Why do people consider weight loss surgery cheating?

What I don't understand is how so many people think that they still eat junk. I process these claims all day and the process is far from easy.
You have to be on a strict diet and exercise program for at least 6 months to a year before you even qualify for surgery. You have to take nutrition classes. After surgery you can't go to McDonald's and order a big Mac. A lot of food is restricted for weeks. You have to take a cocktail of vitamins everyday. You still have to work out. No one leaves gbs and is eating crap the next week. In fact, most people are warned against eating solids for a few weeks.

II don't think it's cheating and doctors do not let you go into it without proper talks, documentation, and insurance approval. If you do well on the diet and exercise, the insurance will deny authorization.

II have friends that have had it and they aren't sitting around while the pounds come off.

People enjoy feeling superior to others and nitpick at things that are none of their business in order to feel that superiority.

This is the best answer I've seen.

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.

I think you look amazing now!!!!

Sharon Osborne had WLS. Now, she's a spokesperson for Atkins Weight Loss Program.

I think that's a fail.

Sharon Osborne had WLS. Now, she's a spokesperson for Atkins Weight Loss Program.

I think that's a fail.

Sharon Osbourne had the lap band surgery in 1999 & lost 100 lbs. Since then she has had colon cancer, aged 14 years, had a double mastectomy, & just generally lived. She is a spokesperson for Atkins now & has lost, what about 30 lbs? I think that is a success. Nobody ever said that the weight wouldn't come back if you didn't maintain good eating habits. I think that a 30 lbs regain in 14 years is not too bad. Especially considering that she is losing the weight again. WLS would not have been appropriate for the amount of weight she had to re-lose. She is once again watching her eating & striving to be healthy. I think that people hold WLS patients to a standard that others are not held to. If they regain then obviously the surgery was a failure & they act like it wouldn't have happened if they had just lost the weight the "right" way. How many people say that the regain is a failure for those who lose the weight without WLS? They are not vilified at all.

Then perhaps she should be a spokesperson AND include: "I had weight loss surgery, but I gained some weight back and now I'm doing this program". Carnie Wilson is another one who gained a lot back after WLS.

WLS needs to come with a caveat: "If you do not follow directions precisely, the weight COULD come back -- there is NO quick fix here".

An interesting article that gives hard data about the percentage of weight gained back post surgery: 20-25% of original weight. Also, some interesting information about the criteria for weight loss surgery and why it has a lot of controversy surrounding it:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26076054/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/miracle-weight-loss-isnt/#.UaQIQ8U9iSo

Posted to the wrong thread. Sorry!

I am not certain if anyone else on this thread has had weight loss surgery or not, but, I'll be upfront about it. I have (RNY). My wife has (RNY). My sister has (lapband). My wife's cousin has (lapband or sleeve?).

Ten years ago, I thought it was "the easy way out." To some degree, I still think that.

Does that matter?

No, I don't think it does.

I think it's a tool like any other. If it's what you do and it gets you where you want to go, that's all that matters.

I think education is key. I've seen every variety of people, from those fully committed to the program, to educating themselves, to really taking it on and making the changes, to those who think that the surgery is a fix in-and-of itself, and don't follow-through on the lifestyle changes they need to make to be successful.

I'm happy to answer questions if I can. Anyone is welcome to. "Friend" me, or PM me, or you can ask here, though I may, or may not, see it...

-David / BootJockey
-257 pounds.

I personally know only one successful post-op person. Unfortunately, although she has been successful in losing almost 100lbs & maintaining her weight loss, she has not done & is not doing so healthily. She exists on the same unhealthy foods she ate pre-surgery, but now she can only manage to have a bite or two at a time instead of large quantities (calories in/calories out). She is thin, but has lost (literally) all muscle mass, & her hair & skin are desiccated. This particular situation feels dishonest because if asked, she will credit her weight loss to "lifestyle changes & portion control" which are both *technically* true. Perhaps similar people/situations are what give rise to weight loss surgeries as cheating.

As long as you know what you are getting into for the rest of your life, it's a great tool for those who need it!

I know someone who had duodenal/pancreatic switch several years ago. Lost 120 pounds. Still looking fabulous. Still taking vitamins/minerals/nutrients daily. No hair loss. No funky skin issues. Is successfully pregnant with baby #2. Monitors everything she eats, follows low carb lifestyle (carbs give her awful gas!).

Know another friend who had it done a bit over a year ago. Lost nearly 100 pounds. Looks great. Goes to the gym regularly. Is more active now than she ever had been. Eats great. Takes her vitamins/minerals daily. No issues with hair or skin. She had Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery.

Both of these ladies struggled for YEARS trying to take off their weight. Anyone on this board who knows nothing about either of them can stop right now before blowing the "eat less, move more" crap into a post. It's not just that simple for some people.

Good luck to you with your journey!! I applaud you for your courage!

I think it's a useful tool for people who are emotionally ready and mentally ready to accept the lifestyle changes that it requires to maintain it.

There's a guy I work with who had surgery and by a year later. When I met him....eats like no tomorrow and has gained most if not all the weight back. Will eat dinner, and then order pizza, and then dip into the snacks for the clients and then brings his own sugary or fatty snacks.....and doesn't get out the chair in the office all day (while the rest of us are running around getting everything done because he has no energy to help us). If his stomach can't handle it he is known to puke at work, and then go right back to eating. I would hope that a WLS would be a wake up call, not an excuse to prolong unhealthy habits.

I only think it's cheating when people hoop and holler about how great it is that they lost a big chunk of weight without acknowleging the surgery being the main reason. Similar to me taking credit for walking 37 miles into work when I drove a car. I know people I work with that have lost 150 lbs after surgery, but act like they did it on a treadmill.


Own it. If it's part of your process at getting healthy, then who cares what they think.

I agree with this. It's not cheating but it is a weight loss enhancing tool and I think it's a little annoying when people have WLS and go on about how they lost weight without being honest about everything that went into it. If you want WLS go for it and to hell what anyone thinks. If they think you cheated, so what. You'll have cheated your way to a great body and better healthy. They can deal. But when asked how you lost weight don't get all, "I just ate right and did pilates."

I had WLS i had the gastric bypass on March 5th 2013 my highest weight ever was 401 lbs! It's definitely not easy and i am honest about my surgery. I do take credit for all my weight loss while it is a "tool" we have to work the tool to make it work it's not magic weight loss. I also lost 104 lbs PRE-OP! I worked hard for every single pound i lost. I have lost 167 lbs to date and am now 234 lbs only 80 lbs until my goal.

Well, it does effect me personally, so am I allowed to have an opinion? The psychological testing requirements to get this surgery done are A JOKE. I am the only person in a family of 4 who has not gotten lapband surgery. And guess what? I'm the only one that DOES have PCOS. Yet, somehow, I am managing to work my *kitten* off and lose the weight. It is slow going, but it is happening. My family? They all laugh at me when I say I don't want to eat something or can't join them until later because I have to work out. I literally get made fun of and "I don't know where you came from" every time I talk about going for a run or signing up for a race. They still eat total and complete crap, just a smaller amount of it. And sometimes, not so much smaller amounts of it because they eat to the point where they are puking at the table at restaurants because they eat too much for their synthetic bands INSIDE THEIR BODIES to handle! My dad literally lives on saltines and vanilla ice cream. That doesn't sound healthy to me. After doing research on this and how to HELP my family get the correct mentality, a lot of WL surgery patients do not have the right mental frame of mind before going in to this and they gain the weight back and cause themselves MORE health problems than before they got the surgery to get "healthy."

These are just family members. I won't even get into others I know with terrible experiences with WL surgery. A friend's mother that nearly died and is still in the hospital on a monthly basis due to gastric bypass. Or the horror stories and statistics I ran into while doing research trying to find the right way to help my family gain the proper, healthy mentality.

Can weight loss surgery be a good tool for those who will actually use it as such? Yes. Is it most definitely a tool that is used properly at all times? No. The opposite is true. And, not all of these stories are not from the same physician, same type of surgery, etc., Until restrictions and requirements are imposed on these procedures and it isn't just about doctors making complete BANK on this, consulting with your doctor doesn't mean squat.

I usually don't get involved in these forum "fights" but this is a topic I feel VERY strongly about. I have watched people slowly kill themselves because of WL surgery. If the medical community and its patients want people to take WL surgery seriously, they need to impose stricter requirements and evaluate these candidates.

I am a firm believer in to each his(her) own. Do whatever it is that works for you. But DO NOT put people down who think weight loss surgery is a dangerous joke and who try to talk you out of it because they are worried about you. Because we have our reasons for having that frame of mind. We love you and we want what is best for you. And while you may think this is the way to go (likely because it is, in fact, easy - ask yourself, if you can lose the weight in order to have the surgery, why can you not continue those habits to lose it at that rate to get to where you are), we have good reason to disagree with you.

There are some people who really need it. Those who are morbidly obese and cannot lose. My old roommate was one of those people and to her I would say it is a quick fix because she doesn't really try to lose weight and eats horribly (2 x 591ml bottles of pop daily, fries, pizza pops, frozen meals, doesn't like walking, etc). But if you genuinely tried and there is something holding you back like genetics, disease or an injury preventing you from exercising then it may be a good solution for you. Just don't deny that you have it.

Last year I was the heaviest I ever was coming in at 238 lbs. Growing up I was always athletic and fit so I knew I could go back to that and had that same mentality as I did when I was younger. Personally, I want to work for it. I just want get down to my ideal weight and say "holy shmoly, I did that. I can do anything". I don't think a WLS would help me because I'm finding good results through diet and exercise alone.

A lot of people don't understand some of the causes of obesity and the downwards spiral that can occur with some people. It is hard to change some people's mentality and they think that they cannot do it. For some, it literally takes counselling, moral support and confidence boosting before that person walks into the gym. So to say that WLS is cheating and that this person should just eat less is really bad. If your doctor recommends it (and truly recommends it) then I think they believe you are ideal. But if you can find results on your own and you have tried other solutions that work, I would stick with that before going under the knife.

I don't think it's cheating at all. Just another option that makes sense for some and not others. There is no right or wrong and certainly no one size fits all in weight loss.

Nicely said!

I've been trying to lose weight by following a 1200 Calorie diet, no soda, occasional chocolate to calm the cravings, smaller portions (change my plate size), more veggies and fruit and have been doing this since October 2011. Been on WW and Sensa and who knows what else. I have since only lost 17lbs (that I have kept off) and bounce between 200lbs and 210lbs all the time. I am now to a point where I am considering WLS but am going to give a new doctor a try first and then see where else we can get to. You don't always get to where you want, even over a large period of time doing everything you should. I even go workout at least 3 times a week with a personal trainer and still am not making any progress. It is horrible to be stuck when you try so hard. Depression sets in and WLS might be the only relieve to get you moving forward.

Do what you need to do to get healthy!!!