Interesting topic....
4 years ago, I was one of these people, weighing in at 437lbs, the day of my surgery, the surgery itself was not a crutch, but food was...I used it for everything, Now, I was always big but not fat, in High School, I was 6'4 315, carrying about 17 - 19% bf, and played offensive line in High School and College, however after college, getting married, and settling into a desk job, I let myself go, didn't work out, didn't eat properly, basically I got lazy, and yes I'm not afraid to admit that most obese people, are simply lazy. I used phen/phen, Adkins, worked out, but fell into the yo-yo diet scene...at age 30, I couldn't walk upstairs without gasping for breath, I was so far gone, I saw no other choice than the surgery, the day my surgeon released me from my medical, I went to the nearest personal training studio, and got a personal trainer, and started working out 5 days a week, every morning, I lost 210 lbs, in 6 months, then rebuilt my body up to 255 lbs. Today I am 6'4, 231, with 11.5% bf, and am actually in the fitness industry, for me the surgery was not a crutch, but it was a life saving procedure, and I do from time to time have some guilt pangs, as I think to myself if I had just eaten right and exercised, I would have gotten the same results. The surgery is a kick start, if you have the surgery, but do not change your habits, diet, exercise, life style and deal with the problems in your life that made you what you were before the surgery, you will fail, you will gain the weight back. Having been there, and changed my life, I still reach out to support groups, to show these people that they can change their life, by living a healthy lifestyle, whether they have the surgery or not, as it is not for everyone, you are literally putting your life on the line with the surgery, 95% of the people who die from the surgery do so in the first week from surgery, do to complications...understa nding I'm not defending anyone, but in todays lifestyle, only about 10% of us try and live a healthy lifestyle, I think there should be way more education to our children, look at the number of obese kids out there, yet in the US we continue to cut programs such as Physical Education and Health Classes for our young, and parents instead of getting their kids interested in sports and physical activity, put tv's and xbox's in their rooms, to pacify them...our country is in a sad state...hopefully we wake up soon.