One of my closest friends underwent gastric banding (less severe and more reversible than the bypass) almost two years ago, more as an infertility treatment than anything else. She suffers from PCOS, and sure enough, after losing about 75 lbs., she got pregnant. However, I wouldn't wish what she went through during the pregnancy on anyone -- horrible nausea and vomiting blood the whole nine months, and a constant struggle to consume enough food to keep herself going. She actually lost 25 more pounds during the pregnancy; at about six months, her doctor ordered her to quit work, stay in bed to burn as few calories as possible, and eat all day long. The poor girl literally spent about 4 hours a day just trying to eat. It was horrible -- we were all worried sick about her and the baby both, and were thrilled when she got the band removed six weeks after her son was born.

Interestingly enough, she was pretty much eating LC by default while she had the band, because carbohydrates just take up too much room in the stomach. The volume-to-calorie ratio just isn't worth it -- protein is denser than bread or rice, and fat is denser still. She went right back to "normal" eating after the band was removed, and put on 25 lbs in just a couple months (which, frankly, she needed -- she went from being seriously overweight to legitimately underweight). Happily, she is now back on LC, doing an Atkins maintenance with some CAD, and is successfully keeping the rest of the weight off.

My friend and I have talked at great length about the whole experience, and she says that the one thing the band really did for her was convince herself that she wasn't just destined to be fat. She thinks she might have managed to lose the weight by eating LC, but that she doesn't think she would have brought herself to try it, and might have sabotaged herself if she had. The psychological difference in her is amazing -- not believing you can lose the weight is a vicious catch-22, especially when you compound it with years of trying and failing at low-fat low-cal diets. Once you break out of that thinking, you find the mental resources to lose the weight, but she just didn't have them to start and credits the physical transformation of the WLS with helping her find them. There was some good in it for her as well, although I do think she was fortunate to have chosen a relatively non-intrusive form of the surgery.

After seeing what she went through with the surgery, I'd never have considered it myself , even before finding LC and losing my own weight. I was a little jealous of my friend for losing the weight so quickly (because I was still stuck in "fat mode"), but it certainly wasn't effortless for her. If you're feeling "betrayed" by your co-worker, ask yourself whether you'd rather be busting your butt with eating right and exercising, or vomiting blood and suffering constant nausea. "Easy" it's not -- it may be initially mentally easier than changing one's diet and exercise habits, but it brings along physical and emotional issues of its own.