I did not say that… I said obesity is *primarily * due to overeating. While an increase in physical activity can contribute to weight loss, permanent weight loss is *primarily * achieved when caloric intake is decreased. That’s a fact.
Note: I’ve not read the entire thread, but wanted to put in a response before I have to go to work.
VunderBob stated my surgery as a distal switch, but actually, it was the duodenal switch. Easy mistake, since we tend to abbreviate it “DS”. 
So, here, my experience:
For the folks who have been through it or know someone who has gone through this…
1. Was it a good experience?
Definitely; the first couple of weeks sucked, as I had to have the surgery “open” (didn’t qualify for lap). But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
2. Was it a bad experience?
I had some vomiting, diarrhea and general stomach issues for a couple of weeks while I healed; also, for about six weeks, food didn’t really appeal to me, so it was a challenge getting as much protein as I’m supposed to get every day.
3. How long did it take you off your feet?
As stated, I felt like crap for a couple of weeks, and then just very, very tired for several more. But I could have gone back to work at a desk job after three weeks.
4. How fast did it affect your weight?
Well, I gained 14lbs. in the hospital; is that what you meant? 
Seriously, I had my surgery on this past June 2nd, and have already lost over 70lbs. It’s pretty amazing.
5. Did it change your general outlook?
Absolutely. Even though my portions are small (my stomach holds about 4oz. now), I feel like I eat “normally”. I’m not always fighting with myself about “oh, I shouldn’t eat that because I’m trying to lose weight”. I’m not struggling. I’m not suffering. I focus on protein first (and will for the rest of my life); I take my supplements (and will for the rest of my life). But other than that, I eat what I want to eat. I eat whenever I’m hungry, and stop when I feel satisfied.
6. How long did it take for you to acclimate to the changes in your body?
Like VunderBob, I’m still working on that. I’ll look at a booth in a restaurant, for instance, and think “No way I’ll fit in that”. Then I try it, and I fit! Apparently, my brain is still as fat as ever!
If you’d like more info on the surgery I had (OpalCat had the same one, and is the one who told me about it), I’d refer you to duodenalswitch.com. (I’m norinew on the message board over there, too. If you look, you’ll find me).
If you have other questions, feel free to email me privately if you wish. Just be sure to put SDMB or duodenal switch in the subject line, so I’ll know what it is.
Good luck.
First of all, in response to Crafter_Man’s post: cite? Honestly, I think it requires more discipline to stay obese than to lose weight.
I was obese my entire life; I hit 200 when I was 12, 250 when I was 14, 280 when I was 16. I never really cared about being fat. I never tried to lose weight; I was happy with myself the way I was.
Then, just for the hell of it, I decided to go for a walk. And then I walked the next night. And the next. I began drinking 8 cups of water every day, and began to watch how much I ate. I lost a total of 120 pounds from my highest weight, and I lost 90 of that in about 9 months. I’ve been beneath 200 since February of this year. I don’t really eat fast food anymore, but that’s mostly because I’m a cheap college student. I find the taste of water preferable to soda. Running is one of my favorite hobbies. I’m happier and healthier than I have ever been in my life.
You know what? Weight loss was pretty damn difficult, but it wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And it all started with walking a mile.
(I also have a few horror stories about people whose GB surgeries went horribly wrong, but I’ll refrain from sharing them.)
That sounds more like evidence for Crafter’s argument, not against. 
And we certainly wouldn’t want that…
You’ve got me all wrong. 
I think I’m on the same page as you… I’m generally wary of medical/surgical solutions to problems that could be addressed by lifestyle changes instead.
I’m curious as to why VunderBob considers a culture that encourages sedentary behavior to be a physical contributing factor to obesity rather than a mental one.
myself.
I drive a desk at work, not manually load semis. That doesn’t mean I have a head problem that made me fat.
Right. Sorry about that.
No one wants to admit the real reason of *why * obese people are obese. They want to absolve the obese person from any and all personal responsibility. (It’s a political correctness thing.) If you ask a fat person why they’re fat, for example, most tell you it’s not their fault… they will tell you “diets don’t work for them,” or they have some disease that prevents them from losing weight. Fact is, for the vast majority (98%?) of obese people, they are fat because they consume too many calories. They can and will lose weight if they consume fewer calories. But most do not have the discipline to do it. It’s takes a lot of mental strength to eat less, hence the reason obesity is primarily a mental problem, not a physical one.
The preceding paragraph elicits waves of scorn from the fat-apologists and politically-correct crowd. The reason is because it’s the truth.
Go spout your horseshit in the Pit. This thread is and was about personal experiences with gastric surgery, and it’s about damned time the thread got back to it.
It’s interesting how many lurkers this subject has brought out of the woodwork. Myself included. This is my first post…I’ve been lurking for almost 2 years on and off.
My story:
I weighed 465 lbs when I entered the operating room for my open RNY on 12/5/2001. I didn’t have very comorbidities (that’s the term for things that are wrong with you because you’re so big) that I knew of because I rarely went to the doctor. It’s now almost 5 years later and I’m 300+/- lbs smaller.
Was it worth it? Of course it was. Did I feel that way at first? Of course not. Having your stomach cut open hurts like hell. Not being able to eat anything but liquids for a few weeks sucks. Having to eat pencil eraser sized peices of food sucks too. But I’d still hop up on the operating table once a month if I had too.
I feel so much better. You don’t even realize how crappy you feel when you’re big until the weight is gone. I’m normal now. No one notices me. Isn’t that weird? I did something so drastic to NOT be noticed so much. :rolleyes:
The downsides for the rest of my life: I have to drink protien shakes or eat mostly protein to keep my hair from falling out. I have to give myself B12 shots once every two weeks. I take vitamins every day. When I got pregnant my iron got really low. I have extra skin. I had to have a breast reduction in 2003 because I had lost so much weight my boobs were hanging to my waist. When I run into people who haven’t seen me in a few years, they don’t recognize me. I waste a lot of food when we eat out. My hubby has picked up weight because he usually tries to finish what I can’t.
The upsides for the rest of my life: Hopefully, I’ll be at a normal weight forever. I can keep up with my 2 year old. I feel pretty darn good. I can buy cheap clothes in the regular stores if I want to. Sex is better when you’re smaller.
I can’t stress enough what previous posts said about www.obesityhelp.com. Learn it, Live it. Read every page of that web site. Post any question you have and read the answer. Research it until you’re sick of hearing about it. Then make your decision. This has worked for me. It may not work for you. I know a LOT of people who have had GBs. Out of the 4 close relative who have had one in my family (I am 1 of the 4)…it has worked for 2 of us, and 2 of us have lost very little weight or gained most of the lost weight back. A 5th person is having her surgery today at 11:00 (which is why I decided to stop lurking and post 
and I hereby dedicate my first post to her )
I know a lot of posters here have pointed out that you could just exersize and eat right and lose the weight. That is a decision you have to make for yourself. Only you know what’s right for you and what your limitations are.
Specifically for the OP, I must say that you may as well plan on quitting smoking before you even go to see a surgeon, as most will make you quit before they will operate. You will probably need to get a CPAP and use it during surgery. I had sleep apnea and didn’t know it and stopped breathing in the recovery room. And most importantly, if you aren’t sure if you’re bi-polar or not, you’d better figure on at least something being wrong and get yourself on a medication to work it out. With a GB comes all kinds of new emotional issues. Do yourself a favor and get any current issues you already might have worked out.
If during your journey through the research and decision making you have any questions I can help you with, I welcome your (and anyone elses) emails.
Right, but if that’s the case, you could always opt out of that job and find another one. Similarly, our culture encourages us to eat candy and watch TV for entertainment, but plenty of people can and do reject that.
That’s a totally different animal than problems caused by medication, glandular problems, arthritis, etc. that you can’t just opt out of, no matter how much you want to.
What did I tell ya…
It’s a head problem that you don’t exercise when you get home from work, or before work.
We live in a culture that rewards sedentary occupations, not sedentary lifestyles. It doesn’t get any more sedentary than what I do. . .sit at a computer all day long. My only exercise is walking to the bathroom and the coffee machine.
We all know the feeling. . .we get home from work, and there’s nothing we’d like better than to sit down on the couch with the remote, order food, and not move till we go to bed. The mental question is whether a long-term view of your personal health is able to overcome those urges, those instantaneous gratifications.
Last night, I got home from work at 4:15 – I exercised, I gardened, I cooked, I ate. I didn’t sit down in front of the TV until about 8:00. That’s almost 4 hours of “healthy living” without even trying. No, I don’t want a medal.
It just seems to me that the notion of having someone remove half your stomach because you’re too unhealthy would be about the most soul-destroying surrender a person can make. “That’s it, I give up. You’re just going to have to alter my anatomy for me to get healthy.” Bodily-mutilation for the quick-fix, for the “it’s beyond my control” mindset that so many of us see as an infection in society.
A little about me:
I’m 39 years old. I’m a short, squatty guy with a very slow metabolism. For most of my life I was fat and out-of-shape. (My belly rolled over my belt buckle at one point.) I was borderline obese. I tried diets, but they never seemed to work. Exercise didn’t seem to work, either.
I would make excuses to myself for why I was fat. I would blame my genes. I would blame my metabolism. I would tell myself that diets didn’t work for me.
But I was lying to myself. Deep down I knew the *real * reasons I was fat: I ate too much, I ate the wrong kind of food, and I didn’t get enough exercise. So 10 years ago I decided once-and-for-all to make *permanent * lifestyle changes. I ***radically ** * changed my diet and started a permanent exercise program.
I lost 50 lbs. That was 10 years ago, and I’ve kept it off. I am now at a normal weight.
I still crave food. ***Lots ** * of it. At every meal I wish I could stuff my face. But I don’t do it. I know I’ll get fat if I do it. So I don’t do it. It’s a willpower thing.
I still crave bad food. I ***love ** * ice cream, I ***love ** * fried food, and I ***love ** * greasy food. But I ***never ** * touch it. I haven’t had fried food in 10 years. I haven’t had ice cream in 10 years. Again, I ***love * ** the stuff. But I love being skinny even more. It’s a willpower thing.
This is what I mean when I say obesity is a mental problem… you have to have the discipline to overcome your cravings.
My soul is fine, thanks for the inquiry! 
VCNJ~
Do you feel this way about people who get tubal ligations or vasectomies? Those people are having body parts cut for a “quick fix” because they aren’t able to give up sex. Is that a “soul-destroying surrender”?
Welcome to the boards and congratulations on your success.
The above brought up another question for me about gastric bypass. I’ve often wondered about post-GB pregnancies. I’ve been wondering since Carnie Wilson had her baby but of course I wasn’t able to ask her about it. So I’m asking you. Were there extra concerns about getting enough nutrition for yourself and the baby (obviously low iron was a major concern)? Were there any other difficulties that you had as a post-GB mom? Did you find it was more difficult to stick to your restricted diet while you were pregnant? Feel free to add anything else I might not have thought of. I’m not going to have gastric bypass a baby either one (Well, not that I know of at this point in my life. You never know, I guess.), I’m just interested how that all works. Thanks in advance!
It always amazes me when someone who has obviously never researched GB Surgery, has never been morbidly obese themselves, or has been and has forgotten where they came from can form an opinion on why I “mutilated my body”.
FYI: No one removed my stomach. Its still there, all of it. My soul is fine. The first time I entered my church after my GB I did not burst into flames. If you think this was a quick or easy fix you’ve got a lot to learn. I again suggest www.obesityhelp.com for research.
You’re kidding, right?
Actually, don’t answer that.
If you tell me you’re not, I won’t believe you’re being sincere anyway.
Not only that, but I assure you…my body looks pretty hot now…definitely not mutilated.