The May issue of The Atlantic includes a lengthy article by Marc Ambinder, Beating Obesity, that is part policy discussion, part personal story.
The policy discussion is pessimistic; the personal story is perhaps more optimistic. Ambinder had weight loss surgery a year ago, and has lost 85 pounds, becoming what a colleague refers to as “a ghost of my former self.”
But I say perhaps more optimistic for a number of reasons. First, Ambinder notes that his insurance didn’t cover his $30K surgery. I don’t know (he doesn’t say), but I’m guessing it is because he wasn’t heavy enough. Doing a reverse calculation for a BMI of 34 and a weight of 235 puts Ambinder at just under 5′ 10″ tall.
Is 235 too much for that height? Clearly. Is it the kind of excess weight you normally associate with weight loss surgery? I don’t; my understanding is that typically patients need to be morbidly obese with at least 100 pounds to lose.
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our modern culture -- especially diet. Beth writes about ancestral health, health policy, & mindfulness. And cats! 
