Bariatric surgery---The big decision--to my friends, readers and colleagues

I have been considering bariatric surgery for the past two years and my doctor has increasingly put gentle pressure on me to go that way. Once I told friends and colleagues that I was thinking of taking up the option, even though it was going to cost me a great deal, because I am too old for the free operation that people can get in New Zealand if they are under 50, they tried to talk me out of it.

I was told---‘Neil, you will never cope with not having food as a central part of your life,’ or ‘Neil it’s all about portion control,’ or ‘Neil, try this diet or that approach,’ or, ‘Neil, it’s all in your mind.’

OK, I love my friends, family and colleagues and I believe that they have my best interests at heart, but they are not me. Everyone is different. We all have different beliefs, different body types, physiology, metabolic rates and God knows what else. These differences are what make each of us unique. BUT---I know myself. It’s not that I am weaker when it comes to making decisions. It’s not that I don’t try. It’s not that I don’t listen and it’s not that I don’t care about myself.

The fact is that I have tried, and then tried something different. I believe that I started putting on weight that would not come off as a ‘net loss,’ after trying all of these diets and ‘lifestyles.’  The trend is always up. Yes, I would lose weight and then put even more on. It’s that crucial factor that something within me ‘turns on, (or off as it may be), a switch’ that makes me get off the programme, whichever one it was---like Weight Watchers or Sureslim, not to mention the wacky and stupid ones---the ones that we get sucked into spending heaps of money on.

I WANT OFF THIS CRAZY ROLLER COASTER!

My dear friends--- thanks for your wonderful support but if I get a blank look on my face when you ask me if I have tried this or that diet, it's not that I am trying to tell you to ‘feck off’ as dear Mrs Brown says on that funny TV programme (Mrs Brown’s Sons), it is just me preparing myself for this new challenge.

Thank you to the fantastic people who are encouraging me who have been through this operation. Special thanks to my friend Ngaio in Australia who has been through all this and has witnessed me in the past going through the rigours of countless diets. Ngaio, your words yesterday were inspirational. Thanks for ‘knowing me.’ Maybe when I have transformed I can come and see you in the dessert--- knowing that I can outrun the snakes, scorpions-----ooooooh I’m scared!

OK, enough of the soppy stuff. I feel a few unPC things coming. I have my first consultation with the specialist on December the 13^th.