There was a time in my life I weighed 141 pounds and wore a size six. It was a glorious eight months, perhaps the best-looking eight months of my life. Then, as I got comfortable with my new body (because believe me, I had to work very hard to get to that point), I started skipping workouts and eating more fast food and slowly the weight crept back on.
Then my life went to hell and it all of those pounds just decided “We don’t want you to be lonely while you’re going through hell, so we all got back together and wanted to keep you company through these hard times. Come on, group hug!” It was so nice of them, really.
What’s funny is that you don’t realize the weight creep at first. You figure you’re bloated, so you pull out that one pair of fat jeans you kept (my general rule was that I kept one pair of pants from the last size up, just in case) and then you find yourself going for those all the time. You pick up “just one more” because they’re on sale. You find yourself wearing that bigger size more often than not. Then those start getting snug. At this point, you’ve forgotten all about dieting, there are more important and/or stressful things going on in your life, and all you care about is having pants that fit. So you buy the next size up. And so the cycle continues. When you look back a year later, you’re four or six sizes bigger than you were and you wonder what the hell happened.
Sure, I can blame the pitfalls in my life. That’s part of it. But it’s actually how I choose to handle those pitfalls. I mean, yeah, when I was in grad school, more often than not, dinner was from a drive-thru on the way to class from work. I could have made better choices. I could have packed a meal. I could have done a lot of things. But I didn’t. I only have myself to blame.
Now, I could go looking for the quick fix. I could look into bariatric surgery. If I’m not mistaken, given the new BMI requirements, I definitely fit the new criteria. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want the quick fix. The weight didn’t pile on overnight, it’s not going to come off overnight. I worked hard shoveling cakes, pies and chocolates into my mouth, now it’s time to work hard walking off those cakes, pies and chocolate.
Let’s get this straight, I’m not against bariatric surgery for those who really need it. There are those people out there who cannot exercise, or for whom diet and exercise don’t work. That is the group this surgery should be used as a LAST RESORT option.
Problem is, that’s not how it’s working these days. People are thinking it’s their only option. There are reports of people who were specifically gaining weight so they hit the higher BMI so they could have bariatric surgery. I do not want to be stick thin enough to gamble with my health like that. If a doctor is aware you are doing that to yourself, then that doctor should put the brakes on the surgery, right then and there. (But, you know, that’s just my opinion.)
There are a lot of risks. It’s not like you go into that surgery and come out with a Lap-Band© in place and are instantly thin. No, anyone who has bariatric surgery has to completely alter their diet and add exercise in order to lose the weight. Which, hey, I can do that without having to spend $20,000 on a surgery that alters the way God created my digestive system.
Furthermore, it’s a known fact you *will* lose hair after bariatric surgery. WHAT THE HELL??? Why is this? You’re performing surgery on my stomach, not my hair follicles. Nope.
How about the fact that teenagers who get this surgery have now been proven to suffer from bone loss later in life? Like the risk of osteoporosis isn’t high enough, let’s have a surgery and add to it.
Alright, what about the positives, I’ll do due diligence. Of course, there’s the obvious, most patients will lose weight, they will lead healthier lifestyles and diabetes and high cholesterol will be controlled much better, if not eliminated. "Patients who are morbidly obese already face great health risks and bariatric surgery can be a life-saving option," said Prateek K. Gupta, MD. That’s important, but let’s also remember, the same thing can be said of people who lose large amounts of weight the old-fashioned way too. It’s not really that revolutionary. The weight (or lack thereof) is what helps with those problems, not the surgery itself.
There’s even a study out there that said migraines are decreased in patients who have had bariatric surgery. This is not rocket science. When I was lighter, I got fewer migraines and the ones I did get weren’t as bad.
What’s even scarier to me is the research that the surgery can lead to greater complications, with one study showing 60 percent of patients back on the operating table after bariatric surgery to handle some sort of complication. Umm, no thank you.
It also worries me that there are tons of articles out there about how you need to prevent weight gain after bariatric surgery, or even how to lose weight after you’ve gained it back. Obviously, if the articles are out there, this is a common phenomenon.
It boils down to this: As long as I am physically able to control my weight the old-fashioned, tried-and-true way, I will. In this world of always wanting a quick fix, how many different times and different ways have we been shown this is not always the best and/or safest option? Furthermore, I’m disturbed by the message this sends to our kids. “A third of the population is overweight, but you can just have a surgery to fix that, so go ahead and shove that Big Mac down your throat.” No, I’m not the pot calling the kettle black – I’m fully aware of the consequences of some of the things I eat because they taste good. But the message we’re sending to our kids is eliminating that level of responsibility for actions.
I know plenty of people who have had the surgery, even some family members. Some of them have lost an amazing amount of weight. Some haven’t. Some did just to gain it back. I’m not bashing people who have had it done, I’m just saying that its prevalence is not setting a good example for anyone – it’s just padding the pockets of the manufacturer of Lap-Band, bariatric surgeons, and fast-food joints.
The question is, will I ever see the me that was a size six again? Most likely not, after all, I’ve had a kid since then. But I can re-learn how to make better decisions to improve my health, and I can learn to love the person I am. That is the hardest part for me. Even when I was a size six, I didn’t love the person I was. In fact, I looked in the mirror and saw someone who was50 pounds heavier, and I’m pretty sure I always will.
While I’m at it, I want to send a shout out to my buddy Jennifer who is going the old-fashioned route and has lost 30 pounds in three months! Woohoo! You go girl. You are going to weigh the same as me before too long!
I’ve only been back on the dieting wagon hard-core for about a week, so I don’t have a number yet since I have vowed to only count the number I see on Fat Ass Friday mornings. It won’t be 30. Maybe only a tenth of it. We all gotta (re)start somewhere, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment