Surgery: The Weight-Loss Method of Choice for 80 Percent of Women

UNBELIEVABLE! I can't believe I just read this! Had to share on how pathetically lazy we Americans, and sadly many women are

When given an option of how to lose weight, most people opt for the easiest way possible. But what if the "easy way" involves invasive, painful and dangerous surgical procedures?

As it turns out, many women will still choose the easy way, even though it's not really an easy procedure at all. Recent surveys done by Good Surgeon Guide, a Web site that reviews plastic surgeons, and published in the UK's Telegraph claim that 80 percent of women would rather undergo plastic or weight loss surgery than change their diet and exercise habits.

Liposuction was the procedure of choice, earning 34 percent of votes, while 26 percent said they'd get gastric bypass surgery and 8 percent said they'd opt for a tummy tuck. Many of the women who choose liposuction claimed they did so because they felt it would give instant results.

Think that's a bit frightening? That's not even the worst of it. A whopping 26 percent of the women polled admitted that they never exercised. What's more, only 6 percent said they'd turn to diet and exercise to lose weight.

On the male side, things were slightly more hopeful. Sixty-three percent of the male respondents felt that surgery was the "lazy" way to lose weight, yet only 7 percent admitted that that they were willing to use diet and exercise to slim down. To obtain this data, 1,305 people from all walks of life were polled. "We actually used three methods to find these numbers," said Christiana Clogg, owner of Good Surgeon Guide. "We asked people randomly, in shopping malls and such, as well as people at weight loss centers and people with diabetes."

Surgical procedures for weight loss are becoming more and more common with each passing year, and while there's no doubt that they can change lives, that doesn't mean that going under the knife is a decision that should be taken lightly. There are always major risks associated with any surgery, and most experts will agree that surgery should be a last resort in critical weight loss cases, not an easy way to lose a few before your high school reunion.

It may take longer and require more effort on your part, but studies show that diet and exercise can be just as effective as surgery for weight loss, and there are less side effects to contend with. Plus, there are amazing health benefits to proper diet and exercise habits that you just can't get from surgery. For instance? Exercise was recently shown to be the only proven way to protect yourself against metabolic syndrome. Regular exercise was also shown to be more effective than heart surgery for improving heart health. Oh, and exercise is fun. Really!