...the harder the co...

...the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value......Thomas Paine Some people will tell you that WLS is the "easy way out"....do you think that? I certainly do not. We are faced with many things for the rest of our lives...we must have vitamins every day because our pouches dump out the nutrients too quickly, some of us will "dump" forever, our pouches will never allow us to eat like we used to - well unless we choose to eat all day a.k.a. "grazing". But you can't eat a huge meal ever again - the pouch just won't take it. Some of us will most certainly have to have gall bladder surgery - if we haven't already. So in my opinion - NO, WLS is not the easy way out. Our triump based on our conflict will be to finally get to our much anticipated goal weight. If we accomplished this goal quickly - would it have as much value? I think all of us trying to get to goal today might know we haven't gotten here quickly...yet we still have a way to go. THEN - when we finally reach our goal....how sweet and how dear and what value we will feel like we have accomplished this goal. SO - go for it today MARCHers...know you are not alone, there are several of us struggling now and a few who have gotten to goal that are struggling to stay there. Together we can all work towards our common goal - get to goal and maintain. You know what it takes MARCHers - the 4 golden rules....water, exercise, vitamins, protein. What conflict will you overcome today to make the triumph glorious? I am betting on us to make the right decisions today. Hugs to all....Barbara

OOPS....I forgot to put my title in....MARCHers going to goal!

Barbara, I agree if something comes to easily, we wont appreciate it. If we didn't have to jump through hoops to have this done, we would not have appreciated it as much. If it had been easy going the first few months we would not have appreciated it. We have had to learn, we have had to adjust and some of us have had to learn to live a whole new life. Was it worth it? YES You initial quote above reminds me of when a "kid" turns 16 and their parents buy them a new car. There is no way they would appreciate it as much as if they had to earn the money to buy their own car. You just don't place value on something you don't have to work for. Have a great day, Rick

I agree, wls is far from an easy way out. Learning to eat right, not eating and drinking at the same time, vitamins, dumping when not eating the right foods... all things we signed up for, but by no means does it mean wls is an easy weight loss. Getting to my goal by our surgiversary is something I really wanted. So much that I actually "dieted" when I hit plateaus. I was frustrated in the early months because everyone was losing 10-15 lbs a week and I was losing no more than 7, more like 4 or 5 most weeks.. I knew my protein levels weren't where everyone elses were, but I just couldn't get more in no matter how often I would try. Now that I'm at my goal and have been for a while I can say the value of getting to goal quickly is gone.. I'm happy I'm here, but whats left? I don't have the excitement of seeing a different number on the scale or a different size on a label. The wow moments are over, so I'll live vicuriously through everyone elses