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Oh heck yeah. At 150 lbs. I lost weight eating 1600 calories a day. Granted I was able to move around quite a lot but say, I hadn't been able to burn those 200 exercise calories a day...that still would have left me with losing at 1400 calories. 200 more than these people, who weigh FOUR HUNDRED (three friggin' people! At least three pople my height) plus pounds more than I did, are "recommended" to eat.
I can see that after the surgery, they will be eating 1200 calories. (Actually, I think less than that directly out of surgery.) That's because now their stomachs are a teensy tube. (And for some I think because the surgery is supposed to change how your body releases ghrelin.) Before the surgery: no such thing. It's a set-up, IMHO. I have heard of people who had to restrict to qualify (plus get psych services/eval) but I don't think many of these people were told to restrict to 1200 calories for literally one, two or more months with the directive "I wahnt you to loose forty pound by next mont." Setup city, and for ratings.
What I used to love about the show was that it was a Cinderella story. Remember Melissa and those starter people? I wanted to see people change their lives around entirely. Now it's pretty rare that that happens and by the time they get to the "one year - end of show" mark some of them have just GOTTEN the surgery. A few had it months earlier and are making some progress but you never really see people get truly to a normal weight anymore...I don't know. Thinking of ditching this one. It's no longer a show about success, it's a show about everybody squealing EEEEEEEEEEEEW at GROSS!!!!1!!!ONE!! shower scenes, yelling "stop overeating!" at the TV as the person "following" Dr. N's instructions piles back a tater tot casserole, and so on. I just don't like where the show has gone.
Now I get that they need ratings but again...even the EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW ambulance chaser viewers must be 100% bored with the formulaic way it's laid out (there are no surprises) and the same shower scenes and the same scenes of the person crying trying to get out of bed, being washed, and stuffing down junk food and begging Dr. Now to do surgery on them. Aren't even sensationalist people bored by now?
My sister had bariatric surgery. She was put on a restricted low carb diet for almost 6 months, and IIRC it was maxed out at 1200 calories. What is more she was put on an all liquid diet with protein drinks two weeks right before surgery, according to her it had to do with shrinking her liver. She was told an amount of weight she was supposed to lose, I don’t remember how much, but she did lose over 30 pounds prior to surgery and she wasn’t as big as those people. Getting that surgery isn’t as simple as just asking for it, especially if you want insurance to cover it. Her insurance had rules before they would pay, so I’m not sure if the inflexibility about the diet came from them or the doctor.
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But they don't film every one of his patients. The ones that are filmed and are from other
states ( who are shown at the onset of their ordeal talking in those nature scenes ) have already been
accepted and many probably have already had the surgery .
Last week there was a very sad episode about a man named Robert from New Jersey who seemed like such
a nice guy (not like Steve whatsoever) and he wanted to succeed , but he died. That was
the first time I recall seeing that happen . I was kind of surprised that they showed it, but
they did sort of drop hints now that I think about it.
That was terrible. He was one of those whom I really rooted for. He seemed motivated, in love, and had a plan for his life, unlike so many who don't seem to think about life after surgery except in an abstract way. If only his heart had held out a little longer or he'd gotten medical intervention earlier before so much damage was done.
I hope it served as a wake-up call for others who have been procrastinating about getting help. Time is truly of the essence.
My sister had bariatric surgery. She was put on a restricted low carb diet for almost 6 months, and IIRC it was maxed out at 1200 calories. What is more she was put on an all liquid diet with protein drinks two weeks right before surgery, according to her it had to do with shrinking her liver. She was told an amount of weight she was supposed to lose, I don’t remember how much, but she did lose over 30 pounds prior to surgery and she wasn’t as big as those people. Getting that surgery isn’t as simple as just asking for it, especially if you want insurance to cover it. Her insurance had rules before they would pay, so I’m not sure if the inflexibility about the diet came from them or the doctor.
Wait, your sister ate 1200 calories a day for six months and only lost 30 pounds? Am I misunderstanding that?
Wait, your sister ate 1200 calories a day for six months and only lost 30 pounds? Am I misunderstanding that?
She was put on a 1200 calorie diet for 6 months and only lost 30 pounds - correct. Being put on such a diet does not always mean it is successful, and many of the morbidly obese have metabolic issues, if for no other reason than years of yo-yo dieting. After they have surgery they are only getting between 600-800 calories a day for the first couple of months - which can’t be cheated on as easily because the body changes makes it impossible to overeat too much without doing serious physical damage. Unless you or someone you love has gone through it, is is impossible to grasp how difficult bariatric surgery is for patients. It is the last option for desperate people and, contrary to what many think, it is not an easy out. She has lost over 135 pounds since her surgery ten months ago.
I am not going to get too involved in this topic because I don’t want to hijack the thread but our entire lives I always ate more than my sister and yet was always skinnier, it got worse after we had kids and aged. I get furious at people who make despairing remarks about people with weight issues because I understand it is one more thing where the playing field isn’t as even as people try to pretend it is.
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She was put on a 1200 calorie diet for 6 months and only lost 30 pounds - correct.
The body can go into emergency/starvation mode and weight loss can be very slow this way, especially in the beginning. I forget now the terminology for that, and what the remedy is.
I still watch the show, in spite of how obviously formulaic it is. I couldn't tell you exactly why, but I still find it interesting. No two stories are exactly identical. Watching their stories is a reminder to me to be grateful for the life I have, which has been trauma-free (thus far), full of supportive but not enabling people, and that I take for granted basic things like getting out of bed, taking a shower, procuring food, going about my business in relatively unnoticed fashion, etc. It's also a kind of study in human psychology and dysfunction and manipulative behavior. It's so easy to theorize that, well they just shouldn't eat that and the family should just refuse to give them bad food, but clearly that's not how it plays out in reality. On a shallow note, figuring out (or trying to) which fast food restaurants they are at since all identifiers are blurred is one of the highlights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldhag1
I am not going to get too involved in this topic because I don’t want to hijack the thread but our entire lives I always ate more than my sister and yet was always skinnier, it got worse after we had kids and aged. I get furious at people who make despairing remarks about people with weight issues because I understand it is one more thing where the playing field isn’t as even as people try to pretend it is.
Yup, same here - we ate the same amount and she was way more active (especially outside, riding bikes, etc) when we were kids. I have a child and she does not. I work a desk job and she works in a factory on her feet all day. Neither of us are super healthy eaters. In spite of all this, I still weigh substantially less. As you said, it is definitely not an even playing field wrt metabolism. I got lucky (or luckier), she did not.
The body can go into emergency/starvation mode and weight loss can be very slow this way, especially in the beginning. I forget now the terminology for that, and what the remedy is.
It is however the industry standard. Had all these discussions ad nauseam, and in the end I agreed with my brother-in-law, if all these medical professionals who have had research verified success seem to agree it is the appropriate diet then is probably is indeed the ideal diet for someone getting ready to undergo that surgery.
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When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
She was put on a 1200 calorie diet for 6 months and only lost 30 pounds - correct. Being put on such a diet does not always mean it is successful, and many of the morbidly obese have metabolic issues, if for no other reason than years of yo-yo dieting. After they have surgery they are only getting between 600-800 calories a day for the first couple of months - which can’t be cheated on as easily because the body changes makes it impossible to overeat too much without doing serious physical damage. Unless you or someone you love has gone through it, is is impossible to grasp how difficult bariatric surgery is for patients. It is the last option for desperate people and, contrary to what many think, it is not an easy out. She has lost over 135 pounds since her surgery ten months ago.
I am not going to get too involved in this topic because I don’t want to hijack the thread but our entire lives I always ate more than my sister and yet was always skinnier, it got worse after we had kids and aged. I get furious at people who make despairing remarks about people with weight issues because I understand it is one more thing where the playing field isn’t as even as people try to pretend it is.
I definitely didn't say it was easy. In fact, I said it was an unfairly hard situation from the get go.
It is however the industry standard. Had all these discussions ad nauseam, and in the end I agreed with my brother-in-law, if all these medical professionals who have had research verified success seem to agree it is the appropriate diet then is probably is indeed the ideal diet for someone getting ready to undergo that surgery.
I'm actually not sure about that success rate. I thought it was pretty low. I can't see why doctors should not keep making changes to try to increase success. Science changes how we do things constantly, due to new information, research and discoveries. If it didn't then there actually wouldn't be such a thing as bariatric surgery. That too was a brand new, surprising idea at one time. So was low carb, though much farther back than that.
I'm actually not sure about that success rate. I thought it was pretty low. I can't see why doctors should not keep making changes to try to increase success. Science changes how we do things constantly, due to new information, research and discoveries. If it didn't then there actually wouldn't be such a thing as bariatric surgery. That too was a brand new, surprising idea at one time. So was low carb, though much farther back than that.
This was the research I found:
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A total of 443 LSGs were performed. Complete data were available for 54 percent of patients at the 1-year follow-up, for 49 percent of patients at the 3-year follow-up, and for 70 percent of patients at the 5-year follow-up. The percentage of excess weight loss was 77 percent, 70 percent, and 56 percent, at years 1, 3 and 5, respectively; https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0805121833.htm
That was for the gastric sleeve, the bypass is supposed to have better success. Considering the loss through traditional methods:
Quote:
Data from the scientific community indicate that a 15-wk diet or diet plus exercise program produces a weight loss of about 11 kg with a 60-80% maintenance after 1 yr. Although long-term follow-up data are meager, the data that do exist suggest almost complete relapse after 3-5 yr. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10449014
I would say it is successful comparatively.
Look, I don’t wish to get in a big debate about weight loss surgery. The only thing I know for sure is that my sister is off at least 8 medications she has taken for a long time and that compared to how she was doing medically this time last year it is like she experienced a miracle. From what I can tell from watching My 600 lb Life most of those people would say the same thing and nobody seems to be at risk of starving - including those that swear they are.
Dr. Now puts his patients on a 1200 calorie low carb pre-surgery diet, my sister’s surgeon did the same, and based on Internet cruising it seems like lots of other surgeons do also. I can only assume they all do the same thing because it has increased successful outcomes.
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