Does anyone ever feel like we took the "easy way" out?

[aliandrews 98]

I did think of this as an easy way out at first. I wanted to try the old fashioned way of diet and exercise, but realized after trying over and over that it just wasn't going to work. I would lose some weight and then gain it all back and then some. I am 10 days post op and am very happy that I had surgery. I have lost 17 pounds so far and have quite a ways to go. It's good to hear how everyone feels and what they are going through.

[SouthernSleever 228]

Hells yes I took the easy way out after spending 20 years in misery and struggle and anyone who has a problem with me taking the "easy way out" can kiss my skinny ass

[lindagg63 0]

There have been people who are relatives and friends who think that getting the Gastric sleeve surgery was the easy way out, but I say they are dead wrong. We had to first have the courage to speak to Dr's as well as others we knew about what we wanted to do. That was embarrassing to me. I felt like I was a failure at keeping myself pretty, at keeping myself thin, and keeping myself healthy. I gained weight just smelling food. Then after speaking about what really embarrassed me, I had to go on a diet before the surgery just to prove that I really wanted to get healthy. Then there was the surgery and the pain and the eating nothing but broth, which if you ask me, not many people could continue to do that even for 2 days and we had at least 7 days to weeks of that. Sure in the beginning, we didn't have to diet, but we had to mourne over losing our friend (food) and watching everyone around us, eat to their hearts content, while we eat 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of food. So yeah, we lost weight in a way that almost seems like we aren't really working at it, but after the initial weight loss, don't we then have to keep a good diet? Protein first, then if something else fits, veggies? Forget, having any desert. Don't get me wrong, I am super happy to change my eating habits and relieved to know I will live to a ripe old age, barring any accident. Just don't let anyone tell you, that you took the easy way out. Wouldn't you go see a Dr and take meds if you were dieing? I would...and I did. My medicine was this tool, (the gastric sleeve) and it has helped me survive. Never think you took the easy way. You have to be on a diet for the rest of your life. After the initial weight comes off, you have to continue dieting and exercising to get to lose all the weight, don't you. It is something you/we have to keep working at. NOT the easy way, but the only way for us. There are some who get this surgery or the bypass, and manage to sabotage there tool (surgery). We can do the same and end up the way we were, unhealthy and sick. Be proud of your choice to better yourself. I love being able to take long walks and see the beauty all around me. I could not have done that without the surgery. Be proud of yourself and the progress you make and make it clear to those you know, that you have to keep working at it just like anyone who works at being healthy with diet and exercise.

[kemo46 82]

Anyone who thinks this is an easy way out is wrong. I had my surgery for health reasons and I go to the gym at least 5 days a week. I see a personal trainer twice a week. I find this whole process anything but EASY. It is a tool to help us change our life and it works. I had to totally change my lifestyle from eating, exercise and a new way of thinking. We have all lost weight on diets just to gain it back. The sleeve is just a tool, the restriction is what has made my surgery and weight loss a success. So anyone who still thinks this is an easy way out, they can follow me to the gym every morning and they will probably change their minds.

[happy1957 138]

We all know someone who can eat everything in sight and not gain weight, don't we? Well the sleeve just levels the playing field. We may not be able to eat that much, but at least we aren't controlled by slow metabolisms and overeating anymore. I really feel lucky when I hear one of my friends talking about going on a diet again (and again.) My diet is hardwired in now, and I don't have to really think about it. And when I lose all this weight, I don't have to worry about gaining it all back, and more. No easy way out, just the permanent way out.

Perfecto!!!! Hardwired diet... I love that phrase... I was just approved on Friday and am scheduled for Dec 28th. I am so looking forward to changing my life and being healthier. I have dieted the last 41 years and obviously failed ever time. A "hard wired" diet is a perfect analogy. :-)

[pcos_chick 23]

I say, it's the SMART way out.

^^^^^ THIS!

[RosieSweetie 40]

This is one of the best discussions I have read. Thanks to all of you. I think as obese people we have been conditioned to have to apologize for our size. When we finally get control of our lives, then we are supposed to apologize for how we did it? No way! When I am obese, I find some people feel that they are "superior" to me, even though I am much more successful than them in all the other areas of life (work, marriage,children-just to name a few). Now that I am becoming beautiful again, they are very ticked off. This is what I think leads to the "took the easy way out" comments. The sleeve has given me the inner strength to say "no I won't eat that" to people who try to derail my health. The sleeve gives me strength to not have to "finish my plate" or "just try some" just to make someone else happy.

[Sleeving into success 9]

I used to think this was the easy way out, and i would feel so guilty sometimes. But then when I told my family the way I was feeling they explained to me that this was in fact just as difficult, if not more, than the tradional methods. They reminded me that most people do not have the will power to have to give up the foods they enjoy, not snack, not drink soda, not eat fast food, and drink the right amount of Water constantly. This has greatly opened my eyes, and my family continues to ensure me that this was NOT the easy way out!

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

like you all have said correctly, having any WLS is a very hard decision, one not to be taken lightly, and very importantly - this is not an easy way out its so very very hard. changing ones way of life. getting rid of old habits. as they say old habits die hard.

i'm only 3 days post op and today i was starting a little container of sf Jello. like always i filled the spoon, and took that whole spoonful. i wanted to die. i couldn't believe it. i wasn't thinking, i just went to eat like i always did, big spoonful et. al. but i realized this just happened, i caught it and then i had a few more slow bites with small pieces of Jello.

like we all know there is nothing easy about this process. but the end is great. i need to lose this weight for many different health reason, diabetes etc. most of us have these health prob. losing a lot of weight will minimize if not get rid of some of these problems.

i'm not going to deny that at the end of the rainbow after and during this journey i will be looking better, this is just a plus!!! Many people also think having WLS is just a vanity thing - obviously not true - we now eat to live, not - live to eat

kathy

DOS 12/15/11

[circa 333]

Hell no. For some people, low carb or low cal or special diets work - its their hammer to the nail. Well for other people, because of body chemistry or other issues, trying a low calorie diet is like trying to hammer a nail with a flip flop. It just doesn't work. Its about finding the right tool for the job. Over my life I have fought with my weight. I did very well with a low carb lifestyle. Until I got sick. Well, that tool no longer works for me. I have tried every other tool in the toolbox. I finally opened a new toolbox. This surgery is a tool. its what we have decided to use to make life work. Everyone gets the same set of tools. But not everyone can use them as efficiently and effectively. That's why for some people, surgery doesn't work. its not easy to agonize over this decision. Its not easy to go see a doctor and ask them to remove part of your body. Its not easy to go under anesthesia. Its not easy. There's nothing easy about it. I think sometimes it may feel easy to people because when you're finally properly equipped, any job can feel "easy" That means it was the right decision in my mind.

[300PoundsDown 101]

Signing up for surgery voluntarily is not easy. Subjecting your body to being cut,poked and prodded by choice is not the easy way. It's courageous. It took me 10 years to get the nerve. I chickened out once 5 years earlier. We all have to face our fears and the mind games and emotional issues are still there to fight. The easy way out is to give up and kill ourselves with the food. Refusing to give up and doing whatever it takes is hard and requires courage. That's why we are all warriors!!

[pcos_chick 23]

When I had my children, I needed c-sections. I heard several comments about "taking the easy way out." And, in some ways, it's probably true. I had no labor pains, and I didn't find the recovery to be all that painful;

You know what? Good.

The kids who were born naturally don't wear shiny gold ribbons on their chests. The women who go through labor aren't better mothers, and are no more "real women" than I am. I avoided some pain, and did what was required for my particular body to be healthy. Good for me.

There is a word for deliberately and repeatedly doing what is hard and inneffective when something effective and easier exists - foolishness.

Bring on the "easy way".

Hell yes!

[Estella 11]

All I can say now, a month post-op, is that the easy way wasn't so easy for me. It still isn't a magic pill. I vomited thrice, and suffered from terrible nausea several times. I can't even eat certain foods which are considered healthy, such as vegetables. I am spending a fortune of my teeny-tiny income on expensive Vitamins so I won't have any deficiencies. I still have to exercise in order to remain healthy. And on top of everything, I had my belly cut 5 times in order to insert various medical appliances into it, which hurt for 3 weeks straight, regardless of how many painkillers I took. If anyone ever expresses disrespect towards me for choosing this path rather than throwing my money on Weight Watchers or something in that spirit, I'd go raging.

I live under the assumption that skinny people cannot possible comprehend what fat people go through, they see weight loss as something trivial and easily doable. There's not much point in convincing them otherwise, you have to live through it to understand.

[Living again 11/17/2011 40]

Absolutely not if I dont eat right and workout the weight gain begins so no it was tool to help me start myjourney!

[SouthernSleever 228]

I know we have all done diet after diet and I'm not saying this surgery is without consequences/risks/costs however for me this has been the easiest way I've ever lost weight. No white knuckling and no real gain so far. Now implying that we took the "easy way out" is condescending however to me it feels like the easy way, the smart way too.