Man loses 300 pounds after failed WLS?
Posted on 03/06/2013 by Yvonne McCarthy / 8 Comments / Leave a Comment »
This morning a story was featured on Good Morning America. Chris Powell is a beautiful soul and I can’t be grateful enough that he said he wasn’t for or against weight loss surgery but he mentioned he has seen many after surgery for help with weight loss. This is a misleading statement because his clients wouldn’t be WLS post-ops who kept the weight off. The words that sent an arrow through my heart…”Brian was so busy focusing on altering his body that he didn’t change his mind and that’s where the transformation happens. Then he got it. He learned from his mistake. And then he said I’m going to do this the right way. I’m going to walk my dog. I’m going to start one step at a time.” I know Chris meant the right way was by making the transformation in his head but it sounds like weight loss surgery was the wrong way.
Chris made some excellent points that I’ve been talking about for years.
With every transformation we need to surround ourselves with people who love us unconditionally.
Find another purpose that feels much better than food ever did. Always have something to look forward to more than food.
Most importantly he mentioned that after you quit getting the thrill of seeing the scale move and getting all those compliments, you have to find more happiness in service to others.
Where are the stories about those who figured it out the first time around after surgery? We have to work just as hard every day to maintain our weight loss. This isn’t about me….it’s about all of us who have gotten our lives back. While some haven’t kept it all off they are still 100 pounds plus ahead of the game. Watching someone freed from their bed, wheelchair or walker is a miracle to me. Seeing someone resolve their diabetes is a miracle. Some of us have damaged our bodies so intense exercise isn’t an option but there are still ways to move our bodies.
For years I’ve been writing People Magazine when they publish the issue about people losing half their weight. They don’t want my story because I had surgery and they really don’t understand how many times we’ve lost half our weight only to gain it back. Why can’t they celebrate those who have kept it off period? It is always funny when I hear how weight loss surgery doesn’t work but the moment someone loses a great deal of weight quickly they are immediately accused of having surgery.
I want this post to be understood. Brian is to be congratulated for figuring it out no matter when it was. Chris knows how to teach people how to keep the weight off but I hope some day he’ll learn more about our community. Please don’t leave negative comments about either of them.
The cynic in me says no one wants to do positive stories on WLS because it just isn’t good television.
Maybe some day….in my lifetime…the stigma will go away forever.
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8 Comments on “Man loses 300 pounds after failed WLS?”
Yvonne, you are so right…the media does not see a slow weight loss the first go round as positive news. I still have not wrapped my head around the issues that cause me to eat all the time even after having surgery. I bet if I ballooned up to my presurgery weight and higher the media would gobble that type of story up but I’m not going to feed into that. I am working now on moving and getting the correct types of food as well as the amounts in my body to fuel it and not just feed it. Thanks for your recap of the above story as I myself watched it this morning too.
Throughout my blog I have discussed our need to use food to self-medicate. Actually if you will click here it will take you to a few posts where I talk about it. It’s much more complicated than this but generally the short answer is to get the food you don’t want to eat out of your house, make sure to eat some breakfast with a few small meals a day, don’t graze, find something fun to do to move your body and try to go through the day with an attitude of gratitude. If I could magically put you back into your pre-surgery body for a week you would be very motivated. Every morning I make sure and remember exactly what it felt like and looked like. In every situation you can either see the down side or the grateful side. If you stay on the grateful side you can basically arm yourself against the days stresses and triggers. Food is fuel and it’s something I have to work on every single day but it’s so worth it.
Brian to this day believes his surgery saved his life and got him on a healthier path. He just had a surgeon that didn’t do proper follow up and told him he could eat whatever he wanted just less. Wow sound familiar because he had surgery with the same surgeon I went to 15 year ago. Fortunately I only had a 50 lbs regain and re-lost all the regain. Brian is an awesome person and touching lives just like you Yvonne!
Thank you Kathy. We communicated and he told me the same thing. I think you realize that I was reacting to what sounded like a slam against WLS. I also realize that the story we heard on Good Morning America can be twisted for better ratings. I was so proud of Brian when he was on Good Morning Texas and was asked if he was sorry he had WLS and said no. The person interviewing nearly fell off her chair. And yes it does indeed sound quite familiar about a particular doctor that didn’t do any aftercare. I’m so proud of you for losing your regain. WOW! I know that was some hard, HARD work but I’ve always known what an intelligent and strong woman you are.
Great article
Good POV on this post! I agree totally. Thank you so much for this blog. I am 2 weeks post-op!
Sheila
Congrats Sheila!!! That’s awesome! Be sure to check out my Bariatric Girl Facebook page too. So happy for you!!
Being open minded with weight loss surgery will change you life and make you healthy. Some people who are more than 100 pounds overweight may find it difficult to lose weight through traditional methods and look to weight-loss treatments and surgeries to provide the answer for long-term weight loss.
As with any other type of surgical procedure, patients should make sure that their surgeon is trained and belongs to a surgical or medical doctor association or organization in his or her country of origin. In addition, the surgeon performing any of the above procedures should be considered a bariatric surgeon and belong to a college or association of surgeons who specializes in gastric and bariatric procedures.