"The easy way out"

[teshadb 203]

I Can't stand when I hear that people think weight loss surgery is the easy way out! Mostly from people who have never had a weight problem or have no difficulty losing weight on their own. Or it's from people who could take or leave food. Or people that have no knowledge at all of what we went through pre op to get the surgery let alone recovery and then post op life. I even know someone personally who had the gastric bypass who still struggles and thinks she took the easy way out so she is afraid to tell people she had it in fear of them judging her. I am reading a book " The Sleeved Life" that explains this very well and I like how the author defends this.

" When it is suggested that WLS is the easy way out the undertone of the message is often that it is somehow morally superior to lose weight with diet and exercise alone rather than with surgery. There is nothing easy about WLS, why is choosing to do something " the easy way" inferior to doing something "the hard way"? I drive my car. I use a microwave. I use a hair dryer. In the winter I turn on the furnace rather than building a fire. We all do things " the easy way" when technology allows us to be more efficient. Why is this ok in other aspects of life, but not OK wIth weight loss? So when someone says that WLS is the easy way out just smile and tell them it's the efficient and effective way. Then, ask the person if he or she use a washing machine or still beats his or her cloths with a rock down by the river. If the person criticizing you uses modern conveniences that make life safer, easier, and more efficient, then he or she is hardly in a position to criticize."

LOVE IT!!!!!!!

[CHS 5]

I fully agree

It is far from the easy way out

I need to loose about 130 pounds

My surgery was on July 22

I started at 335+ pounds and now just broke 300

Total of about 35 pounds

It's not easy, still on liquid diet but so far so good.

I am hoping to loose 100 pounds by Christmas.

As a male I believe that it is a bit easier to loose the weight

I have not been below 300 in over 8 years

Hang in there all. It isn't easy but it works if you stick to the plan

Chris

[KayleeC14 159]

I hate hearing people say that any type of weight loss is the easy way out! It lights a fire under my butt every time to speak up and say something to them. I normally just ask people who judge "why do you think this is easy?" I wrote a whole blog about this. (check it out if you want here is the link: http://healthykayleesite.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/cheating/)

[thesuse2000 698]

For me it just wasn't possible for me to lose and maintain without surgery, so the concept of "easy" just doesn't factor in - it's just possible now. I've been overweight since childhood and it feels like my body just screams at me to eat more than I need. I've had periods where I can fight through the screaming and get to a lower weight, but eventually some life stress enters the equation and I can't fight the internal screaming for food and continue to deal with the rest of life's challenges so I regain weight.

It is maddening that people judge, but not surprising. Weight has become a twisted measure of some sort of morality or strength - so many people of all weights compare themselves with others and relish their relative superiority over others. How many times do you hear people talking about seeing HS friends on Facebook and looking to see who got fat... I can't say I don't care about the judgement, but I know in some ways it's just natural for some people to look for any reason to discount others' success, so I will work to not care should I encounter those sentiments. But happily, I haven't yet. But I'm still pretty overweight - I can imagine that the more weight I lose the more some will want to discount that success. But I guess that I'll be feeling too good at that point to worry about it.

[McButterpants 2,846]

There have been times during this process where I feel like I cheated for some reason - like life is supposed to be hard or a struggle.

I can tell you, this "easy way out" is freakin' hard...

I had to ween myself off caffeine in order to have surgery.

I had to live on 2 Protein Shakes and 1 meal for 2 weeks prior to surgery.

I had 80% of my stomach removed.

Had to recover from major surgery.

I had to address my emotional attachment to food while recovery from the above major surgery.

I consumed hundreds of Protein shakes instead of real food for months.

I had to make meals for my family and watch them eat while I drank yet another shake.

I've logged about 600 miles on the treadmill, walking trails and elliptical machine since surgery 8 months ago.

I've given up a lot of foods I used to love - not just the "bad" foods...Salads upset my stomach, some raw fruits are hard to eat.
I could go on and on, but you get my point.

Yeah, this is the easy way out...

[BitterSweet* 835]

The hardest part for me is letting go of the idea that I can lose weight and keep it off permanently on my own. No diet has ever failed me, but I have always failed them.

To come to grips with the idea that I need to have the majority of my stomach cut out because I can not control what or how much I put into my mouth makes me extremely sad.

[teshadb 203]

The hardest part for me is letting go of the idea that I can lose weight and keep it off permanently on my own. No diet has ever failed me, but I have always failed them. To come to grips with the idea that I need to have the majority of my stomach cut out because I can not control what or how much I put into my mouth makes me extremely sad.

I was the same way. No matter how hard I tried I always gave in to my hunger and in a bad way. I would feel nauseous when I was hungry, I would get headaches and I was miserable so I would give in and then binge to make the pain go away! I needed this surgery desperately. My body was no longer sending me full signals soon enough and always became hungry again not long after I just are. Which I did to myself of years of over eating. I knew I needed that portion of my stomach removed. I needed the restriction and the hunger hormone to be reduced in order to ever get a grip on my weight. Now I have total control and it's beyond amazing to feel free of the hold that food had on my life. I have no regrets :-)

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

The hardest part for me is letting go of the idea that I can lose weight and keep it off permanently on my own. No diet has ever failed me, but I have always failed them.

To come to grips with the idea that I need to have the majority of my stomach cut out because I can not control what or how much I put into my mouth makes me extremely sad.

It's easy ... riiiiiiight!

Think of it this way ... we're special.

At the end of the day, fuck 'em. Some people have multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease, Alzheimer's, clinical depression, and scores of other diseases that Joe and Suzy Dumbass probably think are "just in our minds" or caused by "eating meat" or some other wrong reason.

Here are the facts: The odds of obese people losing and maintaining most of their weight loss lifelong through dieting is less than 5%. The odds of our losing and maintaining most of our weight loss lifelong through WLS is 50% - 60%.

Given those facts, only Joe and Suzy would choose dieting.

[BeccaS 2]

I just joined, and I can't tell you how much reading this post and the comments echo what goes through my head on a daily basis. I have not told many people I have had the surgery 2 weeks ago because of some misplaced fear of judgement. I think to myself, if I can control most things in my life, why can't I control my weight/eating. It's far from easy to admit that this is something I couldn't solve on my own. It's far from easy to make the decision to have WLS and to learn to live with the new digestive system post-surgery. To see commercials in every direction selling foods that are desirable but not healthy is hard as hell!! Still working to get my mind right and embrace this new lifestyle, but it helps that I already feel so much better and have more energy.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

BeccaS, I would suggest that your fear you will be judged by others about your WLS is not misplaced. Some (many?) will and do judge us.

That's why the issue of "to tell or not to tell" is such a hot one on these boards. There's no single best answer, but everyone's decision needs to be right for them.

IMHO.

[Kissifur 244]

For me it has been the easy way and I'm ok with that. This has been easier than my previous attempts at weight lose thanks to my tool. My gallbladder removal and my C-Section were both easier than the alternative at the time as well. I thought smart people look for the easiest/shortest distance to reach their goals and I have always considered myself a genius. Congratulations to all of us for figuring out that the hard way was killing us and screw what people think!!

Edited August 2, 2014 by Kissifur

[sarsar 824]

I have said this before and I'll say it again. I am over 3 years out from surgery and this has been the easiest way for me to lose weight. Is it an easy way out? Not at all! I tried everything and worked hard to lose weight and keep it off before surgery. I had surgery and knew what I had to do to lose the weight and keep it off. Removing 80% of my stomach made it a lot easier for me to achieve my goals!

[Tamlyn 107]

Is having weight loss surgery really so much different than any other thing that people do to their bodies to help them be healthier? Like, if you get a pacemaker because your heart doesn't work right, isn't that in some ways kind of the same thing as having surgery to reduce the size of your stomach because your hunger signals don't work right?

That said, I haven't told anybody except my husband, and one friend who had it herself years ago. I feel like it's something really personal, and I don't want to be judged. Of course, I would never judge anybody else for doing it, but myself, I still feel kind of ashamed of it, even though I know rationally that's ridiculous.

[Kissifur 244]

Is having weight loss surgery really so much different than any other thing that people do to their bodies to help them be healthier? Like, if you get a pacemaker because your heart doesn't work right, isn't that in some ways kind of the same thing as having surgery to reduce the size of your stomach because your hunger signals don't work right?

That said, I haven't told anybody except my husband, and one friend who had it herself years ago. I feel like it's something really personal, and I don't want to be judged. Of course, I would never judge anybody else for doing it, but myself, I still feel kind of ashamed of it, even though I know rationally that's ridiculous.

I agree with you and NO it is not any different. I also choose to only tell a few people. I have struggled with how I will deal with telling once everyone starts to ask. On one hand it can be viewed as something private and no one wants to hear the negative crap. However if those of us who have been through it hide it or are not honest aren't we the ones that are pushing and validing the idea that there is something wrong about the surgery. So how are we surprised that the un/misinformed rule the image people have of WLS.

[Elayna01 5]

The hardest thing that I've ever done. And the bravest! Also the most effective. People who criticize are uninformed and probably can't walk a mile in our shoes! That's it in a nutshell!