Oh, Jillian....

In the age of celebrity worship, it's only natural that some folks in our society look to movie stars and musicians when thinking about embarking on a weight-loss journey. I make no secret of the attention I give when famous bariatric-surgery patients such as Carnie Wilson or Star Jones speak out. Spokespeople from Jennifer Hudson and Valerie Bertinelli to Marie Osmond and Charles Barkley have made a second career out of endorsement deals with the programs that helped them to shed pounds. Reality shows create superstars out of personal trainers like Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper, and at least some fleeting fame for the contestants. Nothing wrong with that and nothing wrong with looking to these people for inspiration. I say, find it in whomever - or whatever - works for you.

But celebrities do, in my opinion, have a certain responsibility to know what the hell they're talking about.

Recently, on Jillian Michaels' You Tube series "Daily Dose" a caller asked her what she thought about lap-band surgery. This kind of led to a long oration against all wight-loss surgery (WLS), which she described as "dangerous, very dangerous" and "barbaric". You can imagine how this is setting with the vast majority of bariatric patients. Check it out for yourself:



She does say some things that are kind of true - there are risks associated with WLS - with ANY major surgery - and there are possibilities of complications like dumping. But honestly, she's being very, VERY dramatic. I had a pretty emotional reaction to this video when I first watched it. It made me cry with sadness. What elicits such a strong response from me is thinking about someone who thinks they have finally found a solution to obesity. They've tried everything (yeah, Jillian, they've counted calories) and failed over and over again. They are in the middle (or end) of the pre-screening process and are excited to start their new life, although yeah, they're probably scared, too. So they watch this video and get freaked out. Maybe they cancel the surgery and spend a few days in a bag of Doritos because Jillian says they should be able to lose weight without surgery but they still feel like they can't. Maybe they get a little depressed and self-esteem plummets further. You see where I'm going with this?

Of course, maybe she inspires someone to try to lose weight "on their own" one last time and they succeed. If so, good for them.

Here's the thing. People look up to her and she needs to get her facts straight before she spouts off very generalized statements about a specific surgery. Ranting about worst-case scenarios is not cool. You risk a whole lot more being morbidly obese than you do having this surgery. According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive & Kidney Disease (NIDDK), less than 1% of all cases of bariatric surgery result in death. Complications are rare and as I've said before - most of the more "common" complications like malnutrition and dumping can be avoided simply by being a good patient and doing what you're told.

My husband watched this video with me and made a good point, which I was already considering before he said it: Jillian's worried about her bottom line. Speaking out against WLS and using fear to keep people away from it could potentially benefit her pocketbook. She could be under the mistaken notion that WLS patients don't buy her books or exercise videos. She would be wrong about that, of course. Again....WLS isn't a magic wand and you have to exercise and eat right to both lose the weight and keep it off. However, you can bet your ass that after watching this video, I won't buy another single thing she has for sale. Ever.

The National Institute of Health now considers WLS the only permanent treatment for morbid obesity. I've written in the past about the many years, tears and dollars I've spent trying to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. It's not that I failed, I just didn't find what worked for me. Every "diet plan" will work if you work it - you just have to find one you can live with. WLS has worked (so far) for me.

While researching some stats for this blog, I found a very cool graphic from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
website. This is what WLS can do for you (click to enlarge):


As someone who supposedly makes a living attempting to help people discover a healthier lifestyle, shame on Jillian Michaels for trying to steer people away from a very safe procedure that saves lives every single day.

What makes a reward?

Let's talk about rewards this morning. What exactly do you deserve? Think about that for a moment.

On this past Tuesday's episode of The Biggest Loser, trainer Jillian Michaels confronted contestant - and Olympic gold medalist - Rulon Gardner over video footage from his room in which he is seen eating things that could sabotage his weight loss. Chips, bags of candy, fast food. Jillian is known for her take-no-prisoners approach so I'm sure Rulon thought he was in for a flogging. Not so much. She calmly went to him to discuss in private why he felt the need to overindulge when his clear purpose for being at the ranch is to lose weight.

Rulon explained his view that he thought he deserved it. He was working hard, losing a ton of weight (well over 100 pounds so far) and figured he could afford to reward himself with a few of his favorite foods. To his credit, he was very honest and forthright about it.

This struck a chord with me big time. I am guilty of thinking this way occasionally. I've lost 250 pounds...I *deserve* to have a bag of chips. I've worked hard and deserve to reward myself. But, as Jillian pointed out, what do you think you deserve?

We deserve to be healthy and live longer. We deserve to be proud of ourselves every day for the choices we make.

Jillian discussed with Rulon the theory that people sometimes have an all-or-nothing approach to food. If you start eliminating foods, it only leads to deprivation and binging when you do succumb to the temptation. Then guilt lingers, you feel like a failure and turn to even more bad choices in an attempt to console yourself. And the cycle goes on and on. Because some foods feel forbidden, we tend to think of them as rewards. Food should never be used in this way. As a society, food often surrounds celebratory events. And that's fine: But the type of food and the amount of it are extremely important. We need to make the celebration about people, not a double-chocolate layer cake.

I have stated many times in the past that I don't believe in bad food. An eating plan that directs you to eliminate any food - whether it's a Snicker's bar or homemade bread - gives me reason to pause. Nothing is totally off limits but of course a clear head and moderation must prevail or you will end up right back where you started and all your hard work will be lost. Do I struggle with the balance? Every single frickin' day! I am guilty of backsliding just like anyone else.

"I ate one piece of pizza, so I blew it and might as well have five pieces." Or maybe you blow one meal and it ruins the whole day for you. Try not to get caught up in that mentality. Even if you have the five pieces, when it's over stop for a second. Think about what just happened. Can you change it? No. Can you move on and make a better choice at the next meal? Sure. You're in control. Even when you screw up, how you deal with it is up to you. Still in control.

Jillian explained that she wasn't telling Rulon to stop eating certain things, just wanted him and the other contestants to try to think about food in a different way since when they leave the ranch, they will deal with choices like this more often, every day. Eat one burger, not three. We all know this stuff - I've blogged about it many times - but it's harder to put into practice. It's not easy, but if you succeed even 80% of the time, then you're ok.

Food isn't a reward in and of itself. Good health is, though. Let's all try to remember that when reaching for the third doughnut of the week at work. I will if you will.

I'm baaaack!

Greetings and salutations. I'm back in the Great White North and feeling sorta human again. I have a little cold that's much better today and my psycho cycle has cranked it into high gear yet again, but I'm doing ok. Considering! LOL!

I got back from Ohio on Wednesday morning about 4 a.m. after being down there for 8 days. My beloved 93-year-old grandmother passed away; my mother called last Monday and was worried I wouldn't make it down there before she went. Well, she hung on, bless her heart, till Sat. morning around 12:30 a.m. It's hard to wait for someone you love to die. You know it's the right thing, that it's time and she needs to go, but it's still so difficult to bear. She was the grande dame of our entire extended family. She will be missed. http://www.boyerfuneral.com/ (click on Hazel A. Brannan)

I tried my best to stick to the healthy eating thing while I was there but it was hard. My parents own a restaurant and we ate there every day instead of my mom having to cook. I made pretty good choices most of the time and I did exercise a couple times. All told, I was still prepared for a nasty number on the scale. Not too bad...I only gained a pound. I'll take it, believe me. *whew*

I have read many articles about the need for weight-loss patients, or anyone losing a great deal of weight, to make a list of things they want to do when they reach their goal weight. Things we can't do now because of our size or health problems or whatever. The other day, I even heard The Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels on Oprah talking about the importance of such a list. So I'm going to do that - here are a few things I've thought of and I'll add to the list every week:

- Walk or stand for long periods of time. By that I mean walk a couple miles or stand for more than a few minutes (you know, like several hours at a Bo Bice concert).

- Buy cute clothes! I don't know what it's like to go into a store and be able to actually wear stuff. And have room to go up a size or two! That'll be nice.

- Sit in a booth at a restaurant.

- Cross my legs!

- Look at chairs or seats in movie theaters or stadiums or on patios and wonder if they're strong and/or wide enough.

- Energy. I need me some of that.