Fighting Obesity Through Weight Loss Surgery

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Updated 08/08/2019 to provide you with a consistently awesome experience here at Stop Weighting, Start Doing!

Did you know that bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for obesity, according to a Harvard Special Report on weight loss? For this reason, I chose weight loss surgery, even though I was able to lose weight before surgery. After I lost 80 pounds during my pre-op days, people questioned why I would still get surgery. There are several answers like I had to lose at least 50 pounds to get surgery, and I needed a tool to help me eat less. However, it boils down to the fact that weight loss surgery is a tool to help you fight obesity more permanently.

Weight Loss Requirement

My surgeon wanted me to lose 50 pounds before surgery. The reason many surgeons or insurance companies require some weight loss is to make sure you’re able to commit to lifestyle changes. Also, the less you weigh, the less risky the surgery is. I stayed motivated to lose weight because I wanted surgery so badly. I also knew I wanted surgery to go as smoothly as possible, so it was in my best interest to lose as much as I could.

Fighting obesity is a lifelong commitment. It requires you to change your whole lifestyle. It’s so easy to slip back into old habits, like emotional eating and not exercising enough. Requiring weight loss before surgery is common practice, and just because someone can lose weight doesn’t mean they don’t have to get surgery. Surgery is a tool to assist with weight loss, and if someone is ready to commit to a healthier lifestyle, they shouldn’t be denied the opportunity.

A Permanent Solution to Fighting Obesity

As I mentioned, weight loss surgery, no matter which type, is a tool. It isn’t going to force you to go to the gym when you don’t want to work out. It’s not going to meal prep for you. It’s not going to choose the grilled chicken bites over the fried cheese sticks. It is, however, going to restrict the number of calories you can eat. Eating fewer calories, while simultaneously burning extra calories, is what is going to help you lose weight. While you’ll have to eat differently for the rest of your life, it’s a more permanent solution. You can’t physically eat more than your stomach will allow.

A Harvard Special report on weight loss states that bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for fighting obesity. It has the best overall health for its patients and long-term results. Sure, it is possible for you to stretch out your new pouch. However, overall bariatric patients have better long-term success and health than other methods of weight loss.

Fighting Obesity

Obesity is a disease. However, it is a preventable and curable disease. We typically get obesity by consuming too many calories and not getting enough exercise. Sure, there are other genetic, medication and situational reasons to gain weight. Generally speaking though, most people are overweight because they overeat and don’t move enough. Weight loss surgery is a tool to fight obesity.

Obesity puts you at a higher risk for other diseases like diabetes, heart disease, some cancers, fertility problems and high blood pressure. If you have a tool that can fight obesity, and you qualify for it, why wouldn’t you take it? Sure there are risks involved, but for me, the risk of not getting the surgery far outweighed any risks that may have come with surgery.

Sadly, childhood obesity is also on the rise. According to Epimonitor.net, childhood obesity has tripled in the last 40 years. These obese children are going to turn into obese adults unless something can be done to prevent it. If more obese adults start losing weight and adopting healthy habits, they can pass these habits onto their children. I know first-hand what it’s like to be an obese child and all the bullying, teasing and difficulty that comes with it. I wish I could hug these kids, tell them it will be okay, and their worth is not determined by a number on the scale. It’s time for adults to take control of their health, if for no other reason than to help their children reduce their obesity.

A Risky Operation

Though there are possible complications and side effects from weight loss surgery, for me, obesity was leading me to an early grave. My life quite literally depended on surgery and losing weight. I was prediabetic, had PCOS, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and could barely walk around doing normal activities. Now, I’m off all medications except for one for acid reflux, my blood pressure has stabilized, and I no longer need a CPAP to sleep. Yes, I could have developed a blood clot, I could have died on the table, and I could have received an infection.

For me, it was worth the risk. I was risking my life more by not getting the surgery. When the risks of not getting surgery outweigh the risks of surgery, you know it’s time to do something about it. Fighting obesity through weight loss surgery was a personal choice I had to make. I was either going to die from my obesity or die from the surgery. I figured if I died from the surgery, I was doing something to try to improve my life. Honestly, the risk of dying from weight loss surgery are even less than having gallbladder or hip replacement surgery, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Proving Myself to Me

If you’re anything like me, you have struggled with weight your whole life. Bullies made fun of you in school for your weight, called you names and pushed you around. I remember one time when I was probably around 13 or 14, and as I walked off the school bus, an older kid opened the window and yelled at me, “Hey fat a$$, why don’t you join Jennie Craig?” People said things like, “You could probably get a boyfriend if you lose weight.” Or “You have such a pretty face, it’s a shame you can’t lose weight.”

The people who said these cruel things to me probably have long forgotten about it. However, certain insults stick with you over the years. You can guarantee that I didn’t choose to get surgery for these bullies but rather for myself.

I am worthy of love, of good things, of losing the weight for good. I had something to prove to myself and to the rest of the world who counted me out. Here I am, more than a year post-op, and I’m smashing it. I am proving myself to me, first and foremost, but it is sort of sweet to stick it to all the people who bullied me over the years.

I’d Do It All Over Again

Fighting obesity through weight loss surgery is a more effective treatment than other paths to weight loss. Deciding to proceed with surgery even if you are successful at losing on your pre-op diet is a personal decision. I can’t make it for you. However, I do know that one of the reasons I was successful on my lifestyle changes is because I was motivated to get surgery. I decided to get surgery because it gave me a new life with a more permanent change. Weight loss surgery is a tool to fight obesity, so that you lessen your risks of falling in an early grave. Yes, there are risks to the surgery, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. It gave me back my life, and that, my friends, is worth every risk in the world.

If this article gave you some great ideas to incorporate into your life, just imagine what other amazing strategies I have for you! Share this post on social media by clicking one of the sharing buttons, and don’t forget to join my email list! You’ll be the first to get updates, access to my new products and lots of tips, inspiration and motivation to help in your bariatric surgery journey. Just for joining, I’ll send you a free weight loss coloring chart, as well as some other pretty awesome goodies to keep you motivated. Join today!

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