The Easy Way Out
Time and time again you hear/read/experience stories where people pass judgment about weight loss surgery being the easy way out. That self control and exercise is all you need. Everyone knows someone who has successfully lost a large amount of weight and managed to keep it off... why can't you do that too?
What they don't realize is that only 5% of people who lose significant amounts of weight sustain it. The failure rate is 95%. It is why as a society we are getting fatter. I truly admire anyone who can lose weight and keep it off - whether they do it alone, with weight loss surgery, with hypnosis... whatever. No matter which way you do it is nothing but hard work.
I can only speak to my experience with the Duodenal Switch - everyone's story is different - and I can say that it has not been all smooth sailing.
On the plus side I have lost a significant amount of weight in a short period of time. There is no denying that. In order for me to do that I have had to change my eating significantly. I can't eat as much but that doesn't stop me from 'wanting' more. I have had to learn/am still learning to deal with head hunger. Previously I always had the option to eat more - now I simply don't. Sugar and other simple carbs, when consumed in any quantity will have me spending more time in the bathroom that I wish to. It also means trying to control explosive noxious gas which is painful and embarrassing in one hit. This is forever - there is no falling off the wagon. All the habits and comfort responses that we had in relation to food are stripped away. You have to find a way to deal with life. That is not easy. WLS forces you to do this quickly. That is not easy. There is no way to hide anymore. That is not easy.
Self control and exercise are still a big part of overall success - the difficult part of WLS on top of that is finding ways to cope with the things that made you fat in the first place. Choosing to take that option, and I understood this going in, is not easy. Choosing to risk immediate death by going under the knife as a super morbidly obese person is not easy.
For people like me WLS, whichever one you choose, is a tool that when worked properly will help me lose the weight that I need to attain better health. But it is is far from easy.
What they don't realize is that only 5% of people who lose significant amounts of weight sustain it. The failure rate is 95%. It is why as a society we are getting fatter. I truly admire anyone who can lose weight and keep it off - whether they do it alone, with weight loss surgery, with hypnosis... whatever. No matter which way you do it is nothing but hard work.
I can only speak to my experience with the Duodenal Switch - everyone's story is different - and I can say that it has not been all smooth sailing.
On the plus side I have lost a significant amount of weight in a short period of time. There is no denying that. In order for me to do that I have had to change my eating significantly. I can't eat as much but that doesn't stop me from 'wanting' more. I have had to learn/am still learning to deal with head hunger. Previously I always had the option to eat more - now I simply don't. Sugar and other simple carbs, when consumed in any quantity will have me spending more time in the bathroom that I wish to. It also means trying to control explosive noxious gas which is painful and embarrassing in one hit. This is forever - there is no falling off the wagon. All the habits and comfort responses that we had in relation to food are stripped away. You have to find a way to deal with life. That is not easy. WLS forces you to do this quickly. That is not easy. There is no way to hide anymore. That is not easy.
Self control and exercise are still a big part of overall success - the difficult part of WLS on top of that is finding ways to cope with the things that made you fat in the first place. Choosing to take that option, and I understood this going in, is not easy. Choosing to risk immediate death by going under the knife as a super morbidly obese person is not easy.
For people like me WLS, whichever one you choose, is a tool that when worked properly will help me lose the weight that I need to attain better health. But it is is far from easy.
posted by Aussieabroad at
9:35 AM
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