Gastric band fad

[iantheace]

Dont the people having gastric bands fitted drive u really crazy? Hundreds of people here including me have lost more than these people having them fitted. They are totally rediculous, i cant begin to imagine how rediculous it is having to eat liquid food all the time.

Is it a case of these people having no will power and wanting any easy option? The guys that have them fitted, after they lose all the weight look scarily muscle free, women you dont notice it as much, but still notice it.

Just my 2 cents as a guy on TV fitting them said 'Its impossible to lose over 20lb's and keep it off' and it really made me angry.

[3xmom]

Re: Gastric band fad

Not that I am an expert, and this is my first post even though I found you guys a few days ago and just trying to read anough to catch up... lol. I work in a hospital that has a gastric bypass wing. And there are a lot of reasons why people do it. Think of it this way, so I don't sound too preachy... Aren't there a lot of people who don't understand Atkins? There has been bad press and many non-supporters and downright haters of this way to lose weight as well. I could go on and on, but I really don't want to preach...lol.
Just yesterday my father (who has about 80 or so pounds to lose) asked me about a meeting with the surgeons that do it and I asked him why he would want to do that... I said just eat that way for a while. Small portions, loaded with protein (which is how they have to eat, they are only on strictly liquids for a short amount of time), without going through the surgery. His answer was this... if someone is forced to do it.. meaning surgery will force them to not cheat (or else there will be immediate consequences) and do what they want, they will.. free will is a horrible thing sometimes. Hope I didn't offend.

[Alexa]

Re: Gastric band fad

I can see both points of view but I think it's a shame that people have it done when they haven't tried other options sufficiently. Also, I think I saw the same show as you Iantheace - they doctor who tells people they will only ever be able to keep of 20lbs is irresponsible I think, and I also saw him saying the same thing on the news.

I can understand people doing it if they tried and tried to lose weight to no avail, but I think they way it is portrayed, and now recommended by the UK government (including for obese children) kind of sends out the wrong message.

[Grant]

Re: Gastric band fad

These are people just like you and me. They have probably tried and failed at a number of diferent weight loss methods and just can't get their weight down. Maybe they have tried Atkins (even Atkins says in DANDR that his even if hs prgram helps 99% of the people who try it, that 1% is still 150,000 americans), maybe that havn't tried it (probably some doctor telling them its unhealthy /sigh). At some point they may look at surgery and decide that this is their last best hope.

Sure I'm sure a number of them out there just want an easy way out but if you ever talk to someone that went through the program and suggest that what they did was easy they will really REALLY come back hard at you with how difficult it really is.

I feel sorry for the people that have to resort to surgert but I can understand why they choose to do it and in the end I can't fault them for it.

[Lulubell]

Re: Gastric band fad

i have 2 girlfriends who've had the surgeries. one had the bypass and the other the lap band. the one who had the bypass never properly learned how to eat right and never bothered to exercise. she went from 375>200 then back up to 260 where she is now. she eats a ton of bad carbs now, although she was a carb **** when she was down around 200. this friend is 5'10".

the other one who had the lap band had much slower results, although she is forced to eat much smaller portions and she's become an exercisista. like 2 hours at the gym every day (not married, no kids, flexible job hours). she started at 360 and is currently at 200 and is looking great. still eating right, still exercising and still losing. she is 5'4".

moral of story: it depends on how badly you want something.

[julirama723]

Re: Gastric band fad

All I know is I could NEVER have surgery! I like food, and want to continue to enjoy it--in moderation.

There is something enjoyable and sensual about food--I'm not talking about gorging ourselves or overeating, but isn't eating a great steak a wonderful experience? Or a great glass of wine with fine cheese?

Some people choose this option because they feel it's the only way, and perhaps it is for them.

I like the idea of ME being able to control how much I eat, not sutures, stitches, and bands.

[HeidiE]

Re: Gastric band fad

I am not opposed to weightloss sugery anymore than I am opposed to any other life saving surgery ..people do what they have to do to live....My best friend (a nurse) was almost 500lbs and only 29 years old when she choose to do this ..she went to a support group...learned how to eat right and is working out ..she has lost 200lbs and her life has changed so much for the better words can not express where she is ..compared to where she was in life..she now is able to eat a normal amt of food ...has had no horrible side effects ..this for her was a life saving procedure.....another example is another dear friend also a nurse I know who had a lap band put on ..she has not changed..does not work out ...eats chips and candy ...instead of food .... looks wonderful had lost over ...100lbs... but her body...how long can it live on a vitamin pill and no food? when she starts feeling hungry she has someone inflate the band with saline to make her tummy smaller so she will eat even less room to put the crap she eats.....they are the same age ...both started "morbidly obese" both had comorbitities....and one chooses her food to feed her body ..the other has not seen a vegatable in years and may never at this rate...

I think that like anything else ..there are trade offs with this procedure ..if someone has tried everything ..well then this is an option for a life threatening illness...we do not have many options but to tell people "you need to loose weight" as health care providers...but I think along with this being done ..and my HMO does cover the gastric bipass ..IF and only IF you go through a lenghty pre op counseling both nutritional and behavioral ..we also have a very skilled and very strict Doctor who is a specialist in this area and hand selects people to go through this ...the other nurse paid her way went to Mexico stayed at a resort and came back with a lap band ...more fun I think ..but ...in the end who will be healthier for this?

do I wish everyone could and would eat low carb and it would work for them ...oh yes I do ...for sure for sure!!!

but this option does not seem to be for everyone sadly and sometimes the obesity is such a catch 22 it is almost impossible for people to see the light at the end of the long tunnel ...meanwhile the grave illness's that accompany obesity take over their lives...

[HeidiE]

Re: Gastric band fad

ps I so agree with Julie ..I love food

[Ayria]

Re: Gastric band fad

My parents both had lap bands done. Two years later they are still big people, though they are healthier. Like Heidie says, it can't really change what you choose to put in, even if it can affect the speed or the ammount. I hope to be successful on this wol so my parents will finally see that this diet isn't deadly. They blame it for killing my grampa, who had to have a quintuple bypass and THEN started the diet. It was too late to save him but they blame it for his second heart attack, boo.

[Wonder Woman]

Re: Gastric band fad

The saddest thing to me is the huge number of people that are overweight because of sugar additions and they don't even know it. Not everyone is overweight because of this but I assume that MANY are. Before Atkins, I was ready to join OA because I thought I was addicted to food. I found out I was addicted to sugar. Atkins is the only way I can control my eating. When I was not on Atkins, I could not stop eating, no matter what I tried. It was like a drug addict or smoker. I couldn't stop. If I had that surgery, that wouldn't solve my sugar addiction.

Yes, for some people Atkins won't work but I know several people that, from what they say, seem to have a sugar addiction, like I did, and they won't give Atkins a fair shot and are considering surgery.

The thing this country doesn't understand is that it's not about knowledge. If it was, there would be a lot more thin people. I knew WHAT foods and portions were healthy, but couldn't control myself. So I knew it was more than just learning about healthy eating. For me, it was a physical addiction. Surgery would not have helped me with that.

[MaggieBE]

Re: Gastric band fad

Frank(my dh) is good friends with the main surgeon in our city that does weight loss surgeries. The band surgery was big here a few years ago. Now this surgeon refuses to do the gastric band thing. He feels they do not work. The person that cuts my hair had one done four years ago. I was VERY happy for her. I always asked how much she weighed, complimented her on her nice new clothing, etc. Well over the years she appears to have gained most of the weight back. At the time she got hers my dh was seriously considering having it done. I am glad he didn't do it.

IMO with weight loss surgeries, Atkins, Weight Watchers, etc there is one thing required. Willpower! The nice thing about Atkins is that hunger also isn't required.

[iantheace]

Re: Gastric band fad

I find it very hard to beleive that all these people are left 'no other option', ive given up an addiction to just about every drug, and whats really strange is i actually enjoyed doing it (sadistic bastard). But, what keeps me sane, is knowing that i COULD do those things again if i wanted to, like ive given up smoking, but on special occasions ill still have a cigar, ive given up high carb, but at christmas and birthdays i can still have (as some people said earlier) steak and a peice of cake! I dont know, it doesnt seem like its about anything other than willpower.

2 years ago i would have JUMPED at the chance to have this surgery, and then it clicked to me, as it did alot of people here, that i wasnt really trying to be fit and healthy. Sorry for the righteous post, im still going crazy at the nutritionist and his '20 lbs'. There are a heck of alot of people who can prove him wrong, i think hes going to get pretty slated for that comment.

[HeidiE]

Re: Gastric band fad

I completely agree with you actually ...for myself ..but I also see the other side of this issue ..great thread thanks!!!

[Ragtime Gal]

Re: Gastric band fad

I think that when I was in the active dieting phase, I was a little jealous of these folks. My sister-in-law and niece both had gastric bypasses, and I remember when my sister-in-law told me about hers (after the fact...and she still doesn't want people to know that's how she did it!)...she had lost about 30 pounds in a month. I remember at the time, I had also lost about 30 pounds but it had taken me several months...and I was just plain jealous that she could do it so quickly!! I guess I'm still a bit jealous because she fills up so easily...she can eat a bite or two of dessert and be full and not want any more!

(I was also annoyed when she told me that she had tried every diet, stuck to it completely, and still could not lose weight which meant she could never diet. We all know that if you can stick to a diet you will lose...the problem we all have is sticking to it! But here she was claiming that she would eat exactly what was required and not lose.)

My niece, on the other hand, lost about 80 pounds total and gained back about twenty or so of that. Her eating habits are not as good and she eats a lot more than my sister-in-law so she had probably stretched out the pouch. However, she is still no longer "obese".

I was also a bit annoyed after I lost my weight as some people thought I had had surgery!

I will say that my sister-in-law, although very thin now, has a very saggy face with jowels. Now, maybe a face lift would take care of this, or maybe she would have had this losing another way...who knows....

Sharon

P.S. I have also heard that the band does not work long term...that is, when you deflate it, you are back to not being full after a meal!

[Lulubell]

Re: Gastric band fad

i forgot to mention about the saggy skin. the girlfriend who had the bypass and lost the weight so quickly has an enormous amount of sagging skin, especially around her mid-section. some on the inner thighs and arms. since her insurance considers the skin tuck/removal/whatever "cosmetic" they will not cover it. so, it's like a double ick.

i can honestly say i was never jealous of either of them, because they were really heavy and seriously bad eaters. meaning, they got fat on bad food like fast food and such.