You may have noticed that I have been absent for more than a couple of weeks here on the blog. I have started so many blogs on different topics and in the end, nothing felt authentic or informative to share. So, I am sitting down once again and trying to find my authenticity to write on a topic, that is highly controversial among people that normally follow me and the fat community. I get so much hate on either side of this in reality many sided topic. I have been reluctant to talk much, even less write about it. However, recently finding out more and more of not only my role models and fellow creators but my friends are participating in this controversial option. I felt like I needed to get out in front of the topic for them and myself. I have come to peace with the fact some people will always be angry and it is nothing you can do about it.
Now; Imagine me, waving my arms franticly in a room of semi and fully-fat women… “Excuse me Excuse me is fat revolution over? Why didn’t anyone send me the memo?” (This is honestly how I and a few others have felt lately.)
I knew I had gotten too comfortable within this new time/phase, we fats have been having, dare I say even thriving in! Finally, our stores are raising their sizes, doctors’ offices are providing seating, and companies beginning to use fats in ads for things other than fat-related topics. You guessed it there is a but… Though all the progress toward the fat community there is the sudden onset of influences/ creators/normal people that are having WLS which leads some of us to question, Is this the end of the Fat Era?
Honestly, I do not know the answer to that question, but I do know the answer to the question everyone seems to want to know. Evie what do you think about WLS?…
💣If Weight Loss (WL)and Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is triggering for you please feel free to step away but I would encourage you to read on.💣
I have been trying to not offend anyone for a long time but figured that is impossible, so it is time I fully let out my opinion and be done with it. The simple statement on the matter I will make is
“I do not support WLS, But I do Support my friends no matter what decision they make.” Evie@Findingevie.com
I am always there for my friends even when their decisions don’t match mine, and this is why I feel the way I do…WLS no matter how safe the surgeries are marketed can be a dangerous, life-altering procedure that has been known to cause death. Aside from feeling full and not being full-filled, not being able to eat and drink comfortably, having vitamin deficiencies your body may have the rest of Your lives and this is only the beginning. There is another aspect, I truly believe weight loss is something we can do with the same results without being so lifetime altering.in negative ways.
“The long-term success of bariatric surgery depends on your ability to make permanent changes in your diet, behavior, and exercise.” Get that Your Ability!⬅️
Radom WLS sight
I do not think that WLS is good for most people’s (not all) bodies or minds. The short answer to why I do not think WLS is a “win” for weight loss is, “you end up doing the same work to lose weight as if you did without the surgery,” ( refer back to “your ability”) except, without the surgery, you do not get sick when you sway from your diet. Ultimately the success rate lays in your hands.
Maybe some people need a “fear” to lose weight because honestly after watching friend after friend goes through WLS of all different kinds the one thing that stands out in common is the fact they literally cannot eat and drink even like a “normal” person. If you do, you will pay for it with “pain”. Which develops into a fear to eat. Can you imagine never being able to eat a meal or have a drink with friends?
Another reason I do not support WLS is their approach to the selling of the procedures, by insisting your life is missing things and you will never lose weight without WLS. The WLS industry plays on the idea that fat people can never be happy, and that thin is the only way to achieve happiness and have a good life. There are plenty of very good lives being had. WLS also plays on the fact all you must do is stay on the eating plan and you will lose all the weight you need. Is it that easy? I do not know anyone that lost weight with WLS that did not exercise and ended up feeling hungry most of the time to get extreme results.
I have been asked time and time again if when I had lost weight did, I have weight loss surgery. I did not. Only after my weight loss did I have surgery to rid my body of the apron of heavy weight on my body. More about that later. You might point out here that Evie you gained your weight back how is that different from the people that gained theirs back after WLS? I would like to remind you that for one, I did not alter my insides, and I did not have some of the health concerns that WLS and weight gain can have after a great loss can cause.
Recently I have been asked about my Panniculectomy surgery, my weight loss, and my feelings about WLS a lot. Should we also mention the hate I get for not wanting to have WLS. So here it goes. My goal of being smaller has not been instilled in being thin. I have spent many years becoming ok with my body, my mental state, being part of a community. I am a fat girl and for me, I do not need to be thin. Let that sink in. It is no different from skinny women not wanting to be fat. When I was in the 400 to 450 range I had a healthy state, a state of comfort in my body (which means I could walk, hike, shop, drive, play with kids, clean my house, and do just about anything I wanted with little pain and distress in my body).
People often get confused about my surgery. I did have surgery but not a WLS. I had what is called Panniculectomy. {Panniculectomy is surgery to remove excess skin (known as pannus or an “apron”) from the lower part of the stomach. It differs from a tummy tuck because it is not a cosmetic operation. Surgeons use panniculectomy solely to relieve symptoms of an overhanging apron of skin.} I had this surgery after I had lost over 370lbs. I had removed 45 lbs. of loose skin and was left at the weight of 350 lbs. I would settle at a sitting weight of 420 for over 5 years and then begin to gain intentionally. Which was the single dumbest thing I have ever done and I have done a lot of dumb things.
You may ask Evie, if you do not want to be thin what made you want to lose so much weight? Truth is some of the same reasons people have WLS. For me I wanted to hike again, I wanted to take vacations and walk on the beach, I wanted to go to concerts, and baseball games, Shop till I dropped, have access to all the clothes I wanted to wear, and most of all I wanted to have a family. I had met what I thought was the love of my life and while he wanted me big, over 700 at the time of the meeting he also wanted to bring me to New York, meet his family, one day marry, and have a family. So, from a distance, he begins to encourage me and help me sort out what I should not be doing and what I should be doing. In a year of a long-distance relationship, I was able to get down to 600, then I moved to NY. Soon I would get down to 500 and then down to 450. That was when I begin looking for someone that would remove the excess skin. I would drop down to 400 and that is when I had the surgery to remove the excess skin. Nov. 2011, I had the surgery that changed my life.
I went hiking the day I got the first set of drains out. I still had two drains in and dressing on my incision but on a hike I went. (Which was not smart but it was very affirming.) I was able to lift my leg over fallen trees, I was able to stand on a stump with very little help getting up on it. I walked for almost 2 hours without getting tired. I could not have done that before with the belly (45 lbs. to be exact that had been removed). I begin the gym as soon as the doctor gave the ok. I worked out and the more I did the better I felt. By March 2012 I was 350 and very healthy, but I had a lot of back and knee pain. It was decided it was a lack of padding. At the time my almost 2 months to go wedding dress last fitting came around. The dress which had been altered was too big. We added padding in every place we could but it was still too big and could not be changed anymore. So, I gained about 50 lbs. in almost 2 months (Yes that can be done). Turns out that with that 50 lbs. not only did my dress fit, my knees and back stopped hurting as much. I would stay between 400 and 420 for the next 4 years. However, I broke my back and in year 4, I gained up to 445lbs. Now remember I was 5’10 so I carried this large number way different than you would think 445 would look. After my back healed, I went back to the gym and swimming. Then life changed for me. Year 4 was terrible, my back my marriage it all sucked. So, by year 5 major things had happened in year 4 that tore me apart. I was mentally sick in many ways. I thought gaining would save my marriage but it did not. The next 2 and a half years I gained up to 520 and sat there all through my Divorce, new relationship, happiness, and even sadness. Then covid hit, my asthma kept me in bed and covid kept me inside before i knew it I went up to 680lbs. This number scared the be-gees out of me. I had lost the ability to do basic things I liked to do like walk, go outside, drive, and shop. (To name a few).
Since that first relation of how much I gained, WLS was being brought up at every doctor’s appointment, my therapist was even talking more about my weight than my other problems. Everyone wants me to do WLS. Except me. I am angry that medical people are telling me I should get this surgery that I had been told by a heart doctor This was a dangerous option for me and I had done my research about it and decided that i agreed WLS was not healthy for me to do.
The physical part was settled just to unhealthy with standing issues. That leaves Mental, I would never pass to do the surgery. I am not in the right headspace and I imagine I would never be. I have lost friends to WLS. I have watched friends drop all their weight in mere months with WLS and then gain twice as much back. I have watched as younger people have WLS and come out the end looking twice their age. I have seen children lose their parents, mothers and fathers angry that they encouraged their adult children to get these surgeries because it killed them. I have also watched and known people that never had any luck with WLS because it is not a miracle worker. News flash it takes work. Even if you do not exercise, you must take vitamins, watch your sugar, your electrolytes, and so much more including not overeating, which in case you do not know can all be very time-consuming and mentally exhausting.
Now that I have shared my weight journey and opinions, and knowingly I am here still, with doctors in full knowledge of my case and are still pushing for weight loss Surgery . I am still a firm NO WLS for myself, but that is just my opinion. If you are at a gateway to either get WLS or try the old fashion way, let me give you my 100% honest opinion… What I think does not matter. What your doctor says does not matter. It is what you want that matters and what you are willing to risk. Remember No one will have more of your best interest than you. I would say Do not do it because it seems like a thing people are doing recently.
No matter what I will still be over here with your fat girl content without WLS content.
What you will find is what you have been finding. Fashion, life, mental health, and physical health content. While I am trying to lose weight, that will not show up in my main content areas. Maybe here and maybe on YouTube but defiantly not in a in your face way. Trust me You are not the only one going through the age-old battle of what should I do? I think it is normal to consider your options and choose what is best for you. I will support you no matter what. Your real friends always will.
Evie@Findingevie
Finding Evie 