Shoulda put a ring on it?

First, let me start this blog post by saying a few things. First, the end of these two insanely busy weeks are coming to an end. Yay. Secondly, I LOST FIVE POUNDS THIS WEEK. This means I've now lost a stone in total. I thought I'd gained, I was certain of it. So you could say I'm a little bit happy right now.

So, let me now get onto the crux of the matter that I wish to discuss today. Weight loss surgery. Now, I don't claim to be an expert on weight loss surgery but I can say with absolute clarity that it has never been a consideration of mine. This is the spiel that I have managed to gather from the NHS website about bariatric surgery:

The gastric band (the ring in this post's title): a band is used to reduce the size of the stomach so that less food is required to feel full. This is reversible and also adjustable. A medical practitioner can increase levels of saline solution to tighten a band if necessary.

Gastric Bypass: The entire digestive system is re-routed so a pouch is created in the top half of the stomach and attached to the small intestine. You need less food to feel full and absorb fewer calories.

The reason that I want to talk about this here came from my friend Piers sending me an article about a man who had lost 22 stone through gastric bypass surgery. I thought, for one horrified moment, that he was encouraging me to have weight loss surgery. Over dinner he asked if I'd seen the article. When I said yes he immediately said 'don't you think that's cheating?!' Panic of him pushing for weight loss surgery over, we entered into a dialogue about the pros and cons of weight loss surgery.

I have (in the past) put a significant amount of thought into the benefits of weight loss surgery. Let us all now flash back to when I was 17. A very good friend of mine was suffering severely from Anorexia Nervosa. He was skeletal to the point of feeling faint all the time, headaches, etc. As context I should add that there was a period of time when he was eating so little that I decided to match him for a week. I'd eat as little as he ate and, if it really came to it, I'd purge at the same times he did. The concept of me putting myself at risk like that absolutely mortified him. He told me I'd die or become incredibly ill. Of course it was difficult for him to see that this was how worried we all were of him, and he didn't have a good few stone that he could lose. So, with that information, perhaps you can imagine my surprise when one night he called my house and, as coolly as he'd ask what I thought of the newest episode of 'The OC', asked if I'd ever considered a gastric band.

I was shocked, and what's more I didn't know how to respond. Well, no. I'd never thought about it. To be honest at that stage in my life I entirely didn't know how it worked or anything like that. I felt like I was on the losing side because I had no information behind me. All I could keep saying was that, for me, I would rather shed the weight myself slowly, with healthy eating, monitoring of caloric intake and increase in exercise because I wanted to be (and here's a line you've heard before) a 'normal' person. Normal people don't have bands cutting their stomach in two.

I told him that whilst I would never begrudge someone's wish to have bariatric surgery, it just wasn't for me. It is, in my opinion, an absolute last ditch effort. And I know full well that I am nowhere near that stage. I can still walk, my blood pressure and blood sugars are perfect. The likelihood of me dropping dead tomorrow from weight related issues is minute. I am also acutely aware of the countless cases of weight loss surgery where the weight comes back on because it has not been a long term continued process where new habits become maintained habits and anything without this learning process where you change your habits, opinions, likes etc. makes me incredibly nervous.

I appreciate the usefulness of this surgery being available to those who need it but I feel confident that the only thing that would cause me to fall back enough to require these drastic options is my giving up, and that simply is not an option.

My weight loss jars. A very visual reminder to keep going.