Just the words, morbid obesity, have a dramatic and sinister sound to them. And if you have lived with morbid obesity, you know that is just the beginning.

If you have ever lived with the reality of being more than 100 pounds overweight, you know the pain that you feel in many of your joints. You have felt the anxiety of getting dressed on a hot day, knowing you will sweat through your clothes. You understand the dread of going to a social event (that you can't get out of) and having to squeeze through a crowd of people to get to the restroom or the food table. And, you have felt the looks of as people have stared at you and snickered, sometimes right to your face.

When we go to our doctors, or other health practitioners, we know the certainty of being told to lose weight. Even if our practitioner is overweight, many of us still receive a condescending lecture about the dangers of being so overweight. Really, do they think we ENJOY this?

And so, driven to find a solution, because diet after diet has failed, we think we find the solution to our morbid obesity in surgery. Bariatric surgery has increased some 600% in the past decade. In 2005, the NIH reported over 171,000 surgeries were performed in the United States. Yet with 30% of the population obese, there are MILLIONS of individuals who have not had obesity surgery.

With a price tag between $17,000 to $25,000 (at the time of this writing) many insurance companies will not cover the cost of the surgery. That leaves many of us without the option of obesity surgery. So what can we do?

First off, realize that while obesity surgery is a solution for many, morbid obesity can be battled (and WON) without a life-threatening procedure. In August of 2007, Dr. James Anderson reported the results of his nine year study of 118 obese individuals, who lost an average of 134 pounds over 44 weeks. None of these individuals had surgery and a 66 percent were able to reduce or eliminate their medications for high blood pressure, cholesterol or diabetes, saving an average of $100 per month.

There are many good programs and support groups, free and available in all areas of the United States, including online. We can lose weight, even 100, 200, and 300 pounds the old fashioned way, one bite at a time.

Please don't think for a moment that I am suggesting it is easy. If it was easy we wouldn't be in this position to begin with. But we can do it, and the steps, are very simple, especially if repeated over and over and over again.

Obesity destroys our lives by reducing our life span and making our days emotionally and physically difficult. When we decide to overcome our obesity – when we truly decide - we make another choice.

I am proud to say I changed. It was the best decision of my life - and it undoubtedly gave me many years of life to live. You can change too. I guarantee it.


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