what my surgery does, what I do myself
It is wonderful. And I do think it's a pretty normal way to eat. The way I ate before surgery certainly wasn't normal.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Based on the pattern of my personal weight loss, stalls, etc. after surgery, I think that if I had done nothing on my own as far as making good food choices and increasing my physical activity (such as it was/is), I probably would have lost a little over half of the weight that ended up losing. I had dropped exactly 100 pound by my 6-month mark, and I think I probably would have dropped close to that much even with poor food choices and no exercise during that period of time. After 6 months, though, I don't think I would have lost what I did if i had been less diligent about what I was eating. After 9 months (and my 9 week long stall) I doubt I would have lost very much, and I definitely would have lost very little, if anything, after 12 months since even WITH proper diet and exercise, my weight loss crawled after that point.
More importantly, it has been abundantly clear during the 3+ years since I hit my lowest weight that if I had not adopted a healthy eating plan, I would have regained a fair amount of weight by now. Even with the smaller pouch, without any malabsorption and with the same high carb, high fat foods I was eating pre-op (even in much smaller portions), I would be gaining weight. Even with a controlled (but not stringent or inflexible) eating plan, it can be hard to keep the weight from creeping up. So I have no problem saying that the surgery got HALF of my weight off, but my own hard work got the other half off and is KEEPING it off.
Lora
More importantly, it has been abundantly clear during the 3+ years since I hit my lowest weight that if I had not adopted a healthy eating plan, I would have regained a fair amount of weight by now. Even with the smaller pouch, without any malabsorption and with the same high carb, high fat foods I was eating pre-op (even in much smaller portions), I would be gaining weight. Even with a controlled (but not stringent or inflexible) eating plan, it can be hard to keep the weight from creeping up. So I have no problem saying that the surgery got HALF of my weight off, but my own hard work got the other half off and is KEEPING it off.
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
What gets me about the "doing it on your own" thing is that NOBODY who successfully loses a massive amount of weight does it on their own.
Whether they employ workout or accountability buddies, Weigh****chers, a personal trainer, family and friends, the bible, WHATEVER, in order to lose that much weight you need tools. WLS is simply one of those tools.
Thankfully nobody has ever made mention of doing it on their own. I've gotten a few people saying they are doing it the "old fashioned way." I personally have no objection to saying that. It's true. Sorta. I wouldn't say good old moderation and exercise is old fashioned (which implies it is out of date) but it is the more traditional way. And I respect that.
But in the end, I know I have worked hard for this little piece of body of mine. And I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish. Nobody can take that away from me.
Whether they employ workout or accountability buddies, Weigh****chers, a personal trainer, family and friends, the bible, WHATEVER, in order to lose that much weight you need tools. WLS is simply one of those tools.
Thankfully nobody has ever made mention of doing it on their own. I've gotten a few people saying they are doing it the "old fashioned way." I personally have no objection to saying that. It's true. Sorta. I wouldn't say good old moderation and exercise is old fashioned (which implies it is out of date) but it is the more traditional way. And I respect that.
But in the end, I know I have worked hard for this little piece of body of mine. And I'm proud of what I've been able to accomplish. Nobody can take that away from me.
You mentioned above that life after WLS feels very different from dieting pre-op. I have to agree wholeheartedly.
It's certainly not effortless, but it sure is a lot more natural.
For one, I don't have these moments of indecision--"Oh...I REALLY want a cheeseburger. Have I exercised enough to have earned a cheeseburger? If I eat it, how many calories will I have left in my daily allowance?" and on and on. I was always bargaining with myself before. Now, it's pretty straightforward.
Can I have a cheeseburger? Well, if it's small, and I remove half the bread, sure. But I need to eat it slowly and carefully and make very certain I stop when I'm full.
No more bargaining. For me, it's either yes or no. And if it's yes, then I do it carefully and with awareness. Before, if I said yes to myself, that was my cue to binge and go nuts and really "enjoy" my reward. Not anymore.
The surgery itself, I feel, didn't really do a whole lot FOR me, it simply makes the good choices easier to make without a ton of second guessing.
It's certainly not effortless, but it sure is a lot more natural.
For one, I don't have these moments of indecision--"Oh...I REALLY want a cheeseburger. Have I exercised enough to have earned a cheeseburger? If I eat it, how many calories will I have left in my daily allowance?" and on and on. I was always bargaining with myself before. Now, it's pretty straightforward.
Can I have a cheeseburger? Well, if it's small, and I remove half the bread, sure. But I need to eat it slowly and carefully and make very certain I stop when I'm full.
No more bargaining. For me, it's either yes or no. And if it's yes, then I do it carefully and with awareness. Before, if I said yes to myself, that was my cue to binge and go nuts and really "enjoy" my reward. Not anymore.
The surgery itself, I feel, didn't really do a whole lot FOR me, it simply makes the good choices easier to make without a ton of second guessing.
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Check out my video blog! www.youtube.com/user/HappilyShrinking/videos
Highest weight: 269. Surgery weight: 233. Goal weight: 144, and then we'll see..
Check out my video blog! www.youtube.com/user/HappilyShrinking/videos
Highest weight: 269. Surgery weight: 233. Goal weight: 144, and then we'll see..
We've been talking about this a lot on the LW board of late. A bunch of us in maintainance started creeping up. Actually, losing the weight in the beginning was pretty darn easy. like Laura said, the first 6 months, no matter what we seemed to eat, the weight was coming off. then it started taking more work. Even early in maintainance, it was pretty easy. But once the malabsorption slows down, it catches up with you. Good habits from earlier pay off.
I don't feel like I am "dieting" like in the past, but I still need to weigh/measure and log my intake. When I stop, I start creeping up. It is work. I think I wasn't expecting it to be since the beginning was so easy. It really is a journey and the surgery and loss is just the beginning.
I don't feel like I am "dieting" like in the past, but I still need to weigh/measure and log my intake. When I stop, I start creeping up. It is work. I think I wasn't expecting it to be since the beginning was so easy. It really is a journey and the surgery and loss is just the beginning.
66 yrs young, 4'11" hw 220, goal 120 met at 12 months, cw 129 learning Maintainance
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What the surgery did: gave me an effective tool to use lose weight.
What I did: I used the tool as instructed; I learned to love being active; I developed a better mind set and skill set; I pursued a positive attitude about weight loss and about my life in general; I value my choices; I learned to respect myself.
What I did: I used the tool as instructed; I learned to love being active; I developed a better mind set and skill set; I pursued a positive attitude about weight loss and about my life in general; I value my choices; I learned to respect myself.
"Just keep swimming." ~ Dorrie
This was just about the same wording that the person who did my psych eval preop said. He asked me what I thought my surgery did and what I was going to have to do myself.
As well as how was it going to change me and how did I think it was going to change my family and friends.
I loved him. He really made you think and then discuss a lot of different senerios.
Last year he did a support group topic on toxic 'friendships' and how sometimes you have to push the person who is rocking the boat out of the boat.
Great thoughts Kelly!
Sarah
As well as how was it going to change me and how did I think it was going to change my family and friends.
I loved him. He really made you think and then discuss a lot of different senerios.
Last year he did a support group topic on toxic 'friendships' and how sometimes you have to push the person who is rocking the boat out of the boat.
Great thoughts Kelly!
Sarah
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