Weight Loss Surgery Is the Easy Way Out

Let me tell you a little about myself. At only 24 years of age I found myself half dead and with close to 325lbs to lose. It started extremely early. I was already well over 300lbs by the time I hit 7th grade. I lived in an abusive home and food became my addiction and my best friend. I tell you this not to get any sympathy, but perhaps to offer insight to the morbidly obese. My addiction to food was much like any run of the mill crack addict. My first thought in the morning was what I was going to eat for breakfast. My first thought after eating was what I was gonna eat next. It was a sick, disgusting cycle and I knew it. I tried everything, but my will power could only tolerate it so long. You see, part of a drug addicts plan of recovery is to separate yourself and cut ties with who and what causes relapse. But here enlies my dilemma. You can stay away from crack houses and avoid people who do crack...But explain how I was expected to stay away from grocery stores, restaurants and avoid people who eat? A person can only seclude themselves from a food driven society for so long...And trust me, I tried using this tactic. Now let me ask you, how long can an alcoholic spend in and around booze before they are tempted to drink? One of my very favorite people in the world is a recovering alcoholic - Clean for over 15 years! Recently WA state just passed a law that allowed hard liquor to be sold in grocery stores. She had to quit her job as a merchandiser in order to maintain sobriety because the temptation was too great. You see, people can only have self control for so long. Even Jesus himself made comments regarding how weak the human spirit can be when confronted with temptation. Married men and women are commanded to fulfill sexual desires for one another completely and often so as to prevent them from going astray. He KNEW that even the most well intentioned person will fall eventually without necessary precautions. When I tell people about my addiction some people scoff, saying food couldn't possibly have the same effects as hard drugs, alcohol or even sex. Really?? Any pre-menstral woman could tell you otherwise, but even science has proven it! Countless studies have been done, some have dissected the brain of those who abuse hard drugs versus that of someone who was extremely obese. The results? The same parts of the brain were damaged. The same pleasure receptors that are triggered by snorting that line were the same that an obese person got from eating that cheesecake. Years of abuse and a tolerance was built up - Soon it takes more and more, until you OD or find yourself 500+lbs. Granted, not everyone enjoys drugs or food that way, but some unfortunate people are predisposition for it. That being said, I have NEVER heard anyone telling a meth addict or alcoholic that rehab was the "easy" way out. It was a TOOL!! It takes time, dedication and planning to overcome your addiction and ultimately rewire your thinking. For me, LapBand surgery was only step 1 of my "12 step program" to insure I wouldn't allow myself to lose my motivation and revert to my old, disgusting habits. I have already lost 70lbs and for the first time ever, I feel hopeful that I will do this! As difficult as it is when someone doesn't "get it," it will never compare to the feeling I get to see the scale go in the opposite direction than it has for the last 25 years! Just know that for some of us, it's not a matter of being the "easy way," sometimes it's the "only way."

Listen lady, worry about your damn self. Who are you to tell someone they don't deserve to be skinny ha.. what are you a child. Now I think everyone has there own opinion but sometime people just need to think about others and step into there shoes. This is just an example of an ignorant being who has lack of knowledge

Yes, it is a convenient procedure then anything else. But it should be taken in excessive over weight case, when all the other ways are not beneficial.  

Bariatric Surgery

Hate to break it to you but the gastric bypass is far from the easy way out. I had a gastric bypass 3 1/2 years ago and lost over 200 pounds. Was it easy? HELL NO!!!! It is just as much a struggle as trying lose the weight without the surgery. The one thing that does help is that your stomach is fuller faster. I still struggle with finding enough protein to eat and keeping track as to when I need to eat next. Yes, every 3 hours. I still go to the gym 4-5 times a week, that has not changed since before my surgery. Have I tried any other means of taking off the weight? ABSOLUTELY!!!! I have tried slim fast, diets from my doctor's which consisted of V8 juice, lots of salad and a frozen lean cuisine for dinner. Did the weight come off? NO Why? because there are not enough calories to take any weight off. When you deprive your body of the needed calories it hold on to every piece of food and drink you put in your mouth because it goes into starvation mode. I have even tried other weight loss pills and just using the watching what I eat and writing everything down and exercise and where those things may have worked at first and I did take off 57 pounds but all that weight came back and brought friends. I have even hypnotism, which I will tell you is a waste of time and money. Sometimes gastric bypass is the only thing left that can help you and that is the route I chose for myself. DON'T prejudge people without knowing ALL the facts!!! I was told that if I did not do the surgery then I would be dead within the next 20 years. Was I ready for that comment? Absolutely not, I am still young and I had a life to look forward to. I most certainly did not want my life to end that quickly. For those of you who decide to put something down like the gastric bypass surgery you need to really think twice and realize that what you are saying is COMPLETELY wrong. For those people who gained back their weight after surgery or even lost their lives it was because they did not follow the doctor's instructions or take their vitamins like they were supposed to. Gastric Bypass is not for everyone! But, it has HELPED me and not given me "the easy way out". I have worked very hard to get to where I have and neither you or anyone else will change my mind or make me feel guilty for what I have decided to do for myself. I didn't have this surgery for neither one of you or for society and how they viewed me as being obese. I did it for ME!!!! I am currently no longer a diabetic, I know longer have high blood pressure and I do not have sleep apnea. It all went away within a year of my surgery. My doctors are very proud of me and loves the fact that I am much healthier than I EVER have been in my life!

Yes we all know Two out of Three American adults are overweight or worse. The issue of weight on wellness has become an epidemic. It is usually a well thought out decision for those who receive the surgery.

It does not matter HOW they got to such a positionBlaming serves no purpose

We need to work together & concentrate on FINDING A SOLUTIONIS THERE A SOLUTION?You decide~Here is a short video~http://www.mymangosteen.com/fr...

Here’s the issue: The problem is comprehensive, and the solutions are not. We gain weight when we lead increasingly sedentary lives and eat bigger portions of less-healthy food.

We all know this is linked to~our addiction to sugar ~genetics~technology/internet/email~lifestyles learned as children

It does not matter whether you just had the surgery or are contemplating one,Neither is easy to have gotten to that point.~My heart goes out to you~ <3Even with counseling, that is not enough support.Your results need to be SUSTAINABLE.Read my Google blog on a solution for those of you serious on making a changehttps://sites.google.com/site/...

Many of my friends have had, or are thinking about this major event.Every decision is based on their weightThey need our support no matter what they decideMost loose a chunk of weight in the first month.Some are not diabetic any more.Others experience hernias & had to return to surgeryAnother friend developed problems with her thyroid & vertigo.

We celebrate your successes & it saddens us loved ones who watch you develop additional health issues. that seem to be triggered by the stress the surgery puts on ones body

If this post helps even one person ~(because I know people are hurting out there and looking for answers)~what a blessing.

Bottom line is. You have a goal, Hurray! Don't try to do it aloneSurround yourself with those that support and celebrate your successesYou will not only reach your goal much faster,but will be able to sustain it for the rest of your wonderful life!!It is possible~I am here if you ever want to talk togetherSam Gragg  BS,MLS (ASCP)(248) 892-7705(please leave me a message if I don't answer the first time, I promise to call you back)

you are a horrible person..... 

Yes, Weight loss surgery is the easy way out but it should be adopted only in case of excessive weight, if one can reduce or maintain his weight without surgery, by exercise or diet plan then, one must opt these ways only. 

Women should eat a minimum of 1200 calories per day, men a minimum of 1500 calories per day. 500 calories a day is a VERY dangerous level and could have permanently damaged you.

I agree that most people who get weight loss surgery probably don't need it and should choose an option that doesn't involve mutilating their insides. After all, what weight loss surgery does physically is usually to make someone's stomach smaller, controlling their portion sizes. You can, as you mentioned, do that by choice alone without self-mutilation.

Anorexia (and be honest, 500/day fits into that category), is even worse for your health than being overweight, so I think it's horrible for you to advocate such a low level of calories.

WLS is for lazy fat people who are too lazy to go on a diet and exercise. What these ads don't tell you is that even with surgery, you still have to diet and exercise to lose the weight and keep it off, so what's the point of having someone scrambling your insides? People just want a quick fix because they have no willpower, no self control whatsoever. Is risky surgery really worth losing 40 pounds so you can fit into a bikini? These doctors don't tell you about the possible side effects and risks of WLS, because all they care about is your $$$$. If your too lazy to get off your ass and lose weight the RIGHT way, then you're pathetic.

Um, cutting your calories down to FIVE HUNDRED and exercising TWO HOURS a day is obsessive, and definitely eating-disorder behavior. Not to mention, it would also be described as "the easy way out" by those who lose weight slowly and healthily. 500 calories a day is practically starving yourself and I would definitely call that cheating. 

That said, I actually agree with you that gastric bypass is an easier way out than losing weight the good old fashioned healthy way. But YOU, who did something possibly even less healthy than surgery, are a giant (no pun intended) hypocrite. 

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This is really best article on weight loss. This kind of weight loss surgery are useful but not always the first choice. We can loose weight by doing hard exercise and doing regular and strict diet. 

As we know, we cannot instantly switch from being overweight to slim. Between these two states we need to take many small steps such as habits needing to be changed, decisions and choices have to be made, lifestyle changes need to be implemented, and various stages of progress to be achieved. If we begin a weight loss program with the attitude that we have to, or are going to shed those unwanted pounds, we may be bogged down by a sense of frustration and anxiety until we eventually reach our weight loss goal.

I lost 230 lbs without surgery and I've kept it off for over 10 years. I am always happy for anyone who sheds vast amounts of weight, and I regularly follow the weight loss stories of people who lose both with and without surgery. It's not as easy as you think for those people who do opt for surgery. They still have to make drastic lifestyle changes to keep that weight coming off and to maintain their losses. They have to be very dedicated to better health. I'm glad I didn't get the surgery but I certainly don't look down on people who do choose that route. Either way, the important thing is just to take action today. Somebody might be reading this right now feeling completely overwhelmed by the prospect of losing 100, 200, 300 lbs. Don't be afraid. You can do it.

Here's my response: http://notjustaface.blogspot.c...

Ily,

I just listened to you on BTV and I have to give my back ground story, since you gave your drug dependency history.  Every obese person has their own private reason for choosing surgery.  My reason was I saw my grandma die of a hernia surgery infection.  She had a hernia because she was overweight she was overweight her entire life.  She worked jobs on her feet all her life and had to lug her weight around causing the hernia. My mom suffers from thyroid disease but isn't terribly overweight.  My father has heart disease.  I was 16 years old when I saw him have his first heart attack at the age of 45 years old.  My older brother was 26 years old when he died in 1988 suddenly.  He was 6'3" and only weighed 300 lbs.  He wasn't terribly overweight but it was enough to shorten his life.  He had a wife and 2 little boys and a little girl on the way  My sister died at the age of 43 in 2003.  She fought her weight for years and when she turned 40 she was diagnosed with epilepsy, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.  She left behind a husband 2 adult children and 2 minor children.  That is why I chose WLS.  When I turned 30 my hormones went hay wire.  I wasn't overweight until 30. In a 2 month period I gained 20 lbs and from then on I just got bigger and bigger.  I tried different diets and exercise until I reached a max weight of 300 lbs.  When my sister died it was totally unexpected and I was in my mid 30's and I reallized if I didn't do something I was going to die young like my siblings. 2 years ago I started looking into the weight loss surgeries.  I went through the support groups and the psychiatric therapy and it freaked me out so I decided to back out and try the whole diet and exercise again.  I cut my portion sizes and I got up to jogging 2 miles a day and I did this daily faithfully for a year and I lost nothing!  Not 1 pound.  So I went back into the program and asked more question and talked to more people who had it done and watched what the post ops were eating and it looked so hard and til the day I went into the surgery I was so terrified it would not work.  I'm now 42 years old and it is the best decision I have ever made.  I'm 6 months post op and 86 pounds lighter.  I can now run 4 miles a day and bike 10 miles a day with no pain.  I think what you said that burned everyone's butt is you saying the surgery is the "easy way".  On the radio show you used the word "short cut"  I think short cut is more acceptable because without my shortcut I probably wouldn't live to see my grandchildren or even long enough to lose my weight.  The "easy way" though? I don't think so, weight loss surgery is not easy.  It takes a couple years to get approved and you have to go through classes and support groups and see all sorts of doctors and get food stuck and get sick cause you ate something you weren't ready for or sick cause you ate that last bite.  Not easy at all.  I'm glad I did it.  

Kelly

What a sad "little" person you (pun intended) 

Thank you Ms. Goyanes. For have the guts to say what you personally feel, unlike so many other writers that just write what the masses want to hear.  I personally do not think this article was written to get traffic for the site, if that was the case she could have written about so many other things. If you read Fuming Foodie, you will notice that Ms. Goyanes is an extremely opinionated person. But HELLO it is called FUMING Foodie for a reason. What did you expect a sugar coated article. Of course not, and if you did go to a dictionary and look up what the word fuming means. The Miami New Times is a newspaper that gives their writers the freedom to say what they truly believe unlike so many other newspaper. and if you don't like it, then read something else. Don't spend your precious time banging your head against the desk and screaming profanity at your computer screen because Ms. Goyanes just called you a spineless jelly fish. Then pounding your keyboard to write some idiotic comment about how she is a complete idiot, she deserves to be fat forever, she has sex with her dad, all this makes you come off as a complete loser with no live. Why not take a minute... breathe and then write a well educated response. And if I may say so what in this article is not well researched? Everything I thought that might have been misinformed in her article was in fact correct. Yes she believes that surgery is cheating. It is. There is no argument to that, it gives you that jump start that you would other wise not have. And so many people are saying that surgery isn't the easy way out. OH REALLY? Then why are so many people resorting to surgery instead of the old school diet and exercise if surgery is so darn hard? If surgery really is so hard then don't do it. You can't, want to know why, because you have no will power so you resort to the EASIEST escape route... SURGERY. So yes surgery is in fact the easy way out because it forces you to eat a little bit and to exercise. And about your other, for lack of a better word, concern about a 500 calorie diet, as long as you visit your doctor and he gives you the okay a 500 calorie diet is perfectly fine. And juicing is in fact good for diabetics because it keeps their sugar at a normal number. As long as you aren't just drinking fruits (a lot of sugar) and you drink a lot of juiced vegetables too. So do i think that Ms. Goyanes was a bit over the top mean... well yes she was but that is what makes this article a classic Fuming Foodie bit. Mean insults combines with WELL researched information and a whole lotta controversy makes for a fun read. Just what Ms. Goyanes is known for providing. 

As a dedicated gym rat, I'm all up for putting the time in the gym, but I've only ever heard about diet and exercise (thought I'm no expert on the subject, nor have I met anyone who's gone through it) being part of the deal when a person commits to one such surgery because from what I've always heard portion and food type have to b meticulously measured and planned in order for the surgery to b ultimately succesful. It seems to me to b the more painful way out, but at least it would b a way out. Truly being spineless and self indulgent would be to remain obese or overweight and to continue stuffing tacos down the pie hole 'till you're big enough to b a body double for that guy in the movie Seven (eek. Gluttony was it?) Anyway, that's just my take on it. :) Everyone's road to fitness is different, what's important is to take it. :D

You are stupid and don't know what you are talking about.  Gastric bypass is NOT the easy way out.  I still have to work to lose weight.  I have yoyoed so much in the last 50 years, that metabolism is shot.  When I had this surgery, it was a choice between having it and dying.  I believe I would rather have the surgery.  It was a very hard decision until I found out I had already had a "silent" heart attack.  It is much less expensive to have the surgery than be on insulin because of diabetes.  If most people had had lived healthier lives, most would not have to have heart bypass surgery.  Are you going to say they are lazy too.  Some have had to have the heart surgery just because, not because they did anything wrong.  If you got up to 250 pounds, I guess you were just lazy too.

Who in their RIGHT mind decides to that the HARD WAY OUT?!

Why drive your car when you can walk? Driving is the easy way out of getting from one location to another.

Why use a computer to blog when you can write with a chisel on a rock and HOPE people will see it?! Worked for the 10 commandments at least! Computer blogging is the "easy way out" for writing.

Inventions are there to make our lives easier, and WLS is just one more way to make our lives easier. It does NOT eliminate our need to watch what we eat, or our need to exercise. I think The Biggest Loser and other weight loss reality shows have proved that to us by show casing people who HAVE already HAD WLS and FAILED!!

WLS is a tool, to help keep us motivated and to help with portion control. Just like treadmills are tools to help us exercise in the comfort in our own home instead of going to a gym and sometimes embarrassing ourselves.

I used to think WLS was "the easy way out", until I found myself at my heaviest weight and everything else failed. For 3 years I've been able to finally keep the weight off. It is by no means "easy". There is so much I can not do, like I did before. But there are so many more new things I can do now I wasn't able to do before I had surgery and lost the 150lbs.

Ily,

Thank you for joining our radio show tonight to discuss..  We are obviously going to disagree on some issues but I thank you for being open minded and listening to our stories and for offering us your thoughts and opinions as well.  I look forward to reading your follow up blog post.

If anyone would like to listen to the recorded content of our discussion with Ily Goyanes - it will be posted to www.bariatrictv.com in the next few days.

lynnda@bariatrictv.com

500 cals a day WTF!!!! oh thats healthy.....NOT!!!

I have not had surgery and yet you offend me! I  am losing weight slowly every inch and every pound. I am  a little envious of my friends that drop the weight as if it is melting off, I am happy for them as I watch them step out into the world, zip line across a canyon, swing in a swing,  rejoice as their twin goes from being unhealthy to healthy or go some where they would never had gone, alone. How do you judge their right for happiness by your own method getting smaller? Have you ever even read anything about this community you label and slam so harshly?I have heard their stories and I understand they took a path that lead them to a life saving decision. Because of people like yourself insurance companies will not help people help themselves. White knuckle weight loss. You claim you found the willpower. I once found your kind of willpower. I stayed thin for decades. I now suffer from bone loss and brittle health and I am not so worried about thin now. I am just hoping for healthy. Starving or extreme weight methods will make you yo yo. It is matter of time. I have many friends, and a family member that " Had the easy way out" to quote you. They are tougher then nails, braver then I have ever known and stronger then a Redwood tree. Not only do they take verbal abuse from being obese, but are constantly slammed for having a life saving and life changing surgery. I have not seen one yet that could be called lazy. They lose the weight, they make healthy food choices or like myself suffer for it., and like myself, they educated themselves to keep themselves healthy and just like me ( and you)  they can gain weight back if they aren't careful. They exercise because- at last they can move as they wish. They also are a wonderful community and don't discriminate against other people who struggle the day to day of the weight battle. They don't hold it against me because I am not having surgery. They don't think I have no will power because I am taking the weight off so very slowly. I can't understand how anyone that lost weight can not rejoice for those that do- by any method. Bulling  should be a crime. Some day it will be on the law books as a hate crime. You have outed yourself as a bully. Time to put the teasing of the chubby kid to bed, for good! Time to stop discriminating again people because they do it differently then you! Reporter open your mind. 

http://aleadsinger.blogspot.co...

Deep inside most of us, in a part we infrequently access, is that little bitty part that says, "I know I cheated and took the easy way out."  That's the part that society has trained us to feel, we, the bariatric patient.Have you read this?  http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com...

I read it and had my two programmed responses.  First and quickest, "OMG, I totally cheated".  Then, the second one I have developed pre and post-op.  "It's totally not cheating, they don't understand how hard it is."

Honestly, 12 months out, my real answer lies somewhere between the two. 

Why if someone is successful, does everyone else have to attribute it to cheating?  And WTF is cheating anyway???  Did I copy someone else's answer to weight loss?  It's it only cheating if there is a winner?  Or a high scorer?  Do they call people cheaters if they are last place???  And when did this become a competition??  Don't we wish health and wellbeing on all of human kind???  Are people in UN refugee camps cheaters because they found government sponsored shelter?  I mean, honestly, it's ridiculous.  This woman who wrote this piece is a little hostile about a game that I would argue NONE of us signed up to play.  Does it only count if you work harder than someone else?  We only deserve to be skinny if we follow her rules?  Am I ranting???

Where's my answer?  I was smart enough to know I needed help (notice the word HELP, not CHEAT).  I readily admit that I was not as good as our writer here at establishing my own limits.  It's like saying a recovering alcoholic is a cheater if they go to AA instead of kicking their addiction at home. 

My sister and I once had a conversation like this - only it was honest and constructive.  My sister is thin - but thin because she works her BUTT off at it.  She teaches fitness classes, sometimes twice a day, and regulates the hell out of her eating.  She admits to a moderate exercise addiction.  And when I was banded, she really didn't want to talk to me about it.  She would grimace at the mention of the changes in my life.  But then one day, I just asked her, "Why do I feel like you are not supporting me here?"  And you know what, she answered - honestly.  She told me that she was essentially jealous - that she worked so hard every day and she wished that she did not have to work so hard.  SO THAT'S IT FOLKS - to the outsider, it seems easier than dieting and exercising.  We insiders, however, know that it is not guaranteed and it is not easy.  We all still have to work, only we had to have surgery and had to endure the struggle of obesity to get the surgery. 

If cheating means that when I work, I get results - then so freaking be it.  I CHEATED!!!!!!

You really need to educate yourself better regarding weight loss surgery. Wls is definitely NOT the easy way out. You still have to change your diet and exercise, or you will not lose the weight or you will regain everything you've lost. Wls is not for everyone and obviously not for you, but for some people it is a life saver. Wls is not cheating and its not easy. You are not the first one to bash wls nor will you be the last. I'm just saying....GET EDUCATED so you don't sound ignorant. Blessings.

You mentioned you have a history of Yo-yo dieting.  Sooo in a year or two when you regain that weight that you "worked so hard for" - and you will!  I hope we do not hear your spineless, self indulgent whinning all the way over here!

As the "Rob" in question that wrote you... I have not seen your response. I'm pretty sure I included my correct email address... but if you could forward it to me again at rob-at-formerfatdudes-dot-com I would appreciate it.

And I will add I was not offended. After the things I've been through, offending me is not an easy thing to do. Even so, that's not the point. Nobody has the right to not be offended, especially by another's opinion.

My beef here is that while the author has been more than willing to address replies to countless others on her previous postings, the one post that seems to have stirred up more conversation than her last dozen or so posts combined continues to be ignored.

I could see if everyone replying here was simply coming in and calling her names, shouting for her head on a platter... and while there are a few responses I see as possibly over the top, the vast majority of the responses here have been very civil.

I believe many of us here are simply hoping for, asking for a dialogue. "We" (those of us who have had weight loss surgery) are used to the need to educate others. Many of us have embraced that role.

And for the record, here is the MW definition of bigot:

a person who is obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

Now I am not calling Ms. Goyanes a bigot... I don't know her well enough to come to that conclusion... but the tone of this article was bigoted. It showed a definite tone of intolerance without regard to the facts.I appreciate you willing to step in here and start a dialogue, and as a regular contributor to the BariatricTV radio show on blogtalkradio tonight that Lynnda Shepherd invited Ms. Goyanes to... I would extend you the same invitation.

Hello Ms Goyanes,

We will be discussing this blog post, as well as rebuttals posted within the community, this evening on our show  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/b....  Show starts at 9pm Eastern

Please feel free to give us a call if you would like to participate. 

Bariatrictv.com is a weekly internet video and radio show for weight loss surgery patients - their family and their friends.  We don't push surgery on anyone.  We aim to educate and entertain so that adults can make up their own minds when it comes to their health.

www.bariatrictv.com

lynnda

Damn you really need to get a life and stop hating on people !!Yeah I took the easy way out due my muscular dystrophy in my back that would not allow me to bend over nor walk a block without being in pain.. 1.5 years out and I am Running now , I feel better and my Health is much better , My MD will never go away , But now I have it under my control ! it no longer control's me, so blow that up your ASS !

 I beg to differ.  Calling a group of PEOPLE "self-indulgent, overweight, spineless jellyfish who take the easy way out" and "You're the type of person who enables drug addicts and criminals. I have the Learning Channel." does indeed reflect a mind-set that is bigoted.  She was not addressing an ISSUE that 'concerned' her, WLS, indeed had she written an article that showed she had done some research, learned about the fears and the hard work that is involved after weight loss surgery, she would have probably written an entirely different blog.    What she did do was act as judge and jury of the PEOPLE who had WLS and not about WLS itself. I have not had WLS, but I found her blog so mean-spirited and devoid of any understanding of what WLS entails, that your comments make no sense.  This is not about people not being able to talk openly about issues that concern them, it is about someone who wrote a deliberately inflamatory blog about the PEOPLE who had the surgery and the fact that you, and others, can't see that is sad indeed. 

A commenter named Rob from Minnesota just sent a note responding to this blog item. I returned the following response: 

Rob,As a born Minnesotan, I naturally take offense kinda easy. But your letter particularly bothered me. Of course, we take complaints and comments seriously. I don't feel Ily's post was bigoted. She has struggled with something that a lot of us have. The issue struck a chord. That's it. Neither she nor New Times have anything against any particular group, yours included.  I wish you well, I really do. I just wish we could all talk as openly about the issues that concern us.  CESChuck StrouseEditorMiami New Times

Wow, it surprises me how immature you are. Like many of the commenting people have said, why is what you want to call "the easy way out" a bad thing? "Diets"-especially juice fasts,I believe, are for people who are a few pounds over their goal weight but only need to lose a few pounds for something such as a special event. People who are overweight by a significant amount need something that works. weight-loss surgery happens to be it for some of us. It is a tool, and it still requires that you make permanent lifestyle changes such as a good diet and exercise. Because, if you don't, you will most likely find every pound you lost and maybe even more. Now please, keep your rude and childish comments to yourself and do research before you decide to bash a select group of people.

That you think weight loss surgery is "easy" shows your ignorance about the reality. As a person formerly extremely fit and normal weight who became bedridden with acute nerve damage in my back I became an ideal candidate for a weight loss surgery before I ended up in a wheel chair and dead at an early age. I had the vertical sleeve gastrectomy and sorry lady there is nothing EASY about it. I follow a less than 30 carbs, more than 60-80 gram of protein diet, exercise every day at least two hours now that 60 pounds is off and I can be in the water, drink 3 liters of water, all of it. You need to do the work, the surgeries are only a tool.

In addition your attitude of derision towards the mrbidly obese people who desperately search for a resolution to their lifelong battle with obesity is chilling. Where is your compassion? Many obese people suffer from insulin rated metabolic syndrome and the things you seemingly found so easy to do don't come easily for them, nor do they tend to work.

I am just glad I am not a friend of yours, not with that nasty streak you have, and your lofty standards of behavior.

Have you undergone this procedure?  No?  Then you're not qualified to make that judgement one way or the other.  Newsflash Einstein, even with surgery one has to count calories and exercise.  It's an aid, not a miracle.  There are no easy ways out.

If you don't like surgery.....simple solution, don't have it.  But don't judge what you don't know.  You know what they say about people who assume, they make an ass out of you, and well...you.

One would think, being a member of not one but two minority communities (Latino and GLBTQ), the author would not be such a bigot.

Insurance won't cover the surgery for you? I'm sorry. Good luck on your starvation diet.

-A gastric bypass patient, a support system, an athlete