Witty Comebacks...

I think the best "comeback" is like what they say about revenge - "a dish best served cold"

What I mean by that is as more time passes and you continue to rock it and lose more and more weight... and maintain that loss for the long term like we all hope to do - all of these people that did it the "natural" or "hard" way, most likely (STATISTICALLY) will gain their weight back and possibly more! They will be coming to you with their tail between their legs eating their words!! muahahahaha :)

Only once in six years have I had anyone say anything to be about WLS being the "easy way out" and, ironically, that person had no idea that I had undergone a RNY... he was talking about some of his relatives. I have, however, had people say things that were kind of the same: wondering why people would "mutilate" themselves "just" to lose weight, or expressing that gastric bypass is too extreme.

It isn't a "witty" comeback by any means, but my response to them is the plain facts:

1) I struggled with trying to lose weight and keep it off for years and years (without success)

2) my weight was clearly out of control (I had a BMI of almost 57 before surgery)

3) I was starting to have health problems that were a direct result of my weight

4) my father, whom I am the spitting image of and had common allergies with, was diabetic and had two heart attacks (and my blood sugar levels were rising a bit every year)

and because of those things, WLS was my ONLY hope for losing the weight, improving my health, avoiding future medical issues, and keeping the weight off.

 

Lora

I would give a deadpan look and then say "I do not want to discuss this" or "This subject is not open for discussion". Use your mom "because I said so" voice. If a dense person tries to continue, repeat the statement.  If a fool tries a 3rd time, it's "What part of NO did you not understand?"  Spoken in a frosty tone as you turn and walk away.

You don't have to be brilliant or witty, just civil and FIRM.

 

I have to applaud you for making the decision, early in your life. I am a 52 year women, with 3 children, my last being a teenager, and I WISH I had chosen to do this long ago. Missing out in doing things with my children, and having to let family members take my place on outings because I just could not do it with the kids, made me feel so guilty. I'm thankful for my family, and stepping in to help, taking them on outings that I could not participate in, due to my obesity.

About the witty comments, I'm new with my WLS, so I don't know what I would say when that comment is thrown my way, But I think I would tell them EASY? Your ignorance is showing, if you think having WLS was easy, and the maintenance I will have to do for the rest of my life to stay healthy.... or something to that effect.

Anyway, just wanted to say...

 

I think you are really brave to have done the surgery. Just because you didn't do it earlier shouldn't matter its that you made the choice and did it now. That will affect your future and will allow you to do more later in life. I think that even though you feel like you missed out a bit with your kids early on will never take away the future you have with them and the new life you are building. By following this path you've given yourself a chance at a healthy future and time to make up for anything you feel you missed out on when your kids were younger (though I'm sure they don't feel like you've ever weren't there or missed out on much) :).

Not a witty comeback and somewhat of a simplification but here goes: I had a surgical treatment for a medical problem. Then stop talking. For the record, only one person has been an asshole to me. I think most people don't find me interesting enough to care:-)

I haven't had anyone say this to me, but did have someone say "I have heard about so many complications".  I told her isn't it funny you always hear the negative about something rather than the positive?  I have been very lucky not to have had any complications, and walked away.  Like most stuff, if people haven't educated themselves on any subject, they are the ones that sound stupid.  Just knowing I have done something to make myself healthier and happier is all that matters.

Interesting- I've never had anyone say that to me, that I took the easy way out. I'm pretty open about sharing my WLS, because I think education is useful, and I'm proud of myself for taking control of my health. So I have had people being curious and asking lots of questions which I do my best to answer. I have had people ask me whether I have had any regrets. I just say it's probably added years to my life, to say nothing of quality. And I guess I'm lucky to have the support I have from the people who matter.

What's that saying- opinions are like that certain part of the anatomy- everyone's got one?

I haven't had surgery yet but I would say something like "yeah, having my insides cut and rearranged followed by a lot of hard work on a new *healthy* way of eating and moving my body was really easy!" 

Even though I'm just beginning my journey I have already had someone say "oh, you are so lucky!  You'll never have to go to the gym or diet to lose weight like the rest of us."  This was someone I work with (she sits next to me so I can't escape her) so I pulled out the information I had received at my first NUT visit and made her read it with me.  It covered what happens during the surgery and all of the pre and post-op diets.  I pointed out that if I wanted to be successful and then maintain that success, I would have to be VERY careful and diligent with my eating and exercising.  Then I asked her how *lucky* I was to be resorting to surgery to be healthy. 

This is NOT the easy way out!

Love it! I would say something like that, too! "Having my insides..." You could also say that it was unhealthy for you to lose it the "right" way because you're body was fighting you the whole time. So you would regain what you lost and then some.  When you are "dieting", your body produces more ghrelin  (hunger hormone) because it perceives a feast/famine type of environment (which is no longer the case for most of us).  So we lose some weight and  our body ups the ghrelini and we gain it back with a little extra for good measure. It makes sense to "work smarter, not harder."

Doesn't traditional dieting have  a 5% success rate (not sure of the actual percentage)  if you look at the statistics over several years? Why would you choose something that had a 5% success rate for a life-threatening medical condition? Perhaps that could be an eye-opening response!

 

Best of luck to you! I have been lucky because no one has said that to me!

Pam :)