Dr Recommends Gastric Bypass over lifestyle

I had a PCP once who insisted i take drugs for high cholesterol (you know, the ones that destroy your liver??) so I refused. I said, "what about diet and exercise first?" and she had the nerve to tell me that I would never be able to get it low enough that way and if I refused to tak the drug she would not be able to be my doctor anymore. I promptly told her to F off and lost 35 pounds on Atkins (this was YEARS ago) and my cholesterol numbers were normal.

She had to be getting a kickback from the drug company.

I had a PCP once who insisted i take drugs for high cholesterol (you know, the ones that destroy your liver??) so I refused. I said, "what about diet and exercise first?" and she had the nerve to tell me that I would never be able to get it low enough that way and if I refused to tak the drug she would not be able to be my doctor anymore. I promptly told her to F off and lost 35 pounds on Atkins (this was YEARS ago) and my cholesterol numbers were normal.

She had to be getting a kickback from the drug company.

Not to be a contrarian (but I will), I don't think the doctor deserves bashing just for the surgery suggestion. I get the feeling this is just standard practice to suggest the surgery when someone qualifies. Personally, my doctor, who I have much respect for, advised me to get the surgery. I didn't because, like you OP, I still believe I can achieve eventual success the old fashioned way. If you've got other issues with your doc, that's a different matter, but I wouldn't ditch a doctor just for advising this surgery. From their perspective, they see population-wide statistics showing a low probability of success without surgery and a much higher probability of success with surgery. There aren't many doctors that can look into your soul to see how focused you are (or aren't) on achieving target weight.

Also, to those saying the doc is just looking for revenue, I doubt s/he would make anything since the surgeon would be someone else.

But that's exactly the problem with doctors! They always prescribe drugs and recommend surgeries like there is no other way to reach the same result without!
ETA: that's why people bash them.

I honestly think that you need to cut doctors some slack. They have to assume that most everyone that walks into their office is of "average" willpower and may or may not be able completely do a 180 degree turn around in their lifestyle. I remember the conversation about alcohol consumption my wife and I had with her doctor when she was pregnant with our first child. We were looking at the list of things my wife wasn't supposed to consume and it had obvious issues in terms of things she actually could eat and enjoy. The doctor finally told her that a half a glass of wine 3 times of week was fine but that the medical community could not agree on a top end limit and that she had to assume that her patients would occasionally drink more than she advised. Hence she normally advised her patients to drink no alcohol whatsoever. I know another doctor here in Florida that deals with obesity issues and most of her patients simply want her to write a prescription for a scooter, rather than have her help them lose weight through diet and exercise. You have to imagine that dealing with this on a daily basis is going to eventually leave even the most optimistic practitioner a little jaded when it comes to seriously obese patients telling them that they're going to change. The reality is that if you want to change and you actually change, then you don't need the doctor's help. Just change.