In a word...expensive. But maybe not for the reasons you think. Sure, I suppose the most obvious contributor to the price tag is the food. Number Ones and Number Twos from Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Chik-Fil-A don’t run cheap…especially when they’re supersized and you eat them on a nearly daily basis. Then there’s the cost of taking a taxi three blocks because you want to avoid working up a sweat before your arrival at an important meeting or appointment. And of course, the clothes. When the majority of dresses in your closet begin with a “4” or “3” and end with an “X,” you can trust that what they lack in style they will certainly make up for in price. After all, it takes a lot of material to make a tent.
The list is endless. But the “good” thing is that this particular part of the equation is filled with items that we can quantify relatively easily. If I order a large number one from Wendy’s it will cost me about $6 or $7. If I take a taxi from the intersection Broad and Chestnut to the intersection of 17th and Chestnut, I’ll have to pay $5 or $6. And finally, if I purchase that jacket from Catherine’s Plus Size Clothing Shoppe, I’ll have to come up with $68 or $77, depending on whether I’m in a 3X or a 4X that day.
But what about the intangibles? They are insidious and not amenable to calculation, but our analysis would be incomplete without an examination of these hidden costs. For example, what about the dull headache I had most mornings because my undiagnosed sleep apnea meant that I literally stopped breathing hundreds of times the night before? How about the trip to the amusement park with my friends where I had to watch from the sidelines, pretending to hate all roller coasters because I feared that their harnesses wouldn’t fit my frame? And what about the relationships and friendships I never formed because I was shut in a room, hiding, embarrassed, and limited by what I had done to myself?
But what about the intangibles? They are insidious and not amenable to calculation, but our analysis would be incomplete without an examination of these hidden costs. For example, what about the dull headache I had most mornings because my undiagnosed sleep apnea meant that I literally stopped breathing hundreds of times the night before? How about the trip to the amusement park with my friends where I had to watch from the sidelines, pretending to hate all roller coasters because I feared that their harnesses wouldn’t fit my frame? And what about the relationships and friendships I never formed because I was shut in a room, hiding, embarrassed, and limited by what I had done to myself?
As much as I wish I could assign a dollar amount to these intangibles, I cannot. That’s because it goes without saying that good friends, quality time with family, and our lives are priceless. I know I have a lot of life ahead of me, but I’m nonetheless saddened by the fact that I took so long to regain control. I thought my life was full before I had gastric bypass, but the truth is the only things about me that were full were my hips and my stomach:-). My obesity cost me a lot, but I'm paying down my debt on a daily basis each time that I choose to live. And now is the moment for you to ask yourself, when you do your own cost benefit analysis, can you justify the choices you’ve made?
Choose to live.
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