Yvonne McCarthy: Tireless Advocate for Weight Loss Surgery Patients

[Alex Brecher 10,484]

In 2001, Yvonne McCarthy from Dallas, Texas, decided to get healthy. She hit the ground running and never looked back as she committed to weight loss surgery and learned to manage her food addiction. Her Open Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery 13 years ago helped Yvonne lose half of her body weight and keep it off for over a decade.

Yvonne has used her weight loss surgery experience to help others. She spends over 80 hours a week advocating for bariatric surgery patients as “Bariatric Girl.” She answers emails and posts on Facebook and from her blog to advocate for weight loss surgery and support people who are fighting obesity just like she did. That’s like working two full-time jobs – for free!

Being a great role model and giving back to the weight loss surgery community are what make Yvonne a true weight loss surgery hero. Don’t miss seeing Yvonne’s website or Bariatric Girl Facebook page, You Tube Channel and follow @BariatricGirl on Twitter! She’ll share her experience on bariatric surgery, and you’ll get to learn more about this talented woman’s photography and music!

First, read Yvonne McCarthy’s story and our interview with her here.

Finding Out How Heavy People Get Treated

Yvonne was a strong and athletic girl. That worked out well when it came time to pick teams at school, but her athletic abilities weren’t needed or appreciated elsewhere. Instead, she quickly learned that bigger girls aren’t welcomed. She says, “I figured out pretty young how being different made people treat you badly.” Puberty hit hard, and the dieting started in fourth grade.

Yvonne’s struggles got worse through college and beyond. She nearly turned anorexic during her college years, but “couldn’t keep it up.” After college, she “did every diet known to man” and each time, she gained back all the weight she’d lost plus a few pounds. Her highest recorded weight was 260 pounds.

Didn’t Listen When They Said Not to Have “Unrealistic Expectations”

Yvonne got gastric bypass in 2001. At that time, the bypass was only offered as an open surgery, not as a laparoscopic procedure. She went into surgery with the intention of hitting a “normal” body weight (BMI under 25), and didn’t listen when surgeons warned her not to have “unrealistic expectations.” She followed the prescribed diet and lost 130 pounds in the first 13 months! Yvonne now weighs exactly what she weighed in college over 40 years ago.

Never Going Back to “Prison”

Yvonne says she has a “really healthy memory of 30 years of obesity” and refuses “to return to that prison [that she] couldn’t break out from.” Post-op care wasn’t a standard part of care in 2001, and she didn’t see another post-op until three years later! She just stuck to the diet because she thought she had to, and she hasn’t strayed more than five pounds from her goal weight!

“I assumed that you lost the weight and “IF” you regained that you should fix it while it’s small. When I attended my first weight loss surgery event everyone asked me how I kept it off. I literally didn’t know any better.”

By that time, she’d developed the good habits that she maintains today.

Learning to Manage an Addiction to Food

Some people eat to fill a void. Some eat out of boredom. Others eat for comfort, or to manage stress. Yvonne discovered that she ate to cope with feelings she didn’t want to have. She had a food addiction. She says,

“I was fortunate that I chose to work on my head just as much. I am passionate about the acknowledgement of the existence of food addiction and when I admitted I was an addict, I was able to take steps to work on the root problems that fueled my addiction.

I don’t know how many years ago I started doing this but today I eat very boring things and practically the same food every day. I can no longer have “sex in a plate” so my food has to be just like the fuel you put in your car.”

No More Junk Food

The days of eating junk food are over for Yvonne. She’s not comfortable eating it for fear that she’ll fuel her addiction and regain the weight. “

I can’t eat just one so I quit craving sugar and junk food because I quit eating it completely. I haven’t had cake, pie, Cookies, candy etc. in 13 years and I don’t even remember what it tastes like. I feel very strongly that if you wish to lose a craving that you need to quit eating it.

“You wouldn’t give an alcoholic a sip of beer to get past the craving….why do we think that works with food? There are some people that can eat that stuff and maintain and I’m happy for them but I don’t know very many that can.”

The Need to Support Others

Yvonne didn’t just go against the grain by setting, achieving, and maintaining a goal of 130 pounds. She also didn’t know that the “only” way to lose weight and keep it off is to have a strong support system. So, she managed to succeed without the standard support system only because there were none and she was forced to figure out her “head” on her own.

Yvonne turned to the Obesity Help forums and her profile there transitioned into her blog. Over the years, she “saw the exact same patterns over and over and I felt a passion to help warn others of what was coming down the road.”

A Life Dedicated to Helping Others

She felt obligated to help others because her own “unique situation of not seeing another post-op for 3 years in the beginning saved me because if I had seen even one other person regain I would have thought, ‘I’m nobody special and if they can’t keep it off, I can’t either.’”

Bariatric Girl to the Rescue!

Yvonne has done the majority of her advocacy as “Bariatric Girl.” She maintains a website and blog, You Tube channel, and stays active on her Bariatric Girl Facebook page and Twitter. She answers emails and Facebook messages, and even takes phone calls to help others with their struggles and questions. Yvonne now spends over 80 hours a week as a volunteer with the goal of supporting others who are considering weight loss surgery or who are already weight loss surgery patients.

“Since the sun and the moon and the stars lined up for me I felt like I didn’t have the right to not help others by sharing the experiences of the thousands of people I’ve communicated with over the years.”

In addition, Yvonne has spoken at many events and volunteered for many organizations by taking photographs and videos at events. Her other advocacy work includes:

• Former faculty with the Weight Loss Surgery Channel.
  
• Host of the channel’s Weight Loss Surgery Journeys, a program that included interviews with recent bariatric surgery patients.
  
• Member of Apollo Endosurgery Patient Executive Council.
  
• Three-year service on the Board of Directors of Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America, which advocates for bariatric surgery patients and provides grants to deserving patients who can’t afford weight loss surgery on their own.
  

Every weight loss surgery patient and candidate wants to hear success stories. These stories are sources of hope because they’re about people who used to feel hopeless and out of control, but who found weight loss surgery as a solution. Yvonne was able to use the gastric bypass surgery as a tool to learn to manage her food addiction and turn over a new leaf.

Yvonne is more than just a story, though. She gives her knowledge, love, and support to others who are struggling with their weight and who are weight loss surgery patients. It’s rare to find someone as giving and dedicated as Yvonne is, and everyone whose lives she has touched is grateful.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

This is very inspiring. I've read some of her posts. Thank you, Yvonne!!

[BariatricGirl 220]

This is very inspiring. I've read some of her posts. Thank you, Yvonne!!

Thank you for your kind words. It is such an honor to be featured here. Special thanks to Bariatric Pal and Alex!

[cindi gant 101]

I love this article about Yvonne. I live in Dallas and I am looking for a way to give back to other WLS patients. I am passionate about supporting others on this journey. I am determined to find a way to make this happen.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Thank you for this article.

I can't argue that Bariatric Girl's lifestyle has helped her maintain a normal weight for many years and has obviously given her life great purpose.

But these statements give me pause: She "volunteers 80 hours a week" and "... [hasn't] had cake, pie, Cookies, candy in 13 years ...." and " ... [doesn't] know very many [WLS patients] that can [maintain their weight by eating these foods in moderation]".

Her rigid views and the behaviors that work for her, which she recommends for other WLS patients to be successful long-term, make her an inappropriate role model for me. I sincerely hope that my ability to maintain a healthy weight won't require a Bariatric Girl lifestyle. I should also note that I don't see myself as a "food addict," so her needs and mine are more than likely different.

Instead, this article motivates me to build a different lifestyle that invites balance, intuition, and mindfulness, while leveraging the power of planning, discipline and metrics. I'll be sharing this article with my therapist and telling him it has helped me understand better his concerns about my control issues.

Best wishes to us all.

[BariatricGirl 220]

Thank you for this article.

I can't argue that Bariatric Girl's lifestyle has helped her maintain a normal weight for many years and has obviously given her life great purpose.

But these statements give me pause: She "volunteers 80 hours a week" and "... [hasn't] had cake, pie, Cookies, candy in 13 years ...." and " ... [doesn't] know very many [WLS patients] that can [maintain their weight by eating these foods in moderation]".

Her rigid views and the behaviors that work for her, which she recommends for other WLS patients to be successful long-term, make her an inappropriate role model for me. I sincerely hope that my ability to maintain a healthy weight won't require a Bariatric Girl lifestyle. I should also note that I don't see myself as a "food addict," so her needs and mine are more than likely different.

Instead, this article motivates me to build a different lifestyle that invites balance, intuition, and mindfulness, while leveraging the power of planning, discipline and metrics. I'll be sharing this article with my therapist and telling him it has helped me understand better his concerns about my control issues.

Best wishes to us all.

Hello VSGAnn2014,

I totally understand what you are saying and I hope you find that balance. I want to share a post I did on my blog about this subject. You can find it here:

http://www.bariatricgirl.com/2014/02/super-dieters-share-their-six-weight-loss-tips/

I should explain my thinking a bit better and I also want to repeat that IF you can find that balance by eating in moderation, I'm ecstatic! Being able to control the monster is so impressive to me and I've known a few that could. I tried to do that for 30 years and always failed. My mindset comes from corresponding with thousands of post-ops over the years so I feel it is important to share the wealth of their experience. The blog post also explains that if what you are doing doesn't work out, I'm offering another choice.

I'm wishing you the very very best on your journey.