Obesity: Why do we let it happen?

Given everything that you guys know now about nutrition, exercise, and fitness, do you think that you could have controlled your obesity prior to surgery by just being more disciplined and personally accountable for your health earlier in life?

Here's where I'm coming from.  I've been reading a ton of articles and stories lately about people who have lost tons of weight and gotten into doing everything that we do now, but without the surgery.  I can't help but feel a little guilty that I needed the extra push of WLS to get my butt in gear, especially since I now realize that I could have easily been running for the past ten years and would have probably avoided many of my obesity issues in the first place.  It's like something just clicked in my brain and I suddenly realized what I needed to do to be healthy.

What's more, I sometimes see people who have WLS that are still struggling because they expect the WLS to do most of the work for them.  I am not sure how to help those people that don't realize yet that what you eat and how much you eat is still just one component of an overall healthy lifestyle.

Sorry for the heavy topic so early in the morning, but all of the success stories that come out around this time of year and it just makes me wonder . . .

It's like something just clicked in my brain and I suddenly realized what I needed to do to be healthy.
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That's the key. Some people have that light bulb moment sooner than others.  I personally needed the extra push WLS has given me to move toward a healthier life. I don't feel guilty about it, it is what it is. :) 

I know that I did a lot of research prior to surgery so I knew what I was getting in to although I know that is not always the case with everyone.

No.  I could not have done it without surgery.  I tried.  As a matter of fact, I was a college athlete and I was plenty active.  Activity was never the issue with me.  I am a compulsive over eater and the surgery has helped with that.  It certainly has not "cured"  anything but has helped.   If people can do it without surgery, good for them.  That is the best route.  I couldn't and have never regretted for one second getting the surgery.  No matter what happens, I never will regret it.  These have been four of the best years of my life.

There is no need to feel guilt for having surgery! Every one of us had to go through the approval process to get surgery, and in that we all probably had to disclose our failed diet attempts. I read a statistic that said that once a person hits a BMI of over 35, the chances of losing weight and keeping it off for a 1 year period comes with a 98% fail rate. While there are people who lose weight on their own, it boils down to lifestyle changes and discipline with or without surgery. I had lost and regained 500 pounds over a 12 year period and never kept any of it off and had risidual weight gain, every time. In order for someone to either decide to lose a massive amount of weight on their own, or have surgery, they have to hit "Rock Bottom". They may say... " I am not living another day like this!" I did that, and that's when I decided to have surgery...

Now, while it may be true that surgery helps you drop a lot of weight FAST, the things that a non-op versus post-op have to do to maintain success are no different. Surgery is simply a tool, and don't you for one minute buy into the whole idea that you chose the easy way out, because you and I both know that's a pile of crap! When I am racing I feel like I have every right to be there, because I worked my butt off to get there, and the thought of "How" I lost my weight is trumped by the choices I made every day to get up and do something... YOU DID THE RIGHT THING FOR YOU, and that's all that matters....

 

Absolutely not for me.  I tried many times.  Heck this is still a work in progress, that gets modified all the time.
It was that rapid kickstart and weight loss that allowed me to become physically active.
I never could have or would have gotten out and exercised like this prior to the weight loss surgery.
I just couldn't do it.  I would get discouraged and stop.  I'd get down on myself about not being able to do it and I would be back to food for that pick me up.
If I could have done it on my own, I wouldn't have spent 40 years as a fat baby/child/teen/adult.


Scott

You don't need to feel guilty because you took action on improving your quality of life you were unsuccessful in accomplishing otherwise.  Hindsight always being 20/20; shoulda, woulda, coulda is easy to ponder but we didn't for whatever reason.  The fact that not everyone is successful post-op, is painful but again, out of our control.  It is still about choices.

Post-op, I relearned how much nutrition is needed to sustain life and brother,... was my persception warped.  Who knew,...you could survive on protein, water, and supplements? 
I relearned how to eat and proportion control like I never understood pre-op.  I now have a digestive track that revolts at the intake of sweets and fats like I never in my life had before. 
It has become less resistant in my 4 yrs post-op but I still have it and use it to my benefit to stay away from those types food.

Getting lighter and wanting to get lighter drove me to become more active to recover from surgery faster and healthier and along the way I stumbled onto this website and partook of the initative, influence, and motivation of these wonderful Exercise and Fitness OH webpage folks and that led to my newer active lifestyle.  Getting healthy has lead me to be invited to learn and play golf and officiate football and basketball.  So I fell off the 10K and marathon circuits and didn't make the marathon and ironman competition but I still jog and run to stay in good health and control my waistline and muscle tone.

I don't feel guilty one bit as I finally proved to myself, as I got to the point my heart was missing beats due to my weight, that I was not going to be successful in losing the weight on my own before it killed me.  I am glad most don't wait that long, to come to that conclusion, and revelle in the new life, wisdom, and lifestyle this procedure has afforded me in my mortal lifetime.

Let go of the past and make the most of your present and your future.  Live long and be beautiful! 

Joe 

Just wanted to say "Hi Joe!"

I'm not on here much during school, but it's nice to hear from you and what you're doing.  Glad you have some other fun stuff to do and are staying active!

Linn 

Hey Linn,

Thanks for the shout.  Glad you are surviving school and still numbered amongst us.
:O)

I also could never have done it myself.  I exercised and ate the best I knew how and still was not able to lose more than 15#.  I was never a small person - even as a child, so it didn't seem so bad to me for a long time.  When the knee pain started again less than a year after the last knee surgery (I've had 3 scopes in one knee and 2 in the other), I figured it was time to do something else.  The surgery helped me lose the majority of the weight in the beginning, but I had to do the work to lose the last 25#.  That's where starting to run came in.  

I'm almost 6 years post-op, and for the first time in my life I was able to take off some weight that I gained at the end of a difficult semester in school.  It wasn't easy - but I was successful.  The reason? The ability to exercise with high intensity and the understanding of my actual nutritional needs.  I can keep the weight off most of the time and eat pretty much what I want because of my exercise habits as well as a good change in most of my eating/snacking habits.  None of these things were possible for me prior to WLS.

I am a successful WLS patient.  It's all about the long haul to me, and I'm willing and able to do the things that are required to have a healthy mind/body.  I intend to live well past 100, so it's very important to me to maintain what I've worked so hard to get - healthy and fit.

Linn

Thanks, guys!  I promise no regrets here.  I am looking forward to a great year of amazing races!