Good grief.

February 19, 2003

Dan wrote:

> I may have been mis-read or read on a particularly bad day for one of

> our

lurking members who had quite a few things to say about why she didn't

feel it

necessary to exercise after having gone through the WLS. To quote:

" surgery

and a small stomach is torture enough; I don't need to hear about YOUR

need to

exercise. Not all of us have to do anything more than lose it. "

Ye gods. That is all I can say.

Oh, okay, actually it's not. I can also say that I find this attitude

mystifying in the extreme. Yes, it's a big deal to lose the weight, and

for some of us, that's all we're going to be able to manage, at least

in the short term. But for me, I didn't have this surgery just so that

I could " lose it " -- I had it so that my body would work, feel and

look better, in equal measure. And one of the ways I can think of to

help my body do that is to exercise it, regularly and vigorously.

You know, I have a very dear relative who has struggled with her weight

all her life. In the years I've known her, she has always balked at

walking when she could drive, even to the corner store. She has stayed

as far away from physical exertion as she could, all her life. I don't

know why -- I think it might have had something to do with being raised

to think that physical work was not " ladylike " . At nearly 82, she is

now house-bound, completely unable to do much more than hobble from the

kitchen to the bedroom and back again, with the aid of a walker. While

she is no longer overweight, she has no muscle tone anywhere on her

body, and finds it amazing that her husband, who is exactly the same

age, is able to continue his daily hour-long walks, get out regularly

to meet friends, participate in community activities, etc. He, on the

other hand, takes several seniors fitness classes per week, and is

showing no signs of slowing down.

Which of these two people would I most like to emulate when I'm their

age? Take a guess.

And on the WLS front, I went to see my surgeon on Monday for my

18-month check-in. He was not only delighted that I am at my goal

weight (and have been here for 4 months or so), but he said he's never

seen such improvement in the hanging skin situation in any patient he's

had. Yes, I do have some loose skin, but considering that I've lost 152

lbs., it's not bad at all. I attribute this to all those ab crunches,

plank poses, reverse crunches, and other horrors I inflict on my tummy

four or five days a week. I told him that underneath my hanging skin I

have pretty good musculature, and he just said, " You sure DO! " in this

awed voice. LOL

So...this isn't to impose yet another obligation on those who don't

want to, or feel unable to exercise, but if I had it to do over, I

wouldn't have gone any other way. And yelling at those of us who have

chosen this path seems to me to smell just a little of sour grapes. I

really fail to see the point in kvetching at Dan, or anyone else, about

his " need to exercise " .

And Dan, if it's some kind of pathology to " need to exercise " , then I

am right there with you. Break out the straitjackets.

I.

--

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RNY September 19, 2001

Dr. Freeman, Ottawa General Hospital

BMI then: 43.5

BMI now: 22

-152 lbs

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February 19, 2003