We just received a response from Rasha Pecoraro on our on our Facebook page. She's a former contestant on The Biggest Loser and former patient of Dr. Huizenga
"As a former contestant on The Biggest Loser and former patient of Dr. Huizenga, I applaud you for your beautifully written letter. I lost 70 pounds in my 5 months on the show, and gained back all of it and then some post Biggest Loser. As much as I love Dr. H, and my time on the show, I was never given the tools to make a permanent healthy lifestyle change. I did extensive research on weight loss surgery, and I mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared for it. Since having Gastric Sleeve Surgery at Oregon Weight Loss Surgery in April 2013, I have lost (and kept off) 135 pounds, and I am the healthiest and happiest I have ever been! - and I have NEVER worked harder. Gastric Sleeve Surgery has been the best tool to use to fuel my healthy lifestyle. This time I did it on my terms, and my rules. I will not bad mouth Dr. H, as I believe his heart is in the right place, but I will say that he believes in what he says. I, on the other hand, believe in all of the work I've put in to get to this amazing place in my life, Bariatric surgery included. Many former contestants on The Biggest Loser have turned to bariatric surgery, but I am one of the few who is open about it. I believe in telling your truth, whatever that may be.
Thank you for telling your truth.
Be Brave. Be Authentic. Be You.
Aloha, Rasha"
I recently posted an article titled “The Biggest Loser:” Irresponsible Weight Loss Surgery Comments? . We received many fantastic comments from our concerned members. I've decided to follow up our article with an Open Letter to Dr. Robert Huizenga or Dr. H as he's known on the show. The letter will also be sent to the shows producers and staff members.
Dear Dr. Huizenga,
I am the founder of BariatricPal, the world’s largest online community for weight loss surgery patients and potential patients.
I am writing to you today regarding your role as an expert on “The Biggest Loser.” I am asking you to please stop publicly portraying weight loss surgery in a negative light without any explanation. Most recently, during the Season 16 Finale, you stated that losing weight using methods used on the show were far healthier than turning to weight loss surgery. The implication was that bariatric surgery is under no circumstances the best choice for individuals struggling with obesity.
I am asking you to stop making comments like this. You and “The Biggest Loser” have a significant amount of influence on America. The season finale attracted 5.4 million live viewers, with untold millions watching the show at a later time. Given that one-third of American adults are obese, it is almost certain that many viewers have obesity.
“The Biggest Loser” reaches out to this audience throughout the show. Contestants, trainers, and health experts like yourself directly address viewers who need to lose weight, offering encouragement and tips. As you know, positive gestures like this can motivate people to change their lives.
Unfortunately, the derogatory comments about bariatric surgery can have just as much impact, but in a negative way. Your statement at the Season 16 finale of “The Biggest Loser” and similar ones make weight loss surgery sound like a shameful, dangerous, and ineffective choice in all cases, with no further explanation.
According to the Weight-Control Information Network (WIN), 4% of men and 8% of women in the U.S. have extreme obesity (BMI over 40). That translates to about 20 million American adults who are potentially eligible for weight loss surgery. This figure does not include the approximately 60 million Americans whose BMIs are between 30 and 40, and who might be eligible for surgery due to the existence of a co-morbidity.
Not all of these individuals are eligible for and interested in weight loss surgery, but many are. BariatricPal alone, for example, has a quarter-million members who are weight loss surgery patients or who are considering surgery.
For weight loss surgery patients, your comments can be hurtful. Weight loss surgery is not the “easy way out.” It is a tool to help control food intake. Eligibility criteria include a requirement that patients be committed to the strict dietary changes necessary to lose weight after bariatric surgery. I and millions of other weight loss surgery patients who have successfully used weight loss surgery as a tool against obesity worked hard to get where we are today. We do not deserve for you and your colleagues to suggest that we have cheated to lose weight.
Comments that groundlessly condemn weight loss surgery can harm potential patients just as much if not more. Eligible candidates might decide not to get the surgery in part because of your position. First, your comments can lead to a feeling of shame for even considering bariatric surgery to fight obesity. This is unjust, since the post-surgery diet is strict and requires a lifetime of attention, just as “The Biggest Loser” contestants must modify their own diets for the rest of their lives to maintain weight loss.
Secondly, your comments on the show seem to imply weight loss surgery does not work. While there are patients who do not respond to surgery, and complications are always a threat, the scientific literature overwhelmingly agrees that weight loss surgery is a viable option for the treatment of morbid obesity.
Furthermore, the scientific community largely agrees that weight loss surgery can improve health and metabolic parameters. To varying degrees, methods such as gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band, and gastric sleeve have been linked to improvements in diabetes and other obesity-related conditions, such as hypertension, sleep apnea, and dyslipidemia. The UK’s healthcare system, known as the National Health System or NHS, is so convinced of bariatric surgery’s effectiveness, safety, and cost savings potential it covers bariatric surgery procedures.
Unconditionally stating that weight loss surgery is the wrong choice is particularly unfair given that “The Biggest Loser” contestants do not always achieve or maintain their goal weights. An article on Today.com, which is owned by NBC, looked at initial, finale, and current weights of selected contestants from the first 11 seasons of the show. Of the 56 contestants they highlighted, 20 were within 10 pounds of their finale weights, and 8 had gained back at least 40 pounds since the finale.
These results are impressive but not perfect. And, “The Biggest Loser” is not for everyone. So far, only hundreds of individuals have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to lose weight on the show. For a few others, losing weight at one of the Biggest Loser resorts is an option – but not a practical one for most people. At $3,000 per week, it could take $50,000 or $100,000 or more to reach goal weight, not including time out from work and life.
Weight loss surgery may be the only practical choice for people who have work and family obligations, and who live within a budget. People struggling with obesity do not choose weight loss surgery because they think it will be easy. They choose it because they have no other choice. Nothing else has worked for them. For me and hundreds of thousands of other weight loss surgery patients, it worked.
Because of this, I ask you again to please stop publicly attacking weight loss surgery without explanation. You and I and everyone else who is connected to obesity knows what a terrible disease it is. We should join forces in fighting it. Let’s work together to get the greatest possible number of people healthy, and not work against each other with derogatory and divisive comments.
Thank you for all of your hard work and commitment to fighting obesity. You have established yourself as one of the most influential health experts in obesity, and I hope you will use your voice in a positive way. Thank you for considering this.
Sincerely,
Alex Brecher
Founder, BariatricPal
Cant believe how different my body feels just 8 days after surgery, clothes felt so much better so thought i would weigh myself. 9lbs down was sooo pleased, what was everyone elses first weight loss after surgery.? Total loss from first referal now is 43 pounds!
@@navywife1978, @@CandyCrushVSG, @@AhnaLucille, @@Jkapp923
Heya ladies.. On the other "April Sleevers" thread a gal has started a private FB page for us to get together on. If you are interested go to that thread and it's towards the end I think where the information is. I just grabbed a few names from this thread to Tag so maybe others can tag a few more.
I like the idea of it being on FB and since it's secret no one on your FB will know you belong to it. It seems more intimate and easier to chat and share and really get to know one another. Hope to see you there!
All - there appears to be two separate threads on this exact subject started by the same person ... here is the other one
http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/333347-any-april-sleevers/
In that one, we're trying to see if anyone would be interested in a private FB group for our time frame.
@Debranua is willing to open the FB group. Please PM Debranua if you are interested! We’d like a good little number of people before getting the group going.
Yeah my doc said only liquid today days before surgery but I'm starting a two shakes and a meal plan right now. I figure whatever I lose between now and April 16th is what I won't have to lose after surgery. Better to get me in the headspace now instead of having food funerals. I've had enough of those over the years during my many dieting stints.
@@kvlasy
I was getting from her that she KNOWS and I am somehow naive. Obviously, I have been the one doing over 3 years of research and Q&A groups at the hospital and reading and watching videos and she knows all of this. She kept saying "you're not fat!" i sent her a picture of the print out from my doctor showing how high my bmi is and that 49.5% of my body is made up of fat. She knows my health issues so I just don't see how she thinks this way. sigh...oh well.. it's about me. I have to live my life every day, not her or anyone else.
I just wanted one person in my real life that knows me to support me. I am a strong person, I can do this alone.. I just didn't want to.
Thank you to anyone who replied. It helps to read all of your comments.
