Why do people consider weight loss surgery cheating?

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  • salcha76
    salcha76 Posts: 287 Member
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    I have PCOS and have lost 144#s....just sayin. People ask me when i had my bypass surgery, i say I DIDN'T, I just put the fork down & started walking....sorry, I call Bull****. Weight is mental....eating is mental....a surgery is just a REALLY big bandaid...if what's going on in your head isn't taken care of, well.....
  • Siege_Tank
    Siege_Tank Posts: 781 Member
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    because the failure rate is over 50%. 5 years after Weight Loss Surgery, more than 50% have gained a significant portion of the weight back.

    WLS forces people to eat less after the procedure, without fixing the underlying cause of the obesity - which could range from having emotional issues or an inability to deal with life stresses, to simply being ignorant of the nutritional and caloric content of a western diet.

    Only in America are the Obese starving...

    ETA: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18392907
  • FFfitgirl
    FFfitgirl Posts: 369 Member
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    Surgery is not magic! To all the people here, if it was magic everyone who had would lose weight and keep it off forever. A lot of people who have don't lose weight and they gain. It's just a tool.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    I see weight loss surgery as a tool...you still have to follow a strict diet and exercise program if you are going to be healthy. You have to be extremely diligent in taking your supplements and protein intake. You can never eat sugary or fatty foods again. It's not as easy as people think.

    So you're saying that you need to be disciplined with your eating after the surgery? If you can pull that off, then why not start now, and avoid the surgery altogether? See the problem?

    This exactly.

    Does anyone actually read an entire OP anymore? I think a year and diet and exercise is long enough to decide.
  • musycnlyrics
    musycnlyrics Posts: 323 Member
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    I have a lap band. If I go out for dinner and only order a salad with chicken on it and someone says "Is that enough?" I say "yes, I have a lap band" I am 100% straight up with mine. I needed it - I could lose weight no prob with out it. But couldn't keep it off. It is just another tool to use during our weight loss journey.

    ^^^^THIS!

    Congrats!
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    I watched a friend go through misery with the band. She eventually had to have it removed and is currently in the hospital with a perforated gastrointestinal tract, recovering from a coma and near death. It's not the innocent little surgery that people are led to believe it to be. It's scary, invasive and pretty extreme. Another friend underwent gastric sleeve surgery this week. I'm hoping her outcome is much better.

    I wouldn't say surgery is cheating. From what I've seen, it's a much harder path.
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Its the cowards way out
    when we are out here working our *kitten* off cuz we gotta lose weight- the real way

    And here we go with the ignorance. Its a freaking tool lady. Just like your treadmill, elliptical, MFP. Use it correctly or fail! And its easy to judge when your hiding behind a computer.

    The treadmill, elliptical and MFP are not the equivalent of having your stomach surgically altered. If the RN in your user name indicates that you are a nurse, you should know that.

    I wonder when doctors will start suggesting WLS for kids...
  • birdgal
    birdgal Posts: 17
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    The ignorance shown by some of the comments, is quite appalling. WLS is a tool and helps to level the playing field. Morbidly obese people have less than a 5 percent chance of maintaining a significant weight loss. The surgery helps to reset the metabolism, so weight loss is even possible. People do have to make significant changes in lifestyle for long term success, just like everyone else. Everyone regains weight, if and when they return to former eating habits, behaviors, and lifestyle . The change in lifestyle is key for everyone to maintain a significant weight loss.

    Op, check out obesityhelp.com for more information, support, and knowledgable people.
  • Isakizza
    Isakizza Posts: 754 Member
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    I wouldn't say that it's cheating, but ....

    It's just a medical replacement for willpower and discipline IMO.

    ^Agree.

    I have personal reasons to feel this way. From family members who've had it, to patients I've taken care of after surgery. Granted there are some that are very successful in changing their lifestyles after surgery, but most don't. And sadly regain.

    The self discipline from losing the weight naturally through healthy eating and exercise is much different than the discipline of following doctor's orders after your weight loss surgery. And it take a good amount of time for our way of thinking to completely change from an unhealthy one to a better lifestyle.

    I do hope it works well for you though, I would hate to see another person lose all that weight with surgery and still have that unhealthy state of mind.

    Best of luck. :wink:


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  • ozigal
    ozigal Posts: 173 Member
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    I didn't have weight loss surgery but I did look into it. If anything I think it is probably as hard, if not harder and certainly riskier than losing weight by diet and exercise alone.

    Aside from actually having the surgery and the added complications that can bring, eg slipping of the band etc, you STILL have to control what goes into your mouth and at a much greater level than you do by just diet and exercise alone. From memory (and I am sure someone will correct me), for the first few weeks you are on liquids alone and even then only very small amounts. If you try and have too much you end up being sick. For someone who likes to eat a lot, suddenly restricting yourself like that is a huge feat. After that you are on mulched up foods until you get to a point where you can have solids. I dont see that as being the cheats way out. I actually see that as being harder than having to control what I eat.

    One of my friends lost weight through diet and exercise. Her 25 year old daughter had a lapband fitted. The 25 year old has had more complications and been in and out of hospital constantly. At one point something went severely wrong with the lapband and she nearly died. Her 56 year old mother has had none of those issues.

    If I were to choose the way I lost weight again I would do exactly what I have done. I would eat sensibly and I would walk, run and exercise. I wouldnt have a lapband or any other type of weight loss surgery because I dont see it as being an easy way out. I admit I did think it was easy until I looked into it but I guess everyone has to do what's right for them. I didnt want the complications.

    To the OP - Good Luck - I hope it gives you the kick start that you want.
  • JessicaOnKeto
    JessicaOnKeto Posts: 364 Member
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    Because in my heart, it's true that it's cheating. At least for me personally.
    I see it, as giving into weight-loss surgery as taking the shortcut, that's easy, fast, and gives you 100% certainty that you will lose, it doesn't matter if you eat pizza everyday and don't exercise, you're still going to lose weight regardless of your effort.
    That's versus the hard, slow, failing and getting back up again, rigorous journey most of us embark on. Where it entails learning healthy eating habits the slow and steady way, where you learn from your mistakes and have the real consequences of weight-gain when you don't follow through with exercise or if you overeat.

    Another point to make, I feel it's cheating when other's boast about their weight-loss success, and don't mention their surgery at all. Gosh that irks me. Take credit and own that you did the surgery folks. You got to the finish line driving in your car, and I will get there walking, tripping, falling down, running, and going backwards at times.

    That being said, if you think it's the only way, after trying everything else, and still are unable to achieve weight loss, then best of luck to you! :drinker: If it's an essential, necessary part of your journey at getting healthy, then who cares what others may think.

    Ultimately, we all have our freewill as individuals and will decide to chose the route best suited for ourselves. :heart:
  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    I have a lap band. If I go out for dinner and only order a salad with chicken on it and someone says "Is that enough?" I say "yes, I have a lap band" I am 100% straight up with mine. I needed it - I could lose weight no prob with out it. But couldn't keep it off. It is just another tool to use during our weight loss journey.

    ^^^^THIS!

    Congrats!

    I just don't know why you would need to get into your medical history with a waitperson at a restaurant. The simple Yes should suffice.
  • dittiepe
    dittiepe Posts: 557 Member
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    Wow, just... wow. A lot of uninformed people responding here. I lost 140lb about 12 years ago. I did it with diet and exercise. Then I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. And then came steroids, illnesses, side effects, hospitalizations and so forth, and I gained 100lb back over 6 years.
    Because of the RA and the meds that I have to take, I could not get the weight off again. And the weight was making my RA worse. It took me a while to decide to go in for WLS, but I decided to have gastric bypass surgery in 2008. I lost the 100lb over the following year and for the most part I have kept it off. I bounce up and down around 25lb due to the illness and meds, but I needed this TOOL to help me or I wouldn't have been able to walk.
    WLS is a tool. That's it, nothing more. The problem is that doctors are now tossing it out to patients that aren't morbidly obese, or aren't instructing the patients about the risks, the lifestyle changes that need made, etc. If you use the tool correctly, you will succeed.
  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
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    I am not going to say its the easy way out or youre not working as hard as i am or any of that other nonsense. it is just a different means to an end.

    i will say this though if its any kind of judgement, it doesnt get to the root of the problem as to why you had to have it. are you a binge eater? emotional eater? do you make poor choices in your eating habits?

    i know people who have done this and after a while went back to their same bad choices, and while they havent ballooned up like they were, they have packed on some pounds
  • oohmercyme
    oohmercyme Posts: 279 Member
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    Its the cowards way out
    when we are out here working our *kitten* off cuz we gotta lose weight- the real way

    Two of my most inspiring MFP friends had weight loss surgery. I did not. They have both lost about the same amount of weight as I have.

    The ONLY difference between us is that they had the surgery and I didn't. All three of us log food religiously. All three of us workout all the time. All three of us have made lifelong changes in our approach to food and fitness. All three of us have to approach every challenge with willpower and hard work. All three of us are at risk of regaining weight if we fail to retain our new habits - in fact, studies show that of the three of us, I am the most likely to fail.

    We all lost weight "the real way." We all worked our *kitten* off.

    ^^^ This this this!

    I eat well, I exercise 10-12 hours a week (including training for a marathon), I have literally worked my @$$ off. My entire lifestyle has changed, I'm fit, toned, and healthy and I worked for every bit of that. Come here and see my muscles close up and tell me how I took the easy way out.

    If it's not for you, fine, no problem, but take your condescending shaming ignorant attitude elsewhere.

    OP- good luck to you. This was the best decision I've ever made for myself- I hope it is for you as well :)
  • msaestein1
    msaestein1 Posts: 264 Member
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    Its the cowards way out
    when we are out here working our *kitten* off cuz we gotta lose weight- the real way

    I don't know about that. They doctor's all want me to do it but I refuse because I'd rather lose it naturally than face the risks of surgery. I don't think people realize how it will effect your life. It's no joke. Also, they too should be exercising after they heal. I think the problem is people treat it like it's a miracle and it's not. There is nothing different about doing with or without the surgery except that you are not hungry if you have the surgery and you can't eat as much as you used to. It's not cheating but it's not for me. Also, if you get it done and you don't exercise and don't follow the program, you are stupid.

    And it looks like you are doing a great job at losing it on your own; nice weight loss. Keep up the great work!


    I am not a fan of the surgery myself. I don't consider it 'cheating'. Its no different than shakes, pills, eating under 1200 calories, working out 10 hours a day, etc. They could all be considered cheating because. I just don't think any of those things are necessary and they are too drastic. It is taking me FOREVER to lose. I don't care. I want to do something that will work me for the rest of my life. I eat what I want and workout a few days a week and I have lost 8lbs in like 6 months. I don't care. I figured the trick for me to keep my weight healthy for the rest of my life is to make sloooow changes that I can live with and that aren't too life altering. The surgery would not work for me because of this.....realistic goals and expectations are the way to go
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Its the cowards way out
    when we are out here working our *kitten* off cuz we gotta lose weight- the real way

    I don't know about that. They doctor's all want me to do it but I refuse because I'd rather lose it naturally than face the risks of surgery. I don't think people realize how it will effect your life. It's no joke. Also, they too should be exercising after they heal. I think the problem is people treat it like it's a miracle and it's not. There is nothing different about doing with or without the surgery except that you are not hungry if you have the surgery and you can't eat as much as you used to. It's not cheating but it's not for me. Also, if you get it done and you don't exercise and don't follow the program, you are stupid.

    Have to say - lots of supposedly reasonably intelligent people make really stupid decisions. I know three people who've had this surgery a while ago and one that just had it done maybe a month ago. None of the three are in a remotely healthy weight range any more, and two are just as heavy as they were to begin. The one that just had it done is already violating his post-op diet. Personally, I think the lab band is no better than the latest fad diet unless there are specific circumstances where it's required to lose weight.
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
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    I have PCOS and have lost 144#s....just sayin. People ask me when i had my bypass surgery, i say I DIDN'T, I just put the fork down & started walking....sorry, I call Bull****. Weight is mental....eating is mental....a surgery is just a REALLY big bandaid...if what's going on in your head isn't taken care of, well.....
    Bravo...well said.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
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    I see weight loss surgery as a tool...you still have to follow a strict diet and exercise program if you are going to be healthy. You have to be extremely diligent in taking your supplements and protein intake. You can never eat sugary or fatty foods again. It's not as easy as people think.

    So you're saying that you need to be disciplined with your eating after the surgery? If you can pull that off, then why not start now, and avoid the surgery altogether? See the problem?

    Totally what I was thinking! If you have to be uber disciplined and strong will power, why not start now? I don't get it. I bust my *kitten* and I've lost 15lbs in 2 years, so yes, I feel like it's cheating.
  • vstraughan
    vstraughan Posts: 163 Member
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    Echoing many comments here

    I don't care if people have WLS, just don't lie about it. That's more about liars than WLS.

    I don't care if people have WLS, but I'd like to think they're doing it for the right reasons (i.e. themselves and a long standing commitment) ... it's just sad that people feel social pressure about these things

    I get perplexed by people who do it and then don't commit to a long standing lifestyle improvement ... then moan. I just don't understand that.

    I get annoyed by people who get annoyed by people who have WLS ... Are they jealous because they won't/can't do it themselves? Are they masochists that think months/years of slowly losing weight is hilarious and fun? (I can think of way more fun things to do with my time)

    Geeeez.... I had a boob job years ago. I was open about it because I thought it would be obvious and didn't want people yabbering behind my back. I was single at the time and just wanted to be in proportion ( i could have been used as a spirit level). I did it for me, no-one else. Most people thought I was either mad (in a flattering way) or said "good for you". Occasionally people sniped at me ... why ... because YOU don't have what YOU want then I shouldn't be able to get what I want?

    If you have the ability and means to do something positive for yourself, for whatever reason, then damn well do it and to hell with everyone else.

    whew ... that turned into a bit of a rant! :-s

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