I just want to grrrr every time someone calls bariatric surgery "cheating" or "taking the easy way out." People think it's only a matter of making an appointment, going in to have the surgery, and then boom, you lose weight because now you *can't* overeat. There is so much more involved than that. Surgery drastically alters the digestive system. The process involves months and months of preparation beforehand, and a lifetime of different habits afterward.

Anyone who jeers at it, and doesn't think it's as honorable as losing weight without medical assistance, is welcome to go through that process. Schedule not just one, but many appointments, with a whole team of professionals including psychologists and nutritionists and nurses and social workers along with the surgical team. If you don't live in a big city, expect to drive at least an hour to every single one of those appointments. Do the pre-op diet. Then spend the rest of your life eating like a bird, after having practiced for months how to do it. Take specially formulated vitamin pills because to get the same amount of nutrients out of regular ones, you'd fill your walnut-sized pouch of a stomach up too much, and it doesn't leave you any room to eat food. And all of this is besides the actual surgery.

Live through all of the before, during, and after. Then tell me how easy it is.