Recently in Janice Taylor Category

A prominent digestive system surgeon I know recently confided in me, "we hate doing gastric bypass surgeries, but our hospital makes us do them because they're a profit center."  I asked him why his surgical team hated them.  His explanation was simple: "they're dangerous, and a lot of times they cause complications like infections, and even death.  Besides, the problem of obesity is not solved with them."  My surgeon friend is himself a bit obese, but would never undergo surgery for it.

I knew what he said was true.  I know lots of people who have tried them over the years, and there's never a good result, at least from what I have observed and heard.  I have quite a few clients who came to me for help after the surgeries that didn't work and they were desperate.  Therefore, I am very against gastric bypass surgeries.  I'm frankly against any surgery to assist in weight loss - gastric banding, stomach stapling: you name it, I'm against it.  For the consumer, or rather over-consumer (and I mean that term most sincerely) it's about getting healthy, which is a result of a combination of self-discipline that's impossible to achieve on one's own; sometimes radical changes in eating and moving are required, which is also virtually impossible for obese folks; and an array of vital emotional and spiritual fulfillments - in a culture that's obsessed with money and the generation of consumption, exactly the opposite of what is required to get and stay healthy.  Surgery doesn't get to the core problems.  It's at best a very risky, temporary intervention.

Yet another article appeared recently in the Las Vegas Sun (of all places that encourages consumption!) by Marshall Allen, on the subject of weight loss and drastic measures, but this time with a different angle: "The Hidden Cost of Obesity."  The article really gets to the point of gastric bypass surgery - it's all about the money!  It asks if taxpayers would be in favor of saving a lot of money if massive costs of drugs and medical services to treat obesity were reduced.  It points out that insurance companies often do not cover costs of weight-reduction surgery, because bariatric surgeries often cost the companies lots of upfront money and it's hard to recoup.  It's Medicare that pays, in other words, us.

How do I answer the question of saving tax dollars if the high costs of obesity were reduced?  Is the question really "if bypass surgery ends up being cheaper than long term care for obese people, should we have more of it paid by Medicare, thereby saving taxpayer dollars?"  My answer is NO.  We should not encourage or pay for surgical intervention for weight reduction, because it endangers health and doesn't ultimately solve the problem; it creates other problems.  What's not being discussed is the value of a human life, and the long-term risks and associated physical, emotional and spiritual costs of other complications due to arise in the long-term.

If an obese person cannot find the discipline to make and sustain dramatic changes in every aspect of living, surgery isn't going to fix that.  We cannot make these drastic changes on our own, if we could, we would, and surgery isn't the answer.  Human lives are far more valuable than the cost of surgeries, medications, and risks.  It's time we end our focus on money and consumption of goods, and the acquisition of profit.

What does work for saving obese people's lives, helping us lose weight and get our health back? God only knows.  I mean that most sincerely, too.  We need to want to change and ask God for help, then slowly and surely, over the long-term, God shows us the path through healthy eating habits, enjoyable movement and learning to love and use our wonderful bodies, giving us great love and nurturing in the process.  And God's help is totally free and painless.

Where do YOU stand on saving tax money with gastric bypass surgery?  On weight-reduction surgery - have you had it, do you know someone who has?

My fellow Beliefnet blogger, Janice Taylor also wrote about this, take a look.  I agree with her about it being a life issue.

UPDATE:  I wrote a response.  Check it out.  Click on this line.

I'm finding Janice Taylor and my online blog conversation very, very revealing!  Janice and I have gone in just four little days from hunger for weight loss, brownies, to diets, carbohydrates, to grandmothers and mothers, to hungry, starving people that need help, to cake and its colors.  Janice Taylor's latest blog is about Harriet, her mom (who she calls "the Queen of Cakes") and expressing love through cakes, read it here.  Yes Janice, you and your mom are absolutely uniquely delightful.  With such sweet mother and daughter love going on, why do you need cake?

The marvels of free-association!  The wonders of mysteries!  The delights of cake and no-cake, of colors and fun, of mom and mom's moms.  Where's the apple pie?

OK.  Stop.  I'm all into making weight loss fun, but I need to get serious now:

IS WHAT YOU'RE HUNGRY FOR...

----  HEALTH?

---- or PLEASURE?

Is cake going to give you lasting joy, or a temporary sugar high?  Does it have side effects, like short-term energy with a soon-to-follow sudden downward spiral; a long-term side-effect like obesity if you have a lot of it?  When I was losing the 160 pounds, I had to avoid cake and sugar-laden items entirely, by the grace of God.

I am hungry for health.  I want to have a long, healthy and happy life.  I want to feel the joy of NOT having cake very often, and the ability to have some if I want.  I am truly hungry for the peace and deeper satisfaction of abstaining from things that are unhealthy (like a lot of sugary stuff).

I think, and I read between her lines what Janice is alluding to.  If I understand her last post correctly, the cake is merely a social device for her to connect with her mom - even a kind of mother and daughter bonding.  Coloring and decorating the cake, and even enjoying a little of it together (which wasn't mentioned, but I hope you do, and I bet you do!), is wonderful.

But if YOU, dear reader, want to lose weight, or maintain a weight loss, you may find it best to decorate your life with living colors, and not with much cake.  Not to mean it's not permitted, everything's permitted, but the key is to be able to enjoy moderation with it.  Moderation I maintain is humanly impossible, especially with those of us who are, or were, compulsive overeaters.  True moderation in someone who is addicted to cake and sugary stuff, comes only by the grace of God, or one's Higher Power.

I love it that Janice recommends being creative and colorful.  I totally agree.  However, I couldn't look at a picture of a piece of cake much less color it when I was 400 pounds - I'd have to have some real cake immediately, and lots of it, probably an entire cake - that's how impossible it was for my former obese self.

Thanks be to God I can now have some cake and eat it too, but only once or twice a month, if that.  I'm actually not so interested in cakes these days, that's the vast elegance of spiritual relief from addictive, compulsive overeating.  I can color it too, because God has taken away the compulsion.

PLEASE POST: are you hungry for HEALTH or PLEASURE?

If you've missed our online conversation thus far, start here with the first post, and then click through all the way, and come back daily.

There are really no coincidences in life, God has everything planned, I've been told, and sometimes it seems true, like today.

This morning I was reading Janice Taylor's contribution to our online conversation and there was an ad on her blog page that read "End Hunger Now!"  I think it was for a charity.  It was too perfect, and highly synchronous for our first theme of "What Are You Hungry For?"

That's what I want to do, too.  End Hunger Now.  There are too many starving people in the world.  In some countries there is a vast overabundance of food, and we're concerned with overeating - while others cannot get enough to eat.  It's just not right.  It's not fair.

I am going to remember every time I am about to eat from boredom, habit, or go off my Food Plan that while I am struggling with overeating, there are those who have the opposite problem, under-eating.  I have for a long time made contributions to charities to help end hunger and poverty.  Now, from now on, I am going to make the connection between what I'm truly hungry for and not overeat - and to keep doing my best to feed others who are truly starving.

To also respond to what Janice wrote about her Grandmother:  that's such a vivid illustration of eating from boredom, habit, or emotional and life needs rather than food.  Thanks for sharing those scenes about your Grandmother and Mother's struggles.  I am impressed that you use those memorable scenes in your own conscious reminders to not overeat.

I too have childhood scenes of overeating, trillions of them.  My mother was extremely overweight, and she was constantly eating.  Everything in life was centered on food in our family.  She was always cooking, and always eating.  There was no one questioning her about it, though.  My Grandmother was skinny.  My Mom's compulsive overeating was a mystery, that I patterned-after, absorbing her habits into my life until I weighed 400 pounds.  It took me years to solve the mystery of what I was hungry for.  It wasn't for food, which I wrote about yesterday, and will no doubt will write about a lot more.

***Dear Reader, please post below and join in Janice's and my conversation.  What are YOU hungry for?***

I think you will love this:  Janice Taylor and I are beginning an online, blog conversation.  This is the beginning.  We will talk back and forth between our Beliefnet blogs from time-to-time.  Our conversations will be about specific themes and questions around the subjects of weight loss and maintaining, healthy diets, lifestyles, exercise and recreation, beliefs and spiritual practices, and who knows who else and what else?  Overweight politicians and government leaders? Opera singers?  Skinny models?  Hmmmm, not sure about those - why don't you weigh in and make some comments and suggestions?

We are both totally committed to your best health and happiness, although we have very different approaches, experiences and styles of writing.  I think Janice is a whole lot of fun, and gives some really cool advice on making the process a light delight (and I agree that's important).  It will be great to see how we think and write about specific points.  We will probably agree on a lot, but there could be times we don't, so you'll just have to check back every day on both blogs to see for yourself.  This is all about helping you do what we did: lose weight, find balance and keep it going. So, with YOU in mind and heart, let the conversation begin!

Janice suggested that we start this week with the question:  What are YOU hungry for?  That's right to an important point.

It's a long story with me, hunger.  When I was 400 pounds I would have said I was hungry for - BROWNIES.  Dozens of them.  Or ice cream.  Or a girlfriend.  A high-paying job.  Attention.  Recognition.  To not weigh 400 pounds.  To be able to eat anything and not gain weight.  To not have to special-order clothes and EEEEE-width shoes.  To fit into movie theater seats.

Now, I honestly say I am hungry for carbohydrates.  (Just kidding, that's not all.) That is my biggest struggle, and it happens almost every afternoon and night.

What solves my problem of too many carbs (i.e. sweets)?  I feed myself with LOVE.  I ask God for help; to show me the way.  I meditate and feel His presence; the love that heals and preserves me.  God's love is always there, and I am deeply hungry for it.  That total sweetness is what I am most hungry for.

I always let myself have some carbs, but consistently within a structured food plan, like the one I wrote about in my book - I preach it, I practice it.  I keep track of what I've eaten throughout the day, and I try to allow myself some grains (carbs) in the afternoon and evening.  Crackers.  Toast.  A piece of cake once in awhile.

I make sure to fill myself with the love of friends and family too.  Every day and evening.

Janice, what are you hungry for?  READER, FRIEND... WHAT ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR?  Please post a comment below!  Join the fun!

Check out what Janice Taylor has to say - click here.