I was up early this morning and happened to catch a little of the Today Show on NBC. One of the segments was about People Magazines' "half thier size" annual issue. They featured the woman responsible for this particular story and two others who were 300+ pounds and now are 150 pounds each. While I applaud these remarkable women for finally taking charge of their lives and making the necessary changes (diet and exercise) I couldn't help but be majorly annoyed at a comment the lady from People made regarding their efforts. She said "these women didn't cheat by having surgery or taking pills, they did it the hard way by old fashioned diet and exercise" How freakin annoying! If the hard way had worked for me then I wouldn't have had to pursue the "cheaters" way out of being 271 pounds, hypertensive, having high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and the like! I hate that society looks at WLS like its a quick fix for fat lazy people who don't want to work hard at being healthy.

Being banded is not, never was, or ever will be easy for me. It took two years to get up the nerve to attend a seminar, and another 9 months to jump through all of the hoops my insurance company requires for payment. That was a long, nerve wracking time! While my surgery went smoothly, it wasn't a walk in the park, feeling like a mule had kicked me in the gut for a few days (I would do it over again today tho) all the liquids, and mushies, and learning what I can and can't tolerate that wasn't easy either. I guess if people think that being banded or having gastric bypass is "cheating" then I am estatic to be a cheater!

I can live with people being uneducated about all of the benefits that come with being banded, what I can't live with is being overweight and spending another 11 years of my life doing things the hard way!

:guessthis drives me nuts too.

My bestfriend has lost 140 pounds on his own "the hard way" PFFT.

He likes to tell me that i took the easy way out, because having surgery is so totally easy. Having a little piece of plastic sewn into my muscles is EASY, it doesnt hurt AT ALL. Going to follow up visits, and seeing a 5 inch needle shoved into your gut, TOTALLY EASY.

Chewing like a maniac a million times, and getting out of bed at 5 in the morning to sweat like a pig? Awesome, SO EASY!!

Finding ways to deal with the people hating on me because they think i took 'the easy way out', awesome, i just LOVE answering questions about my personal life and the food I put into my mouth.

So easy, PFFT.

I just generally ignore the ignorant.

-A

hi jennibee

it's funny....i was sitting here watching the today show and felt the same "twinge" of annoyance when matt lauer keeps saying "they lost it the old fashioned way"

the chick who presented the piece called surgery "the easy way out"

one reason i sometimes dont tell people i had the surgery is because i feel they may think it is "easy" for me.

they dont realize i go to the gym 4-5 times a week, still have to exercise control over my ice cream addiction etc., make healthy choices

thanks for posting this. i thought i was defensive when i wanted to get up a kick the TV in ha!!!!

No, we took the logical way out! We took the hardest way of all. We took control of our life and made the decision to take control of it for the rest of our lives.

I too apploaud anyone who loses weight, whether it be with surgery or without surgery, losing weight is NOT easy either way.

The statements like "they did it the hard way" or "they did it without surgery" annoys me too. I think they need to be educated on what WLS really is.

I was watching Susan Powter the other day (she is a weightloss guru) and she was saying how rediculous it is for someone to have WLS, then she went on to explain that people who have WLS only eat 1 TBSP of food per meal. I about choked when she said that. What? A tablespoon? What the heck, where the heck is she getting her information? I don't know about you guys, but I do eat more than a TBSP, a lot more than a TBSP.

Just made me realize how ignorant so many people are to what WLS really is.

I just have to ignore the comments and chalk it up to stupidity.

These people obviously have never struggled with their weight. While I "dieted and exercised" 40 lbs away. I had difficulty losing the rest. I started at 282 and now I'm at 215. I love my band!

Rest assured, the majority of the people who did it "the hard way" and were successful at it are also looking at the VERY BIG REALITY, that not only will they gain it back eventually, (like we all have in the past) but may end up gaining even more than when they started!!!! We've all been there, done that... right? They'll figure it out.... Let em talk. In five years, they'll be where we are, wishing they had done it in the first place.

I saw this too while watching for the school closings ... I found it very irritating. Not everything works for everybody and those little, skinny girls have no idea what they're talking about when they talk about loosing weight the "old-fashioned way."

Here's what I don't get; What is the big deal, even if this were the "easy way" out? Who cares? Why NOT take the easy way out?!?! In many ways, it is the easier way out for many people, myself included. Well, that's only half true, for me, and many, it was the only way out because the 'hard' way doesn't work.

Either way, I just don't get why people insist that you should "suffer" through the "hard way" to lose weight...

First off, if I had seen the show, I probably would have responded by sending them an email explaining that they should do more research before making such an ill-informed statement. Perhaps they should interview some wls patients to find out from them just how "easy" this really is.

Secondly, I agree. Who cares how I lost the weight or how they lost the weight? The important thing is that we do lose the weight and get healthy!

I don't care what people say...I did this for me. After being called Fatty Patty all thru childhood, I just laugh at whatever comments people have. I have a hardened shell. I will have the last laugh eventually.

When I went to my 10 year high school reunion back in the 80's, I felt like I had the last laugh because all those people who made fun of me had nothing to show for their lives as far as accomplishments. I was far more successful than any of them.

Don't let comments get you down, let them say what they wish. Focus all that energy on yourself, you deserve it.

I haven't been banded yet, but it made me mad also. ( I am finishing my supervised diet on Jan. 21st.) I think someone should contact the Today show and suggest that they do an indept segment on the Lapband with some of you. They could even invite a surgeon on to go over the procedure and explain why it is so insulting to call this "the easy way out." It just goes to show you how very far away we are from any real understanding of weight issues in this country. When they say they applaud these women for doing it "the old fashioned way," what they are doing is justifying the old attitude that "if we would all just put down that fork, then we wouldn't be fat." The damage that being overweight has done to me both physically and emotionally has brought me to the lapband. I want a real solution, and I want to stop the pain.

When I was a teen I lost 135 lbs "the old fashioned" way.

Obviously I couldn't keep it off same as 98% of the population.

I decided that I didn't want to ruin my health by continuously yo-yoing

so I was banded. I did this for me and anyone who doesn't like it can go suck an egg

Imagine if they did a story claiming that women who used fertility drugs to conceive cheated and took the easy way out ( I do NOT believe this but am using it to make a comparison only) ...

there would be a huge outcry, and they'd have to publicly apologize . Once again it is ok to pick on fat people.

This is the exact reason I didn't tell very many people...I dont need anymore judgement...

Brandy

I say the segment and I was very angry about the words the woman from people magazine used.

If the segment/article etc they wanted to run was about Al Roker, Carnie Wilson, Star Jones, Randy Jackson etc. would they have made the same comment? No way.

The segment and the article is out there, just like all the diet commercials, because ti is the time of year, that almost 100% of people diet and they are just trying to sell magazines.

I applaud anyone that can lose weight however they do it.

The two women featured were young and maybe just hadn't tried over and over to lose weight. They put it on and perhaps this was their first "real" attempt to take it off and they succeeded. Good for them! But for many WLS people, we've tried countless times without success and needed to take a different path. We should not be put down for it.

I agree. It is great they lost it; but the Today Show needs to educate the viewers on ALL WEIGHT LOSS tools. That's what the lap band is - a tool. I need to still watch what and how much I eat, I still need to exercise. MMM? That's what they did isn't it?

You know what bothers me the most about the idea of WLS being "the easy way out"? I don't think people who say that have any idea what it entails. I mean, even I didn't know how hard it was going to be. It's truly a life-long commitment.

On top of that, to me it seems incredibly stupid to stay fat and risk your health because you don't want to take "the easy way out." That was one of the reasons I gave people who didn't seem all that supportive of me having the surgery - I'm young, I'm in great health with nothing wrong with me aside from my weight. How stupid would I be to continue to be fat for years and years, waiting until I develop diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and such before deciding to intervene? Even for people who have those problems and who are struggling to overcome them - Why not do something while you still can, while you're still courageous enough to make a huge commitment like WLS, and while your body is still permitting you the chance to turn things around? To me that makes more sense than staying fat and yo-yo dieting for the rest of your life.