Reality bites

I totally understand about difficulty sticking to a diet program. I almost posted that "I am willing to do ANYTHING" to relieve my back pain, then I caught myself "except stick to a effing eating and exercise plan". So I'm thinking I'll do better with either or both of these two very drastic measures. Sadly, if I don't do Opti-Fast, I'm not even sure I could get off the preliminary 10% that bariatric surgery requires. And it will be dang hard to not eat any solid food for 4 months, and only little bits for several months after that as I transition. I'm not sure when it starts, but there will be summer BBQs, D's father's wedding in August, my vacation in September (which includes a wedding)...during all of these I'll only be able to have my Opti-Fast liquid. As for bariatric surgery, there's really no choice in eating less and avoiding fatty or sugary food because if you don't eat right, you risk "dumping syndrome", which means that if it's overly fatty or sugary or is greater than the size of the new stomach (the size of an egg), it's coming out. 

On June 19,  in the afternoon, I went to an introductory class about weight loss surgery, which was ok. I think I learned one or two things, but mostly it covered things I heard about from friends (thank you, Annie), my niece who is a Dietitian at Kaiser in Southern Cal, and info I found online. Anyway, the class is required as a first step for anyone considering weight loss surgery. The next step is get a referral for surgery from my primary physician and then to take the surgery overview class which is conducted by a dietitian and goes into more details, then to meet with the surgeon, and all that stuff. 

I'm going to wait to ask my doc for a referral until next week, as I'm going to an intro class on Saturday for the "Medical Weight Management Program" (Opti-Fast). 

D really wants me to do Opti-Fast first as he doesn't think it's smart to have surgery to resize and reroute my internal organs without first trying to lose weight by any means (meaning Opti-Fast or any other means) while keeping my body in-tact. I understand his concern. I also know that he has not been with me through my weight loss struggles and increasing pain these past 10 years since I hurt my back. It's a lot to think about. I didn't fall asleep until nearly midnight last night because I was thinking about this.

My sister, who did Opti-Fast successfully and kept nearly 100 lbs off for 3 years (and then gained some of it back), said she'd recommend having surgery over Opti-Fast. Her daughter (my niece) had gastric bypass (RNY) and it saved her life. My niece is no taller than me and was around 300 lbs. I don't know how much my niece lost, but she looks and feels great, and is having a very healthy pregnancy (she's due in a couple weeks). Another difference between Opti-Fast and surgery is that my insurance covers surgery (out of pocket would be around $100, maybe slightly more). My insurance doesn't cover Opti-Fast (out of pocket would be around $4,000 or more). D thinks it doesn't make sense to have organs resized, rerouted and removed to save money. I understand his concern. I am giving this careful and serious consideration...there is so much to think about and research.