how to eat better before I finally decided to have gastric bypass. I knew I needed help after those three years because I was barely over ten pounds below my starting weight. That is when I decided that I no longer cared if the surgery stopped me from eating certain things ever again. You need that level of commitment in order to have surgery because there is no turning back once you take that step. I suggest that you spend a couple of years dieting and learning how to eat better before you turn to weight loss surgery.

Tracking everything I ate using myfitnesspal.com really helped me learn how to make better food choices. I suggest you start by keeping track of everything that you eat. Then after you have a starting point, you can look for ways to improve. Make one change at a time. It takes a while, but eventually those changes add up and start to make a difference. You may still decide that gastric bypass is the right choice for you, but you will have built the foundation you need to be successful. Surgery is only a tool to help you control your eating. The real challenge is learning how to make better food choices and actually making those choices.

Height: 5'5" HW: 290 Consultation Weight: 276 SW: 257 CW: 132

Citizen Kim
on 10/4/15 12:12 pm - Castle Rock, CO

Go to your primary doctor and get some help re nutrition. Ask him/her if they can see you every three or six months. DOCUMENT every effort you make to lose weight. Join MyFitnessPal and log everything you eat and drink and keep records of exercise etc. Keep a note of your weight EVERY week, and make sure your doctor writes your weight down every time you visit.

I think you are a little too young at the moment, but the odds of you losing 200lbs on your own, and more importantly, keeping it off, are NOT in your favour. If in the future you need weight loss surgery, and you should certainly consider the VSG or sleeve surgery, you will need records of your attempts to lose weight!

Take this time to learn good nutrition and what are good choices, get active and walk whenever you can. If you have the opportunity, go to the school gym, or join one - the YMCA is usually reasonable.

Hang around here and we can help you - you need to eat a lot more than us - just because you have not had surgery and we are old but we can help tell you what are good choices. Can you cook?

Proud Feminist, Atheist, LGBT friend, and Democratic Socialist

theman1010
on 10/4/15 12:19 pm

Well....I can cook toast and microwave if that counts.

MsBatt
on 10/4/15 12:12 pm

Hello, and welcome!

At 16, you really need to give dieting a committed try before you consider weight-loss surgery of any kind. And please understand---even if you DO have WLS, you will STILL have to diet and exercise. WLS isn't a free ride---it just gives you a mountain bike instead of a skateboard, so to speak.

But please, whatever you do, don't do fad diets or crash diets! They can harm your body and mess up your metabolism, making it even harder to lose weight in the long run. Cutting out sodas is a good start, but that green tea you're replacing it with---how much sugar does it have in it? The first thing you need to do is learn to read labels. You really shouldn't be drinking anything what has calories.

I'd say the best thing you can do for yourself right now is educate yourself about nutrition. We are made of protein and fat, and those are the two things in food that are ESSENTIAL. Carbohydrates are, in most cases, what makes us fat. And they're sneaky---they're in nearly everything, and the more of them we eat, the more of them we WANT to eat. Here's where reading labels becomes VERY important.

The best 'diet'---if fact, the only 'diet' that ever worked for ME, even a little bit---is eating protein and fat FIRST, and limiting carbs as much as humanly possible. Protein and fat are nourishing and satisfying, and eating them as a first priority makes it easier (not EASY, just easIER) to ditch the carbs.

After you give dieting a good, solid effort, if you still think you need weight-loss surgery, PLEASE research all the different forms. 'Gastric bypass' is only one of them. The are four basic kinds---LapBand (which I cannot recommend to anyone), VSG/Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, RNY/Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and DS/Duodenal Switch. You need to understand all of them in order to decide which one, if any, is right for YOU. LapBand and VSG/Sleeve simply limit the amount of food you can eat at one time. The RNY/gastric bypass both limits how much you can eat, in some patients is causes adverse reactions to certain foods, and it makes a small, temporary change in how you absorb the food you eat. The DS is the Big Dog Daddy of WLS---it limits your intake somewhat, but it permanently changes the way you metabolize food.

Donna L.
on 10/4/15 1:17 pm - Chicago, IL
Revision on 02/19/18

Most surgeons won't perform the DS on people under 18 due to potential developmental issues, however. The VSG, though, has been done on adolescents under 18 with great success.

I follow a ketogenic diet post-op. I also have a diagnosis of binge eating disorder. Feel free to ask me about either!

It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much...the life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully. -- Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

Donna L.
on 10/4/15 1:21 pm - Chicago, IL
Revision on 02/19/18

It's very difficult to be overweight as an adolescent. I'm sorry that you have to go through that. Not drinking anything sweetened is an excellent first step. Also, I'd suggest tracking what you eat using an app called MyFitnessPal which is free to track what you eat and understand how that works. I'd also suggest speaking to a counselor and try to understand why you've gained so much extra weight.

I would find a pediatrician or doctor who can help you with weight loss at first. Surgery is very difficult to get under 18 because it is very drastic while you are still growing and developing (your brain doesn't finish developing until you're in your 20s for example). I have seen cases of the VSG being done on folks under 18. There is no malabsorptive component, and if one is needed later it can be reverted to the DS. Long before you engage in surgery though, you need to try other methods first.

You can definitely lose weight without surgery. I would get all the nutritional and medical support for that you can.

I follow a ketogenic diet post-op. I also have a diagnosis of binge eating disorder. Feel free to ask me about either!

It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much...the life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully. -- Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

Jenn77p
on 10/4/15 4:31 pm
RNY on 08/07/15

You have taken the first step! Congratulations on getting rid of the soda. My advice is ; 1) call your Dr. You should be supervised medically. 2) weigh****chers us a great program with a support group! 3) keep moving!! Walk when you can, swim. 4) put you first!!

Get rid of the junk. Carbs, sugar ect. No more liquid calories.

Good luck!!! You can do this.

Jenn 77 p

Mary Gee
on 10/4/15 4:46 pm - AZ
VSG on 05/14/14

First, good for you for recognizing and accepting the fact that you have a health problem due to your weight. Many people stay in denial for years and years.

You are not ready for Weight Loss Surgery (WLS). But, to learn more about it, go to the blue bar at the top of the page, click on RESOURCES, and Read About Weight Loss Surgery -- you will learn about the different types of surgery and the requirements. If the time comes when you are ready of surgery, you will either have to have a health insurance policy that covers it, or pay for it yourself. Many insurance companies that do cover it require you to be on a supervised weight loss plan for six months, and your surgeon's office will also have certain requirements you will have to meet.

My suggestion is to see your primary care doctor and discuss your weight with him/her. You can be referred to a Dietician and/or attend Weigh****chers. See your doctor on a regular basis as you proceed with your dieting. Have him document your records with your attempts. If, after six months to a year of dieting you are not succeeding in losing weight, as for a referral to a bariatric doctor. My hospital's Weight Center offered two types of Weight Loss Programs -- one was Surgical, and the other was Non-Surgical. The Non-Surgical program included counseling, dietician, exercise, etc.

In regard to fears about surgery, years ago the surgery was "open" - had to have a large incision whi*****reased risks; nowadays, like many other surgeries, it is "laproscopic" - five small incisions, which has reduced the risks.

Continue to learn as much as you can about dieting and surgery, and please consider counseling, because no matter which was you proceed, you have to change your eating habits, which is difficult to do. Counseling will help you learn more about yourself and why you gained weight, and how to handle issues which make you turn to food.

I wish you the best of luck. I hope you will continue to read the forums/posts here, and feel free to ask more questions, and keep us updated.

Mary

       

 HW: 380 SW: 324 GW: 175  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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