Getting fit has not been an easy task. I can't tell you how many times I have heard my trainers say that eating enough food is important. I thought they were crazy until I saw one person after another eat their macros, drop weight, and gain muscle. We have been trained to think we need to barely eat in order to lose weight, or better still, we need to have some sort of bariatric surgery to lose weight.
I have said before, we live in a right now society...we want everything to be quick. We want our food fast and want to drop weight faster. Well folks, there is no shortcut to being fit. I am proof that bariatric surgery is not the answer. In the summer of 2008, I had lapband surgery. I weighed around 400 pounds and was desperate to drop some weight. It was great until the money for fills ran out and the complications started. I got down to 220 pounds. That's awesome, right? Wrong. I lost weight quickly, but discovered a few things in the process. 1) I thought lapband would fix my poor eating habits. It didn't, they became worse. 2) I thought lapband would make me a happier person. It didn't, I was still miserable. 3) I thought lapband would make me lose weight. It didn't, I gained back all of the weight I lost as soon as I was no longer able pay the $150 to have the stupid thing filled.
You might say, it wasn't the quick fix I had hoped for, in fact, the complications I have had make me pretty miserable. I cannot eat, most of the time , without throwing up or burping continuously. I have acid reflux nearly every night. I cannot drink anything before going to bed, because when I lay down, it comes right back out. It is so bad that sometimes I panic because I feel like I am going to drown.
My weight loss has hit a plateau because I will not eat. I will not eat because I don't want to throw up. My body is in starvation mode and I have lost muscle mass. I am miserable. The hopes I had in 2008 are crushed. I was promised that I would be able to get down to about 165 pounds because I had this procedure. It didn't happen. I was promised that I would be able to keep the weight off because I had this procedure. I did not.
There may be someone out there who will see this that is thinking about taking a short cut and having some sort of weight loss surgery. Just don't do it. There is not a quick fix for being fat. YOU have to take the steps necessary to get moving and make sure you are eating enough. Having surgery does NOT fix your emotional relationship with food and the surgery (in my opinion) makes it worse.
I am taking the necessary steps to meet my weight loss/fitness goals. I started that, in 2014, when I joined Camp Gladiator and began to loose weight. I can tell you that the 130 pounds that I have lost at Cg will not come back. I have worked hard to get them off. I am also scheduled for a consultation to have the lapband removed (I'll post about that when I have more information). I have surrounded myself with fit people. People who love me and support my crazy goals. People who will rally around me and help me keep my focus. People who will call me out, when necessary, and hold me accountable. I didn't have many friends like this in 2008.
You can have a support system too. Seek out people who will support your fitness goals. Shoot, grab a buddy and find a workout. Get up off the couch and go for a walk, but PLEASE, do not try to take the easy way out. You are worth the effort it will take to drop the weight without surgery...wish I would have had someone tell me that in 2008.
Be blessed and be kind!
