So I was surfing late last night after slamming my 5th protein shake (I’m on the V-Diet). The HOT-ROX is keeping me up, so I figured why not check out whats on the net tonight.
I somehow end up reading an article about some guy who used to weight a HALF A TON and finally decided to have gastic bypass surgery.
He’s lost over 600 lbs now and is waiting to have surgery (a super tummy tuck) to get rid of the over 100lbs of dead skin and fat that used to be his gut. Apparently now he’s about to go on Oprah or something as an “inspiration” to others. The fact that makes me sick is that he admittedly continues to 1) smoke a pack or two a day and 2) often eats McD’s and other foods that helped get him to 1/2 ton…
Anyway, this got me thinking about how this type of surgery has now become so common - we’re seeing examples of it everyweek on “extreme makeovers” etc…
I know everyone jokes about hoping scientists make a pill that just magically drops your BF over night (ok, HotRox comes close), but seriously - is this really how we want to promote fat loss?
As a FFB who’s lost about 100lbs without resorting to surgery, I’m appalled to see stories like this make the news. M
This surgery really seems fraught with complications. As common as it has become, there have been more than a few fatalities resulting from it, based on what I have read.
My wife’s uncle had the surgery a few years back, as he was easily pushing 400 bills. Soon after the procedure, he began falling apart, spent the better part of 18 months in the hospital and died soon after. It was such a shame because as huge as he was, his heart was even bigger. The guy never, ever exerted himself physically and ate everything in sight without the slightest concern for his health.
For some, however, I assume that it may very well be the ONLY means to dropping excessive weight.
Here’s the thing that gets me about gastric bypass. It’s not like it sucks away fat like liposuction, and its definitely not instant fatloss DUE to the surgery. It’s essentially forced willpower as overeating will either
Cause you to vomit because you’re putting in more than your ‘pouch’ can handle
Could potentially kill you as the ‘pouch’ breaks apart from the amount of food.
So basically it teaches people to cut down on calories because it makes it uncomfortable for them to do so.
Is anyone else thinking that putting on an electric shock collar and hiring some person to follow you around and zap you everytime you even look at a twinkie is about the same effect?
I agree that gastric bypass surgery, in many cases, can be avoided with exercise and diet. However, there are some individuals for whom exercise is not an option, either because of their debilitating size, or conditions such as severe arthritis.
One part of bariatric surgery that I think many people are unaware of is that by decreasing the size of the stomach, the amount of ghrelin that the stomach produces also decreases. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite and promotes energy (i.e. fat) storage. Furthermore, the size of the outlet is decreased as well, slowing down the time it takes for food to empty into the intestine.
To my dismay, I recently learned that my own DOCTOR has had a gastic bypass (he was, probably high 200 pounds and maybe 5’8" - so yeah, he was quite big, but not monstrous).
It makes me wonder - what hope is there for the average uninformed person, when your own Doctor resorts to drastic surgical operations? Imagine the patients saying “hey Doc, how’d you lose weight? Great, can you book me in for one of 'dem too please?”
