Be honest - ever feel like you "cheated" by getting VSG

If u had cancer, and u had surgery to remove the tumor, rather than just chemo, would u feel like u cheated? HELL NO :-)  I know that's a whole different situation, but it might put things in a different erspective. I think most of us r so usta self sabbatoge that it's like 2nd nature... I'm still pre-op... but I deff can see where ur coming from and have even asked myself the same question... but just remind urself it's only a tool... U hafta put tons of work into it or it won't work! and u hafta keep up all that hard work or ur results wont stay! using a tool is not cheating... and if sum1 other than u thinks so tell'em ta stop hatin'!!! LOL

I have to say that I honestly never felt like this was the easy way out. I am 55 and had been dieting since I was 7. I figured if it was going to work. . . it would have worked by now. Having the sleeve done is not easy. Living with the sleeve is not easy. You still have to make the right choices every day, every time you open your mouth. You still have to deal with you emotional issues about eating. You still have to deal with the confusion that comes with a huge lifestyle change. Easy? No. Hopeful and possible . . . .YES!

Yeah, I guess I do feel that way.  But, it hasn't come without a huge price tag either.  I can no longer indulge in quantities of food just because I feel like it.  And trust me there are times when I do want to but physically can not.  There are no "days off", the tiny stomach is always there.  And then there's the skin issues I was left with.  That cost me a cool 40 grand to get rid of.  So, for me, wls has been a double edged sword.  But I wouldn't take it back for anything : )

Laura

PS  I went to a gourmet pizza place today and could only eat 1 small slice...I wanted more, but tummy said no.   

Will you feel guilty when you drink protein drinks to help you lose weight?

Will you feel guilty when you exercise to lose weight?

Will you feel guilty when you are riding a bike, taking a Zumba class, or turning down a fattening dessert to lose weight?

The above are all tools that help  us lose weight.  I believe the sleeve is a tool as well and I for one won't feel a bit of guilt over it.   I'm putting myself at risk undergoing the knife and I'm having a portion of my stomach removed....neither one is something I'm going to feel guilty about....what I will feel is gratitude.  Gratitude that such a surgery exists that will help me get to where I want to be.

Please give yourself a break!  Tell people or not, it's your story to tell. But I feel you've worked hard to get where you are and should not feel guilty.

Linda

 Nope, to me it's no more cheating than the other things I tried- slim fast, pills, bars, detoxing, etc. 

I do think the VSG was easier for me than the other diets that I followed.  With other diets, I'd be hungry most of the time, work out lots, lose weight, fall off the wagon, gain the weight back.  Over and over again.   VSG has broken the cycle for me.  I'm still hungry, but it's intolerable.  I can live like this forever :)

I was interested to see this question because yes, I did feel like I was going to be "cheating" in a way. (I haven't had surgery yet) I know it's not the easy way, I'm ready to do a lot of work, but for some reason, I did have that feeling. I guess because that's what others think. 

HOWEVER, as I was reading the numerous thoughtful and honest responses, it occured to me... I can't see worth a damn. I wear glasses and contacts and spend every day with little peripheral vision or the effort of putting in contacts, dealing with dry eyes, having to take them out before I sleep, etc. I have a couple of friends who have had laser eye surgery to correct their vision. Does anyone feel like thoe people cheated? HELL NO. And they don't do any extra work beyond surgery, that I'm aware of. So why is surgery to help fix what's wrong with us cheating?

I think maybe it has to do with the stigma of obesity, the blaming of the victim/fat person, and the feeling that if we did it to ourselves, we should have to fix it ourselves? But what is surgery if not that? WHY do some people (outside and inside the process) feel like it's cheating? It's not cheating to have laser eye surgery instead of struggling with corrective lenses. It's not cheating to have a hip replacement instead of intense physical therapy that may or may not work well/long-term... More to the point, it's not cheating to have a rotted out tooth removed instead of just having it filled and/or dealing with the pain of cavities (when, after all, it's your own fault for having cavities). It shouldn't seem like cheating to have 85% of your stomach removed when it's rebelled against you and ruined your health, either. 

I do think that I "cheated" but I am so thankful for the opportunity to "cheat." I hear people say that it's just as hard and all of that, but it absolutely is NOT just as hard as losing weight the traditional way. This is a breeze compared to that. I do, however, think that even with "cheating" I still have completely altered my way of thinking and my choices, which is still a difficult thing to do. It was about 400 times easier to alter since I rarely feel hungry and I can't eat much even if I wanted to. There's no way in hell I could have lost weight without "cheating." It took me almost 3 weeks to lose 9 pounds during preop, and the first 10 pounds is just supposed to be water weight! I lost 5.5 pounds in the last 3 days and I'm already 2 months out and I truly didn't make an effort.

People also say "what is so easy about getting your stomach cut out?" Uhm, I've been through way worse things than that surgery and mine wasn't all that pleasant. Yes, we risked our lives, but we've all risked our lives plenty of times with our stupid ass decisions throughout our lives and the surgery isn't as dangerous as some of the other things we've done.

With all of that said, even though I'm cheating, I'm cheating RIGHT. I'm eating appropriately and I'm exercising and I'm using my ability to cheat as best as I can and not taking it for granted even for one second and I will slap the **** out of myself if I start down that path. I was given a GREAT gift and had I not been given this gift of cheating, I would have gotten bigger and bigger and I know it. I am still new on my journey but I have hope for the future now. This is my second chance at life and if I had to cheat to get here, I don't give a **** I'll do whatever I need to do to make a life for myself.

I know I'm cheating but I don't care because it was my only option. There's no way I could have done it without the sleeve. I proved that for the last 12 years that I've been overweight and just kept growing and becoming more hopeless.

I have definitely experienced these feelings.  Not only since WLS but also when I did fertility treatments and conceived twins.  I had 8 years of secondary infertility.  This was due to the fact that I gained about 80 lbs with my first pregnancy and never lost it.  I finally conceived twins and felt like I had cheated.  There were even times when it felt like my girls weren't really twins.  I hate it when people ask me (and they do all the time) if I used fertility treatments.  It's none of their business, but I don't lie about it.  I get the same feeling when people ask me how I'm losing weight.  They get that 'ooohhhh' which makes you feel like what you've done wasn't real and certainly not acceptable.  I hate it, but I know exactly how you feel.

Not cheating, exactly. But I will feel rude if I make it seem like weight loss is soooo easy while others struggle b/c I know how discouraging it is to be that person watching other people's success. One the one hand, I don't want to go around revealing ot everybody I encounter that I've had surgery. That's kind of personal. On the other hand, I will feel like I'm somehow being deceptive if I accept compliments without being clear about the tool I've used to be successful.

HELL NO, no guilt!  And since it's not a game or a sport with rules, how can you cheat? I've jokingly said "thank you, I had to cheat to lose it" to let the person know i had surgery but I don't really feel that way. I don't care what they think about it one way or the other vut prefer to tell up front if they haven't seen me since the summer. That way I don't have to wait until or if they ask how I lost that much that fast. I've told some that I hadn'r seen in pretty much forever who didn't mention it, and most have 
told me "oh, good, I was afraid you might have gotten really sick or something and didn't want to be nosy".