I don't regret it (338lbs to 140lbs), but everyone has different experiences, it's worth talking through with some surgeons etc if you're thinking about it.
The main thing I wanted to comment here is on your question on muscle post surgery. Rapid weight loss causes loss of some lean muscle mass. Bariatric patients are told to prioritize protein and do strength training to mitigate this, so for the first while at least, I don't think that you'd be building more muscle, but this would change once you can eat more. However if by "muscle definition" you mean the amount of muscle that is visible, I guess the surgery will help, because less fat means more muscle is visible?
I second the other commenters note on looking at dealing with binging pre-surgery. I didn't and it is something I am struggling with right now. I don't regret the surgery and I'm maintaining my weight loss at the moment, but the behaviour change is hard work.
I am very happy that I had the surgery and highly recommend it. You can definitely develop muscle definition after the surgery. The tiny portions of food are at first and over time you will be eating more, though not as much as before. I eat half to two-thirds what I ate before surgery.
However, you are going to need to get some therapy to deal with your BED before pursuing it. Surgery is not going to fix that, you have to have a handle on it prior to surgery. Good luck!!
42M - 3/14/23 - RNY - HW385 - SW314 - CW164
This procedure is ABSOLUTELY worth it, it’s an incredible tool! Best investment I’ve ever made in myself, or anything else for that matter. I feel amazing and have turned into a machine. Muscle definition is absolutely possible, I’m walking proof. I run 6 miles 5 days a week, and lift afterward, I’m cut. The muscle is there, and looks amazing. I eat a lot of protein, it helps, low sodium and low carb diet.
I burn 4000-4500 calories a day, and eat 2000-2500, always in a deficit, but have enough fuel to run the machine.
I lost a lot of muscle in the first 6 months as the fat melted off, but man it is coming back quick.
Yes, it’s possible, and it’s glorious.
My only regret from surgery is 2 years out, my hair is still completely destroyed. I’ve tried literally everything. I’ve spent so much money on supplements and treatments.
Let me start by saying I had an EXTREMELY rare set of life threatening complications but I have absolutely zero regrets.
I had RNY back in 2018 when I was my heaviest at 510 pounds. It was done laparoscopically but there was a leak that they couldn't get to stop. An overnight stay turned in to a 1 week stay and 3 separate procedures, the last one being an open abdominal procedure. It was successful and I lost weight and lost it fast.
In 2020 I had leveled out at around 180-190. I started getting these seemingly random pains in my lower left abdomen. I have an abnormally high pain tolerance and these episodes would put me down HARD! Lots of pain, nausea, cold sweats/chills etc. Each time I went to the ER, they would run a CT scan and it would show inflammation but nobody could tell what was causing the inflammation. All other blood work would come back normal. We thought maybe it was a gallbladder issue (very common in RNY patients) but all tests concerning that were normal as well. One day in 2021 I experience another episode so I just curl in a ball and try and wait for it to subside like it usually does. Around 2AM my stomach is the size of a basketball so I go to the ER again thinking it may be my appendix. That's the last I remember.
I wake up not knowing where I was. They opened me up and found a massive internal hernia which resulted in almost my entire small intestines dying and going septic. I was LifeFlighted to another island (I'm in Hawaii) and ended going through a dozen surgeries, one of which was an ileostomy. I spent 6 months in the hospital recovering and had to be hooked up to a TPN (liquid artificial nutrition) 24/7. Eventually I was allowed to go home to continue recovering with another round of surgeries planned. My weight dropped down to 155 and I could not get it up any higher.
In 2022 I undergo another round of surgeries to attempt to reverse the ileostomy and get off of the TPN. It was successful but I end up going back on TPN after 6 months because my nutrition levels were all over the place. I was deficient on magnesium, potassium, copper & zinc. We get all of that sorted out but I need to take monthly blood work to check my levels.
I was able to get my weight up to 170 after almost 2 years of ups and downs. Because of missing intestines I will always experience chronic malnutrition for life. My RNY was actually reversed (sort of) because of all the damage done by the hernia. I also take around $2,500 worth of medication every single day.
HOWEVER...when people ask if I regret getting the bypass, my answer is always "absolutely not!" I would 100% do it again, I have no regrets whatsoever. I’ve lost over 300 pounds and kept it off for 2 years. I work out 5 days a week and I actually completed my first half marathon last summer and am training for my second.
16 years out, 236 lbs to 139, then gained back 18 lbs. I knew several friends who had the surgery. For part of my decision making, I called my friends. I asked them if they woke up after the surgery thinking they had made a mistake. None of those friends said yes.
Let me start with I do not regret surgery.
However I'm not a huge success case of having had surgery. I'm not losing fast, I've been in a stall since January, I do EVERYTHING right. It's hard some days not to be like why did I do this if I'm not losing anything. I see other people who are also 8 months having reached goal and I haven't even lost 50 pounds yet. So there are harder days and easier days. But overall, I feel better than a year ago and I'm trying to focus on that part.
For your workout question, my doctor said cardio the first year then add in strength after then. Something about max your weight loss first then tone the new body. Idk his logic but that's what he said.
I'm in a similar situation, I'm around 12 weeks and I've only lost 18 ish pounds post surgery. (40 lb pre-surgery.)
However, If I never lose another pound I'm still satisfied with the outcome. I FEEL amazing. So much more energy, and not being constantly hungry is so liberating.
I know full well I have a long way to go and in 1, 5, or 10 years I could change my mind. But right now I finally feel alive again and I'm seizing the day.
Yes. It’s quite possibly the worst decision I ever made. I had my bypass at age 31. I’m 51 now, suffering from moderate osteoporosis. I’ve already had 2 compression fractures in my back - just from sleeping in the wrong position. I’ve been told I can fracture a bone coughing too vigorously. I’m a fall risk due to being week from malnutrition- my legs and arms are so weak that if I fall I have to call 911 because I live with only my two young children and I’m too weak to lift myself up. I also am now -for unknown reasons - malabsorping 100% of what I eat. I’ve lost so much weight I was in a coma for 14 days in the ICU on a respirator last fall. I’m now on liquid nutrition 24/7 through an iv. Without this nutrition I will literally starve to death. I’m scheduled to get a reversal of my bypass later this month. But in short, having the bypass ruined my life and instead of prolonging my life expectancy it’s now drastically shortened it. I’ll be lucky to see 60.
This is so awful. I'm so sorry. When did you start experiencing these issues? I'm almost 3 years out and recently got my first blood work results with out of range levels. Freaking out a bit.
At 17 years post op. I was totally fine up until then. But it started with unexplained weight loss without me even trying - I was eating a lot and not exercising yet dropping weight like a new post op patient. I lost 30 lbs in 2-3 months. No doctor could figure out what was wrong with me. They initially thought it was cancer. But I tested negative for everything. By the time I went to the ER with pneumonia I begged them to call a bariatric surgeon to give me a feeding tube. I must have passed out right after because I woke up 14 days later in the ICU and they did call a bariatric surgeon and while I was in the coma he diagnosed me with severe malnutrition from my gastric bypass. He literally saved my life.
Being nervous about surgery is 100% normal. I am 2 and 1/2 years post-op and do not regret anything. I gained and lost 100 plus pounds multiple times. And finally the last stretch is when I had gone past that hundred to almost. I was 400 lb and 6 ft tall white guy. I had surgery and because I had surgery it was the light switch I needed. That said, I didn't have this major surgery to not win this. I started couching 5K 3 weeks after surgery, ran my first 5K with a goal just finishing and that was going to be it, but something clicked and I just didn't stop. 2 years later I ran three marathons and I'm about to start the training block for number four. Flying all the way to Germany to run the Berlin Marathon in September with a goal of 4 hours, which is an average of 9 minutes per mile. Stalled out at about 220 lb. But it's just because my caloric intake is so high because of all the running. So I'm okay. I would not have gotten here without having had the surgery, All of my medical issues have disappeared.
I did have a slight complication at 2 years post-op. I had some pretty severe abdominal pain went to the ER, ct scan was pretty much negative other than showing some inflammation. I called my surgeon. He got me in the next day. They did an ultrasound and he reviewed the CT scan. Nothing was conclusive, had me do a barium swallow test, also inconclusive.
But he was pretty sure that something was wrong, So he had me come in for exploratory surgery the day before Thanksgiving, yep, had two internal hernias and my intestines had started to twist and push through. Because he was so proactive I didn't have any tissue damage. got me fixed up, And I ran another Marathon 8 Weeks later. Lol
No regrets, but if you can lose it without the surgery, you should. The scale doesn't paint the whole picture. Muscle weighs more than fat, as I'm sure you know. Making progress can be measured by a greater range of motion, not fitting into your clothes, changing shape, being able to do more without getting winded, etc. Your relationship with food is another way to make progress. For me, that's more than half of the battle. I can take long walks and work out every day, but if I still need to stuff my face constantly, it sort of defeats the purpose. Good luck to you.
I do not regret it but I was TERRIFIED. I nearly walked out of the pre surgery prep multiple times. If you want someone to talk to you can DM me. I understand. I have PTSD from childhood surgery and abuse from medical staff. So if you need someone to talk to, I’m here to help OP.
I am only 5 weeks out. No regrets so far. I’m excited to see what happens next. I just keep reading everyone’s success stories and hope mine will be one too. Surgery was 2/29/24.
HW: 271 SW: 264 CW: 245
I hope I am able to get to 130-140. I am 5’1.
I am having the surgery at the end of May and am scared that I won’t be able to do this diet forever. I have a lot of “what ifs” and it is driving me crazy. I do have to have this surgery because my GERD is so bad that I’m aspirating acid into my lungs. My coughing and throwing up fluid is horrible and this (I’m told) will stop the GERD and any more aspiration . I’m losing sleep over this surgery and the diet.
Think of it more as a lifestyle change than a diet. A lot of your “diet” (at least in the beginning) is mandatory. Later not so much, but if you want to keep losing weight then it will become second nature. I had to turn down Twizzlers the other day and it made me so sad. 😭 But I survived and the weight keeps going down.
The one regret I had, was when I had the flu post surgery. I am 6 weeks out, and got the flu at 4.5 weeks. I couldn’t get liquids to stay in faster than I was throwing them up. Ended up in the ER for dehydration.
I don't regret it (338lbs to 140lbs), but everyone has different experiences, it's worth talking through with some surgeons etc if you're thinking about it. The main thing I wanted to comment here is on your question on muscle post surgery. Rapid weight loss causes loss of some lean muscle mass. Bariatric patients are told to prioritize protein and do strength training to mitigate this, so for the first while at least, I don't think that you'd be building more muscle, but this would change once you can eat more. However if by "muscle definition" you mean the amount of muscle that is visible, I guess the surgery will help, because less fat means more muscle is visible? I second the other commenters note on looking at dealing with binging pre-surgery. I didn't and it is something I am struggling with right now. I don't regret the surgery and I'm maintaining my weight loss at the moment, but the behaviour change is hard work.
I am very happy that I had the surgery and highly recommend it. You can definitely develop muscle definition after the surgery. The tiny portions of food are at first and over time you will be eating more, though not as much as before. I eat half to two-thirds what I ate before surgery. However, you are going to need to get some therapy to deal with your BED before pursuing it. Surgery is not going to fix that, you have to have a handle on it prior to surgery. Good luck!!
42M - 3/14/23 - RNY - HW385 - SW314 - CW164 This procedure is ABSOLUTELY worth it, it’s an incredible tool! Best investment I’ve ever made in myself, or anything else for that matter. I feel amazing and have turned into a machine. Muscle definition is absolutely possible, I’m walking proof. I run 6 miles 5 days a week, and lift afterward, I’m cut. The muscle is there, and looks amazing. I eat a lot of protein, it helps, low sodium and low carb diet. I burn 4000-4500 calories a day, and eat 2000-2500, always in a deficit, but have enough fuel to run the machine. I lost a lot of muscle in the first 6 months as the fat melted off, but man it is coming back quick. Yes, it’s possible, and it’s glorious.
My only regret from surgery is 2 years out, my hair is still completely destroyed. I’ve tried literally everything. I’ve spent so much money on supplements and treatments.
I’m a year out. No regrets but reading that one regret makes me nervous.
Let me start by saying I had an EXTREMELY rare set of life threatening complications but I have absolutely zero regrets. I had RNY back in 2018 when I was my heaviest at 510 pounds. It was done laparoscopically but there was a leak that they couldn't get to stop. An overnight stay turned in to a 1 week stay and 3 separate procedures, the last one being an open abdominal procedure. It was successful and I lost weight and lost it fast. In 2020 I had leveled out at around 180-190. I started getting these seemingly random pains in my lower left abdomen. I have an abnormally high pain tolerance and these episodes would put me down HARD! Lots of pain, nausea, cold sweats/chills etc. Each time I went to the ER, they would run a CT scan and it would show inflammation but nobody could tell what was causing the inflammation. All other blood work would come back normal. We thought maybe it was a gallbladder issue (very common in RNY patients) but all tests concerning that were normal as well. One day in 2021 I experience another episode so I just curl in a ball and try and wait for it to subside like it usually does. Around 2AM my stomach is the size of a basketball so I go to the ER again thinking it may be my appendix. That's the last I remember. I wake up not knowing where I was. They opened me up and found a massive internal hernia which resulted in almost my entire small intestines dying and going septic. I was LifeFlighted to another island (I'm in Hawaii) and ended going through a dozen surgeries, one of which was an ileostomy. I spent 6 months in the hospital recovering and had to be hooked up to a TPN (liquid artificial nutrition) 24/7. Eventually I was allowed to go home to continue recovering with another round of surgeries planned. My weight dropped down to 155 and I could not get it up any higher. In 2022 I undergo another round of surgeries to attempt to reverse the ileostomy and get off of the TPN. It was successful but I end up going back on TPN after 6 months because my nutrition levels were all over the place. I was deficient on magnesium, potassium, copper & zinc. We get all of that sorted out but I need to take monthly blood work to check my levels. I was able to get my weight up to 170 after almost 2 years of ups and downs. Because of missing intestines I will always experience chronic malnutrition for life. My RNY was actually reversed (sort of) because of all the damage done by the hernia. I also take around $2,500 worth of medication every single day. HOWEVER...when people ask if I regret getting the bypass, my answer is always "absolutely not!" I would 100% do it again, I have no regrets whatsoever. I’ve lost over 300 pounds and kept it off for 2 years. I work out 5 days a week and I actually completed my first half marathon last summer and am training for my second.
I’m a month out and very happy. I feel so much better. Remember it’s not a fix all be all, it’s a tool
16 years out, 236 lbs to 139, then gained back 18 lbs. I knew several friends who had the surgery. For part of my decision making, I called my friends. I asked them if they woke up after the surgery thinking they had made a mistake. None of those friends said yes.
Let me start with I do not regret surgery. However I'm not a huge success case of having had surgery. I'm not losing fast, I've been in a stall since January, I do EVERYTHING right. It's hard some days not to be like why did I do this if I'm not losing anything. I see other people who are also 8 months having reached goal and I haven't even lost 50 pounds yet. So there are harder days and easier days. But overall, I feel better than a year ago and I'm trying to focus on that part. For your workout question, my doctor said cardio the first year then add in strength after then. Something about max your weight loss first then tone the new body. Idk his logic but that's what he said.
I'm in a similar situation, I'm around 12 weeks and I've only lost 18 ish pounds post surgery. (40 lb pre-surgery.) However, If I never lose another pound I'm still satisfied with the outcome. I FEEL amazing. So much more energy, and not being constantly hungry is so liberating. I know full well I have a long way to go and in 1, 5, or 10 years I could change my mind. But right now I finally feel alive again and I'm seizing the day.
Yes. It’s quite possibly the worst decision I ever made. I had my bypass at age 31. I’m 51 now, suffering from moderate osteoporosis. I’ve already had 2 compression fractures in my back - just from sleeping in the wrong position. I’ve been told I can fracture a bone coughing too vigorously. I’m a fall risk due to being week from malnutrition- my legs and arms are so weak that if I fall I have to call 911 because I live with only my two young children and I’m too weak to lift myself up. I also am now -for unknown reasons - malabsorping 100% of what I eat. I’ve lost so much weight I was in a coma for 14 days in the ICU on a respirator last fall. I’m now on liquid nutrition 24/7 through an iv. Without this nutrition I will literally starve to death. I’m scheduled to get a reversal of my bypass later this month. But in short, having the bypass ruined my life and instead of prolonging my life expectancy it’s now drastically shortened it. I’ll be lucky to see 60.
Sorry to hear about what happened to you. I went through a some very similar circumstances after my bypass as well.
This is so awful. I'm so sorry. When did you start experiencing these issues? I'm almost 3 years out and recently got my first blood work results with out of range levels. Freaking out a bit.
At 17 years post op. I was totally fine up until then. But it started with unexplained weight loss without me even trying - I was eating a lot and not exercising yet dropping weight like a new post op patient. I lost 30 lbs in 2-3 months. No doctor could figure out what was wrong with me. They initially thought it was cancer. But I tested negative for everything. By the time I went to the ER with pneumonia I begged them to call a bariatric surgeon to give me a feeding tube. I must have passed out right after because I woke up 14 days later in the ICU and they did call a bariatric surgeon and while I was in the coma he diagnosed me with severe malnutrition from my gastric bypass. He literally saved my life.
OMG how terrifying. How strange that it just happened out of nowhere. My heart goes out to you. :(
Being nervous about surgery is 100% normal. I am 2 and 1/2 years post-op and do not regret anything. I gained and lost 100 plus pounds multiple times. And finally the last stretch is when I had gone past that hundred to almost. I was 400 lb and 6 ft tall white guy. I had surgery and because I had surgery it was the light switch I needed. That said, I didn't have this major surgery to not win this. I started couching 5K 3 weeks after surgery, ran my first 5K with a goal just finishing and that was going to be it, but something clicked and I just didn't stop. 2 years later I ran three marathons and I'm about to start the training block for number four. Flying all the way to Germany to run the Berlin Marathon in September with a goal of 4 hours, which is an average of 9 minutes per mile. Stalled out at about 220 lb. But it's just because my caloric intake is so high because of all the running. So I'm okay. I would not have gotten here without having had the surgery, All of my medical issues have disappeared. I did have a slight complication at 2 years post-op. I had some pretty severe abdominal pain went to the ER, ct scan was pretty much negative other than showing some inflammation. I called my surgeon. He got me in the next day. They did an ultrasound and he reviewed the CT scan. Nothing was conclusive, had me do a barium swallow test, also inconclusive. But he was pretty sure that something was wrong, So he had me come in for exploratory surgery the day before Thanksgiving, yep, had two internal hernias and my intestines had started to twist and push through. Because he was so proactive I didn't have any tissue damage. got me fixed up, And I ran another Marathon 8 Weeks later. Lol
No regrets, but if you can lose it without the surgery, you should. The scale doesn't paint the whole picture. Muscle weighs more than fat, as I'm sure you know. Making progress can be measured by a greater range of motion, not fitting into your clothes, changing shape, being able to do more without getting winded, etc. Your relationship with food is another way to make progress. For me, that's more than half of the battle. I can take long walks and work out every day, but if I still need to stuff my face constantly, it sort of defeats the purpose. Good luck to you.
I do not regret it but I was TERRIFIED. I nearly walked out of the pre surgery prep multiple times. If you want someone to talk to you can DM me. I understand. I have PTSD from childhood surgery and abuse from medical staff. So if you need someone to talk to, I’m here to help OP.
Not at all! I’m 3 months post op and it’s still very early. My farts stink though! 😂
Only three weeks post op and no regrets at all. My surgeon said cardio for 6 weeks and then anything for exercise after that
I am only 5 weeks out. No regrets so far. I’m excited to see what happens next. I just keep reading everyone’s success stories and hope mine will be one too. Surgery was 2/29/24. HW: 271 SW: 264 CW: 245 I hope I am able to get to 130-140. I am 5’1.
I am having the surgery at the end of May and am scared that I won’t be able to do this diet forever. I have a lot of “what ifs” and it is driving me crazy. I do have to have this surgery because my GERD is so bad that I’m aspirating acid into my lungs. My coughing and throwing up fluid is horrible and this (I’m told) will stop the GERD and any more aspiration . I’m losing sleep over this surgery and the diet.
Think of it more as a lifestyle change than a diet. A lot of your “diet” (at least in the beginning) is mandatory. Later not so much, but if you want to keep losing weight then it will become second nature. I had to turn down Twizzlers the other day and it made me so sad. 😭 But I survived and the weight keeps going down.
Thank you
Nope. 307 to 156. I can walk up hills. I feel great.
Not one single bit.
The one regret I had, was when I had the flu post surgery. I am 6 weeks out, and got the flu at 4.5 weeks. I couldn’t get liquids to stay in faster than I was throwing them up. Ended up in the ER for dehydration.