Is RNY Really Going To Work???

Lately I've run into at least 3 people that are within 6 months out from surgery and have stopped losing weight - after anywhere between 40 and 60 lbs.  They say they are doing all the right things.  I had 202 lbs to lose and 150+ lbs left. I'm only 6 weeks out and I keep thinking I'm going to be one of those people that stop losing weight and this doesn't work.  Of course, my weight loss has slowed down a lot.  Why does this surgery 'not work' for some people?  I've finally realized it is a 'tool' to help me lose weight but is the surgery just a 'diet' that costs a lot?

It is a tool, not a simple miracle. I believe that if people follow the instructions in the "users manual" that came with their tool, they will lose all the weight they need to lose. But that is just my opinion.

Sheesh--give it some time to work!  Yes, you will have stalls and plateaus.  Do yourself a big
favor and stay off the freakin' scale! 

Just do what you are supposed to do, exercise, and go by what your clothes tell you.

In a year, you will probably be close to your goal.  Don't get discouraged.

Best wishes. 

I would be EXTREMELY surprised if ANY of the three people you have met are done losing weight at only 6 months out. Weight loss typically begins to slow down a bit at 6 months out, and it is a VERY common time for a stall, but even "lightweights" are rarely done losing so soon. Relax... after years of diet failure MANY people worry (unnecessarily) that they will be the ONE exception who loses almost no weight.

I have never met anyone personally for whom the surgey did "not work" (if you define "work" as losing weight). You WILL lose weight no matter what you eat during that first year. You will, of course, lose MORE if you are careful about what you eat rather than continuing to eat the same crap that made us obese in the first place. The issue with RNY is not being able to lose the weight in the first place (although not everyone will get to be as small as they would perhapos like to be, for a variety of possible reasons)... it is being able yo KEEP it off once the caloric malabsorption ends. For that, you need the new healthy eating habits you should be learning during the first year.

RNY is what you make it. If you approach post-op eating as a "diet" in which you drastically change your eating habits just for a while to lose the weight but then you go back to eating the same way you were before the surgery, then, yes, essentially, it IS not much more than a diet that costs a lot (and rearranges your digestive system and causes permament lack of vitamin absorption)... and you will eventually likely get the same results as with previous diets... regain.

It is a tool to help you get the weight off and to HELP you keep it off, but you ahve to make a lifetime commitment to healthy eating in order to KEEP the weight off.

Lora

I am only 2 months out, but my good friend  lost over 100 pounds in a year. The people in my support group lost anywhere from 75-150 pounds . Yes, i have heard it slows down, but like it was said it is a tool. If you eat the wrong foods and drink soft drinks that can stretch your pouch, I would guess the weight loss could and will stall.

Soft drinks do NOT stretch your pouch...

Lora

If they are six months or less out, what makes you (or them) think they are done losing weight?  That would be very, very unusual.  However, it IS very common to have stalls.  I did not lose any weight at all my whole sixth month out.  I then went on to lose another, I don't know 60 or 70 pounds?  Something like that.

I believe it is very rare for RNY to "not work" for someone.  Oh, it's true that some people don't lose as much weight as they'd like and it's true that some regain weight.  But almost everyone that has RNY loses a significant amount of weight. 

How come some don't reach their goal?  Lots of reasons.  Their metabolism is such that it's very very difficult to lose that much weight, they eat more calories than their body needs, they don't get enough exercise, their goal is not realistic in the first place... lots of reasons.

Is RNY a "diet" that costs a lot?  No.  First of all, I don't think it's a diet at all, it's a lifestyle change.  I tried diets in the past, but never found one that gave me a year or so in which I would not absorb all the calories I ate.  Do you know a diet that does that?  I never found one that really helped me feel full on much less food, either.  Yeah, the diets that included eating high fiber foods and tons of fresh veggies did help me get full on fewer calories.  But it was not at all the same as the restriction my surgery has given me.

Is your RnY going to work?  Well, that's up to you.  I can give you a hammer, but if you don't USE the hammer, the nail isn't going to make it's OWN way into the wall.   RnY is a tool.  I know.. you read that here a LOT.  
The real "magic" to WLS is the change you make to your lifestyle and your relationship with food. 
 When I had my surgery, I lost like 3 lbs a day... for NINE days.  Then NOTHING until day 27. LOL.. If it hadn't been for the posts I had already read on this board about stalls..... I would have been on the phone with my surgeon FREAKING OUT.  (I was a bit.. err... hormonal). 
  Work your tool, my friend... you'll do great!

 It works for me! Please see my profile page for the eating plan I created if interested. You may find some helpful ideas there.

  Everyone I talk to , my docs and other patients says that the carbonation gas that are in soft drinks can cause the pouch to stretch some. Besides, I gave them up anyway a long time ago. I guess like anything, different foods affect people differently!