Posted in Bariatric Beginnings by Bariatric Beginnings
Today’s blog post is a guest post brought to you by Nick Nicholson, M.D. and B.A. Blackwood. Dr. Nick and B.A. are co-authors of Weight Loss Surgery: The Real Skinny. Dr. Nick is one of the most renowned bariatric surgeons in the country and is a recognized expert on obesity and its treatment. B.A. Blackwood is an author, trial lawyer and marathoner. Find out more about her at www.bablackwood.com.
To buy your copy, click here. And watch for my review of the book in an upcoming post!
Remember Wrong Way Riegels?
He’s the University of California football player who scooped up a fumble in front of a capacity crowd at the 1929 Rose Bowl and ran 69 yards – the wrong way. Riegel was so distraught that he didn’t want to go back into the game, saying, “I’ve ruined you, I’ve ruined myself, I’ve ruined the University of California.”
Now that’s a guy who felt like an epic failure.
That’s the same way many patients feel by the time they walk into a bariatric surgeon’s office. They’ve endured well-meaning lectures from their families, disgusted looks from strangers, averted eyes from acquaintances, and thinner friends shoving the latest, greatest diet at them.
Every one of them has tried at one diet, and most have tried at least 10. If there were a course called “Dieting”, they’re sure they’d get an F, or maybe even an F-.
In reality, every bariatric candidate has higher odds for success at weight loss than the average person. Why?
- They’re champion dieters with enormous willpower. Most bariatric patients have lost a significant amount of weight on various diets. Their problem isn’t losing weight; it’s losing enough weight and keeping it off.
- By the time they get to the surgeon’s office, they’re hyper-motivated to do what’s necessary to get healthy
- The surgery provides the only viable tool for weight loss.
The truth is, 98% of diets fail for morbidly obese people. In other words, even though you may lose weight initially on a diet, the odds of keeping it off permanently are only 2%. And it’s not a lack of will power or discipline – it’s a physiological problem.
No wonder you haven’t been able to lose the weight and keep it off. You’ve been trying to conquer your weight problem without the right tool. Your previous dieting efforts are like confronting an Uzi-wielding terrorist armed with only a bb gun.
Weight loss surgery is the tool that evens the playing field, giving you a fair shot at permanent weight loss.
Riegel didn’t end up a failure. He went back into the game, and played so hard that his example is still used 84 years later as an example of overcoming setbacks. In other words, he ended up as the epitome of a winner.
So can you.
Posted in Bariatric Beginnings by Bariatric Beginnings
