WHEN ARE PEOPLE GOING TO REALIZE "DIETS" DON'T WORK!!!!

 They certainly don't and Dr. Phil'svoice grates my nerves so I don't even watch.

I remember before WLS going on the Nutrisystem diet years and years ago .. I believe it was in the mid or early 80's ... I remember paying to get into this program and paying for these packets of powdered meals and pouring ho****er on it and it turned into food ... I remember eating it ... I remember losing close to 100 pounds ... I remember one day I poured water over the powdered mix and what appeared to be something similar to rice forming from the mix turned my stomach so bad I could never ever bring myself to eat the stuff again ... yup I lost 100 pounds and regained the all back plus and extra 50 as a bonus ... anytime I think about that mess I ingested I want to puke... Spent money on Jenny too ... the only thing that worked for me and is working is WLS and lifestyle changes ... 

Now I eat very healthy and I exercise ... and I actually love it ... the rest of my response is a DITTO of SinKims reply ,.. she said it best IMO...

 Surgery is just an opportunity to have a stomach that limits the amount of food that can be put into it.  In some cases it also offers temporary or permanent malabsorption.  Everything else is up to the person. You still have to add less calories then you expend if you want to weigh less.

The reason so many WLS patients STILL need to diet is because they went into it for a "quick fix" or a magic bullet.  I know several people that have had different types of WLS.  Let's look at the percentages...If I know 10 people that had WLS and only 2 of us actually changed our eating/exercising and the other 8 didn't....that is a pretty low long term success rate. 

I'll bet the overall number is ever lower.  Lets face it.....most of us were poor eaters, inactive and many also have emotional issues on top of that.  We all KNOW what we are supposed to do after surgery.  Many start out doing it but lose interest quickly (just like they did with the diets) and many are so plagued by emotional/psycological issues that are not addressed so their success is derailed by that.

Once we have surgery we just get a boost of quick weight loss--if we don't change our lives completely, how can we expect different results?  Isn't that the definition of insanity?

I am so tired of hearing the whining from my friends that are back over 200 lbs....and they "don't know what happened or what to do".  I look them right in the eye and tell them "oh yes you do-you just REFUSE to do it".

I don't always WANT to exercise or pass that amazing orange cream cheese cake (sitting in our break room RIGHT NOW!) but I do because maintaining my new lifestyle and wearing my new wardrobe means more to me than a few bites of orange sugary deliciousness!!

 You are so right...except think of this....you had surgery in 2009 right?  And 2 out of 10 are maintaining their weight loss.  I had surgery in 2001 and it might be 1 out of 15 who are maintaining their weight lose.  

It only gets harder as years go by, because you can eat more and you really have to be dedicated and have changed all the bad habits.  "Made it a Lifestyle" change!!! Something that comes natural.  
So many people never make it a "Lifestyle" change. Some people don't believe the people who are further out....they think....Oh, that will not be me....I won't gain the weight back....however they don't put the tools in their toolbox that they need to keep the weight off.

Really makes me sad!!!

I am not sure I agree exactly, I think diets work fine, its the matter of maintaining the lose if you achieve it.  My ex husband for example could and did lose weight every time he gained an extra twenty pounds, he had no problem doing it and maintained for years at a time and then might gain back 10lbs and diet back again.  I always hated him for this ability.  Once I was over 200lbs diets seemed impossible.  But now when I gain weight I diet it back off, I lost 10lbs earlier this summer and then went on birth control pills and gained it all back.  Its been 3 months since I have been on the pills and I have gotten almost all of the regain back off which puts me about 5lbs above my ultimate goal of 138.  I want to keep myself under 145 and I will be fine with that.  I don't exercise but I do cut back calories to lose weight and it does work, nothing feels as good as my clothes fitting properly so I plan to keep myself here at all costs.  My opinion is if you have 10 maybe 20 lbs diets are fine, over that and it seems like an impossible task.  I don't ever want to find out exactly.

 I'm not sure that what I do now differs from other times I have "dieted."  The difference now is that I don't have a problem limiting the volume.  I still make choices about what I put in my mouth, which is what a diet is, right (?)   If I weren't "dieting" right now, I'd be out eating donuts and french fries.  My VSG made dieting possible.  

 GreenGardener, When did you have your surgery?  I am almost 11 years out from RNY and it is not like it was in the beginning when I could only eat a 2 oz at a time.  I can eat like the average person out there now.  I am not saying I can sit and eat like I did before WLS because that was more than the average person.  

I think part of the problem with people gaining the weight back is they grass on things and don't count them as part of their food intake...you know mindless eating.  With most all of the WLS you could grass all day long....that put a lot of weight on a person. 

Also, like some of the others who are maintaining there weight loss...you have to keep track of either the weight on the scale or how your clothes are fitting....the problem lies when a lot of people start gaining weight back ...they just get larger clothes....then when you finally realize you have gained 50,  75 or 100 lbs back it feels almost impossible to get it off.

My personal opinion is just because you don't eat donuts and french fried doesn't mean you are on a diet.  I chose not to eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta or sugar.  But I am not on a diet.  I just chose to eat healthy.  I was addicted to the things I listed....so I chose to stay away from them 

The word "Diet" to me is just such a negative thing!  

 

 My surgery was June of 09.  I think my point was muddled.  My definition of "diet" is making good choices about what I put in my mouth.  It's bypassing the bread, potatoes, rice, pretzels, ding dongs or whatever else I come across that my "inner little kid"  says "I want that."   Therefore, I live on a "diet".  I don't see that as a bad thing.  I have been maintaining over a hundred pounds lost and yes, I can eat normal amounts of food.  If I eat the above listed foods, I can eat vast quantities of said foods.  Therefore, I (mostly) choose to point out to my inner kid that both potatoes and playing in the street is hazardous to our health.  

I guess my point is, the word is just a word.  To me, "diet" is pretty much the same as "lifestyle change."  I have changed my "diet" for the better.    

I certainly think that your "diet" means the food you eat - which is different to being "on a diet".  To me, lifestyle change has to include exercise, drinking adequately, following a vitamin regimen and getting your labs done to check on your health.

Just eating good quality food is having a good "diet" - most successful veterans will tell you that that does not constitute the full healthy "lifestyle" necessary for long term good health!

 I do think "diets" work. Every single one of them. I believe it comes down to the persons ability to sustain that diet and make it a lifestyle change. If you dont stick to it, you are the one who doesnt work. Fix yourself and you fix the problem. I have hypo-thyroidism and all that jazz so I could make a ton of excuses. I lost 100lbs on my own before the surgery and had the surgery because I needed a tool to help me the rest of the way. I am vowing to myself not to be one of those people who drastically change their bodies and lives only to let themselves fail again and gain all of the weight back. Choose something and live the rest of your life doing it. If not, old ways creep back in and then the old you creeps back in too. There was/is a reason I was extremely obese and only I can change it. Plus I will have to choose to change myself everyday not to revert back to old ways.

I will always, ALWAYS be on a diet and so will the rest of you that will succeed long-term. Our diets need to become our lifestyle. Maybe the P.I.N.K diet will change some peoples lives for the better. If so, I am happy it triggered them to succeed. Just my views...