Sometime ago I was interviewed and asked to write an article for the New York Times on the importance of publicly sharing the weight loss experience. For those of you who are seeking answers about weight loss surgery—you can read the article here, as well as this companion article in which I explain my reasons for sharing my story.

Although in certain situations it maybe wise not to share the decision to have bariatric surgery with others, however, public awareness can go a long way in dispelling many myths about bariatric surgery. This is why I share my story—that others may find the truth about surgery and the information they need to be successful.

There are many misconceptions about weight loss surgery. The first is that surgery is the easy way out. On the other hand, some think it too strenuous. I think it's time we understand the truth of what bariatric surgery entails.

The answer to a healthier "you" is easy, but the journey to better health and a slimmer figure may not be. We are all looking for a magic pill or an easy way out, but even though the road to freedom from obesity carries abundant rewards, those rewards come with huge risk and rigorous requirements in order to find lifetime success. 

Although each one of us will have our own unique experiences as well as varying results from surgery, having weight loss surgery is not a cure that is handed to us with the raising of a scalpel or the re-routing of our physical interior. One must be ready to leave an old life behind, willing to assume personal responsibility for improved health, courageously meet the challenges ahead, and willing to embrace a new way of living.

For those who have more than 100 pounds to lose and have spent a lifetime on "yo-yo" diets, the body can become resistant to weight loss and therefore become almost impossible to lose weight without intervention.

Therefore, weight loss surgery is a tool that helps us remain on a restrictive calorie intake temporarily until we can lose the excess weight, institute new habits, and reach improved health. But even though it may temporarily reduce our hunger, it doesn't take away all of life’s challenges. These will still be with us when we wake up in the recovery room or when we slip into our first pair of size 10 jeans.

Weight loss surgery helps when all other means have failed. It saves your life and improves your health. But, there are no guarantees of easy or permanent. Surgery may treat the symptoms of obesity, but it doesn't cure the cause. Discovering "what is eating us" remains on our plate. Even losing weight without surgery won’t cure what brought us to obesity in the first place. 

We must go the extra mile. Finding answers to what triggers our compulsive eating behaviors and sugar addiction. If these issues are not something you are willing to confront—then you are not ready to have surgery or expect weight loss to remain gone forever.

If you are not sick and tired of the life the way it is or willing to make mental and physical sacrifices to live a more active and healthier life—including taking a few vitamins and changing your diet and eating habits, then neither weight loss nor bariatric surgery will hold the solutions you seek. If living free from disease, or making the effort to discover what brought you to obesity in the first place is not something that you are willing to do—then surgery is not the answer.

Success after weight loss surgery, or even losing weight on your own, takes work and a lifetime commitment. It's that simple. But not easy. For those who are willing to pay the cost, there is freedom from obesity. I have experienced many challenges during my 9 year journey, but I have also  experienced success beyond my wildest dreams. I have found a better quality of life I never thought possible.

Like countless others, I have found that life after obesity is worth the effort. I advise you to do your homework and be willing to find the solution that works for you, so that you, too, can find improved health, emotional freedom and live life anew—free from obesity. Easy - no, but so very worth it. 

To read link to New York Times Room for Debate, click here.

....or see the article reprinted on Miles to go blog by going to "featured articles and interviews" under the "navigation section"  on the top left-hand sidebar.