I was asked a question by a colege a couple of days ago that really had me thinking. I think the question and my answer will help some of you pre-op type people.

The question was; " After everything you have gone through over the past year with pre and post surgery tests and requirments would you do it all over again; especially now that you see how some simple diet modificatin and some exercsie would have given you the same results?"

Now I really thought about that question for some time, and in fact it weighed on my mind. And after some very deep thoughts I came up with the following points;

1. I have tried diet and exercising for many years and I have failed misiberally each time. I would actually gain any lost weight back plus an extra 10 or 20 pounds just to add insult to injury. The reasons were many, but mostly it came down to lack of will power.

2. My health was starting to fail quite rapidly, and the worse it got, the less I could do to exercise, and the more I ate.

3. My Wife was suffering becuase other than work I did not want to leave the house becuase of my weight. I was both too overweight to do anything, and I was embarrased. So I ate more to pass the time.

4. I was never full, when I am hungry I am a very tough person to be around becuase I get very cranky. I am embarrassed to even think about how much food I have consumed in one sitting.

5. This entrie battle was nothing new, I have been battling my weight for more that 20 years.

So after thinking about the five things above, and how I feel now. Now I have been losing weight at a pretty good pace, I have more energy than I know what to do with, my back and knees do not hurt at all anymore, I am going out of the house, wearing new clothes and getting unsolicited complements on my apperance on a daily basis. Yes it was a long road to Lap Band surgery, and taking time off from work for the never ending line of pre-op tests was a pain in the ass, having to loose 10% of my original body weight was a struggle, the meetings, the skinny miny dieticians tell me things I already knew, and all of the other BS that came along for the ride was all a huge PAIN IN THE ASS; however based on the way I feel now, the drastic improvement in my health after just a couple of weeks, and my over apperance have improved more than I would have hoped for. I am not hungry at all, and I no longer have to take most of my medicine. So the answer to the question for me is...........

I WOULD DO IT ALL AGAIN IN A HEART BEAT!!!

Biker

Cool! I think my list would be identical...and I know my answer will be; post-op. Thanks for posting this! -BG

Damn skippy! Ditto for me, Biker.

1. If had been able to do it on my own, I would have done so. DUH!

2. The snowball effect had already come into play. The more I gained, the worst my health was, the more I sat around, the more I gained, etc...Endless loop with the problem getting bigger and bigger, just like my body.

3. Yes, food became a comfort. The delicious taste on my tongue was a momentary "feel good" when the rest of me felt so very bad.

Now the opposite snowball effect is happening. I feel better, so I get out and do more, which makes me lose more weight, so I feel better and want to do more, etc.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat!

Lena

Cant tell if the person asking was just curious or a bit judgemental. But either way that kind of question supports all of the people who arent telling certain people! You took it positively though and made a positive answer, good for you! Cali