Gastric Bypass is a tool that’s all part of a life change, if someone is unwilling or unable to make the life changes there’s no point in having the surgery. I had the Bypass, which not only limits the amount of food you can intake, but the also the types. Sugars, breads, rice, pasta will all fuck up my world. Pain, swelling, puking and the possibility of shitting myself are all end results. When I was in class to learn about the surgery it was amazing to me how many people choose to have the sleeve because they still wanted to be able to eat shitty. The lady next to me in one class actually said “I’m having the sleeve, because I still want to be able to eat a hot fudge Sunday!” But her saying that pretty much sums up my biggest issues with weight loss surgery…the mental game.

The Mental Game
They don’t really teach you how to win the mental aspect of all of it. I’m a volume eater, I can easily sit down and eat a meal that is probably an entire’s day worth of food for most people. Eating is mostly in my head, it’s my addiction. They never taught me how to beat this part, I can eat, be full, but still be “hungry”. Food is my crutch, food is my hobby. Nothing to do? Let’s eat! Need something social to do with friends? Let’s eat! It’s still very hard for me to shake. When I had a bad day, food was always there, it was always something enjoyable to me and I knew it would make me feel a little better, even for a short time. I was actually nearly in tears on Sunday because I was having a bad day and I had no idea how to make it better. Before surgery a trip to Primo’s hoagies, or 5 Guys or Chili’s would have fixed my bad day…now I don’t have that option. So my health problems (with the exception of my body making it’s own Crisco) are solved, but my mental issues sit here unresolved. I don’t know what to do to fix it, I just know that I have to put in the work

The Work
This is the part of weight loss surgery a lot of folks don’t get, it’s work. Yeah I have an advantage, yeah I got a kick start on weight loss. But people seem to think it’s magic….like I still eat everything I want, as much as I want and my body just says fuck it…..we’re not counting that. I’ve been called “lazy” and a “cheater” I’ve been told I “took the easy way out”, by people I consider close friends, people who knew what kind of trouble I was in. I was obese, diabetic, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and when they opened me up they realized I had an enlarged liver that was starting me down a road that was leading to death. This was my chance at living, would I have liked to have done it the “natural” way, sure I would have, but 31 years of being obese proved that I obviously couldn’t do it alone and I needed help and that’s what I got help. But at the end of the day I still put in the work. I decide what to eat, what not to eat. What activities to do, what not to do. I have friends that have had this surgery (that like to tell ME how I should lose weight) who have failed because they don’t want to put in the work. This surgery is not guaranteed to work, it takes work. You can actually work at counter acting the surgery and making your body get use to eating more and eating what it shouldn’t.

I guess at the end of the day as an obese person most of my life I really though suddenly being thinner (I’m in no way or will I ever be a thin person) would change so many of my issues in life, but for me it really didn’t. The truth is those issues in life probably have a lot to do with my I eat poorly and why I’m overweight. I have no idea why I just went on this rant, sorry if you read the entire thing….it’s just been a rough couple of days and all i really want to do is drink 3 liters of Mt. Dew and eat a hoagie the size of my leg.