ON CHEATING

A co-worker went in last week for gastric bypass surgery. After researching gastric bypass surgery and learning what it actually was, I was kind of surprised. I knew that this co-worker had been trying to lose weight last summer (when I was losing weight unhealthily) by maintaining a conservative diet and doing some exercise. Now, she's apparently given up on that plan and opted for a surgery to a) shrink her stomach and b) make food pass straight from the stomach to the lower small intestine, so fewer calories are absorbed.

I support my co-worker in this attempt to improve her life. However, a part of me questions this approach. I'm ashamed to admit that a little part of me sees this as taking a shortcut to a different and healthier lifestyle. I have spent the better part of the day trying to figure out why I feel that way to no avail.

In 2000, a disc in my back somehow ruptured. Because of this, I had back surgery. Now, I didn't feel that was cheating, although theoretically I could have improved my lifestyle through physical therapy. So is having gastric bypass surgery rather than increasing exercise and reducing calories cheating?

I believe liposuction is cheating, as I don't feel it's used for health purposes, as gastric bypass traditionally is. I remember an episode of some reality show where the girl refused to try and eat healthy, saying that she would just "have the surgery." (Gastric bypass, not lipo.) And THAT seems like cheating. At least my co-worker tried traditional methods before opting for the surgery.

I mean, we live in a world where a lot of things are possible through medicine. For example, you can take a pill to get rid of your headache, and also take a pill that makes you feel less depressed. Does that mean one or the other is "cheating?" See, in my mind, the headache pill is not cheating, but the antidepressant is. If your default setting is "head not hurting," a headache restores you to that. But if your default setting is "not happy," an antidepressant fiddles with that, and it does seem like cheating. So by that rationale, gastric bypass messes with your default setting, and does seem like cheating.

I guess the fact that my coworker tried other methods before setting on this one makes it seem more honorable. It was a last resort, tried only after other avenues failed to reduce the health risk that was present in her life. So props to her on taking a major step to improve her health and well-being.