Surgery vs Fasting

In 2010, I seriously considered bariatric surgery as a means to permanently lose my excess weight and keep the weight off for the long-term. I wanted the gastric sleeve because I felt at the time that surgery was my only permanent solution to keeping the weight off for good. I had just gone through Overeater’s Anonymous (OA) in 2004 and lost all of the weight at that time, only to gain it back once again in 2007… plus more. An all too familiar story that I wanted to close the book on for good.

But unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), my insurance at the time did not believe weight loss surgery was a legitimate medical procedure warranting insurance payment. So, I never had the $20,000 to pay for the surgery and that was that.

But, a friend of mine in OA told me one time not to ever have bariatric surgery and her brief comment always stayed with me whenever I considered looking into bariatric surgery again.

As it happened, two years ago I had emergency gallbladder surgery when it was found that I had several large gallstones causing major pain in my abdomen. I did not relate it at the time, but now I know that these gallstones were a direct result of the excessive weight and stress that I had placed on my body all of these years. The surgeon that took great care to remove my fat processing internal organ told me after surgery that I should consider bariatric surgery again as he felt insurance companies were now on board with understanding the long-term benefits for weight loss surgery patients.

To tell you the truth, I hadn’t thought about bariatric surgery in a while. Once I found the Keto Diet and learned all about the physiology of the body’s digestive system, I really began to believe that I could lose the weight on my own and not have to cut into my God-given anatomy. The only problem was that I was not losing the weight even with all of my new knowledge and understanding about how the body processes and stores food.

For those of us who are morbidly obese and whose health is in serious decline, what is the better option: bariatric surgery or long-term fasting?

NOTE: Both options should be carefully considered with full knowledge and approval from your doctor, especially if you have medical conditions and are on medication. Diabetes Type II requiring insulin will need to be monitored with care during either option because your need for insulin will drop significantly and you do not want to have too much insulin in your body resulting in a considerable decline in blood glucose levels causing severe hypoglycemia. So, please consult a doctor if you have any medical conditions before you decide on either one of the options above.

That being said, let’s look at the benefits and disadvantages of both options.

Long-term fasting is not for everyone. There is clearly a dark side to long-term fasting that many proponents of fasting for health do not describe. While it is true that fasting has many health benefits, it is also true that extreme long-term fasting should be monitored by a doctor. Long-term fasting should be weighed against your medical conditions and whether you can handle the added stress with an increase in the stress hormone, norepinephrine, on your body during a long-term fast.

At the same time, bariatric surgery is a permanent alternation to your digestive system that may reduce nutrient absorption so severely that even when you eat you may not be taking in the nutrition your body needs in order to sustain itself resulting in severe malnutrition. Abusing the recommended diet restrictions after surgery can also lead to serious difficulties and pain.

There are pros and cons to both choices, but when a morbidly obese person is leading him/herself down the path of literally eating oneself to death with no understanding or ability to stop the insanity, there comes a time for a drastic change in one’s life in order to save it. This is exactly where I come from. Morbid obesity is a deep, dark prison with years of abusive eating and harmful agonizing food choices. A quick fix of dopamine release for 5 minutes during food consumption for a lifetime of misery is NOT worth it.

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.

Overeater’s anonymous

We, who suffer from this overeating disease and want to be free, will do anything to save our lives and get back to healthfulness once again. Both bariatric surgery and extreme long-term fasting have their downsides and their upsides. But, we should not give up because the road ahead is rocky. We must fight for the life that God has given us to live. We have a powerful opportunity to take back what we have lost: our health. It won’t be easy, no matter which option you choose, but it will be worth it in the end.

About Jennifer Stoeckl

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Hello there! I am a former special education teacher turned business owner who is now the CEO and founding member of Dire Wolf Project, Inc. I wrote a non-fiction book on the Dire Wolf Project and am fully immersed in the world of dogs. However, I have also spent my entire life trying to find a permanent solution to my morbid obesity, which has plagued  me since adolescence. Now, I have embarked on a  long-term fasting adventure to turn my life around  and take control of my body’s cries for help.

	TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BODY, DON’T ALLOW FOOD TO RUN YOUR LIFE! Record Breaking Fast is all about helping you  free yourself from the food addition causing  you to eat uncontrollable amounts of food  and gain weight at a rapid pace. Don’t allow food  to dictate who you are and what you will become.  Live free from the foods that cause you to binge.