Not trying to be so negitive but..

I think if you work hard to take off the weight, you appreciate your journey more than those who had the surgery. When you remember the hours spent working out, or the diet changes you made, you never take that for granted. When you work hard for anything, it is always worth it in the end. Keep working hard, bc when you reach your goal, you will never allow yourself to gain it back because you will remember the battle to lose it! Keep your head up!

This can be a hotly debated topic here. Congrats on your successes with the choice you made. I'm going to sit back and watch the poo storm build now.

I think you are amazing to do it this way. People will have so much more respect for you.

Agreed and well said.

I think you may be a tad judgemental...

I've not had the surgeries or had to lose 100+ pounds, and I commend anyone, no matter how they did it, for doing it.

I think there are 100 ways to get to a destination. The journey you pick is your journey not anyone else's. I think if someone knew that you opted not to have the surgery and they did and they knew what you were trying to do, then they should be considerate and refrain or limit the amount of conversation they are have with you about it...if they knew how it makes you feel.

As for the journey you picked...kudos to you girl. This is the hardest journey in our life and you will be thankful for the it soon. Keep it up. The rewards will be tremendous and you know you did it the good ol' fashioned healthy way.

I think that it might take you longer to reach your goal, but when you get there you'll actually know how to live like a healthy person and you will maintain your weight. None of us appreciates anything that we didn't work our butts off for....ask anyone with a teenager!

I think anyone can take the easy way out, but, it is so much more rewarding when you put in the hard work. I think you will do better in the long run because you know how much work it is and wont want to go back. If you have surgery its easy to let it go and say it's ok I can just do surgery again. I also don't think surgery of any kind is a good idea if you don't have to. You are doing it the right way. Great job on the 100 pound mark that is awesome. You are awesome.

I commend you for doing it the 'hard' way! Great job! And I feel like that's much more of an accomplishment than with any surgery, no offense to those that have had it. But I feel like most of those people will gain some amount of it back. You really have to be mentally prepared.. I could imagine.

Good for you for finding the alternative to surgery. It takes a long time to recover from surgery, and sometimes there are side effects that you never recover from. And the life style changes learned in the self-discipline needed to diet will help you over the long term. Not taking the easy way out is what you needed, what you decided, and don't let anyone else throw you off course. As Mother Teresa used to say: "It's between you and God; never between you and other people".

I understand where you are coming from, but I would not say that the surgery is the "easy way out" either. I have known a few people who have had this surgery - for two, they have been successful, but they have had to remain vigilant about what they eat to maintain where they are at. They are forced into a lifestyle change AFTER the fact, whereas you are CHOOSING a lifestyle change instead. For two others, they died of complications from the surgery. One was a girl who was very heavy all thru school. I saw her at our 20 year reunion - she looked beautiful - had a handsome man on her arm - he took me aside & told me he was going to propose to her the next month, at Xmas. He did, they got married, she got pregnant - and then complications from the surgery - she and the baby died. So, no - I don't think she took the easy way out either.

We all get to this point differently. We have all tried different approaches with different levels of success or non-success. We all lead different lives. You take pride in knowing what you are doing is the healthier way, albeit more difficult way, to lose weight. The others might seem to be taking pride in taking the "easy way" - but you don't know what is in store for them down the road. Be gracious and let them enjoy their success as well. It never hurts to smile and say "Yes, I know - I'm enjoying buying some new clothes too."

I do feel like some people "take the easy way" by getting surgery and don't learn how to change their lifestyle. They just look at the surgery as a quick fix. Some don't. Some people are at the point where it's life or death and need surgery.
I commend you on losing through a healthy lifestyle. What you learned through your journey will stay with you a lifetime.
Congrats on all your hard work!!!

Congratulations on your weight loss!

I agree with you completely. I think it's ridiculous that weight loss surgeries are so easy to get. And, I heard on the news a while back that a bunch of doctors were wanting to ease up on the restrictions for those procedures! It's so much better if you just put out the effort to lose the weight naturally. You learn how to make changes to your diet and exercise habits so that you keep the weight off and can actually live a healthier life. Weight loss surgeries are just like any other quick fix, for most people they don't work in the long term.

Congratulations on your hard work and success in weightloss! You did it the right way. The struggle is as mental as it is physical... in many ways more. People that do not succeed on facing the mental angle will often re-gain, or experience other issues down the line. Keep your chin up when you listen to others that chose the road of surgery brag of their success.... you know you did the time and work and are better for it! As for your Mom... I'm unsure how you can help her from climbing back up, it's tricky to keep from causing problems or having her become defensive. Perhaps offer her some advice on what has helped you 'maintain' , strike it as something you can do together. I wish you every luck, you've done amazing!

At 400 pounds I made the choice to skip gastric bypass and lap ban surgery. with hard work I have lost 100 pounds to date. But I kind of get upset when I hear people who had this surgery talk about how much weight they have lost, when they took the easy route.
No problem at all with people who had the surgery if it was vital for health and life.
I also had my own mother go through with this surgery. I had to hear her talk about how much she has lost and how fun shopping for clothes is now. Two years later, her weigh is climbing back up ..

What does everyone else think?

I think everyone has their own reason for it. Some people have tried literally everything, including diet and exercise. Some people have health conditions or medications that make it very difficult to lose weight. Maybe they needed to lose it fast and this was their way. . And if you've never been through gastric, you can't possibly call it the "easy route" - because my close friend went through it and recovery was hell. She had no time to train her body to eat less and I cant tell you how many times she ended up sick from eating too much or eating the wrong foods. When you do it the old-fashioned way, you havetime to train yourself and gradually introduce or take away foods. It's a reality that some people gain it back, but that's again because they don't have a lot of time to prepare themselves for it.
your way is working for you , 100 lbs is great!! But, I fail to see how someone else having success with lap band should make you upset... becausein the end, both ways result in weight loss and a healthier person.
Oh and most people only do lapband because it IS vital for health and life, as reputable surgeons won't operate unless medically necessary.............

You asked, that's what I think.. and btw, I've not had lapband and don't qualify for it, but like I said, my friend went through hell after hers'... and 5 years later she has kept it off .

I also think it's great that you are doing it the old fashioned way! You are learning how to eat, how to handle your emotions, cravings, everything. I bet you'll be much more successful. People who do the surgery have the weight loss forced on them. They often don't learn what being healthy is really all about.

My sister was actually encouraged to GAIN wait to be eligible for surgery, but her best friend, a NURSE. I'm so proud that she's doing it the right way and that she seems to finally be having some sucess.