It Ain't Over 'til the Thin Lady Sings: How to Make Your Weight-Loss Surgery a Lasting Success [Paperback] Review

Oh yawn, I thought. Another book by a gastric bypass patient explaining how to make things work long-term. But this book is certainly different than several others I've read by post-bypass patients. The author is a certified addictions counselor, and she tackles one of the most difficult aspects of weight loss by ANY means, be it weight-loss surgery or a diet and exercise regimen and that is the psychological aspects of what cause us to overeat and become obese in the first place. There is some very basic information about WLS itself and about post-op care and eating, but not much.

It is refreshing to read a book that doesn't give lists of what you can and can't eat, huge recipe sections, long lists of do's and don'ts. It's also refreshing to read a book in which the majority of the content is not all about the author and her story from fat to fit and how fabulous life is now. This book is about YOU. There are some anecdotes about the author's personal experiences and the experiences of some of her clients (she facilitates WLS support groups and deals with chronic overeaters), but it's mostly exercises encouraging you to find your own answers and gives you tools to help you work through your own "demons" and to develop strategies to let go of the old behaviors and develop healthy new ones. It also encourages you to come up with a post-op program that works for YOU rather than just following someone else's lists of do's and don'ts. This is an aspect of obesity in general and WLS in particular that I feel is very neglected and this book is a welcome addition to any collection of books dealing with WLS.

That said, I do feel it's somewhat incomplete with regard to the lack of information about the surgery itself, physical followup care, and I don't believe it emphasizes enough the importance of putting protein first, and her protein recommendations run lower than my own research indicates is necessary. The vital necessity of vitamin supplementation after gastric bypass is also not addressed forcefully enough, I don't think. As an RN working in a GI clinic, I talk with many post-ops who are quite malnourished down the road and find that their supplementation is very underdone. But since so many others of these types of books are just the opposite--emphasizing the physical aspects but ignoring the psychological, I do feel this book is an essential addition to any WLS patient's library, but I cannot say that it is a complete and comprehensive guide to WLS.

I myself am a year post-op RNY, and I did find the book very helpful, although not always pleasant, as some of the psychological things I have put on the back burner and it wasn't easy dragging them into the light. Still, I believe for long-term success, the author is absolutely correct in stating that these things MUST be addressed. The book will remain on my "keeper" shelf and I intend to drag it out periodically to refer to. Well done, and many thanks to Michelle for writing this book!

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Product Description:
This sensitive, sympathetic book helps readers determine whether or not weight-loss surgery is right for them. Author Michelle Ritchie shares both her personal journey as a successful weight-loss surgery patient and her professional advice as an experienced weight-loss counselor. In sometimes funny, sometimes painful prose, she discusses her life before and after surgery and bluntly analyzes her own complicity in her obesity. As she describes her four-year battle to maintain her new, healthy weight, Ritchie emphasizes personal responsibility, reminding readers that surgery is not a quick-fix solution but a tool that works only as well as the choices patients make after the procedure. Also included are a detailed description of gastric bypass surgery; its pros and cons; tips for keeping weight off after surgery; daily food plans and sample shopping lists; information on cross-addictions; and a thoughtful discussion on intimacy and relationships after surgery.

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