I am struggling to decide if I should have the gastric bypass.  I had a surgery date a little over a year ago but I chickened out.  I told myself I would do it on my own without surgery.  I however have gained almost thirty pounds since.....so much for doing it on my own.  I have read a lot of stories about people who have had wls and a lot have gained most of their weight back.  I guess what I am asking is it worth going through all of this just to gain my weight back?  I need some positive feedback (and negative) to help me decide.  My surgeon says it will be the best thing I could do for myself but I am wondering?

If you are not prepared to change the way you look at food and change your relationship with foods, you will have gain back..Food addiction is a big part of the realization that I made when I first came out of surgery. I had cravings and there was no reason for them..you don't NEED sugar..but you WANT it..it's just the same as alcohol or drug addiction. You just have to decide what you will and will not be able to tolerate. And you have to change your lifestyle. You have to get up and move. You just HAVE to..You have to be prepared to deal with stress without your drug of choice: foods..not all foods but usually white carbs (sugar, bread, pasta, rice..cookies, candy..sodas) I do take my vitamins each and every day and get my blood work twice a year..and when the results come, I review it myself and adjust my vitamins accordingly. I take a pro-active approach because it's my health and no one is more responsible for it than me.

It is not a foregone conclusion that you are going to gain your weight back. I didn't gain mine back. I weigh 130 pounds today and my goal weight was 125..I don't eat sugar. I don't eat much bread, I don't eat much pasta..I stay away from all of that and have not touched a soda in 6 years.

Good luck to you.

As dawn said - if you are not 100% committed to change what and how much you eat - any WLS surgery may fail you.  I had RNY 4 years ago. I lost 100+ lbs and now I maintain 80+ lbs weight loss.  But I am on a permanent diet now - for life. i don't eat sugar or grains (bread, pasta, rice, etc) or most starches (potatoes, beans, and so on).  And if I do eat that - it is once in a while - small amounts.  I do have to take lots of vitamins and minerals. And I still became iron deficiency and last year had to have iron infusions. 
But considering everything - If I could do it again - I would have WLS - but not RNY but would have the VSG  - the sleeve. At the time I had my surgery - the sleeve was not an option for me. 

I do the best i can with my RNY - I am committed to be a success... I hated my life as an MO person. 
Hala

 WLS surgery made me feel like my Irish ancestors who were willing to leave everything behind for a chance at a better life.

Nobody knows how surgery will affect them: some people have complications, some don't.  Some people dump, some never do.  I guess the question is: are will willing to take the risk for the reward of a better and longer life?

Surgery will give you THE OPPORTUNITY to lose weight.  Whether or not you gain it back is up to you.

What the others have said about being committing to changing your life is right, but since surgery, it has been so much easier for me to make that committment than before surgery.  It feels like I just don't have the physical or mental desire to eat the unhealthy stuff that I used to fight every minute of every day. My surgeon explained that it was the removal during surgery of the part of the stomach that produces grehlin, the appetite stimulant. hormone.   I'm 4 years out and originally lost 70 pounds.  I've gained and lost 10 pounds of that a couple of times in that 4 years, but it's so much easier to lose than before surgery, and so much harder to gain.  And I'm positive that without surgery, I might have been able to lose 70 pounds, but I'd have gained back 100.  Yes, working out will help.  Before surgery, I never wanted to, but now it comes a lot easier too.

Thank you for your posts.  It helps get through the doubts when I have some encouragement.  I have a lot of discouragement from friends and family.