Why a Celeb’s Weight Loss Surgery Matters to You and Me

When I see celebs turn up in the media bone-thin saying that it all comes down to “hashtag embracing a healthy lifestyle” or “hashtag sweating instead of crying,” they’re forgetting one important swath of the population: their fans.

An enormous group – often populated by tweens and teens – see the stars’ astounding transformations and are left wondering, “What is wrong with me?” or “I can’t even lose ten pounds let alone a hundred” and “I work out like a crazy person and the scale won’t even budge.”

Take any one of these celebs: Star Jones, Al Roker, Rosie O’Donnell, Roseanne Barr, Sharon Osbourne, Carnie Wilson, and just recently Kelly Osbourne. Each had stomach surgery to lose weight – several after they’d received a scary diagnoses – and some told the world right away; others not so much.

Here’s the deal: if you’re a celeb and have stomach surgery, you need to tell your fans the whole shebang.

Before I get to “why,” first my experience with two loved ones.

Weight Kills.

A friend — who was seriously overweight – was asked by a caring pal whether he’d consider stomach surgery. He immediately responded, “No way! You can die from doing surgeries like that!” This super smart, sweet man died of a heart attack not many years later. He was only 50.

I have a dear friend who is also seriously obese. She’s 45. When another friend suggested stomach surgery she said, “But then I’d have to have a second surgery to cut off the extra skin!!”

Why it’s Our Business.

He didn’t tell anyone for months, but New Jersey governor, Chris Christie underwent a stomach surgery. When it became clear he’d done something to alter his weight he responded, “It was nobody’s business other than mine.”

No, dude, you’re wrong.

If you’re in the public eye — which is where you wanted to be — and use stomach surgery: no judgment.

But please tell the world so that we don’t assume that you’re a superstar human being who can triumph over the daily smorgasbord that is our food-porn world. While we can’t.

It’s too easy for fans to end up with bulimia, anorexia, or a drug addiction all in the quest to be thin like their favorite celeb or politician.

What Stomach Surgery Cannot Do.

Stomach surgery is only the first step to a life-long path to a healthy body. After the surgery comes the hard part: changing how you engage with — and think about — food.

Keeping our brains on the straight-and-narrow is no easy feat. It takes a new dedication every day to stop our brain from running with glee toward the cheesecake at Kroger (frozen section middle aisle 15.).

As a friend once said, “Health is hard.” A healthy body is the result of smart thinking about how we engage with food in our food-gone-wild culture.

Because ultimately maintaining a certain weight isn’t a body thing, it’s a brain thing.

♥, Wendy

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I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥