Last night, I accompanied my mother to one of her weight loss surgery classes—she is going to have the lap band procedure. It was… eye-opening. I cannot accurately articulate my astonishment and disbelief. The educational seminar was on proper nutrition, and it was in a series of classes offered by a study to prepare its participants for the surgery and its aftermath.
I do not claim to be an expert at nutrition or fitness; I often make poor eating decisions (such as consuming a Klondike every night since the 4th—got to get rid of the leftovers!). But sitting there… I felt I was in a room with some pretty dense and dim-witted individuals. I understand that the eating habits parents impart to their children aren’t the best—I struggle with this myself, raised solely on Hamburger Helper and glorious, heaping bowls of chips and pretzels as a bedtime snack. But the questions asked and the materials covered made me want to weep for humanity. You could tell that the speaker wanted to beat her head against the lectern, faced with the glazed stares of the study participants.
The dietician constructed a simple power point presentation covering the food groups and the requirements of a healthy diet, elementary things. It broke down the meal plan offered in the informational packets (handed out at the beginning of the study trial months beforehand) into the basic components of a healthy diet, such as protein, carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, and fats. It demonstrated how to eat balanced meals, along with caloric consumption and it broke down nutritional information labels found on food. I had no problem with that.
What horrified me is that some participants in these programs, participants who have to strictly adhere to these changes, can’t even comprehend the basics. There were people who didn’t understand the food groups, people who couldn’t even find calories on the products they were consuming! There were people who couldn’t even figure out to put a balanced meal together despite the recommendations in the packets. I didn’t understand my mother’s constant mocking of the stupidity until last night. Some people obviously were very into their lifestyle change—some actually brought with them the Calorie King book which contains calorie content for various fast food restaurants and name brand foods. The only intelligent question concerned the difference between sugar and sugar alcohol. My mother turned to me during the seminar and whispered in my ear: “You know… some of these people have to be so overweight because they’re so damn stupid!”
I’m not bashing the surgical forms of weight loss. In certain circumstances, their benefits can outweigh the negative, and at times it may be a last resort that is desperately needed to assist one in saving their life and eliminating health problems that are plaguing them. My biggest problem concerning the weight loss surgeries has to be these study groups that form and all the bullshit that is pulled just to get them approved by insurance. Essentially it is a massive herding of individuals through hoops and an ‘educational’ process just for insurance approval.
Looking around the room you could see who was going to fail and who would be successful. These people aren’t being adequately prepared for the huge lifestyle change they are going to make. Some of them do not understand it. All they fixate upon is the weight loss, not the road they are putting themselves down to get there. The surgery is a mystical fix for them, and they instantly equate it with success. What some cannot grasp in their vision are the drastic adaptations they will have to make with their eating habits and physical activity levels. True, the surgery is a component of the success, but the success comes from the commitment to the lifestyle changes necessary to make the surgery beneficial to them. There were people who refused to stand in line while waiting to get weighed in, people who wanted to have their psych evaluations over the phone. The attitudes of some were terrible. I was absolutely mortified.
I understand that some people were never taught these things growing up. What frustrated me most in the end is the lack of self-involvement some displayed. You cannot expect someone to sit there and figure out the meal plans for you. You cannot expect someone to dictate exactly what you need to do. You have to commit to yourself and make that effort to comprehend. Otherwise, there will be failure due to the lack of personal involvement.
Certainly, we all need assistance from time to time while learning. But the apathy that I met with last night, the apathy connected to the journeys many were about to take with their surgery, is inexcusable.
I am so proud of my mother for taking the necessary steps to manage her weight. I am so proud of her that she has drastically improved her eating habits and educated herself, made an effort to begin light exercise. We take daily walks for 45 minutes to an hour. She has lost 13 pounds since beginning the Weight Loss Surgery study. I have every confidence that she will succeed because she has the correct mindset. Her personal level of involvement is wonderful and she understands what her limits are to be after the surgery.
