Road Rebel – V1 E53 – Surgery Or Not?

I read an article online today regarding obesity in the US, and some thoughts on how to resolve it. In the article, there is the argument that the most effective way to combat obesity may be bariatric surgery. I have to disagree.

The argument is that dieting and exercise are ineffective in the long run. As someone who has witnessed it, I have to disagree. But we have become a society that looks for quick fixes and have little patience for the long term. I speak from experience.

I started working out a little over two weeks ago. And I’m frustrated. I have actually gained weight in the last week, not lost. There are plenty of potential reasons for this, and intellectually, I understand them. But it’s still frustrating. So I understand the difficulty in staying with diets and exercise.

But the hard reality is that our society has become far more sedentary in the last 40 years. More of us have desk jobs, sitting on our collective posteriors every day, day after day. When our economy was more industrial, folks worked hard for a living – physically hard. As advances in technology and efficiency changed the way we work, we became less active on a daily basis. And our waistlines got bigger.

Bariatric surgery is a real, viable alternative for some. But I have a problem when it is offered as the only consistently successful way to lose weight.

What do you think?

• Tweet
• Pin It