Weight loss surgery can be your most important tool ever, but ONLY if it's used the right way
by Beth (Who Hid the Donuts?)
(Virginia)
In reading some of the stories here or talking to others on other boards, it appears as if there is the misconception that weight loss surgery frees us from healthy living, which includes eating well and exercise. Nothing could be further from the truth.
One of the misconceptions seems to be that you can still eat whatever you want, but your revised body will force you to eat less of it, thus resulting in weight loss. Okay, that may be true... in the beginning. Eventually that will not be the case. Additionally, you will learn the cruel truth that (at least with the lap-band) foods called "sliders" (which includes everything and anything you should NOT eat if you want to be even remotely healthy) can slide right past your band.
Another misconception seems to be that you don't have to exercise because the decreased caloric intake will occur automatically due to your revised body. Again, that may be the case in the beginning, but that will not last. Not only that, if you lose a lot of weight and don't firm up what's left, you will be horribly disappointed by what you see one day.
Granted, we will never look like Gisele Bundchen or Brad Pitt when we get to goal, but the fact is that it'll be that much worse if there's only fat loss with no muscle build-up.
Weight loss surgery is not a magic bullet, it's a tool -- and tools ONLY work when we use them and use them correctly. You could have the best and most expensive hammer that Craftsman makes. However, if you use it to attempt to screw two boards together, guess what? Never gonna happen. Now, you could get mad at Craftsman and say, "But, but, but, I bought the very BEST hammer they have, yet it won't do what I WANT it to do. This thing must be a piece of garbage."
But your lack of proper use of the tool is what's making it not work.
Your surgery is identical to this scenario. You must do your part and use it properly. If you choose not to, you can't get angry at your surgery. Please realize that your surgery is ONLY a tool, not the fix-it that many believe it is. If you do, you'll be much happier with the results.
Related Pages:
- Bariatric Eating (How you eat)
- Exercise for Bariatric Surgery Patients
- Life After Weight Loss Surgery
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