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https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/01/weight-loss-essay-tomlinson/579832/

Interesting but also a little curious - I think he nails the sensation of being fat in our society, and he knows the science that frustrates weight loss... but two-thirds through the article he discounts WLS. I’m sure there are plenty of personal reasons to do so, but I’ve never seen someone lay out the case for WLS so clearly and then choose the diet-and-exercise path regardless.

I wish him luck, obviously, but would have liked to hear a lot more about why he decided against surgery when he’s got all the success data in front of him.

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I'd like my broken leg to heal, but putting on a plaster-cast feels like giving it up, taking the easy way out. No, I'll wrap it in bandages, and try not to walk on it as hard as I can.

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9 hours ago, sideeye said:

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/01/weight-loss-essay-tomlinson/579832/

Interesting but also a little curious - I think he nails the sensation of being fat in our society, and he knows the science that frustrates weight loss... but two-thirds through the article he discounts WLS. I’m sure there are plenty of personal reasons to do so, but I’ve never seen someone lay out the case for WLS so clearly and then choose the diet-and-exercise path regardless.

I wish him luck, obviously, but would have liked to hear a lot more about why he decided against surgery when he’s got all the success data in front of him.

Great article.

I respect his decision not to have surgery. It's not for everyone.

He said "to me surgery feels like giving up" "12 step program is admitting your powerless over your addiction. I don't feel powerless yet" He has not found a point he feels powerless over obesity after fighting it from childhood into his 50's. Everything he said describes powerless to me.

Edited by Healthy_life

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Let me tell. you a quick story. I was fishing,one day, stepped into an animal hole, foot got caught, wrenched it badly removing it. This was on a Saturday evening so had hubby take me to the nearest. Urgent Care, X-rayed it, said a bad sprain, and wrapped it in elastic bandaging. The next Monday morning, radiologist called from the main hospital that the Urgent Care was a satellite of, asked how I was getting along with my cast. Cast-what cast, don't got no cast- why would I have a cast? Because my dear, you broke the ends off both lower bones, the tibia and fibula as well as a small bone in your ankle. Asked if I should go somewhere and have a cast put on? Nope, had been more than 48 hours and it wouldn't be worthwhile. That ankle when it finally healed, healed stiff, can't get up on my toes so no sprinting or running. And maybe when I win a sweepstakes or lottery, I can afford to private-pay to have it repaired with bolts and hardware. My insurance would call it cosmetics or a "vanity surgery", and avoid paying for it, after all I can still walk, albeit with a limp💇.

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27 minutes ago, Healthy_life said:

He has not found a point he feels powerless over obesity after fighting it from childhood into his 50's. Everything he said describes powerless to me.

Exactly - it's an interesting gap in his thinking, and he doesn't really address it. It's okay to say "I consider the surgery too risky, so I'm not going to pursue it" but he didn't. He just did this weird narrative 180 and said "now I'm going to pursue the path I've just spent 2000 words describing as almost futile".

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Denial is a strong state. And no one will fight so hard to defend a paradigm shift as someone who is committed and believes their present position. They will often defend, deny, and rationalize to death. Literally. It's part of why debates can turn wickedly brutal--very quickly.

Edited by FluffyChix

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See, to me, I get the idea of "to me surgery feels like giving up". Because I felt like that before, and, frankly, I still feel that way. I did have to give up on the fact that I could do it "alone" (or, more correctly, without this additional tool). I had to give up on a lifetime of being told you can do anything if you really try with just a little elbow grease. I had to give up a lot of the way I used to think. It's not that I had to give up on myself - I just needed to let go of a lot of what my brain and my social conditioning had ingrained in me for many, many (many) years. And I'm OK with thinking of it that way.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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