I happened to see a photo of Carnie Wilson today and it hit me. It’s so obvious. The definitive response to shut down any idiot who insists that weight loss surgery is the “easy way out.”
She failed. Carnie Wilson was a weight loss surgery failure. She gained a load of weight back and had to get a lap band over her already sliced n’ diced stomach. So if you can fail at weight loss surgery, that must mean you didn’t do what was necessary to be a success. And if there are things you have to do to avoid failure and be a success, you must have to work at it. Therefore weight loss surgery must not be this lazy, no effort, easy way out. Quod erat demonstrandum. Seems quite obvious to me.
Alright so the smart ass says to you, “Yeah well if they failed then they’re really lazy, they’re complete screw ups!”
“Ah-ha!” you respond. “If they failed because they’re really lazy, then to succeed, they must have had to work really hard at it. So it was never easy, there was always effort that had to be made to be successful!” At this point the idiot may begin to blather about degrees of laziness to which you should simply tell them to shut up and go get themselves a wheatgrass smoothie or something since they’re such a paragon of healthful living.
If something is an “easy way out,” well then it’s easy. As in, a sure thing. Can’t fail. But you can fail with weight loss surgery. You can gain weight back. Even all of it if you really fail. OK let’s be honest here. A person could be lazy about WLS. Which would mean doing nothing. As in, eating nothing. That is possible for some people after surgery. Funny thing. Getting your stomach all cut up and stitched into some different configuration tends to kill your appetite. Imagine that. Sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Think a fat person should just stop eating? Well then chop their stomach up! EASY!
Hey and you know what else? Weight loss surgery can fail at any time. If a person has WLS and stops doing what they have to do to stay successful, they’ll fail. They can gain the weight back at any time. Years later. Forever! So it’s never an easy way out. There’s always some effort that has to be made.
How about if somebody tells you all the fat people are getting surgery now because it’s so easy? There are an estimated 200,000 weight loss surgeries being performed per year in the US. The CDC reports that about 6.3% of the US population is “super obese,” that would put them at a weight high enough to consider WLS. Those figures would mean that only about 1% of the people who might qualify for WLS are actually getting it, so haters, unwad your panties! Fat people aren’t going by the multitudes for the easy way out so they can keep stuffing their faces with cheeseburgers, are we clear on that?
Really, you don’t have to convince anyone of anything. Let’s all be WLS PRO-CHOICE. If you and your doctor determine it’s the right choice for you, then it’s your right to make that choice. Nobody else gets a say-so because they don’t live in your body.
You folks out in the field! Know someone who’s got that “easy way out” opinion? Give them the “yeah but people can fail if they don’t work at it” response. Let me know how it works out. You can claim you thought of it.
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Oh my god YOU’RE RIGHT! It IS obvious!
You are right. It is NOT the easy way out, but I do think that most obese people who have WLS THINK it is! I am close to people who have had the surgery who work so hard now to main their weight.. If they had worked as hard when they were fat, they would have lost the weight without surgery. So your argument has some truth but not all. Actually I think it is ironic that what they think is the easy, actually ends up being the harder way!
Author
Jim, you’ve made me laugh. I’ll let your “interesting” comment speak for itself.
Yes, quite obvious, but it will still be argued. The problem isn’t actual fact or logic, it’s fat-bias. People who talk about surgery being “the easy way out,” don’t t say those things armed with fact, they say them because of a deep-rooted hate and intolerance for fat people.
Jim’s comment proves my point.
Author
PAINFULLY true, my friend! And I think the bias extends to the medical profession where some still insist that it’s all in our heads if only we’d stop being ignorant and weak!
It was going to be too easy for me to beat up on Jim. Thanks.
Oh, I definitely know it extends to the medical community. Remember the whole fiasco with Dr. Kelly at Penn and his “fat jokes?” That was within the past two years, and I guarantee you that mindset is far more reaching in the medical community than anyone will admit.
I think that the most important thing to understand is that whether you believe this surgery is the easy way out or not, the maintenance is very difficult. But, it is better to do the maintenance struggles from a healthy weight, than be 400+lbs for ANY length of time. Getting healthy is the most important thing , so please don’t begrudge anyone their attempts to live! Regardless if you agree with HOW they got there.
Author
Oh Patrina, SUCH a good point!!! So painfully true!! A person gets themselves off a CPAP machine, gets their blood sugar down, they get off daily meds—but OH NO they took the EASY WAY???? Why should anyone even have an opinion other than to think there’s one more person who WON’T be a drag on our healthcare system? Ms. Diva Taunia hit the nail on the head with the awful reality!
Thank you for your comment, Patrina!
I know without wls I am headed for more health problems, trust me I try so hard to get healthy and thinner, I will not be having the sugery as my insurance company will not cover it for any reasons. I just wanted a tool to help. Jim by the way being over weight was not my or any one else first choice. Things happen, life happens, we don’t set out to be over weight.
Author
First of all, Tracy I want to say I send you light & strength, I know that’s got to be so tough to have insurance and they won’t approve a treatment that’s proven to be such a powerful tool! If weight has been a lifetime problem for you, then you and I are alike, our brains crave food, our bodies are naturally larger, and we can easily become entrenched in food-driven habits that are so difficult to break! Another diet isn’t the answer! I hope you’ll consider reading my book and I’d welcome any questions you have.
By looking carefully at your own habits and behaviors, you could find ways to start breaking down those habits that are preventing you from losing weight and getting yourself to a place where you experience a level of success that helps you keep going. More than anything, if you find yourself dealing with shame, LET IT GO!! Whatever “reasons” you think there are for why you’re overweight, some of us deal with food brains! We are not all born with the same ability to make food choices!
Take care, Tracy. Please write me anytime!