How Much Weight Can I Feasibly Lose Without a Gastric Bypass?

I'm quite heavy (500 pounds) and have been thinking of having a gastric bypass, but it seems so drastic and final to me.

Can I feasibly lose the amount of weight I need to lose without surgery? I want to lose at least 300 pounds but I'm not sure if I can do it by myself.

The other thing is that I don't want it to take 10 years for me to lose the weight. Do you think a gastric bypass is my best or only option?

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age 25-34 female weight loss 350 lbs and up alternative non surgical options

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2 Doctor Answers | Asked by anon

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Medical vs. surgical weight loss

The only proven method for long term weight loss in patients that suffer from morbid obesity is surgery. Diets have over a 95% long term failure rate. Most patients can lose weight on diets but always eventually gain back the weight plus more where surgically patients maintain a significant long-term weight loss because we do something physical to your body to keep you on your diet.

Weight loss with or without bariatric surgery

The largest study showing the difference between bariatric surgery and conventional medical therapy was done in Sweden and was published a few years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine. They followed approximately 5,000 patients for 10.9 years and they had a 99.9% follow-up rate. Half of the patients had bariatric surgery and the other half were treated with conventional medical therapies for obesity (diet, exercise and behavior modification). They showed that the conventional... more