absolutely not, and it's not a "quick fix" either.

I am all for people making decisions that are best for THEM. While I (obv) think diet + exercise are the way to go, for some people gastic bypas is the best option.

And look at Ron on TBL -- he had the surgery and he ballooned back up. From what I understand, it's very difficult to have the surgery and change the way you eat for the rest of your life.

I agree with runningesq. Surgery, especially a surgery this invasive, is never an "easy way out." The recovery is brutal, and the person STILL has to make healthy decisions about food and exercise going forward.

It's not a magic surgery that will fix everything if the person does not adopt a healthy lifestyle post-surgery. I think that some people need this extra "push" to get started.

I'm not sure how anyone can consider a life-threatening surgery that forces you to change your dietary habits the "easy way out". It's not like having your fat sucked out of your body with a straw.

I'm a little traumatized by how Star looks like a shriveled prune or something now....sure, she lost weight and made positive changes but has that frightening sunken look.

surgery is less work than Weight Watchers and a personal trainer, if that's what you're asking

it forces you to change your dietary habits instead of having to do it all on personal motivation alone

and it doesn't encourage exersice whatsoever

In a way, yes. I agree with skigurl. But, I knew a woman who had it done, and it was no picnic.

I don't think it's really an easy way out, I think it's an easier way than just eating less and exercising. I think surgery should be reserved for times when people are so morbidly obese that they can't lose the weight on their own. In my opinion, Star was not super morbidly obese, she could've lost the weight without surgery if she'd gotten a bit of help (ie, counseling to help her stop her emotional eating, a trainer to help her start exercising, etc)

I know several people who have had gastric bypass. It made them change their diet and exercise. While I know one person who did neither and of course the surgery didn't help at all... it actually made things worse. (Almost like Ron on the Biggest Loser.)

I think gastric bypass is a choice that each person has to choose. They also had to be on a program for 6 months to retrain their diet and how they see food before the doctor would preform the procedure. Kind of a boot camp. I think it was a good thing for the people I know who did it.

By the way, am I the only one who thinks Star looks awful since her surgery? Yes her body looks slimmer, but her face just looks awful.

I wanted to answer yes AND no because.... I do think it is the "easy" way for some people. I mean we all have things in our lives that we struggle with, you just have to learn how to channel that depressive, frustrated or 'whatever' energy instead of turning to food.

On the OTHER hand.... my best friends mother went through a very traumatic ordeal in which she fell into a depression then had a nervous break down. She was chubby to begin with but after her breakdown she became obese. To the point that she couldn't even walk from her bathroom to the living room without being winded and nearly collapsing. She did not have the capacity to deal with things in her life due to her mental breakdown. She had GPS in which she lost over 100 lbs. We all work with her now... and she has a team of professionals that help her exercise and eat right. She really *can't* do it on her own.

My husband's aunt had it. Yes, the surgery was hard. But it's not a "fix" at all -- you have to exercise and eat right to keep the weight off. Gastric bypass does help, but if you don't follow these two key things, you can gain the weight back and your stomach can stretch. I think many people believe it's some magical cure. It can help get you going and get your weight down, but you have to do the rest yourself.

If gastric bypass works for a person, it is clearly because their caloric intake was more than they were burning (hormones and all that aside - if it was a hormonal problem, gastric bypass would not work). Surgery is not the way to fix it, it's just treating the symptoms rather than the cause.
My opinion is that gastric bypass is the "lazy way" out.

her face was so much prettier when she was heavier.

Anyone who thinks that there's anything remotely easy or lazy about opting for gastric bypass is NOT paying attention at all. GP has a terrifying infection rate - most of the people who get it have long-lasting and horrifying health side effects that forces them to spend most of the rest of their lives in a hospital. Very, very few people have had positive results from it. It is NOT a solution to obesity in any way, but for the most part, is just an institutionally approved form of slow murder.

It's not the choice I would make, but I don't really have an opinion on the subject since I've never been in a situation where I've had to choose.

However (I guess I'm an emotional eater too - don't leave me with cookies if I've had a bad day - so please bear with me if I sound patronising) it makes me sad we're in a society where we know one part of the world dies of hunger, yet our fridges and shops overflow with so much food it's become an accepted fact one can have surgery to stop over-eating.

I'm pretty much with skigurl on this one. Yes, there are a lot of risks that go along with this surgery, but it's basically like someone holding a gun to your head and saying "stop eating." It takes away having to make choices and find your own willpower, and doesn't encourage exercise. I guess I just don't really see why it's so difficult to make positive changes without the surgery.

Of course surgery isn't an "easy" path, and if you can't learn control, it's not going to solve anything either. I know one woman who had it and thinks it's something of a game and a victory to "cheat" her post-surgery diet and not get sick... so it's not going to work. Still, for some people in extreme situations, it can be a starting point for change.

There is no easy way out when it come to weight loss. Period.

if you get the surgery, but don't change your eating habits or lifestyle, then you're going to put the weight back on.

I think different people need to take differnt paths. Having said that, I'm incredibly relieved when I meet someone who needs to lose weight but refuses the surgery because they know they won't learn change their habits. They'll just be worse off than ever.
(Not that I endorse being overweight and not doing anything about it.)

Also, I know a girl who gained over 100 lbs. JUST so she could be heavy enough to qualify for gastric bypass. She only initially needed to lose 20 lbs. or so. Post-surgery, she's still REALLY messed her body up. Insane-slash-tragic.

Sure it's an easy way out. You don't have to exercise or really eat all that healthy and you are guaraenteed to lose those pounds. Though I'm sure nip/tucking those excess skin is still :S

I still feel like 'easy' is in there somewhere, although I understand that there are complications and a strict diet & exercise plan to be followed after the surgery. It's just, to me, since surgery is involved at all (instead of just deciding personally to eat better and exercise often), it seems like it's easier than other weight-loss options.

Compared to actually dealing with her emotions and solving the root of the problem of her overeating and then switching to a diet of healthy foods and exercising regularly, yes, surgery does seem like the easy way out. For her to feel like it was her only choice just seems sad to me.

I think the semantics of the question are skewing what the real debate should be which is should people get gastric bypass. Since you still should exercise and eat healthy when you have gastric in order for it to be most effective (which is what you could do if you wanted to lose weight without the surgery)it is still work, but my questions is why didnt you just do that in the first place?

It is dangerous to have any surgery and I feel that it should only be done in the most extreme cases because if you are incapable of being disciplined to eat properly and exercise regularly, then there is something else going on that needs to be addressed first in order for any weight loss method to be effective. If you are eating for emotional reasons, that inclination is not going to go away because your stomach is smaller. Where people take the "easy" way out by getting the surgery to me means they haven't done the work to find out why they are the size that they are because it is not due to a slow metabolism. Those are the hard issues that need to be addressed and if you do change your diet and exercise routine on your own without being forced to eat smaller meals, you are more likely to be successful.

I think it is and isn't the easy way out. It is a dangerous procedure that has life altering effects, and therefore is usually done on people who are desperate. Meaning, they've tried lots of things and failed, and feel that this is their only option. I've never been there, so I can't judge if it is right or wrong. It's an individual decision, but hopefully those that do it know that it's not a permanent fix - it doesn't last if you don't take care of yourself after.

Yes. The best and most effective way (and long term) will always be diet and fitness. Just work your bum off, watch what you eat and make sure your food is as healthy as possible. People get this surgeries thinking it will somehow make losing weight easier than before; It won't. Go through therapy, heal yourself inside and take the correct, most effective steps. Gastric, lap-bands, etc... are not long term and you still need to follow the old fashioned diet and exercise; so, if it always comes down to the old fashioned way, why get these surgeries? Because in this society, many just want the simplest way and not deal with actual work. Simple as that.

Agree with TLS and SKIgurl.

I have lost over 120 lbs in the last 3 years with diet and exercise. It was a struggle but it is what worked for me. I think whatever a person needs to do to lose weight and get healthy is for the individual to decide. Some people cannot control their impulses and have spent years trying to lose weight and still can't. I think the surgery gives some the jump start of encouragement they need to make the change. I think rather than judging the decision we should applaud anyone who make the choice to change their lifestyle and better their health. Even with surgery if your eating and exercise habits do not change you will not lose or keep the weight off. We are judged for being fat, we are judged for how we got thin...when does it stop?

I have a friend who had GB and has gained all the weight back - during the initial phase of his surgery he was on such a strict diet he would have lost the weight anyway if he ate like that. It was almost too painful to watch.

It's not the easy way out and its not a quick fix. It's actually borderline scary.

I have to say though, Star Jones doesn't look NEARLY as pretty as she did when she was a bit heavier. Her face is rather scary now :\

I'm going to say, yes I think its an "easy" way out. I'm not downplaying the seriousness of surgery itself, but more like the decision to make it.

Look at Manuel Uribe, the man who used to be "world's heaviest man" in the book of records. Obviously he still isn't down losing weight, but he decline the option of the surgery because he wanted to do it himself (because he realized he got himself into that mess) and he worked hard to lose weight (eating carefully, and doing special exercises from his BED because he could get out of it, and still worked out as best as he could). This guy orginally tipped the scales at over 1,200 lbs and has been working hard to lose it (and still working hard). Thats why I think that surgery is an "easy" route. He weighs way more than most people who qualify and still wanted to do it himself.

*still isn't DONE losing weight (not down)

I agree with everyone who said her face was prettier when she was heavier. Now it looks like skin melted over a skull. It's quite frightening.

My cousin had it and is doing quite well. They don't just do the surgery and that's it - your left to fend for yourself. She went through a lot of counseling beforehand and after wards to help her adjust to a new eating lifestyle. It's not an easy fix and it gave her the jump start to a better life after failing at other weight loss methods.

I'm kinda split on this.
While I do think it can be an easy way out I think that the old fashioned way is the best.

My mum's friend had GB surgery she went from like i think a size 28 to a size 4. Now, 8 years later she is a size 14 and keeps going up and down with her weight not eating the way she is suppose to just as long as she doesn't wear a 16 she says she is fine.

My aunt use to weigh over 350+ lbs. I saw her not to long ago and she lost a lot of weight. she now weighs 240 and did it just by taking walks every evening and changing her diet. she had been overweight since before I was born so that is over 20 years. She told me that she is going to get the lap band only because she wants to get off all her medications and hopefully no longer be diabetic anymore.

I think it depends on the person.

i think it can depend on the person that chooses it. if you really have a problem with food, then it's a chance - though a very very risky one - at salvation from it, but someone that has money to throw around and just wants to eat less ( like when Lily Allen blogged that after she was called fat at the Brit Awards she considered gastric bypass as a solution even though she's not nowhere near obese, probably not even over weight) then it is. Star Jones had no need to feel ashamed!! as an individual who has suffered from binge eating disorder, i wish i could shrink my stomach or take a pill to make me always feel "full" but i am - fortunately- nowhere near size to have the procedure. but to be "addicted" to food is a real thing, and it is and can be as debilitating to an individual as a drug/alcohol problem not to mention more humiliating.

Do I think it's the easy way out? Yes and no. It's not an easy decision to make, since having such major surgery totally changes the way you eat for at least a good year or so. I think a lot of people elect to have the surgery thinking it will be the solution that works for them and they discover that it is NOT easy and the weight doesn't just fall off after a certain time period. You can re-stretch the pouch and out-eat the surgery. My aunt's friend had the surgery done and got down to around 160ish pounds, but she's regained the weight back by cheating the surgery and eating high-fat foods very often. Now she's back up to almost her starting weight and wants to get the surgery revised. The thing is, it's stomach surgery, NOT brain surgery...you have to figure out why you overeat and you have to address those issues before you decide to rearrange your insides forever. Plus, a lot of people don't realize that it is a SERIOUS operation.

Incidentally, my husband's aunt passed away due to complications from GB surgery. She weighed close to 400 lbs and had very bad knees. She could barely walk and her doctor thought that if she had surgery, the lost weight would help her knees and help her be able to exercise. After the surgery, she didn't follow the doctor's orders to walk around after the operation and developed a pulmonary embolism (blood clot) and died.

Bottom line, it basically FORCES you to start eating healthier and exercising, so it takes away your power of choice for a little while. But if you don't truly want to change your lifestyle, your pouch will stretch out, you'll start eating the crap you used to and probably regain the weight. I think the surgery should be reserved only for people that have so many other complications from their obesity that if they don't lose a lot of weight rapidly, they could suffer many problems due to their weight. The people that are only around 250-300 lbs, like Star, who only suffer from shortness of breath occasionally, could probably do it on their own if they chose to.

Star does look horribly shriveled up now in the face.

Thank you poptart! I have a serious problem with food. And it's not something everyone can just put their foot down and change. Especially when I'm trying to put my focus elseware (school, for example). It takes every bit of my focus and determination to not mindlessly eat. I'm lucky that I still do active things like run and climb, because I shudder to think of the weight I'd be at right now.

Gastric-bypass isn't easy by any means. I haven't had it [but I'm seriously considering it, at least a LapBand], but I know people my age who have (in early 20s), and it is really difficult to even start losing weight when you can't eat practically anything that you're used to all of a sudden. You have to have comprehensive psychological and nutritional aid as well with the surgery for it to be successful, so it's not so much of a shock and you don't get discouraged or have unrealistic expectations about life afterward.

And also, after you reach so many pounds, doing the "normal" thing of dieting and moderate exercise 3-5x a week can be very stressfull [in a BAD way!] for your body. You *have* to do those things to stay in shape, though, but at that weight it can be very hard to move...so you get stuck in a Catch 22 - damned if you do start moving around and risk straining yourself and causing injury, damned if you don't start moving b/c you'll never lose the weight to be healthy enough to GET around. So doing gastric-bypass might help in that situation.

As for Star Jones, she was a much nicer person when she was heavier. When she got thin, she got really catty and everything terrible. Every time I see her, I still see a fat girl in a thin girl's body b/c of how ugly she acts - it really shows what's inside.

It's extremely radical if you ask me.

I can;t read all these comments because this topic just makes me so angry. I have had weight loss surgery. I also have a person trainer and a nutritionist and have to stick close to both to make this work for me. It is NOT easier than diet and exercise, because it involves diet and exercise! It also is a matter of introducing a medical problem into your body to correct another medical problem (unusually high appetite, an inability to raise metabolism due to a tendency toward body efficiency/obesity). Anyone who thinks this is an easy, or even easier, option, has a fundamental misunderstanding of the way people's bodies differ in function and how they react differently to diet and exercise. Before surgery, I worked out six days a week and gained weight. After surgery, it was like a miracle had happened that allowed me to react to diet and exercise like a normal person. All my life I had been told that I wasn;t trying hard enough, when in fact I just worked differently than they did. The surgery is a godsend for people like me, and not a single moment of any of this has been an easier run than anyone else gets.

I think people are unfairly doing blanket judgements. If we know anything about our bodies, we know that each of us work very differently. Just because your aunt lost 110 pounds doing walking, doesn't mean that Jane Doe down the street hasn't eaten right and power walked every day for 10 years with no results. It's a personal decision based on a doctor's approval. However, I do feel that there should be more required education/requirements/testing prior to surgery. Hospitals seem to vary widely and it's a big deal surgery to not have down-the-line strict policies on who's eligible.

its not an easy way out if its a surgery to save your life. those surgeries you pretty much have no choice but to cut down or you'll get sick. and not everyone can lose weight the same way someone else can. its unfair to think that its an easy way out when there are some people who grew up without knowing proper nutrition it can be very frusterating.

Surgery is not easy! Anyone who's ever been operated on for anything will know that (and shame on you if you called it the easy way out).

Those who undergo this surgery do have to change the way they eat forever and they have to exercise to reduce the amount of loose skin that comes from such rapid weight loss. The recovery period for this is intense, including a liquid diet for a substantial period.

I think surgery is more of a way to begin a healthy life for those who have done a lot of damage to their bodies.

it's not the easy way out in the sense of recovery. but i think it's the easy way out when it comes to diet and exercise.

with diet and exercise you have to be accountable to yourself, and have to WORK everyday to maintain yourself. it's like you were so opposed to working hard to keep your body in check before, why would you do any better just because you have surgery?

it's not the easy way out in the sense of recovery. but i think it's the easy way out when it comes to diet and exercise.

with diet and exercise you have to be accountable to yourself, and have to WORK everyday to maintain yourself. it's like you were so opposed to working hard to keep your body in check before, why would you do any better just because you have surgery?

sorry about the double post...weird.

Definitely NOT the easy way out. My dad had the surgery...and surgery never is an easy way out. it's risky, especially when your overweight. month after he still couldn't really eat, like we did. He still can't really eat everything (f.e. rice) and that is 5 years later. He lost 70 pounds, well theoretically he still should loose an other 20...but at least now he's not THAT overweight anymore.
With him it's a bit weird, since he really ate healthy, the problem was, he ate TONS of healthy stuff....like a whole bag of nuts, or a salad with avocados only for dinner...lots of wholewheat breads...so now at least it's less...
with sports it's different, I mean I love doing sport...but I know there are people who just REALLY hate it, and you can't make them, when they feel bad. so I think this surgery was definitely the right decision for him, and no, definitely not the easy way out.

it must be brutal to have your stomach reduced so drastically.

This surgery is by no means the easy way out. I had the surgery. It never occurred to me to just eat healthy and workout. Ok, sarcasm aside, its not easy but it is useful. I was able to start eating very healthy and am able to exercise now. I workout about an hour every day and don't eat junk. I have had much success and no horrible side effects or health problems. Its a very useful tool. Yes, it makes it easier (at first) to drop pounds but you have to work really hard. Once I started that it was much easier to tackle my real emotional issues. Now 5 years later I am happy healthy and finally living a life I am proud of. Unless you have ever been morbidly obese its a hard call to make.

As someone who HAD Gastric Bypass Surgery (distal roux en y procedure) I say HELL NO!

GBS is far from the easy way out, it's actually more difficult to deal with weight loss, life style changing, physiological changes and physical changes than just exercising and dieting - plus with GBS your have to exercise and diet to have the TOOL work for you and it's very hard to know that you will never be normal again.

I probably know more gastric bypass patients than anyone on this entire site and NOT A SINGLE POST-OP GBSers WOULD SAY THAT SURGICAL ALTERING YOUR BODY FOREVER IS EASY, especially when you have to admit to family, friends, doctors and psychiatrists that you are incapable of controlling your own weight without outside intervention. The surgery has an enormous physical and psychological impact in your life - it's huge - it's emotionally draining and physically challenging.

Even though I've had some minor bumps in the road in me 2 1/2 years post-op I would have the surgery again in fact I wish I had had it earlier because I would have broken free of the fat, dread and guilty long ago.