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More people need to get educated on weight loss surgery.

Livematthew25
Livematthew25 Posts: 27 Member
Weight loss surgery is not the easy way out. If you think it is, you have been lied to. There is a very long approval process and a very long adjustment period after. There can be pain, sickness and follow-up surgeries afterwards not to mention comments made in ignorance by people who have no clue what you go through emotionally, physically, spiritually and finacially. All of this just to get you a little closer to being ready to diet and EXERCISE for the rest of your life just like everyone else or gain it all back! There are no free rides!! Surgery is a tool not a free ride!! I put this under debate because I know a lot of people are against getting the surgery.
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Replies

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,982 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    I'm not sure anyone actually thinks it is easy. My issue with weight loss surgery is that at somepoint if an obese person is going to maintain a healthy weight after losing the weight they are going to need to learn how to eat in such a way as to not put the weight back on. If the obese person loses the weight through calorie counting and restriction and over a long period of time by the time they hit their target weight they have basically formed the habits necessary to maintain their weight. If, instead, they lose the weight rapidly through a surgery like a stomach staple that basically makes it so they can't eat very much at all then they aren't actually learning how to eat properly...they aren't building the habits they are going to need later on and I would imagine most of the time they end up putting the weight back on.

    I think weight loss surgery has its place, like in the case where a morbidly obese person is likely to die in a few years if they don't lose the weight now...but I don't think it is a particularly good way to lose weight and keep it off.

    100% agree with this, and why I dislike so much the current push for the surgery as the answer to the obesity epidemic. I agree it has its place; that place just shouldn't be front and center for every obese person. And I find it rather frustrating how people get rushed through the so-called checks for surgery candidacy. My SIL had to go through the mental evaluation and was supposed to adhere to a diet for 6 months before the surgery to prove she would adhere to the lifestyle changes afterwards. She didn't adhere to the diet at all, but the surgeon went on with it anyway. At first, she had to be very careful what she ate because certain feeds did not sit well with her at all, and she suffered the common side effects of the surgery, but as her body healed and those became less of an issue, she has already started adding things in that she shouldn't - such as excessive alcohol consumption. And she has plateaued in her weight loss because of it.

    My brother and my SIL both still have regular check ins with their surgeons, but come to think of it, my brother never talks about seeing a nutritionist or anything like that; there's an online support group of folks who've had the surgery and advice provided by the surgeon on what to eat, but that's about all the post operative care they get.

    My SIL had it done 18 months ago; my brother had it done 8 months ago; my cousin had it done 3 months ago. Of the 3 of them, the only one I expect to be able to keep the weight off long term is my brother, and that's because he is taking it upon himself to study and learn about proper nutrition. I seriously doubt my SIL or my cousin either one (neither of whom are studying things out for themselves but who are just relying on what the doctor tells them) will keep it all off long term; time will tell.