Bariatric Surgery is for Cheaters

[MsJacquiiC]

I Took The Easy Way Out. I Am a Weight Loss Cheater.

It?s shameful, really. I am a weight loss fraud. I took the easy way out of my morbid obesity by having bariatric surgery. I lost 170 pounds without really trying. I?m thin under false pretenses.

"No wonder the media is so against weight loss surgery... It?s simply not fair to have it so easy. The honorable thing would have been to do like they do it on The Biggest Loser." --- Cari De La Cruz

Everybody knows gastric bypass surgery permanently cured my obesity.

Ironically, they also know that I will regain my weight (because everybody always does.) On my way down, they wondered what I was doing to lose all of those pounds, and were greatly relieved when I told them my dirty little secret. You see, for an instant, they believed I was actually working hard at it; that I had to put forth some effort.

But once they learned that I had cheated the whole weight loss system and didn?t go to Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, or NutriSystem, they felt much better calling me a cheater. I mean, it?s not fair to lose weight without even trying. It?s not okay to treat a serious medical condition with something as pervasive and drastic as surgery. I?m just a drama queen who picked a quick fix.

After all, why would I purposely choose to have my insides completely rearranged to lose those nasty few pounds, when all I really had to do was ?eat less and move more?? Or, if I couldn?t do that, why didn?t I just eat *as if* I had the surgery, but not really do it?

Unfortunately, because I?m a slow-learner, I never understood the connection between eating too much of the wrong foods and gaining weight. I never realized that I had to exercise every day in order to keep weight off. I just wish someone had told me before I resorted to such an extreme and shameful thing as surgery.

It would have been so much more honorable to just take that $159 pill they advertise in magazines. Or maybe I should have tried the grapefruit diet ? one more time. Now that I look at it, I really didn?t try absolutely everything before I decided to take this big step. How impulsive of me to give up after only 30 years of yo-yo dieting. But, that?s just the way I am ? some would say that I?m ruled by the tyranny of urgency; that I live by ?Cari?s Law of Immediacy.?

That?s the only possible way to explain why someone like me would do something as impulsive as have weight loss surgery to avoid getting diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems and liver disease.

The sad thing is, now that I?m healthy, trim and happy, I realize I?m just like everybody else who?s ever lost weight. I mean, I thought surgery was the perfect cure; that I?d be bullet proof and be able to eat everything I always wanted ? just in smaller portions. But now I can see that I?m going to have to maintain this 170 pound weight loss the HARD WAY. I?m going to have to exercise, eat right, make healthy lifestyle choices and?just be like the rest of the world.

Well, if that?s the case, why on earth did I even have this surgery? I feel like I was sold a bill of goods! This isn?t the easy way out at all. As a matter of fact, it?s been been a really rough couple of years since my gastric bypass. Clearly, my experience is nothing like those commercials I see on TV. I mean, I can?t eat BREAD anymore (because I WILL throw-up), and I can?t eat too much sugar or fat. That means no more pizza, hamburgers, or cake with butter cream frosting. I can?t just go to the drive-thru for lunch, grab something at the snack bar when we go to the ballgame, or just grab some popcorn and a big diet coke at the movies.

• I need to plan, prepare, measure, and make good choices?.
• I need to eat a lot of protein every day, and find fresh foods to put into my body.
• I have to carry an insulated lunch bag wherever I go, because I never know how long I?ll be out of the house ? away from my healthy foods.
• I have to drink enough water everyday or I will suffer the consequences of dehydration.
• I don?t absorb things very well, so I have to be vigilant about taking my calcium, iron, B12 and other vitamin supplements, because I am acutely prone to bone loss, life-threatening anemia, hair loss, and any number of other things caused by vitamin deficiency.
• I have to spend a lot of money on quality protein, vitamin and mineral supplements each month.
• I have so much loose skin, I can?t wear shorts or bare my stomach anymore.
• I underwent two, painful plastic surgeries, just so I could wear tank tops and pretty things.
• I cannot do anything or go anywhere without being prepared.

No wonder the media is so against weight loss surgery as a treatment for obesity. It?s simply not fair to have it so easy. The honorable thing would have been for me to do it like they do it on The Biggest Loser. I should have taken 3 months off work, hired a personal trainer, a chef and a life coach, and then, altered all of my habits overnight. I shouldn?t have worried about the emotional stuff; the head work. I wouldn?t have needed therapy to cope with the loss of food as a comforter. I would have been celebrated for my tremendous virtue and fortitude.

If only someone had told me.

But, maybe it?s good that I entered into this ?bariatric surgery? business so lightly and without a second thought. I mean, can you imagine how difficult this whole weight loss thing would have been if I hadn?t taken the easy way out?

I shudder to think?

About The Author: Cari De La Cruz happily maintains a 160+lb weight loss and loves to share about her amazing Bariatric After Life. Through passion, humor and truth she helps others achieve success in their own weight loss journeys. Gastric Bypass Barbie

GastricBypassBarbie.com
Source

Morbid Obesity A condition in which the Body Mass Index is 40.0–49.9, which is roughly equal to 100 pounds or more over ideal body weight; a weight level that is life-threatening. A BMI greater than 50 is termed as "super obese." CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE JOURNEY BMI CALCULATOR!

Bariatrics The branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity. The term bariatrics was created around 1965, from the Greek root baro ("weight," as in barometer), suffix -iatr ("treatment," as in pediatrics), and suffix -ic ("pertaining to"). Besides the pharmacotherapy of obesity, it is concerned with obesity surgery.

Hypertension Also referred to as high blood pressure, HTH, HTN or HPN, hypertension is a medical condition in which the blood pressure is chronically elevated. In current usage, the word "hypertension" without a qualifier normally refers to arterial hypertension. The Mayo Clinic specifies blood pressure is "normal if it's below 120/80".

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass A type of gastric bypass procedure which combines restrictive and malabsorption techniques - meaning, it reduces the amount of food a patient can comfortably eat (restriction), and also reduces the amount of calories that can be digested in the small intestine (malabsorption). This combination of bariatric methods leads to greater weight loss and the roux-en-y procedure is seen as one of the best ways to treat clinically severe obesity. See WLS Videos for animated surgery technique.

Obesity Obesity results from the excessive accumulation of fat that exceeds the body's skeletal and physical standards. Obesity has been defined as a weight more than 20% above what is considered normal according to standard age, height, and weight tables, or by a complex formula known as the body mass index. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase in 20 percent or more above your ideal body weight is the point at which excess weight becomes a health risk. CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE JOURNEY BMI CALCULATOR!

Diabetes Mellitus A disease that occurs when the body is not able to use blood glucose (sugar). Blood sugar levels are controlled by insulin, a hormone in the body that helps move glucose from the blood to muscles and other tissues. Diabetes occurs when the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body does not respond to the insulin that is made. There are two main types of diabetes mellitus: Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes. All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became medically available in 1921, but there is no cure.

Weight Cycling Yo-yo dieting, also known as weight cycling, is a repeated loss and gain of body weight due to excessive dieting. The term "yo-yo dieting" was coined by Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., at Yale University, in reference to the cyclical up-down motion of a yo-yo. In this process, the dieter is initially successful in the pursuit of weight loss but is unsuccessful in maintaining the loss long-term and begins to gain the weight back. The dieter then seeks to lose the regained weight, and the cycle begins again.

[MsJacquiiC]

Ha! I've browsed Cari's site many times. It's a great site = be sure to check it out at http://gastricbypassbarbie.com -- At anyrate - I love this article - it's such a study in genuine sarcasm - I love it! LOL - And so true! WLS is certainly not an "easy way out" by any stretch of the imagination.

Anyway - makes for an interesting read!

Jacquii.