This made me sick : New Weight-Loss Surgery -_- page 2

[Diana Renata]

Again it's just treating the symptom, not the disease. It's sad to see what lengths people will go to avoid a little self discipline. *sigh*

[ShannonPA-S]

By the way, I am not trying to be mean. I just want you to know that WLS is an emotional issue for some people. Another MDA member posted on another board and had to preface the post by warning people NOT to make comments about how awful gastric bypass is.

My point is: please don't judge people. Yes, it's unnatural. Is it ideal? No. I had tried low-carb, low-fat, Zone, Atkins, everything. But I didn't know about balancing my nutrition or other things, which is why I think I was unsuccessful. So I had surgery because I wanted to be able to play with my daughter and not die before I was 40. I have regretted surgery, but now I have come to terms with it. It can be a tool for people. I have been morbidly obese since early childhood. My body knows nothing else. A lot of people have this same experience.

The good news? Post-op diets tend to be more primal (except my stupid dietitian who pushed grains).

[ShannonPA-S]

Again it's just treating the symptom, not the disease. It's sad to see what lengths people will go to avoid a little self discipline. *sigh*

I realize that you have lost a lot of weight naturally. And that is so wonderful. So you must also realize what it feels like to be very overweight. I'm a little saddened by the tone of your post.

[Diana Renata]

I'm sorry you're saddened by my tone, but it's how I see it. I don't feel sorry for people, especially when they have the power to change. I do understand though, not everyone has the knowledge or the tools to do so, which is why I'm more than happy to help the people around me do what I did. It IS sad to see people doing disasterous things to themselves in an effort to avoid eating properly and getting some exercise. For a long time I was one of those people. I know several people who had gastric bypass, lost a lot of weight, never changed their habits (thus they treated the symptom and not the disease) and are again overweight, but now stuck with further limitations (dietary mostly) brought on by the surgery.

[LX]

Surgery through pre-existing holes is actually not unusual. Like going up your femoral artery to place stents or balloons instead of going in through your chest. Work with what nature gave you.

[LX]

I realize that you have lost a lot of weight naturally. And that is so wonderful. So you must also realize what it feels like to be very overweight. I'm a little saddened by the tone of your post.

I agree. People who take the WLS aren't doing it out of lack of self-discipline or trying to be lazy. They do it because they see it as the last option available to them. If they don't have the nutritional knowledge they need to make a sensible weight loss program it is indeed a sad thing that we should work to change. But there's dozens of ideas about what eating healthy is (from Jenny Craig to Primal to Fruititarian) and no way of knowing off-the-bat if it will work and improve the quality of your life. Finding the primal stuff takes a lot of research, a moderate amount of science background, and a healthy streak of cynicism.

[ShannonPA-S]

I agree. People who take the WLS aren't doing it out of lack of self-discipline or trying to be lazy. They do it because they see it as the last option available to them. If they don't have the nutritional knowledge they need to make a sensible weight loss program it is indeed a sad thing that we should work to change. But there's dozens of ideas about what eating healthy is (from Jenny Craig to Primal to Fruititarian) and no way of knowing off-the-bat if it will work and improve the quality of your life. Finding the primal stuff takes a lot of research, a moderate amount of science background, and a healthy streak of cynicism.

I completely agree with this. I am an educated person and did not know about the primal stuff. I knew about low-carb, which didn't work for me as I always felt hungry. All my schooling called obesity "overnutrition." Seriously. I had no clue people were actually undernourished. Call me stupid.

I would venture to say that people who have WLS are NOT the lazy ones. They want to dramatically change their lives. That's how I saw it. I was willing to risk my life to improve my quality of life and live longer for my family.

[ShannonPA-S]

I'm sorry you're saddened by my tone, but it's how I see it. I don't feel sorry for people, especially when they have the power to change. I do understand though, not everyone has the knowledge or the tools to do so, which is why I'm more than happy to help the people around me do what I did. It IS sad to see people doing disasterous things to themselves in an effort to avoid eating properly and getting some exercise. For a long time I was one of those people. I know several people who had gastric bypass, lost a lot of weight, never changed their habits (thus they treated the symptom and not the disease) and are again overweight, but now stuck with further limitations (dietary mostly) brought on by the surgery.

People have the power to change, yes. The people around you are truly lucky. How many people have the success you did and are willing to share it? I certainly don't know of one. If I did, I would have asked for help.

I don't think people who have WLS do it to avoid eating properly. I think they have *tried* to eat "properly" (definitions of this vary of course) so long and are so tired of the losing/gaining, they are just fed up. They don't have the tools or knowledge. And I'm sure you've done research into diets for weight loss. They're all dead ends, but that doesn't stop doctors (who nearly everyone holds in high esteem) from prescribing them. They're even getting in on the action with weight loss clinics. People are looking for help; you need not look much further than the overwhelming revenues of the diet industry.

Maybe you were fortunate to stumble upon something that worked for you. Not everyone is so lucky. You had an innate drive to change your life; most people try, but can't figure it out. As a lifelong obese person, I can honestly say that not a single day passed me by since age 11 where I didn't look into what to do to lose weight or I was on some diet or another. All of it made me fatter.

I'm happy you found your path and it worked for you. I'm saddened that you're so eager to forget what it felt like to be fat.

I dunno. Just my opinion. All the best.

[Diana Renata]

I don't want to argue with you. I was simply stating my opinion that it's sad that people do this stuff (WLS) to themselves when they don't have to. I'm not out to blame anyone. It's just sad. That's it.

[J_Tom]

I agree both that people do it to themselves, and its done to them. There was never a class in school to tell you how to eat properly and most of the education we do get comes from television or newspaper ads. It makes me sick going to the grocery store and seeing those "Eat Right" brands or things with the "Health Check" symbol. Someone who has NO IDEA about saturated fats, sodium intake, or carbohydrates would look at that pretty box with the health check and whole wheat Eat right label and think "This is good for me". Look at all the cereals that 'lower cohlesterol' or have names like Fiber One. I think doctors should be perscribing less and looking into going primal
P.S. Has anybody ever seen those 'Brocolli the miracle food' commercials.. That is BY FAR my favorite commercial EVER!!!!