WLS " the easy way out"

Here is a thought provoking post.  Gather out of it what you may as we all have our own opinions----  the following is just mine! *s* I just recently picked up the magazine "US" while shopping for my groceries the other day.  Emblazoned on the front of it was Ricki Lake, indeed looking quite stunning in her one piece red swimsuit.  The magazine screamed HALF MY SIZE!  From size 24 to 4 WITHOUT SURGERY!   Arghhhhhhhh....  ok, I'll bite and read the darn article, after all it did catch my attention...  Before I go on, I have NOTHING against Ms. Lake ( I happen to like her actually) but I DO have a problem with the attitude of folks doing it without surgery.  The usual writeups normally suggest that surgery is the "easy fix" and that these people did something oh so noble by loosing weight sans surgery.   Give me a break! Puhlease...  I read through Ricki's article and found that she lost her weight by using a local business that delivers premade and portioned food in and around her Cali area.  Not slamming them either... but I went to their website (the link was included in the article).. their food prices (daily prices mind you) calculated on the 31 day plan come to a staggering total of OVER 1455.00 DOLLARS A MONTH!!!.. Oh yeah, we opted for the easy way out and what in the heck did she do?  She said she didn't work out, she didn't exercise (save for her hiking, which I guess still qualifies doesn't it?) but overall it made her out to be the wunderchild of weight loss.  After all, she didn't have "surgery" to do it did she? Ok.... the easy way out?  I don't think so.  I will be 3 years out come this September.  I blew past my surgeons goal and have maintained.  My labs are drawn every 6 months and they are textbook perfect.  I exercise, I eat right, I take my vitamins and supplements.  I live the lifestyle every blasting day and try my hardest to make sure that I don't succumb to bad habits. S'cuse me, but where is the easy part?  The easy part would of been if I would of caved in to the goodies that my coworkers brought in this afternoon.  Baskets and baskets of sweets/candies/junk.  "have some" they wheedled..  it won't hurt.  "live a little"...  yeah right.  I remember those days.  I didn't live.... I existed. ...and not too well at all. I know I am on a minor rant (excuse me *s*) but it just rankles me when I hear yet another article screaming out that they person did it without surgery... only to find that they truly haven't modified their life or changed their lifestyle.  They "bought" their weightloss. Okay...which one of you guys can afford to just feed ONE PERSON for the paltry sum of over 1400.00 per month?  I sure can't---- Of course there ARE those folks out that that have worked hard, made lifestyle changes and reaped the rewards of weightloss.  I'm not lumping them into this rant.  They worked just as hard as we did to achieve the victory of FREEDOM FROM THE FAT!... What are your thoughts on these types of portrayals? .....  you are now free to rejoin the normally mild mannered board... *teeheehee*.... Elizabeth~*

I agree with you whole heartly Elizabeth. What happens to her new found wonderful weightloss when she stops buying their food? Has she developed good eating habits ? Has she changed her life style? No No and no so what will happen is the same thing that happened to us , how many times before? the weight will start coming back and bringing several friends with it..

No surgery is far from easy and if anyone really thinks that it is this miracle thing that you dont have to do anything they are far from right.

So rant on sister. I for one agree.  Jan

AMEN and AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You tell it sister!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brenda

ok that deserves a big ol' ATTA GIRL I was just telling my husband tonight that if I could stay in a place like a hospital where the ONLY food avaliable to me was what they brought me I'd be ok but the only thing is when i leave there it'll all come back---I've been overweight for 30 of my 32 years and I haven't been able to do it alone---I need the TOOL---the tool for me is wls---that's the bottom line!!!

Ah how I love a good well written rant!! And I agree with you whole heartedly, I get tired of wls being portrayed as the easy way out, Oprah gets my goat about this, she has said it's the easy way out...she of course is uber rich and has a personal chef and trainer that get her up everyday and feed her and work her out....must be nice ...maybe if insurance would of paid for me a lifetime trainer and chef I would of gone that route.

No kidding that was a good rant. My fiance` was actually making that same comment to me before, "this is the way out". Well I think he is suddenly changing his mind now that he sees I cannot eat anything (2 week pre-op diet). Yeah, of course the celebrities don't "need" the WLS they have millions of dollars to spend on everything else (personal chefs, personal trainers, etc). We obviously don't have millions but I can probably say that in the long run it WILL SAVE us millions. So just think of it that way. Of course, what are celebrities supposed to spend their millions on? LOL!

Elizabeth, You are so right on!!!  This is not easy but it works!!!  And it works for the rest of our lives if we are willing to use the tool.  I think having food and exercise brought to me and practically forced on me al la Oprah would be EASY.  Living in the real world, facing demons everywhere and still staying the course is the hard way!!!   Rant on my friend -  Hugs, Lana

Dear Elizabeth- Well, I would love to join you and the other posters so far-by saying-that ANYONE who says that WLS IS THE EASY WAY OUT-can kiss my big ol' fat A$$....What just slays me-is that I have tried every single diet known to man-nothing worked, not only would I always gain the weight back-but always gained additional weight too~I attended weigh****chers at a local chapter in Joplin, MO-and my friend and I were treated like we were outsiders-we went for a month, just to see if anyone would warm up to us.....I was told at that meeting that IF I was considering WLS-then "I" was taking the easy way out and that weigh****chers did not believe in it-WHATEVER~Its like THEY work hard to get their weight off and we dont-just because we use a different tool (I am not damning weigh****chers-just our local chapter and experience I had with them personally)....Well, so let me get on my soapbox, if you will-

I was so desperate to have a life, to be free from the fat body that was keeping me prisoner, suffocating me and slowly killing me physically AND mentally, that "I" risked my life, just to have a chance at a better life. Instead of me now having to buy weigh****cher foods, use a food scale and count endless meals etc-I use my pouch as my tool! To me, those of us who endure this surgery, do so because we are at rock bottom, we are desperate and we want and NEED this to save our lives. Sure-weigh****chers work for some, buying pre-made meals work for others, having a trainer and chef work for the rich-BUT....NO matter WHO you are-EVEN WLS post ops-IF you do NOT change your lifestyle-your eating habits, your way of thinking-its NOT going to come off and stay off-no matter what. Any of us, given 1400 a month to spend on food to be delivered to our door can do that-right? what about when the money runs out?  What if you cant pay that trainer or chef-are you mentally ready to do it yourself? Can you mentally handle it? Heck no....but guess what? Those of us that have gone through surgery and its risks to save our lives-mentally-most of us are determined to use the tool and make it work for us-right? I believe I am a stronger person now than I ever was before. I believe that our support group is WAY better than buying a trainer and chef who do our thinking and routines for us. I believe that we are gonna make it-because we have our tool, and we have each other!

Easy? Is MAJOR surgery ever EASY? dumping? incisions? lifelong commitments to vitamins, protein, excercise and water? Easy? sagging skin and our personal outlook on ourselves? no-nothing about this is easy-and I WISH we could put a magazine on the shelves that would show ALL of our successes and all of our moments-and say-we are 1/2 our size too-we just used a different tool.....mentally-I think we could kick all their butts-LOL and I, for one, will NEVER be too embaressed to say-I had WLS and it saved my life! I will NEVER be too embaressed to say I am a member of Obesityhelp.com and they are my support people-and most have had WLS or are getting ready to-and they have saved my soul-I will NEVER tolerate someone telling me that we, wls recipients, took the easy way out! Kiss my butt~~Its harder than anything I have ever done in my lifetime-and I love me-and thats why I did it-to save my life and to save me....and Oprah....well-I dont know about any of you-but maybe SHE should get off her soapbox about WLS since she doesnt have it in her to endure what we have-and Im sorry-for someone who has a personal trainer, a chef and everything that money can buy-she shouldnt be damning our surgery OR just showing the negatives of it-because we could turn around and ask her-WHY-if you have all of that going for you-are you still overweight? Im happy for her, if she is happy with herself-but I am sick of hearing how we develope other addictive behaviors and such, because we had WLS and didnt cure our addictions?  Alright, I am getting off my soapbox now-thanks for having such a contraversial topic, Elizabeth-its very interesting what people think of this subject, isnt it?  All my love and prayers, Janet

WTG Elizabeth.  I, for one, totally agree with you.  "Normal" people cannot afford to have chefs, and ready made meals, and personal trainers to make sure that you maintain a certain style. Most of us here, are just normal every day people.  Who struggle with many things, most importantly, our weight and health.  Most of us here have to fight insurance companies and doctors offices and hospitals every day to try and get our lives back on track. Tell Ricki Lake that when she develops the miracle pill that automatically dissolves fat and makes secondary problems disappear, then she is a miracle.  Until then, shes just another person who has lost the weight for now. Kudos, girl, your post was dead on correct.

I agree with you all too! Everyone who is overweight has some form of addiction to food. How to change your life is to do just that, change your life. This includes life changing eating modification that allows you to lose the weight and keep it off. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. To call WLS the easy way out is so unrealistic that it shows their ignorance to the whole process of weight loss surgery. I agree that they will probably gain their weight back unless they keep their chef and personal trainer. If not, they will gain the weight back. That is, if they have not found out what true behavior modification of their eating habits. We have already seen that happen with Oprah. She lost the weight, gained the weight, and lost the weight. I want to lose the weight and keep it off, not yo-yo. I want to be healthy not just look good. I want to know exactly how to reach my goal and maintain if for the rest of my life, and if that takes WLS then so be it. I too have hit rock bottom and I need help. WLS is the tool that I need to make me a success and live a longer and have a healther life. Does this mean that there is something wrong with losing weight on your own? By all means NO! If a person can do that, and maintain it, more power to them. But if they can not, and they are at a level of ill health where they want to know they will see another sunrise, then WLS is the answer. It is for people who has co-morbidities that will shorten their life span. You can only yo-yo so long before you can not bounce back. So stand tall on your soap box, girlfriend. Let everyone here your voice. I know I will.