A concerned friend was doing some of his typical internet research/surfing and stumbled onto this thread in a bodybuilding forum. Although it is more than 4 years old, I can't help but think a lot of people still share these opinions about WLS.

Many of my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances have had the Roux-En-Y, lap band, sleeve, or duodenal switch. Everyone describes their experience differently, but I cannot recall anyone using the term "easy" in their account. And while I have not yet had my surgery, choosing it as an option took a lot of consideration on my part.

I must confess that although I try to exercise patience and tolerance, keeping an open mind when I encounter opinions and points of view that are contrary to my own, I find myself feeling angry, insulted and even a little hostile toward people who make these comments. Does anyone care to weigh in (no pun intended) on individuals who feel bariatric surgery is the "easy way out"?

Edited February 11, 201412 yr by kliichow

Such a worthless topic (in my humble opinion) what anyone says. Life is short. Surround yourself with sweetness!!!!!

I really don't care what a bunch of gym rats who are obsessed with their looks think of the surgery. For gods sake, one of the guys has his penis size listed in his signature.

Many of them take steroids or other supplements that aren't good for you. Is that the easy way out?

They just don't get that some people are hungry all the time, that once you have yo yo dieted for ten years your body won't let you lose weight.

Guys who hang out online talking about how big their muscles are aren't usually the brightest. Why cares?

One of them even said he will still look better than anyone who has the surgery so it doesn't bother him. Clearly much of the focus is on looks and not health.

We all know we should not worry about what others think and make decisions based on what is best for us, but that isn't always easy to do. It just irritates me, because the ignorance from that thread is exactly the type of thinking that keeps people who could greatly benefit from WLS from considering it as an option.

I made the mistake of clicking on another thread on that board and reading it ... I'll just say I'm not too worried about what that bunch has to say about, well, anything really. I say who cares!

That thread was disgusting to read! I know there are a lot of people out there that think that weight loss surgery is the "Easy" way out but to all who have had surgery knows all too well it is not. I fight the battle everyday making better choices and fighting old habits. Those people are worthless in my mind, if they cannot accept or get through their heads that not everybody is like them. It bugs me a little what people say not about me but overall about weight loss surgery.

From another perspective....

There were 24 votes in that survey that thought it was the "easy way out".

There are almost 206,000 members on Bariatric Pal.....just sayin'.

My husband once said something to the effect that this was an easier route for me. I blew up at him with the following...

1) I have to count every calorie, every gram of Protein, carbohydrates and fat in my diet. Then at the end of the day I have to make sure I got the right amounts so I can stay healthy.

2) I have to take 10 different Vitamins a day at different times and constantly worry about combinations and absorbing them.

3) If I mess up #2 or #3 I risk serious health issues, some of which are permanent.

4) If I eat one bite, one sip, too many my stomach hurts like hell.

5) If I don't constantly keep aware of how well I am chewing my food I risk not chewing well enough before I swallow and throwing it all back up repeatedly and not being able to eat the rest of the day which messes up #2 and #3.

6) Sometimes I'm pissed for no reason other than that I cannot eat, or have to constantly think about what/how I am eating.

7) I live in constant worry that I won't make it to where I want to be and that this whole process will be for nothing. I spent an entire year just preparing for the surgery! This isn't about just getting better abs, or a nicer butt for me; it's my life, my mortality.

This is not one bit easy. It only looks easy right now because YOU (you being those who haven't gone through it, my husband namely) aren't the one following all the rules and at risk of serious consequences if you don't. It also looks easy because weight comes off faster when there's 200lbs of it to lose.

He hasn't said anything similar since, but I saw the look in his eyes and he "got it". It's not easy, just different.

That said, I can't say their perspective is all that different than what mine used to be. I didn't really know or understand exactly how much work I was going to have to do to lose weight and get fit before I found myself in the thick of it. I thought it was easy for them, people who had never been obese or had to lose a significant amount of weight. Really, it's not easy for anyone, no matter which route is taken. It's a lot of work to get the body you want.

No one knows better than the folks reading this forum that bariatric surgery is not an easy way out. And precious few of us are immune to the anger and frustration that this kind of judgmental nonsense produces. But the reality is that the obesity stigma is alive and well. Virtually all prejudice is based on either ignorance or hate and neither one is going to disappear any time soon.

Obesity is a progressive, life threatening disease that is the number two cause of preventable death in the U.S. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment known to medical science for the treatment of obesity, type 2 diabetes and more than 30 comorbidities associated with obesity. Not only will we benefit from the discoveries that have been made and are continuing to be made, but our children and our children's children and countless generations to come will reap rewards that can only be described as priceless.

I recently read one of the most powerful statements I have ever seen in an article titled "Safety of Bariatric Surgery" at http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(14)70009-9/fulltext?elsca1=EMAIL-TLDE-SERIES-BariatricSurgery&elsca2=email&elsca3=YZ1YP7F . The quote is from Max Planck, the German theoretical physicist that originated quantum theory.

• "A new scientific truth does not does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."

I hate to even say this, for fear of being stoned..... but for years, I thought it was an easy way to weight loss myself. I didn't think less of people who had WLS. I just didn't know (as a non WLS person) ALL of the commitment, change of behaviors, change of thinking, modification of food choices, and the amount of exercise that still had to be done. I was uneducated about the day in and day out of life after surgery. So,for years, I too saw it as an easier way to weight loss. I CAN ADMIT WHEN I'M WRONG!!!!!!!

hmm

well if it is an easy way out......i am using it to make myself well

and leave all those naysayers sitting on the couch.....

to me, having something (help save your life, as it did mine) was not easy

it was neccesary

A concerned friend was doing some of his typical internet research/surfing and stumbled onto this thread in a bodybuilding forum. Although it is more than 4 years old, I can't help but think a lot of people still share these opinions about WLS.

Many of my friends, colleagues, and acquaintances have had the Roux-En-Y, lap band, sleeve, or duodenal switch. Everyone describes their experience differently, but I cannot recall anyone using the term "easy" in their account. And while I have not yet had my surgery, choosing it as an option took a lot of consideration on my part.

I must confess that although I try to exercise patience and tolerance, keeping an open mind when I encounter opinions and points of view that are contrary to my own, I find myself feeling angry, insulted and even a little hostile toward people who make these comments. Does anyone care to weigh in (no pun intended) on individuals who feel bariatric surgery is the "easy way out"?

I have a slightly different opinion. First, let me say, WLS is not easy. The stress and strain of a surgery is difficult in and of itself. The steps you have to take to succeed are far from easy. But having said that, for me, WLS surgery was easier and far more successful than anything I had done to date. I used to try to diet, and I couldn't tolerate the weakness and light headedness I got from anything less than 1400 calories. I would somehow manage to stay on track for months at a time, doing everything right according to conventional wisdom, and meet with marginal success, and it was always short lived.

So now after WLS, it is much easier for me than what I was doing. I can now eat 800 calories a day and tolerate it. And guess what? My body won't lose eating much more than that. No wonder I couldn't succeed. When someone says it's the easy way out, I just dismiss them. They haven't walked a mile in my shoes. However, by comparison, this is an easier way of life for me, now. I'm thin (almost) and I can eat very few calories and be satisfied, compared to over 300 pounds and hungry all the time. To me, it's obvious which one is better, whether you call it easy or not.

Amen to that, Brothers and Sisters!!!!...Easy my A$$!!!..Thank you Bloreorbust..tell it girl!!!!

I don't think there is an EASY way to lose weight no matter how you do it. Effort is required no matter how people do it. I think more people are successful KEEPING the weight off with WLS because it is a tool to help you commit to life-long lifestyle changes. Ultimately you can only worry about how you feel about yourself and make the choice whether WLS is personally right for you or not.

I'll be honest...the first 4-6 months were pure "Hell"...nothing easy about it....

But soon after, I found that "Groove"..that "Sweet Spot"...thoroughly in the Green Zone (banders) and yes...it became VERY EASY...and it got easier everyday as I became more and more adapted to the limitations the band put upon me...until they became so much a part of me, I do not think about what I have to do, or not do anymore....

Before surgery, I could do nothing about loosing weight...started out good, failed every time...now THAT WAS HARD....

So, to do what I was unable to do on my own, I had Weight Loss Surgery...and it has been "Heaven"...could not be happier...

I have lost ALL my excess weight, I am NEVER hungry...I could care less about food, or eating for that matter....

But Like I said, I had to work hard to get here...endure many stuck episodes, learn new rules, break old habits...I had to change m y life, to fall in step with what the band was demanding I do....

(I'm a Bander...cannot speak for the other WLS)

Edited February 12, 201412 yr by B-52

I've had people tell me it was the easy way out, then I tell them everything that I and every other WLS patient have to go through prior to and after surgery. That usually puts it into perspective to them. A lot of people don't understand that we STILL have to watch what we eat and exercise, just like everyone else does. And it's a lot easier for some of us to regain weight than it is for a lot of them. They are generally uneducated about WLS and have absolutely NO CLUE what all it entails.