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Originally Posted by ForeverVivid
Personally, as someone who has an educational background in nutrition and human anatomy and physiology, I am not comfortable with following a VLCD (very low calorie diet) that generally comes hand in hand with bariatric surgeries, because I am aware of the negative effect that they have on the body. I followed my post-op plan until I was about 8 weeks out and quite comfortable with eating solids, and then I focused on increasing my calories and proper nutrition.
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I actually brought this up with my dietitian, because yes I do want to lose weight, but I want to put more focus on being healthy. I don't need to be sickly to get thin, I wanna be strong! She said that the guidelines are much more lax after the initial healing period and encourages a healthier sized diet so long as I make sure to get my protein in as well.
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Originally Posted by mlk58
As for the issue of reversibility of the band -- have you asked yourself WHY that's so important to you? If your WLS is working well, why would you want it reversed? It's only the people who have complications who need the band removed, and then you kind of end up thinking in a circle: "well, it's good that it's reversible because there are a lot of complications, but I don't expect to have complications but I still want the band because it's reversible."
I'm here to tell you that I wouldn't have my VSG surgery reversed for all the tea in china! I want my weight loss to be permanent and my tiny tummy is my best tool in that regard!
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Since making this thread I've done tons of research, talked at length about it with my dietitian, and had my consultation with the surgeon. Now you literally couldn't pay me to get the band! Regarding your question though, I think a lot of it had to due with the fact that I was holding on to the possibility of being 'normal' again one day. I thought I could lose the weight and if it had to come out, so be it, I'd just deal with it and be normal. But it doesn't work like that, obviously. Funny thing you say that, the exact thing I said to my surgeon when he asked why I changed my mind was that "I don't intend for my weight loss to be temporary, so why should my tool be?" I'm only twenty years old. Considering how many patients need the band taken out a few years down the line due to complications, I can't see the band having any chance of holding up.
Also, my surgeon was looking at my weight loss history and explained to me that the reason I've never been able to lose more than 20lbs at a time before bouncing back up was because even though I'm at a weight that is unhealthy, my body has decided that it's where I'm supposed to be. The result is similar to someone bordering on being underweight - it's hard to lose because your body slows your metabolism down and holds onto whatever you put in it because it thinks it's protecting you. I knew about ghrelin reduction (which is also another reason I chose the sleeve), but I didn't realize that removing the stretchy portion of my stomach would kind of rewire my brain and allow me to get rid of the weight without the protesting. Just thought it was interesting. I'm glad it's working for you!
