By: Vera Antionette

Vera Antionette — Tue, 27 Dec 2005 09:01:29 +0000

Today on Discovery Health channel they were profiling a woman who had WLS. She
was very emotional and was crying as she told her story of weight gain. She
related the humiliating incidents too common in an obese person’s life. She
also related an incident of sexual molestation that began when she was 8 yrs.
old.
We all have experienced the pain of being obese and we all have our own reasons
for why the weight came on in the first place. It all points to a great deal of
misery all around.
What concerned me about this program, is that they made WLS sound like a “piece
of cake”. There was absolutely no comment made about how our diets are
drastically altered, how some of us die, and how some of us are so miserable
that we seek out help to get the surgery reversed. We all know the risks and
dangers of having WLS surgery. I am pre op yet, but I have read enough from
these sites to know how hard most people work to keep losing, finding the right
balance of food groups, the need for constant exercise and the need of dietary

supplements.
WLS is no picnic. You all are right in stressing that WLS is only a tool, not a
cure. It breaks my heart when I read someone’s plea for help because they still
feel hunger, still have the desire to eat, and the desperate pain of plateaus
and slow weight loss.
WLS can be a miracle. It can also be a rude awakening to the fact that yes, we
do have to work hard at losing the behaviors that got us obese in the first
place. It’s not magic. It certainly is not meant for everyone. I think that
both sides need to be represented in these programs. Maybe then we wouldn’t
hear quite so much about “taking the easy way out”. My home health aide was
here at the time and started talking about how hunger just goes away after you
have WLS. Right…………..

By: lovie20

lovie20 — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 00:29:14 +0000

In a message dated 4/18/03 1:26:15 PM, sstewart@… writes:
<< Sally
298 (BMI 49)/-117/181
Goal: 150
lap RNY 7/10/02
Sally,
I agree with you completely! There are some people who do not seem to have
problems with eating anything they want but I am not one of them. I have to
follow a very low carb diet or I stay the same or even gain weight. I don’t
think surgeons really want to tell you that you basically will have to follow
Atkins for the rest of your life. Once I realized this fact that this is the
only way it works for me, I have accepted it as something I just have to do.
The surgery definately makes it easier to stick to the plan, I didn’t go
through all I went through just to gain the weight back or to stop losing
before I get to my goal. It is truely a lifetime change of eating habits

that I have to remind myself of daily but I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Tina
255/170/145?
OPEN RNY 10/7/2002

Comments on: Myths???? About eating

By: Vera Antionette

By: lovie20