What are your opinions?

My opinion is do the work to lose weight yourself. Small steps pay off when you are severely overweight. Get your diet in check and walk a little, even if it's only 100 yards per day. Slowly build up and lose the weight. Don't take a shortcut because you aren't addressing the real issue.

FPNI



 

neither.

I know folks that done both and are bigger now than before. You have to learn to eat clean now and make life changes either way you go.

As a person who was part of an invention group which developed a gastric reduction procedure and therefore having done quite a bit of research in the field:

They are all barbaric and do nothing good that will-power cannot do and some of them do considerable bad. e.g. any procedure which removes tissue or bypasses like the Roux-en-y.

If you feel you must, the Lap Band is the least destructive, afaik.

It is exponentially better to gain control of your eating and begin exercise. Under a doctor's care and direction if you're really big.

There for lazy people

Every person that I know ALL have intestinal problems, problems with other levels, and problems with consuming alcohol. Joint problems, muscle problems and bone too.

I have a friend that had the one where they take out some stomach. He started losing weight asap. That was two years ago. He currently looks the same as before. How could that be? It must be very depressing for him.

GF's Mom had the band for a while, but had too many issues and ultimately went with the sleeve.

IMO, it's nothing more than a crutch. Changing your diet and exercising are the key to losing weight and keeping it off. The concept is simple - take in less calories than your body burns and you'll lose weight.

This.  Over your lifetime, I would bet it would be both cheaper and more effective to get a gym membership and a personal trainer, a behavioral therapist, and extra MD visits to monitor your health and progress, than to do any of those surgeries.

Surgeries and anesthesia carry significant risk by themselves, before you start look at the long term effects on your digestion and nutrition absorption.

I know 6 people around where I work, who got some such procedure done all within about a year, around 2008 or so. All of them lost tremendous amounts of weight. One guy additionally had surgery to remove a bunch of extra skin, most notably the prominent "pack of hotdogs" feature on the back of his head.
Within 4 years, every single one of them was just as big as before, and the guy with the surgery had horrendous looking scars where everything stretched back out. They were all obviously miserable, and disgusted, and it was depressing being around them as they gained it all back. Thankfully they have all moved on or retired.
Not a viable long term health plan, in my opinion. Lifestyle change takes longer, but lasts longer too. Or just stay fat, but be jolly. I have no problems with a well adjusted lardass.

I'm a fat ass. I need to loose 70 pounds, but would not consider surgery to get there. Just going back to the gym and eating less carbs worked for me a few years back and I will just do that again.

Eat less, pick up things more often.  They don't fix what's between your ears.

A friend of my wife just had one removed, it got infected after two years

While I am not current on the intestinal bypass indications,  I would argue against it for weight reduction.  A good friend had intestinal bypass in his 30s. In his 50s he had all kinds of electrolyte problems from malabsorption.  He was admitted to ICU and almost died. (not hyperbole.   That is the collective judgement of the MDs, PA.s and Rn.s he worked with)  Specific nutrients hare absorbed preferentially in specific tracts of the  intestine.  I think now the operation creates a loop for a digestive "short cut" rather than segment removal.  All things considered, don't remove parts unless necessary.  There are operations such as splenectomy, that at one time,  were considered to have little down side risk, which are now reconsidered for late onset problems.

Eat less.

(and differently)

KETO

 

I'm a psych nurse and you wouldn't believe the number of patients I talk to that have serious problems after these procedures. In my experience, they're actually less healthy in most cases even after any weight loss. The best way is:

Exercise
Limit calorie consumption
Long-term lifestyle change

But that's hard so most people don't wanna do it.

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This,  I don't understand losing 100-150 lbs so that you can have surgery to lose weight (The 600lb idiot show). You just set yourself back 2-6 months, IMHO!  It just doesn't make sense to me! Easy come, easy go!  





My wife gets tickled when I get real irritated at the overweight doctor on that show.  He is 100lbs overweight himself and telling people to lose weight.  I had a doctor like that once, she told me I needed to lose 40-50 lbs and I ask her how much did she need to drop, 100-150 lbs (she was 5ft 3 or so and 250-300 lbs,  I was 6 ft 7 and 280lbs).  She fired me as her patient!
 

Diet and exercise

Cycling and reduced portions. 70 lbs gone no problem

Two cops and a clerk at work had the bypass, they always looked very sickly.

It took a long time to get fat so it will take a while to get skinny. Why the hurry?

I know 4 people that had it done. Only of them was unable to keep the  weight off but thats because he now has a hard time eating and keeping anything down without getting sick. He is actually on appetite meds to help him eat. He looks like a Holocaust survivor.

The other 3? Fat as they ever were. One of them had the surgery 2x already

I don't understand that. You can be knowledgeable and have good advice even if you don't follow it. I mean I suck at golf, but I've taught several people to be decent golfers.

 


As for the surgery, I knew a woman who did it several years ago. They started her on a pre-surgery diet and she lost 30-40# and I was thinking why get surgery when dieting seems to work just fine!


 

They both ignore the underlying problem.

That said,  bariatric  surgery can go pear-shaped easily,  and when it does,  it is usually a big deal due to the nature of the surgeries and pre-existing comorbidities


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I agree and the reduced portions is key! I can't exercise (TBI, severe spasticity  on my left side, terribly high BP- 180's/120's with six different BP meds in me). My docs finally got me to where I could start losing weight through diet.  I've lost a little over 110 lbs over the last 12 months by limiting my diet to 1400 calories a day. That is hard to do when you take 39-43 pills a day (meds have calories in them and effect metabolism) and not supposed to exercise.  



 

My mother in law is a retired registered nurse and she had the lap band surgery I think.  It's the one where they can adjust it by injecting saline in I think?  This was probably 6 or 7 years ago.  She has thyroid issues as well.  She lost 20 pounds prior to the surgery as she was basically not allowed to eat any fat in preparation as they wanted to make sure the liver was not enlarged.  She lost some more weight shortly thereafter, but she never had the band adjusted.  She stayed steady or maybe put some weight back on.  For exercise, she swims.  Her knees were basically destroyed.  However, she recently had bilateral knee replacements.  Within 4 months, she was able to keep my daughter full time from November through January so that we didn't have to start day care until she was 5 months old.  She has lost a ton of weight since then by controlling eating portions and continuing to swim.  She's just under 5 feet tall and she's lost like 50 pounds.  She's in her mid 60s and I don't think she's had any complications from the surgery as of yet.

Mental help and a nutritionist is much cheaper.

Go figure why you can't control what you put in your mouth.

Do you belittle them as you teach them golf? A lot of it is delivery.  Don't call me a pig and demand that I pull the splinter out of my eye when you have a beam in yours. I was young at the time (19-20), don't know that I would go back at her that way now. I wanted to tell her, "you know that my coach used to say  "if you can not learn to play it, you can always try to teach it!"





 

Bariatric surgery has a place, but there are enough potential complications that I would have a hard time recommending it. There are so many medical options and lifestyle modifications which can be successful now. I wouldn't say that bariatric surgery is ONLY a last resort, but its a process that is WAY down the line on my flowchart.



DR. TWIRE

I know two people (both female) who had procedures done.

One gained all her excess weight back and stayed that way until she started the couch-to-5k program.

The other has major digestion problems, can only eat certain things without getting sick, and is getting pretty screwed up in the head.

My sister had it with nothing but complications afterwards.  

She's had a few surgeries since and looks worse today than when she was just overweight.  

Bad idea

I lost close to 150lbs on the don't eat so much you fat fuck diet.
Gained about 20lb back over the last 3 years.

What took time to gain will take time to lose.  There are no fast, easy fixes to your problems.
Now get up and get to work!

Kevin Smith did this by dumping sugar and walking.

If you're going to have one or the other, get the sleeve.  You'll have better nutritional status with the sleeve and it's less reworking of the guts, so I would expect less complications though I'm not sure I've seen a study comparing post op complications.  That's not to say there isn't one out there though.  

I think everyone else forgot what you actually asked.  

amoebas

I'm getting a sleeve on the 5th, so that's my vote.

My GF almost died when her bypass killed a couple sections of her small intestine.  Two months and 4 weeks in the hospital, three surgeries and a collapsed lung complication...



She's right back where she was before hand, only with a bunch of scars, medical bills, and memories she'd rather do without.


Try every other method first.

Start by not shoving so much food down the pie hole.
Whatever you do good luck.

Losing weight is really simple but everyone tries to make it very hard. It all boils down to this: the number of calories you consume for the day must be less than the calories you burn for the day. Do this, and you won't have any problem losing the weight. It is as simple as tracking your calories. ALL of your calories. If you get gastric bypass or a lap band and you do not follow the principle of tracking your calories, you will gain weight back. It's just a fact. Even bypass and a lap band follow this principle. They restrict the amount of food you eat in order to restrict the number of calories you eat and create a caloric deficit.






Every diet or method out there that claims to have found the "secret" to losing weight is really just another method of restricting your calories to below your maintenance levels. Low carb = eat less calories than you burn. Mediterranean diet = eat less calories than you burn. Paleo diet = eat less calories than you burn. They all go about trying to create a caloric deficit in different ways, but the principle is the same. If you want to lose weight, eat less calories than you burn. If you want to gain weight, eat more calories than you burn. Do some research online to figure out how to calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This will tell you how many calories you need to eat in order to maintain your current weight. Then, subtract 500 (or up to 25%). That will give you the number of calories you should be eating a day in order to lose weight safely. Use an app like MyFitnessPal (it's free) to track your calories. Don't lie. Put in every calorie that you eat. Yes, this means using a food scale. Do it for 2 weeks and you'll see that it's incredibly easy. You don't have to stop eating whatever foods you like. As long as you track the calories and eat 500 under maintenance, you can eat pizza, ice cream, and chocolate all day long and still lose weight.  As you lose weight you'll have to recalculate your BMR periodically since you will need less calories the less you weigh.






Note that eating only junk food is not good for your health and eating healthy foods allows you to eat a MUCH larger quantity of food so you don't get hungry. But if you are at the point you are considering gastric bypass surgery, you need to lose some weight first before you worry too much about dialing in your nutrition. People who go on "diets" tend to get sick of the foods they're eating and try to make changes that are too big in the beginning. You can't go from an unhealthy diet to a clean diet overnight. Most people won't take the time to do what I've listed above. People have a tendency to want to take the easy way out. But there is ALWAYS a cost to doing things the easy way rather than the right way. It may take you longer to lose the weight by eating in a caloric deficit (and eventually eating healthier foods and exercising) but there is no chance of side effects and you will have learned the truth about how to control your weight for the rest of your life.




 

Man Up and have some self control.

Get off your ass and walk around.  Cut the sugar and boost your protein/fiber intake.

It'd be pretty hard to tattoo a sleeve like that and probably be painful as hell. I'd by pass that if it were me.

Half the people I know that have had bariatric weight loss surgery have ended up heavier.  

And they had more issues.

That's only of you want to lose weight, get healthy, and never be hungry.

Too much protein is no different than too much sugar. It converts to glucose if you eat too much.

OP. Get 2 books.

"Why we get fat" and "keto clarity".

I have had 3 friends do that procedure. The first one died within 8 months of it due to infections and other complications. His wife sued them based on other stuff they did wrong like leaving instruments in his belly 4 separate times, scissors, clamps etc. She got a huge paycheck of several millions.

My one buddy did it to lose less than 100lbs, he eats everything that you shouldnt and has stopped losing weight. He looks a lil better but IMO he just lazy.

He went into with very minor prostate issues. He came out of it with severe prostate issues, serious vitamin and electrolyte def, and RA which has progressed rapidly, he must take acid reducing PPIs every day which he did not used to take. He also told me that if he ate to fast the food backs up in his throat.

He has zero stamina and cant work hard for more a few minutes without tiring he is always starving and he is still fat.

 I told him of he would eat real foods, and high protein foods he would feel better, instead of eating ice cream and junk food.

Know what he said, you dont know what you are talking about.  I stopped trying help that ignorant ass.

His wife had it done and she lost over 150lbs, she ate healthy before and couldnt lose anything, she didnt change her diet at all after the surgery and has been better for it.

I am 20lbs over my max weight, and 40lbs to where i was pre injuries and pre body building.  

. If you are lazy, stop making excuses and do somethimg about it, the posters before me can point you in the correct direction.

The ima lose weight instantly (me now crowd), you are not better for it, you have to make a life style change regardless of the surgery. Do you want taper back gradually now or be forced to do it all at once.  

Go get a food scale that measures in ounces and purchase a timer with a 1 hour limit.

Put your fav food on that scale, now cut it to 1 ounce. Cook it,  put it on a plate and set your timer for hour.  This is the time it shall take you to eat that 1oz of food.  You will not have the option to eat more.  

Think that is extreme, guess what this is what the surgery will do to you, these are guidelines that all three of my friends had/have to live by.

Both of my living friends look like they have 1 foot on a banana peel and the other in a grave.