Moving Forward . . .

I am slated for a three hour information session on May 22nd.  I thought this process would take forever, but I have actually found that time went quickly - - only 13 months since my referral letter went out.

When I first signed up for this I was at my wits end and really felt like this was my last desperate chance to lose weight.  But in November i started a diet that has really been working for me and now I am not sure if I should just continue with it or get the surgery as well.  I hate to give up my chance to have the surgery and then not be able to reach my goal and maintain with this diet.  On the other hand, if it is possible to reach my goal weight and stay there with this diet, then I hate to have a surgery that may not be necessary. 

What to do, what to do!!  I guess I have a little more time to think about it anyways.

I started this diet on November 10 and by Christmas Eve I had lost 30 lbs.  By January 29th I had lost another 10 pounds.  Then I took a couple of months "off" because we are snowbirds and went south.   I set a limit of 5-7 lbs I would allow myself to gain during that time and stuck to that.  Now I am home and within five days I lost 8.5 lbs and am continuing to move forward.  This is the first time in my life that I feel like a diet is relatively easy and I feel optimistic with it.  In the past I have found that dieting is the hardest thing ever on my self esteem because I fail to lose!

Now I have a goal to see "onederland by the end of June and then I figured I would take July and August "off" again to enjoy weekends at the lake throughout the summer months.  Ultimate goal is to have lost 107 lbs in total by January 2014.

Sounds like a perfect plan but I am looking forward to hearing more about the surgery and finding out if it will fit with what I am already doing.

I would welcome any advice or feedback. 

And I am assuming the May 22nd meeting is a group meeting, so would enjoy hearing from others who will also be there.

 

I would encourage you to attend the orientation session in May and yes it is a group that is there. You will hear from the dietician, kinesiologist, psychologist and nurse about the program, surgeries and the expectations of being in the program.  You will have about three little booklets to fill out and hand in to Amara within a month to receive your next set of appointments. You have some time to wait until then, I went in April and have my appointments towards the end of June and it is expected that you will have started to make some of the changes recommended.

I too have lost weight on my own in the last year but I know that it will take a very long time and I am worried that once to my goal weight, I will not be able to maintain the lose. That is why I am going ahead with the surgery. It will still take alot of work to lose my excess weight but with this extra tool, I am hoping that I can be and remain successful.

Karen

I also started dieting the moment I received my acceptance letter, by the time I was having surgery, I was almost at the goal the dietician had set for me..I had lost about 60 pounds by the time my surgery came up....BUT ! Like every other time...I lost weight...I REGAINED it all back within a few years of loosing it, so, that is why I decided to continue on and HAVE THE SURGERY.. I am so glad I did. It has almost been a year now...I am almost at my own personal goal which would. BRing my BMI to 25, which is an ideal weight for my height...and with the surgery, I am hoping that I will be able to maintain and sustain this weight and NEVER REGAIN IT!. So far so good. I have pretty much been maintaining now for the past 3-4 months. Am hoping once summer comes, I will be a bit more active and will then drop a few more pounds to get to my goal. BUT, even if I can't drop any more, but maintain..I am more than happy and am glad I had the surgery anyways . Would not change a thing. I think loosing a lot of weight prior to surgery was easier on my body and definitely made the surgery itself SAFER.. Dr. Andrew said "it made his job in surgery so much easier for him and thanked me...SO, keep up the diet and, if I had to do it again, I would still go ahead with the surgery. GOOD LUCK, Barb C.

Thanks Karen and BCwaiting.    I am looking forward to the information session to find out more, but this definitely makes me think I will go ahead with it.  BCwaiting - - you have also answered one of my other questions I had, and that is whether they would still even do the surgery on me if I had lost a lot of weight beforehand - - I was worried if I lost too much that I would no longer be a candidate and they would take me off their list.  By the sounds of what you are saying, this shouldn't be an issue of concern at all.