quotes on whether WLS is the "easy way out"?
 

I am doing an informational speech on Gastric Bypass for my Oral Communications class in college. (Yes, I even went back to college because of the confidence I have after surgery!!)

Over the years, the phrase "the easy way out" has come up over and over again when I tell people I had WLS. In this speech I am trying to explain how that is a misconception and would like to add some quotes to my speech from those of you that have had WLS. The speech won't be published and I won't mention names.

Please add a quote to this tread. Mine is...."If there were an easier way, I would have taken it!" or "Desperation was my motivation"

Thanks,

Angela

good point, Jill. I will add to my speech the fact that we still have to diet, we still have to exercise and we still have to struggle to keep it off.

Thanks for your help, honey!

oh wow. here's a bit of a rant - take whatever you want from it

so, i'm sitting here, 8+ years out, facing a presentation to a major medical society on Saturday, a freelance project that's due on monday, and a new job that's starting on monday. i ate. it came back up. does anyone honestly believe that i'd opt for this if i had another choice?

try gaining and losing nearly 1000 pounds over your lifetime. see what happens to your metabolism

it's not about LOSING the weight - it's about having the best chance for KEEPING IT OFF

think about it - if you're an emotional eater. your main way of coping with the world is GONE. So, instead of swallowing your emotions, you have to deal with them - and then you wonder why relationships change. And people say that you've gotten *****ier since the surgery. WELL, that's not what happened. I'm now SAYING these things, rather than swallowing them.

I WANT TO LIVE!!!! I don't want to obsess about every blessed mouthful that I eat or drink, and I don't want to have to exercise 3-4 hours a day. I want to live a healthy, balanced life. I'm willing to watch what I eat, exercise an hour or more a day, and enjoy myself. Just like you.

I'm done with beating myself up. and I'm WAY done with feeling ashamed of myself. So, all of you who think this is the easy way out and feel you have to judge me - GET OVER YOURSELVES. Leave me alone. Stop judging.

wow Jiffy...so much to choose from and sooooooo TRUE!

thanks, honey!

Why do people judge wls so hard, when probably 99% (just a % guess) of the people that have it do it for some sort of medical reason. But go get some other surgery like bigger boobs, fake lips, hair replacement or something cosmetic and thats considered ok... where are our priorities? Why not deal with what you have..... or is it to hard? wouldn't these surgeries be considered the easy way out (of dealing with insecurities)?

I wonder if they had surgery for alchoholics .... would that be considered the easy way out?

I really don't know where I'm going with this but every time i hear the words WLS and easy way out in the same sentence I see RED!!.

oy vey lol.

Another point I always say to uneducated people about weightloss. For a smoker...they can quit smoking...and do not have to have cigarettes ever again or have to have them to even live. Buttttttt a person who has to lose weight will always be tempted by food, as we HAVE to eat to remain alive.

For me, it was the only way out. Any of the other ways had proved impossible.

Hi all, I don't post often, but believe me I have learned so much from all here during my weight loss journey. I have not had wls, but did consider it and had many drs talk to me about it. People always ask me how I lost my weight. When I say calorie counting and exercise, they always say, "Oh, you did it the right way." I always share with them that we each have our own right way! What an accomplishment for all of us to try and then make progress towards living a healthier life style. All my best to you all!

I personally have not had WLS but one of my best friends had it and the other one will have hers tomorrow morning. I watched my friend have complications from her surgery and become seriously ill. She lost her job because she couldn't go back, nothing easy about that. She lost most of her hair and had to buy a wig while her own hair grow in. She was tired all the time and not prepared for the emotional aspects of not being able to eat the things she enjoyed. I see nothing, absolutely NOTHING easy about WLS. It is the last resort for people who have tried over and over again unsuccessfully to lose weight and keep it off not to mention the health benefits she gained from having it. No longer taking BP or diabetic meds.
Anyone who considers WLS as the easy way out needs to have to suffer through some of the possible side effects for just one day before they open their mouth IMHO.

Originally Posted by Brown:
I think this quote goes against the goal of her speech, though. This agrees that it IS the easy way out. I thought she was trying to say that it's NOT.

This is my personal opinion - for me, **** YES surgery made losing weight easier. But why is that so wrong? Why should we be made to feel inferior for choosing something that makes getting healthier easier? And, as I went on to say, while it makes LOSING weight easier, there is still work to be done in the long term.

I'm so sick of hearing about the "easy way out"! My brother informed me that the "easy way out" was not for him. He can't walk, ride a bike, bend over and sits in front of the computer continually. He is killing himself. My weird sister informed me that she isn't taking the "easy way out" and has lost 70 some pounds through WW. I'm so happy for her, but been there done that and gained all 125 pounds back after I stopped WW. I chose LIFE with WLS. I lived in a world of joint and back pain, diabetes, immobility. Sat in my own small little dark world, because I thought I would never be able to care for myself or my family again. I have huge hernia from repeated abdominal surgeries, I can't eat concentrated sugars, I throw up easily on bread and chicken. I clog up if I eat too fast and have to wait for hours before I get rid of the pain and can eat again. Would I choose LIFE again? HECK YES! And even with a fake knee I can and will run people down who say the EASY WAY OUT and kick their butts! Or I could just as easily throw up on them.....LOL~ I'm gross! THE EASY WAY OUT......BS! I AM ALIVE!!!!

I say "High five for the easy way out!" I'm with jillybean -- who cares if it's "easy?" Anybody who thinks fat people should suffer and do things "the hard way" is just a judgmental jerk and I couldn't care less if they think I'm somehow "cheating." It hasn't been easy, but it's been a **** of a lot easier than the 40 years of yo-yo dieting that led up to it! And I say "Thank God for the easy way!"

Originally Posted by nanj:
My weird sister informed me that she isn't taking the "easy way out" and has lost 70 some pounds through WW. I'm so happy for her, but been there done that and gained all 125 pounds back after I stopped WW

Yes, this bugs me, I am not overweight enough to have WLS, but losing is the easy part, maintenance is the hard part. WLS is high risk because of the high BMI patients, if you could get a procedure (not suggesting any of the big ones, but something designed for purpose) when you are at or close to your target weight that stopped you putting it all back that would be really useful, and much lower risk.

I don't see how it's an easy way at all, you don't get to eat cheeseburgers and still lose weight, you have to eat tiny portions, tinier and more restrictive than anyone else, and it's enforced on you for ever more. It's not "cheating" it's a different way of eating smaller portions of food, you still have to do it. Some fail with WLS also because you can pack a lot of calories in a tiny tummy if you choose to experiment with exactly how much you can eat rather than sticking to the plan. I've not had any WLS but I really don't see it being an easy way. In any case, if it's physically and emotionally any easier to eat less with a small stomach rather than going on craving a Big Mac and being in tears that you cannot eat one then there was a metabolic fault to start with, it's just been corrected now.

I came very, very close to having WLS, and I have 4 friends who did. It is anything but easy. Its a TOOL to help you, same as Chantix can help you quit smoking or Antibuse can help you quit drinking - but in the end its YOU that makes it work. To really truly lose the weight you must watch your calories, eat very low carb, and exercise religiously - all while trying to adjust your life to the loss of your coping mechanism - food. They change your body not your mind, so now when your brain wants to eat, eat, eat, your body can't do that - and people are at risk of transfer addictions - drugs, shopping, alcohol. You can't take a day off for your birthday, or Thanksgiving, or the office party - too much fat, sweets or alcohol and you will be very very sick - too much food and its coming back up. Ok granted in a perfect world we would not eat those things - but life happens. Thats not easy to me. The only part I'd say is easy - and its not even "easy", its just a great motivator - is being able to have the consistent weight loss, that would keep me really motivated. Whenever I backslide its because I had a stall. I know WLS'ers stall also but its usually for weeks and not months. I do know a person who had WLS and just ate smaller portions of the same crap - she lost 100 lbs in the first year - and has gained about 60 back. What people don't realize is WLS is a big huge learning process and that is not easy! Losing the weight is 25% of the battle - then you have the rest of your life ahead of you and you need to keep the weight off, take your vitamins, get adequate protein. Its not like lose it and your done. As a person who came real close to having WLS I think (at least where I went) the pre-op education is not enough. They tell you how much weight you can hope to lose, they bring in skinny post ops to sell the surgery....and try to drive home the fact that yes you will lose large amounts of weight. They don't tell you how much work it actually is.