Easy way out, grueling, or somewhere in between?

Mar 13, 2009

I see this "easy way out" topic brought up a lot on OH, usually the post goes something like this:

I'm ticked off that so-and-so thinks that I took the "easy way out", but WLS has been the hardest thing I've ever done.

So it got me thinking about my own WLS experience. (My intention isn't to "make anyone wrong" here, but rather, to report on my own post-op experiences.)

I have to say, for me, WLS has, so far, has not been partiuclarly grueling. While the weight loss has been dramatic, everything else in my post-op experience has been, honestly, uneventful. I am not suffering. My experience hasn't been excruciating. Now, if I was having complications, couldn't tolerate foods--yeah, things might be a LOT harder, and I am grateful to be free of these potential problems.

Perhaps my seeming "ease" as a post-op is due to the fact that I was already working out regularly and eating healthy as a pre-op. I had worked regularly with a dietitian for a few years pre-op, and I do feel that I learned and was able to incorporate a ton into my life when it comes to eating. Without that knowledge, I think life as a post-op would have been mich harder.

Or perhaps I am not giving myself credit and tend to downplay my own efforts as a post-op. And if I'd had complications post-op, or had major food addiction issues (I probably have some minor ones, but garden variety stuff) then I probably wouldn't be having such a relatively "easy" time of it.

I mean, yeah, I work out several times a week (strength train w/trainer 2x/week, Pilates training 1x/ week, Gyrotonics 1x/week,  physical therapy 1x/week, and then cardio, which has been slow lately due to gallbladder surgery). And thanks to the work I've done with my Nut, I eat healthy stuff. I've learned to eat intuitively and I don't track what I eat. But certainly there is room for improvement in both areas--I am far from perfect. The hardest part of it for me has been the darned vitamins.

My smaller stomach and re-routed intestines have definitely made things easier for me. For me WLS has been a blessing. It is much easier for me to loose weight now than it was before. I don't feel that there is anything less "worthy" about my weight loss because of the way I'm achieving it.  I had a metabolic issue (PCOS and insulin resistance) that WLS "cures", and as expected, I'm losing weight. For me, WLS has been, perhaps not the "easy way out", but rather, an "easier way", and I am grateful for having the opportunity and access to it.

My only regrets are that it took a long time for me to start living a healthy lifestyle, had I developed these habits earlier in life I would probably nipped the problem in the bud before I got MO. That, and I wish I'd known about WLS sooner--I would have done it  when things really started getting bad. Oh well, it is still a blessing so I am glad I did it.

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