I just read the Facebook status of a very popular, former Biggest Loser contestant. It read:
“Who watched my girl Staci last night on Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition?!!? She ROCKS right?! Girl lost over 200 pounds in a year WITHOUT surgery…pure hard work & dedication! That makes me so happy & PROUD!!”
What irks me about this entire statement is the fact that this former Biggest Loser contestant is insinuating that having surgery isn’t hard work and takes no dedication. Maybe I’m reading too much into this because I have had surgery. I can 100% confirm that I have worked my ass off the past year to lose the weight that I have lost. It’s taken a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication on my part to accomplish some of the goals that I have reached. And, I’m still working daily; it’s anything but easy.
Weight loss surgery is a tool for weight loss, just as going on a television show is, but still requires a lot of work on my part for success. I don’t look down on you for leaving your life for months to appear on TV (with trainers and 12 hour workout sessions), so please don’t look down on me for choosing weight loss surgery.
Greis (pronounced Grace) is a single, 30 something, Texas girl with an iPhone addiction. She loves her hometown Houston sports teams, Astros Baseball & Texans Football! When she’s not working as an inside sales analyst for a local manufacturing company, you can usually find her on the internet, watching trashy reality television or snuggling her niece, Audrey. In her spare time she enjoys a good chick flick, reading teenage vampire books (the sparkly kind) and dreaming about what life will be like when she finally wins the lottery. You can read more from Greis on her blog, Amazing Greis.
I agree. There is a lot of work and effort that goes into it, and it’s not an easy magical solution.
Wow. That’s sad that people think it’s the easy way out. First of all, putting your body through an operation is not “easy”. Secondly, I know that you have to follow a strict diet post surgery. Again, not easy. And the kicker is that most doctors (the legit ones, at least) won’t perform the surgery unless the patient is committed and willing to work and do what is required.
I guess I hopped up on a soapbox there. Oops.
Definitely not EASY. Helpful, yes, but not easy.
As someone who’s also had gastric bypass, you can guess where my opinion falls on this issue. I don’t watch The Biggest Loser, but I think that person is an idiot.
Also, I’m curious to know what the average long-term success rate of a Biggest Loser contestant is. That show is so extreme, I just don’t know how those people can maintain that weight loss in the long run. Surgery can help ensure long-term success where crash diets fail.
I love BL, though I’m not sure what the success rate is. I know that a lot of the former contestants maintain their weight loss, but I also know that quite a few of them fall back in to old habits and gain their weight back as well.
Yes Yes Yes..Thank you! Weight loss surgery is a TOOL, just like the personal trainers and dieticians and chefs are a tool for them. We have to work so hard at eating the right food, exercising (though you are much more dedicated than me!), and keeping ourselves healthy in the process. People that aren’t committed and work hard can go back to their previous weight very easily. I really don’t watch the Biggest Loser or any of those weight loss shows; they are just not realistic! Come watch me vomit from drinking water too fast or freak out about being away from home trying new foods..that’s reality! Great post, Greis!
Thanks Meg. I love The Biggest Loser, and love most of the contestants. They truly do inspire so many people, including myself. They, of all people, should know what it’s like to be out of options, so I hate that this former contestant made such a misinformed comment.
Word. I’m considering weight loss surgery right now and I KNOW there is nothing easy about it. It’s a tool, just like diets, workouts, pills and councling.
And if I had tools like a trainer, prepared meals, the pressure of TV and 12 hours a day in a gym I’m sure I could lose the weight without surgery (heck, I’ve lost 30 lbs so far with daily HARD, LONG workouts & a very restricted food selection… long term I know I need help to lose more). But could I keep it off? I’ve heard trainer Bob say that 50-80% of the BL contestents gain much of the weight back. I think that success rates of WLS are a bit better than that.
And finally, who the hell cares? If it means it helped you get healthy why does it matter what route you took? I’m so sick of the holier-than-thou attitude of BL groupies. If you have a disease and you take the steps to escape that disease, who cares how that happened? Ugh! guess this strikes a nerve with me, too!
Good luck to you. Let me know if you have any questions about surgery. I know I asked plenty of questions before I made my decision. It was always nice to be able to speak to someone who had been through the process already.
Thanky Thanky for all this good ifronmation!
I totally agree! And even being a surgery patient, if you let your guard down for one minute like I have, you gain. It is NOT fool proof and is NOT easy.
Amen! Staci worked her @$$ off, but with a period of time dedicated at the Calif center, then with a 3 month leave of absense from her job, a nanny, a trainer, a dietitian, and a brand new home gym. Some of us don’t have that available to us. Some of us had to figure out what tools can help us achieve long term weight loss while still living our lives. I had lap band over 2 years ago. Its a struggle but every day I have to make the right food choices, wake up extra early to get my cardio in before work, I go to the gym late at night for weight training 3 times a week. And people who think its easy (of which there are many) can kiss my still-curvy @$$.
Agreed, a tool is a tool regardless of whether that tool is surgery, appearing on TV or going to the gym DAILY.
Maybe she just needs some information/education on all that work/stress/dedication it takes to have WLS? Some people might be misinformed about the process.
I agree, a lot of people are misinformed.
I think people THINK it’s the easy way out until they’ve actually had it, or know someone close to them who has and see firsthand how much dedication and determination it still takes.
I think that no matter how you lose weight (assuming it’s a healthy doctor approved way, not eating disorders), it deserves respect. Keep on working on and keeping your goals.
Comments on this entry are closed.