If weight loss surgery is “the easy way out” then what’s this?
I was served this ad on Facebook. Virtually every weight loss product or service is marketed as easy. “Fast” is pretty popular. “Enjoy delicious food” will rack up the sales too.
In this post, I discussed the endless pursuit of an elusive “weight loss secret.” It’s understood the secret has to work and it has to be easy. When people ask me for my “secret,” I’m sure if I went into detail about the lifestyle changes I’ve made many people would say that’s not the answer they were hoping for.
Some people put on a few pounds when something alters their usual routine. Work, school, or a change in their homelife could find average weight people becoming sedentary, eating more convenience foods, or departing from their previous lifestyle in ways that add weight they’ve never had to deal with before. A lot of the typical weight loss methods could work for them. Two or three months on a meal plan service or renewing their former gym membership can get them back in their skinny jeans. If they think it’s “easy,” OK good for them.
For those of us with a lifelong weight problem, it can be tough to let go of that hope that there will be an easy solution or quick fix. In my book Powerful Hunger, I discuss how we can evaluate the “cost” of something we want to achieve. Everything takes an investment of our time, effort, resources, and compromise. Accepting the realities of the situation can seem daunting initially but it can be comforting and reassuring, too. Uncertainty and frustration can actually make you feel much worse than undertaking a major task.
One of the best lessons I took from David Reynolds’ books on Constructive Living is the awareness that avoiding what needs to be done can bring far more anxiety and stress into our lives than just doing what needs to be done! I’d add that the frustration of repeated failed weight loss attempts will seriously kick your butt, too! I wrote Powerful Hunger to offer a strategic solution to end uncertainty and frustration. Step-by-step experience helps you get both arms around your situation and can guide you toward where you want to go. You can only move forward on the path you create for yourself!
How do you think you can evaluate the “cost” of weight loss and health-improvement in your life?
2 comments
I’d rather think of it as value versus cost. The cost has been high. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on weight loss in my life because I thought the final solution was solution. That has a pretty high price tag. And the bills stack up after that when you think of a life time of vitamin maintenance, etc. I easily have spent $50,000 or more on losing weight.
But the value of that didn’t come until I started to look beyond fast and easy, quick and simple, and realize that the only way to achieve effective permanent weight loss was through personal habit changes. My surgery was simply a step into setting those changes into motion.
For example, after my surgery I could not eat monstrous portions of anything. But now, years later, I can eat unbelievably huge amounts of many foods. But through early habit changes and a conscious choice later, I have modified my habits to consistently eat moderate portions. My surgery was also a stepping stone to saying good bye to fast food–a big part of my habitual, hidden caloric intake. Now I choose not to eat in hiding.
That value of these lessons are priceless compared to the cost of the weight loss methods, not to mention the comorbidities of high blood pressure and Type II diabetes. These lessons are ones that will carry with me for the rest of my life and will incorporate on a daily basis. But the cost of weight loss has come to an end. No more money out the window. No more extra prescriptions. Just doing what needed to be done did indeed set me free from that cycle of money-wasting dreams of quick weight loss.
Lots of hard work? Sure, Worth every ounce of effort.
Author
Financial cost definitely figures in and I’d expect that some people would use it as an excuse. They might convince themselves they can’t work out unless they can own a certain piece of equipment or join a gym. Many people are of the assumption that eating junk food is somehow cheaper than fresh food. Good grief I need to take them to the little produce market in my neighborhood where I can buy fruit and veggies for a week for what a family would spend on one McDonalds meal!!
Our culture that pushes “easy weight loss” has obscured the true cost of the human effort. Exercise in “minutes a day” with some gadget won’t actually get you much in the way of results. Retaining a connection to your favorite indulgent foods will keep you trapped in cycles of regain. There is no “easy way out.” Facing what it’s REALLY going to take lets you evaluate if you’re prepared to pay that price!
Choosing surgery is a HUGE price to pay and I don’t mean dollars! It’s a lifetime commitment. A big part of its cost is taking the lessons as you have and making them permanent. It sounds like you have brought yourself clear to “the other side” if you’ve reached that point where the lessons are so ingrained, now you just live them. That is truly when you can feel like it’s “come to an end” and you can focus on the rest of life instead of stressing over food and weight!!! For you, Jen, it’s been bought and paid for.