Recently I had a quick catch up session with a good friend of mine I’ve known for years. As we sat and chatted over red velvet waffles and fried chicken (don’t judge us!), she proceeded to fill my in on an upcoming event in her life … she’s getting weight loss surgery. Now my fellow Frugivore readers before you jump to conclusions let me tell you this woman is stunning!

Gorgeous skin, healthy hair, amazing fashion sense and men fall all over themselves to talk to her on a regular basis, she is by no means unfortunate looking. The only thing “wrong” with her, in her opinion, is that she could stand to lose 20 pounds and get her stomach flat. These issues are barely noticeable when she’s dressed, Spanx or no Spanx (because you know Spanx is the mistress of illusion) and personally I see nothing wrong with her *shrug.*

However, it’s not my opinion that matters. When she looks in the mirror she sees flashing red lights so she wants to do something about it. When I asked her about going to the gym, which she does every so often, her response was “Well, who really wants to workout?! I mean at least if I workout after the surgery I’ll have less of a load to deal with?” Basically she sees the surgery as a head start in the healthy living race. It will help her get where she wants to be and then all she has to do from there is maintain it. My problem with it is that it sounds good in theory, but unless your mind is right, it ends up being a simple temporary fix.

Healthy living is more than just the food we eat, our workouts, or how our bodies look … it’s a mindset. Those that have successfully managed their weight, eating, etc, have done so because their mind was in the right place to make the right choices. Getting weight loss surgery when you haven’t first trained your mind to stick to a workout schedule or eat the right foods at least 90% of the time will only have you close to or right back where you started. I had another friend who had weight loss surgery, lost close to 200 lbs, but still thought she could stuff her face and she ended up literally making herself sick every night. Now, two years later she’s put back on close to 30 lbs, no where near the nearly 200 lbs she lost, but still, because her mind isn’t right she’s on her way back down that slippery slope.

I think the appeal of weight loss surgeries is that you get to see immediate results. Many of us get frustrated hitting the gym everyday and not seeing the results right away, it can be depressing and even discouraging to know you worked so hard and are, seemingly, getting nothing out of it.

But temporary fixes are just that, temporary, unless you are in the state of mind to do what’s needed to maintain the weight loss after the surgery. Weight loss surgeries can be great, when needed, but if you’re just looking for a quick fix or a head start, you’re doomed to fail. Because there are no quick fixes to healthy living and the only head start comes from the confidence you build from within.

What are your thoughts on weight loss surgery?

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6 Comments

  1. I had a weight loss Surgery July 19th 2011. So far I have lost 118lbs and it is not easy or a quick fix by any means. Having the surgery helped me loss weight faster but I HAD to kick start that by changing my mindset. the things I eat and how active I am. Before I made the decision to have the surgery I would decline all offers to work out. Now I am doing more than I ever thought I would do. For my post op year anniversary I participated in a 5k, I had such a great time that I signed up for a second 5k. MY BIGGEST issue is that I have lost weight so fast that I have sagging skin on my arms, stomach and in between my thighs. Having a weight loss surgery is a process of life change. Your friend needs to take some baby steps to help her achieve her goal because if she does nothing until after will all be for nothing. I didnt have any complications but if I eat too fast or drink fluids with my meal I will get stomach cramps..My Body is no where close to what it used to be but now my focus is on getting rid of the skin and getting to a healthy weight and body image that is suitable for ME!!. afro soul sista tumblr are some bullet points of what I went through while losing are some of of my videos where I ramble about the process. In the past 8 Months I have not lost as much as I have wanted to because I was not focus and as dedicated as I should have been, and along with personal issues I had some major set backs…but even so I have still continued to lose inches and build muscle. I wish your friend all the luck and if she needs anyone to talk to or ask questions she or anyone else can tweet me @SoulSistaNokc

  2. I have had friends and family members use weight loss surgery (lap band/gastric bypass etc) or Lipo. And for some the difference has been night and day, but for others they are right back to where they started. So it’s truly key to have that correct mindset. If you are not changing your eating and activity habits, having surgery will only be tempoprary. I have a lot of weight I want to loose, and I can understand how disappointing it is to work out 5 days a week, and don’t see the results I think I should have. But I have to realize, it took more than a couple of months to put on the weight, so it will take more than a couple of months to take it off. I have also realized that I can’t base my results on just lbs lost, but by inches, gained confidence, and my overall fitness level. When I started out, maybe I couldn’t do 15 minutes of a particular workout without taking a break, now I am doing the whole workout, and now need to do something more intense.

  3. I had weight loss surgery for some of my trouble spots(back of thighs, breast reduction, tummy tuck) and they worked initially. The main advice is that you have to maintain or every thing goes awry.

  4. I had liposuction and it was never posed to me as “weight loss surgery”. In fact, I had to be close to ideal body weight before I could have it done. Liposuction is about body contouring. I had lost about 80+ pounds the old-fashioned way and still had large pockets of fat on my outer thighs. The liposuction “smoothed ” those areas out for me. To me, “weight loss surgery” is gastric bypass or lap-band, not liposuction. I suppose you could be significantly overweight and get liposuction done, but that’s not what it’s for.

  5. I have been considering ‘weight loss’ surgery for about 5 years. I went as far as the consultation with the plastic surgeon. As a woman of color, the taboo of plastic surgery as outright vanity, is only recently being whittled away. So I have been on the fence, about getting lipo/body contouring and a Brazilian Butt lift…well that and it is very expensive, and no insurance in the land will cover it…
    My decision was made, when my boyfriend and I were devastated to learn after a year of trying, that we (I) could not have children. After trying to come to grips with spending a life without being able to have my own babies ( I am still not ready to consider adoption, yet) I decided that I at least had the option of choice in my appearance. Athough I eat healthy, I must admit, I don’t even WANT to work out in the manner it would take me to lose and contour for the results I want…so I consider this a gift to myself…who else is gonna spoil me better than me?? Keep me uplifted, ladies…blessings to you all!!!

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