Know anyone who has had weight loss surgery?

[+ quoththeraven]

I know of someone who had the surgery (gastric bypass, I believe) despite being in bad health/having contraindications who died from it after lingering a long time.

 

Another attorney in the law firm I worked at had successful surgery but her face was very gaunt. I felt she was more attractive-looking before. But she was definitely able to wear a greater variety of outfits.

 

That wouldn't have mattered as much if garment companies made flattering clothes for everyone and adapted their styles for different sizes and shapes. Easier to do with women's clothing, I know.

[+ quoththeraven]

Samoyed.

I should know this. I knew a family that had several samoyeds, though only one at a time.

[+ purplekow]

What about the alternative of doing nothing and having a heart attack, diabetes or a sedentary life?

Why would you assume the alternative to gastric bypass is doing nothing? When patient's asked me about weight loss surgery, who said they "would do anything to lose weight" I said, what about a judicious plan of diet and exercise and a lifestyle change that allows that to happen.

Ultimately, those who "would do anything to lose weight" usually say, "I will do anything but that."

Listen, I am fat, fat fat. I eat too much. I exercise to little. For those prolonged periods of my life when I followed a sensible diet with exercise and life style change including appropriate rest, I lost weight, I felt better and though it took time, it worked. Each of those times, I had formidable success and then an obstacle that led me back down the same old path. Back to eating poorly, one meal a day, just before bedtime with exercise as an afterthought and stress leading to weight gain.

By the way, I do not have diabetes, I have not had a heart attack and while my life is more sedentary than some, I still manage to get out and dance, scuba dive, ski and fuck the occasional muscle stud who has had greater success than I in keeping his body fit.

The alternative to surgery is not nothing, but that kind of thinking is what has lead to the boom in bariatric practices.

[+ FreshFluff]

Why would you assume the alternative to gastric bypass is doing nothing? When patient's asked me about weight loss surgery, who said they "would do anything to lose weight" I said, what about a judicious plan of diet and exercise and a lifestyle change that allows that to happen.

Ultimately, those who "would do anything to lose weight" usually say, "I will do anything but that."

Listen, I am fat, fat fat. I eat too much. I exercise to little. For those prolonged periods of my life when I followed a sensible diet with exercise and life style change including appropriate rest, I lost weight, I felt better and though it took time, it worked. Each of those times, I had formidable success and then an obstacle that led me back down the same old path. Back to eating poorly, one meal a day, just before bedtime with exercise as an afterthought and stress leading to weight gain.

By the way, I do not have diabetes, I have not had a heart attack and while my life is more sedentary than some, I still manage to get out and dance, scuba dive, ski and fuck the occasional muscle stud who has had greater success than I in keeping his body fit.

The alternative to surgery is not nothing, but that kind of thinking is what has lead to the boom in bariatric practices.

 

Many people who have bariatric surgery have tried everything else though. The bariatric patient profiled in this NYT article describes the hunger she feels as "clawing at you from the inside out," which is probably the case for a lot of bariatric patients. If that's the case, then the only other way to losing weight long term to take a stimulant like Phentermine or Adderall.

[gallahadesquire]

Just a comment:

The two people I know, who had bariatric surgery, are both dead.

One died of erotic asphyxiation or suicide, I never looked up the police report. But he was very, very depressed and big-time broke when he died.

 

The second one died of some other problem, but having MS and bariatric surgery didn't sound like a good idea at the time.

[+ purplekow]

Many people who have bariatric surgery have tried everything else though. The bariatric patient profiled in this NYT article describes the hunger she feels as "clawing at you from the inside out," which is probably the case for a lot of bariatric patients. If that's the case, then the only other way to losing weight long term to take a stimulant like Phentermine or Adderall.

I did mention in an earlier post that if all else has been tried one might consider this but with judicious consideration. Stimulants are quite dangerous to anyone but the older you get the more dangerous they become

[marylander1940]

Why would you assume the alternative to gastric bypass is doing nothing? When patient's asked me about weight loss surgery, who said they "would do anything to lose weight" I said, what about a judicious plan of diet and exercise and a lifestyle change that allows that to happen.

Ultimately, those who "would do anything to lose weight" usually say, "I will do anything but that."

Listen, I am fat, fat fat. I eat too much. I exercise to little. For those prolonged periods of my life when I followed a sensible diet with exercise and life style change including appropriate rest, I lost weight, I felt better and though it took time, it worked. Each of those times, I had formidable success and then an obstacle that led me back down the same old path. Back to eating poorly, one meal a day, just before bedtime with exercise as an afterthought and stress leading to weight gain.

By the way, I do not have diabetes, I have not had a heart attack and while my life is more sedentary than some, I still manage to get out and dance, scuba dive, ski and fuck the occasional muscle stud who has had greater success than I in keeping his body fit.

The alternative to surgery is not nothing, but that kind of thinking is what has lead to the boom in bariatric practices.

 

Dude, I am on your side but based on your previous comment it sounded like the surgery was either a last choice or a bad idea.

 

I would assume people who do that kind of surgery tried everything else before and it didn't work for them.

[+ oldNbusted]

i went from 180 to now 150 pounds in about four months. Losing weight is just a numbers game, no other time worked for me until I counted my calories. Technically you can lose weight eating junk food as long as you have a calorie defecit. I was eating 1800 calories a day and wrote down everything I ate, after a month I didnt even have to write things down as I could easily remember what i ate. You don't even have to go to the gym to lose weight just eat right at home and the weight will come off. Going to the gym just helps you tighten up your body as you loose weight and gives you more calories to eat. I honestly still eat pasta, still eat hamburgers, chinese food, pretty much everything I used to eat all I do now is make sure I don't go about 1800 calories a day

 

 

I would suggest that just means your metabolism is in the middle of the bell curve. Not so simple for people on the low end, where they have to limit to something like 1,200 cals a day to maintain, while not becoming malnourished. Fortunately, much more info about this phenomenon is coming available.

[+ sniper]

I used to watch ABC's Extreme Makeover Weight Loss edition. One of the women they had on was about 6 feet tall and a former competitive athlete. They got her down to something like 180 or 200 which, given her frame, really didn't look bad at all(and she was coming down from over 300). Then they told her to keep it off she was going to have to keep up the very intense workout schedule PLUS restrict herself to something like 1400 calories a day. 1400 calories a day for a 200 lb person? That's insane.

[+ goosh69]

The mechanical shrinking of the stomach is only part of the effect. Apparently, the surgery also causes changes in the way the brain processes hunger, as MikeBiDude mentioned. This NYT story gives more details.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/health/bariatric-surgery.html

^^this. Also all these people claiming you can lose weight without the surgery have not examined the data. This is the most sure fire way to lose weight and keep it off. Bar none. This article was one in a long series the NYT did on the topic, including several on how it was virtually impossible for most people to sustain weight loss without surgery

[Guest]

I have a patient who's lost over 100 pounds without surgery, and still losing. He is on a number of medications which help lose weight, though: metformin, topiramate, Jardiance, and Victoza. And, no, he doesn't have cancer. We stopped the medications for a month just to make sure.

[+ goosh69]

I have a patient who's lost over 100 pounds without surgery, and still losing. He is on a number of medications which help lose weight, though: metformin, topiramate, Jardiance, and Victoza. And, no, he doesn't have cancer. We stopped the medications for a month just to make sure.

Anecdotes don’t Trump meta data. Weight loss surgery is the only thing that leads to sustained weight loss for the majority of people. Nothing else is even close. The small risk or death is far outweighed but the large increase in life expectancy for those who have it.

[+ Coolwave35]

I had gastric sleeve after a decade of trying everything under the sun from simple diet and exercise to working with nutritionists and a personal trainer. I’m down 85 pounds and haven’t had any ravenous hunger since the surgery. My body can no longer produce the hunger hormones that drove me to eat myself to 300 lbs.

 

I have zero regrets other than waiting til my 30’s to get it. I’m loving my new body and marveling at how much life has changed.

 

Don’t waste your time with the lap band, and total gastric bypass may not be needed. Go for the sleeve.

[+ goosh69]

I had gastric sleeve after a decade of trying everything under the sun from simple diet and exercise to working with nutritionists and a personal trainer. I’m down 85 pounds and haven’t had any ravenous hunger since the surgery. My body can no longer produce the hunger hormones that drove me to eat myself to 300 lbs.

 

I have zero regrets other than waiting til my 30’s to get it. I’m loving my new body and marveling at how much life has changed.

 

Don’t waste your time with the lap band, and total gastric bypass may not be needed. Go for the sleeve.

The lap band lost me 70. But yours will lose you more. Bypass loses the most.