The Weight Loss Surgery Superiority Complex

Mar 16, 2016

I've been pretty open with my weight gain struggle on here recently.  And one thing that I have noticed that I am shocked by is the weight loss superiority complex.  It turns out that, for some, having weight loss surgery has turned them into self-proclaimed health know-it-alls who cannot fathom regain.  They have a lot in common with the people who could not understand why I couldn't lose weight before surgery.  "Stop making excuses" they all say.  "You know what you need to do" they cheer.  "Don't eat the stuff that makes you fat" sometimes they taunt.  From the sound of their encouragement, which sometimes sounds eerily similar to criticism, you'd think they had never had a weight problem in all their life.  

They are hypocrits.  There.  I said it.  If you have had weight loss surgery and cannot understand how difficult and complex one's relationship with food is after WLS, and you would blame someone for regain, and the only advice you have to offer is "stop making excuses" then you may be suffering from the Weight Loss Surgery Superiority Complex, or WLSSC.  WLSSC is most commonly found in those about 2-3 years out from surgery.  Those are the people who have lost the weight, and kept it off for some stint of time, but have not fully realized the time period where regain is quite prevalent.  I might have even had a mild case of WLSSC 3 years ago.  Around that time I would see those veterans who had surgery about a year before me, who I iconicized, regaining weight.  I would think what the heck?!?!  How could they LET that happen.  I won't let that happen.  But I have.  It is still not too late for me--I've only gained 10lbs. in 5 years.  But this experience has cured me on my WLSSC.

What if you're 3+ years out with no weight gain?  Then count yourself very, very lucky.  

And if you're someone who thinks you might have contracted WLSSC, then ponder this question:  Why did you need WLS in the first place?  If it was for a variety of food issues, including a voracious appetite, then consider a secondary question.  If you woke up tomorrow with the same full-sized stomach you had before surgery, would you be successful?  I know I wouldn't.  It would only be a matter of time until I ballooned up into the mid-200s again.  That is why I work hard to try to keep my pouch restricted, despite everything else.  But some people feel this way.  They feel as though they are in the rowboat without any oars.  Perhaps the hypocrisy hits so strong because those who've had WLS feel like it was drastic enough that they would never allow themselves to fail it, no matter what.  And how could the rest of us?  How could we possibly eat a cute little Reese's easter egg when we staked so much in the outcome of WLS.  If you truly don't understand how difficult it is to make healthy choices, and to be hungry and not eat, then it sounds like you could have lost weight on your own and you "*took the easy way out*" by having WLS.  It hurts all the more that people who should understand the best are the quickest to judge.  I suppose that's because they see that we have followed similar paths and think now that it should be as easy for me as it is for them.  And that sounds an awful lot like the type of comments I heard from thin naysayers before WLS.  

DON'T BE A HYPOCRIT.  It's not nice.

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05/26/2010
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Aug 26, 2009
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