The easy way out??????

 My little cousin said that my weight loss was the "easy way out".  I told him to never say that to a bariatic patient because there is nothing easy about:

eating 3/4 bites and getting full, especially after eating full meals all your life
going under the knife
drinking protein shakes
drinking one hour before and after meals
taking 30-45 mins to eat a meal, which is only 2-3 ozs of food
throwing up after eating too fast

Nothing has been easy about this process, worth it maybe, but certainly not easy.  All the things lve listed above maybe some challenges along the way, but loosing the weight makes it all worth it.  I THANK GOD EVERYDAY FOR THIS THIS SURGERY!!!!

Well said !!!

Driving a car to work is the easy way out, but I don't see too many people walking to work......just saying

I absolutely hate when people say that. It's one of the few reasons I decided to keep my sleeve a secret from most people. We still have to eat right and exercise just like anyone else. Be proud and happy for yourself for making a step in the right direction. I know I am.

Can;t imagine he came up with that on his own.... must have heard it from somewhere.  Awful, nothing easy about it.

Yep, one of the main reasons I ain't told anybody either. And i won't! I'm not a very good confrontationalist... Just my nature. Mean, onery, and tough as shoe leather. Don't need the stress, got e'nuff!

I find this thread interesting ... about whether or not to tell people about the surgery.  Who cares what they think.  What were these people thinking about and talking about when you were obese?  They couldn't have had very high opinions of you and your food weaknesses.  

So you are looking better and you are getting healthy ... I ask who cares what other people think or say.  You are better off having done this and it's not their health that is affected.  

I tell anyone and everyone and could care less what they think.  Everyone in my family knows and most all of my friends know.  If I have spoken with a friend in the last three months ... they know.

Heck, if I go out to a restaurant and am having trouble figuring out what to get I even tell the waitress.  I don't care what she thinks.  This has been great.  Once a food server that knows the ins and outs of the menu and what the cooks can and will do to help out ... you get suggestions that are very helpful. A great example of this is one place I went to had bunches of fried chicken and chicken wings on the menu as it was a "chicken wing" based restaurant.  I can't have those.  I know better.  I told the waitress and she said instead of breaded and fried chicken tenders she could have the cook grill the tenders for me.  It was great.  I had three tenders (their small meal portion) and ate one and took two home.  Victory.

When I was a month out I needed new clothes.  I went to a thrift store as I know the clothes are basically rentals.  I told the salesperson.  I was congratulated on the weight loss and she even went one step beyond.  Since she realized that what I was buying I would have short term, she said she could sell me the clothes and when I got smaller I could bring them back and trade them in for new ones at no extra cost (as long as they were still in very good shape).  Victory.

I tell anyone I see when I think it is relevant to what I am doing.  I obviosly don't care what they think and nobody on this forum should.  I also obviously don't walk around a mall and up to strangers and just start talking about it.  But when it comes to clothes shopping on the way down or eating out or going anywhere where you will be eating ... I have no problems sharing.  If they can't handle it, then it's their problem not yours.

Long and short of it ... share with whomever you want and just don't give a bleep about what this or that person thinks or says if it comes out negative.  You are a better, healthier, and happier person due to this surgery.  Be proud of your accomplishment and don't share your happiness.  

Of course at this point I could make up some pun about having thin skin or something along those lines ... lol

 Well said, sir!  I follow these thoughts as well, and so far it hasn't caused me any stress. I've found people to be mostly helpful and supportive.  We spend far too much time, as you say, worrying about what other people think.  We allow that to drive a lot of our behaviour.  

Oh please. Unless that person has been struggling their whole life like most of us have they have no right to chime in. It's like people who don't have kids trying to give you parenting advice. They have no clue what they're talking about.

People say whatever ... unless they walk in our shoes, they have no idea. They just see the weight drop off and have noooooooo idea! I dont worry about other's ignorance. I dont let it bother me!