I had some what of a flash of insight tonight. It was sparked by a thread called Magic Pill.... http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14566

It occurs to me that in fact, the band is taking the easy way to weight loss.

I mean, I can't even begin to count the number of people who've lost 50, 75, 100, 150, even 200 pounds with the band. For the first time ever for so many people, they have success. Not only have they lost the weight, but they have kept it off. They have success. For many, it is the first time they have kept the weight off.

So, what's so wrong about taking the easy way? Why does it make it better if it's a struggle than if it is easy to lose weight. Is the weight loss less valuable, less worthy of celibration than if every ounce is a struggle like mine?

Why do we get so defensive about this? Why must we holler and shout whenever someone says WLS is taking the easy way? Is it because it is less noble than folks who do this withought the extra tools and support that WLS provide?

How many people do we have that have lost weight with the band, but never could seem to lose without it? I know tha6t we have many people that have lost and gained weight over and over without the tool.

Has it been harder for people to lose weight with the band, than without? It is my understanding that it is easier for most folks to lose with than without. Our friends who've had the RNY or some other GB lose even faster than we do. Doesn't that make it at some level easier?

Do we feel on some level that it isn't "honest" weightloss, or do we perceive that the the general attitude of the public? I mean, after all, we all see the magazines in the check-out isle that So-and-So lost 100 pounds WITHOUT drugs or WLS.

I would like to explore these with you. Why do we get so defensive about our WLS? Why do we get so defensive about not taking "the easy way" out?

Of course, what the hell do I know. I can't even manage to lose a full 30 pounds.

*applauds Jack's last*

Nice one Matey

easy way out: those skinny bitches who never watch what they eat and do no more excersize than any other normal person.

lol

heheheheheh..... :biggrin1:

People are so emotional about this because no one likes to be told what to do, especially by people who know nothing of the situation. i.e. a skinny person telling fat people they are cheating.

I kinda HOPE someone asks me if WLS is the easy way out. I'll be happy to reply: Yep, is sure is! Thanks for asking, now get your boney ass back to your rowing machine and don't even think about taking a break OR having something indulgent even if you know better. EVER! FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!

Having said that, (and calming down a bit, ) I honestly have no intention of telling anyone I'm having WLS. I'm not ashamed of it but really, who needs that self-righteous, condescending, know-it-all, watching-every-mouthful, bullshit? Not me.

Sorry Vines, I know you're looking for some real answers but I get way too emotionally charged to be introspective. Besides, I don't really think there is an answer to your question. The closest I can get is that EVERYONE has a chip on their shoulder about something. Each person's unique experience is their own and cannot be fully understood by anyone else. To have someone pick at the metaphoric scab of your particular chip is not only foolhardy but can only lead to irritation and an eventual slap-down.

(You GO DanaClark2 - I'm with you 100%)

DonnaB

03-07-06 Surgery date

Dr. Roberto Rumbaut, Monterrey, Mexico

282/150

5' 9"

There is nothing easy about WLS

How many of us have struggled to not drink with meals and to wait an hour after we eat to drink?

How many of us have struggled to not drink carbonation?

How many of us have struggled eating Protein first then veggies then fruits then carbs?

How many of us have struggled with taking small bites and chewing until our food is in liquid state?

How many of us have struggled with the dreaded PB or the golf ball feeling in the chest or the slimes?

None of this has been easy...

Walk a mile in a WLS patients shoes, then judge is all I can say to anyone who thinks this is the easy way out.

And it really sucks when you go through the surgery twice!! But hopefully it will be worth it!

Do you think there is a guilt associated with weight loss success? Particulary when it is paired with an outside source? Let's say you lost 20% of your weight and kept it off for some time WITH the help of the band. Do you feel like you need to say "oh no-sir-ree this wasn't easy! It was hard! It was awful" because you had help in the form of the band? Is some martyrdom attached to weight loss? Like we must suffer and be deprived to FEEL succesful - even if the scale says you ARE succesful?

It is very interesting to read the different points of view on this.

Ultimately, does it matter how you reach the destination? Sure it would be fun to brag that you rowed a boat across the Atlantic...But if you booked the next flight out, you'd have more time and energy to enjoy your destination.

My surgeon speaks of the lap-band as a tool. He used this analogy, that I loved:

You're sitting at a basketball game, up in the nose-bleed section. While you're waiting for the game, you people watch. You see a person on crutches hop into the arena, far below. You see him struggle up one step at a time, pausing here & there to breathe & stretch.

When he finally gets to your row & sits down next to you, do you lean over & say, "Wow! Your crutches really made that trip easy!" Of course not! You say, "Man! That was some journey! You did great!!!"

So while the band may make my journey easier then sitting on my heinie & lifting myself up a step at a time, I'm still the one doing the work.

Give me the right tool & I'll change the world! (Yeah, I took some liberties with that quote, lol.)

Having a total stranger take a knife to my gut was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life.

Eating the way I was eating was much easier.

Edit..

People like to mock what they don't understand. Who ever thinks WLS is the easy way out just doesn't get it. They have no clue how much we all have suffered, physically and mentally. Obesity doesn't = medical problem, illness or sickness to them. Its just a matter of us shutting our mouths and eating less (so they think). Just like some folks don't understand that quitting smoking just isn't that easy. Its easier to pick up that cigarette than to go for help.

Is it the easy way out to get meds for an illness?

Is it the easy way out to get help for being an alcoholic, or gambling?

No, so then why is it the easy way out getting help for our illness?

I guess thats why I get PO'd when people say its the easy way out....because its not.

JMHO..... now back to your regularly scheduled program.

I guess I needed to frame this possibly differently. After the incisions have healed, after we've hit that famed sweet-spot with our fills, isn't it easy relative to what we've tried before?

Has it really been that much of a struggle for most of us to lose weight after we've lost interest in food? Has it been that hard to lose weight for poeple once they are at their sweet spot? Has it been any where as hard to lose weight as all out many previous attempts to lose? I cannot speak from experince. I have only lost 25-30 pound in a year. That's all I'm going to lose until I get this Cushing's thing figured out and resolved. But I see everyone one else, with the exception of my beloved Turtles, just drop the weight like thier fat is being rendered.

How many people on our board have lost 100 pounds in a year? How many have lost 75 pounds? How many lost 50? Was it a big struggle to lose? Or did it just seem that the fat melted away?

That is exactly what I think TVgrrl, that there is a lot of guilt associated with weightloss, espcially since fat folks are often made to feel like they are less worthy because they are fat.

Eating the way I was eating was much easier.

Ah, of course it was, but were you losing weight eating the way you were?

It has been a struggle for me. I didn't realize just how many demons I actually had!