Why do men have WLS
I had considered WLS multiple times over the 5 years prior to my surgery but always ended up trying "one more program" or "one more diet". I would lose weight and then end up putting all of it back on plus more. My doctor finally told me that if I didn't make a permanent change to my weight I wouldn't be around to walk my then-16-yr-old daughter down the aisle when she was ready to get married in a few years. That was the wake-up call. I went to a WLS seminar the next week. It turns out that my older brother (a doctor) was also considering getting WLS so we went through it together.
Mine was strictly for health reasons but I've gotten lots of other benefits from it.
Mine was strictly for health reasons but I've gotten lots of other benefits from it.
Start 303/Surgery 273/Current 188/Goal 185
I'd say 80% health related reasons on my part. I really want to slow diabetes, if possible. I'm having some kidney and eyesight issues related to be diabetic. Slowing all that down a bit would be a blessing.
About 10% interest in looking "south" and seeing....my toes - not sure they're still down there.
About 10% interest in being able to do physical stuff without huffing and puffing.
I will even answer this.
I decided to have surgery because my comorbidities were out of control. At every visit my numbers just got worse no matter what I tried, this eventually ended in the vicious circle in where nothing works so why try any more. I had commented to my wife a couple times that maybe I should look in to surgery, so when I got a set of labs back in which my Primary called me to let me know how bad they were I called my wife and told her to find out if it was covered under my ins policy.
The more I researched The various types of surgery the more I realized that not only did I have a chance of eliminating some of my medical problems but I had a chance to start my life over. I knew it was going to be a lot of work and I started implementing exercise right away.
I knew if I was going to do this I was going to do it in a way that would require me to not only change my lifestyle but also set an example in my family on what it was like to be healthy.
Like everyone I was asked a number on what I wanted to weigh and I picked a number that wasn't to low but still put me in a normal BMI.
At about week 5 all my comorbidities had been resolved and I was feeling good even with a couple setbacks. At this point I really had just a number to work towards but that number was so far away, I quickly realized that for me this was not about a journey to someplace, but rather a journey from someplace. My goals quickly became things or abilities and not about a number. I began exercising like never before, I dook up TaeKwonDo so I could do this with my sons. I wake up at 4:30am to exercise. I ran my first 5K 11 weeks postop something I had never even considered doing at any point in my life.
My friends and family are amazed at the changes not only in my apperance but also in my attitude and outlook on life.
So for me this was not about being Skinny or thin, it was and still is about being able to live and enjoy life.
I decided to have surgery because my comorbidities were out of control. At every visit my numbers just got worse no matter what I tried, this eventually ended in the vicious circle in where nothing works so why try any more. I had commented to my wife a couple times that maybe I should look in to surgery, so when I got a set of labs back in which my Primary called me to let me know how bad they were I called my wife and told her to find out if it was covered under my ins policy.
The more I researched The various types of surgery the more I realized that not only did I have a chance of eliminating some of my medical problems but I had a chance to start my life over. I knew it was going to be a lot of work and I started implementing exercise right away.
I knew if I was going to do this I was going to do it in a way that would require me to not only change my lifestyle but also set an example in my family on what it was like to be healthy.
Like everyone I was asked a number on what I wanted to weigh and I picked a number that wasn't to low but still put me in a normal BMI.
At about week 5 all my comorbidities had been resolved and I was feeling good even with a couple setbacks. At this point I really had just a number to work towards but that number was so far away, I quickly realized that for me this was not about a journey to someplace, but rather a journey from someplace. My goals quickly became things or abilities and not about a number. I began exercising like never before, I dook up TaeKwonDo so I could do this with my sons. I wake up at 4:30am to exercise. I ran my first 5K 11 weeks postop something I had never even considered doing at any point in my life.
My friends and family are amazed at the changes not only in my apperance but also in my attitude and outlook on life.
So for me this was not about being Skinny or thin, it was and still is about being able to live and enjoy life.
Paul C.
First 5K 9/27/20 46:32 - 11 weeks post op (PR 28:55 8/15/11)
First 10K 7/04/2011 1:03 First 15K 9/18/2011 1:37
First Half Marathon 10/02/2011 2:27:44 (PR 2:24:35)
First Half Ironman 9/30/12 7:32:04
First 5K 9/27/20 46:32 - 11 weeks post op (PR 28:55 8/15/11)
First 10K 7/04/2011 1:03 First 15K 9/18/2011 1:37
First Half Marathon 10/02/2011 2:27:44 (PR 2:24:35)
First Half Ironman 9/30/12 7:32:04
At almost 500 lbs I had lost a lot of mobility that kind of "pushed" me to have surgery. Prior to that, I had thought about it, but didn't consider it because at 400 lbs I thought any type of WLS was "too radical". I didn't want to dump, I didn't want to change my diet forever, etc etc etc. I didn't know that there were other choices out there besides the RNY.
I never really had major comorbidities due to weight (i.e. high blood pressure or diabetes), but I was a ticking time bomb. So it was mostly for mobility purposes that I had WLS, but WHEN i was in the process of having WLS i wanted to be thin for the first time in my life. I had been overweight since I was 7, and wanted to be thin for the first time in my life. As I said in my OP that it was a combination of both factors. First health, but I'd be lying if I said that looking good wasn't part of the equation.
When I started to lose a lot of weight, I realized my body was not going to look normal without plastics, so I planned and had plastic surgery to help things out a bit. Honestly, it doesn't make you look "perfect" but it does make you look less lumpy under your cloths.
Scott
I never really had major comorbidities due to weight (i.e. high blood pressure or diabetes), but I was a ticking time bomb. So it was mostly for mobility purposes that I had WLS, but WHEN i was in the process of having WLS i wanted to be thin for the first time in my life. I had been overweight since I was 7, and wanted to be thin for the first time in my life. As I said in my OP that it was a combination of both factors. First health, but I'd be lying if I said that looking good wasn't part of the equation.
When I started to lose a lot of weight, I realized my body was not going to look normal without plastics, so I planned and had plastic surgery to help things out a bit. Honestly, it doesn't make you look "perfect" but it does make you look less lumpy under your cloths.
Scott
So you may disagree with my premise that men typically don't seek out surgery to simply get skinny, but you yourself initially sought it out for another reason.
I never stated that men don't want to be thin or more normal looking, but simply tha*****pically is not the driving force behind the decision.
We each have come here for a reason, and this was and still can be a great group of guys for guys. Lets get back to what brought us to the mens forum, which is everything the main forums aren't.
I never stated that men don't want to be thin or more normal looking, but simply tha*****pically is not the driving force behind the decision.
We each have come here for a reason, and this was and still can be a great group of guys for guys. Lets get back to what brought us to the mens forum, which is everything the main forums aren't.
Paul C.
First 5K 9/27/20 46:32 - 11 weeks post op (PR 28:55 8/15/11)
First 10K 7/04/2011 1:03 First 15K 9/18/2011 1:37
First Half Marathon 10/02/2011 2:27:44 (PR 2:24:35)
First Half Ironman 9/30/12 7:32:04
First 5K 9/27/20 46:32 - 11 weeks post op (PR 28:55 8/15/11)
First 10K 7/04/2011 1:03 First 15K 9/18/2011 1:37
First Half Marathon 10/02/2011 2:27:44 (PR 2:24:35)
First Half Ironman 9/30/12 7:32:04
I said in my OP :
I have to say that I think most people (women included) have WLS to improve their health, but that at the same time both men and women have an equal desire to look thin at the end. I don't think it's only for health or only for looks that people undergo WLS but it's a combination of both.
I think we have surgery for both reasons. I mean we want to be healthier but at the same time there is a desire to look normal. I think for me health was the final straw, but I didn't diet for almost 20 years for health reasons, I dieted to look better. WLS was the final resort, so that I didn't die of obesity. But as I said it's not one reason or the other, but it was a combination of both issues that caused me to have WLS.
Scott
I have to say that I think most people (women included) have WLS to improve their health, but that at the same time both men and women have an equal desire to look thin at the end. I don't think it's only for health or only for looks that people undergo WLS but it's a combination of both.
I think we have surgery for both reasons. I mean we want to be healthier but at the same time there is a desire to look normal. I think for me health was the final straw, but I didn't diet for almost 20 years for health reasons, I dieted to look better. WLS was the final resort, so that I didn't die of obesity. But as I said it's not one reason or the other, but it was a combination of both issues that caused me to have WLS.
Scott
Well, let's see.
#1 Reason: I was getting very tired of how other people were treating me because I was hugely, traffic-stopping fat. I found having other people assume I was a total out-of-control loser because of my obesity to be the most painful thing I have ever experienced. My options were: change the world and fight "fat bias", or change me and be done with it. Changing me seemed more likely to succeed (and much faster too).
#2 Reason: My weight was going up and up, year after year, causing me to incur the high social costs of being excessively fat, like not being able to participate in most activities that required any sort of mobility, not being able to fly on an airplane, not being able to out in small boats, breaking furniture, etc., etc...
#3 Reason: My health was getting worse and worse and I was convinced I would die sooner than I otherwise would without the surgery.
So are my reasons upside down? I don't think so. I found that dieing of obesity was not anywhere near as frightening as living with it.
I don't think your reasons are backwards, there is a LOT of social stigma to obesity. If you watch TV fat people are good for 1 of 2 things: to be the "funny fat friend" or some type of comic relief OR to be the fat useless loser. This message is just a relfection of obesity or what obesity means in our society.
So I have to agree with you, sometimes the psychosocial impact of obesity can be so much greater for us then the potential health risk at the time we have surgery. Had I really known about WLS when I was in my 20s, and that my insurance would have paid for it, I would have had it purely for looks at that time.
Scott
So I have to agree with you, sometimes the psychosocial impact of obesity can be so much greater for us then the potential health risk at the time we have surgery. Had I really known about WLS when I was in my 20s, and that my insurance would have paid for it, I would have had it purely for looks at that time.
Scott
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