Have you ever had a question about weight loss surgery, dieting, or just about life as an overweight person but were too embarrassed? In this ongoing column, entitled "Ask a Fat Man", I will take reader questions about any obesity or weight loss related subject they want to ask and give an answer straight from the personal experience of being a one-year banded Lap Band patient and a life long fat man who has lost over 165 lbs with the aid of Lap Band surgery. Please note I am not a medical professional and if you are considering any weight loss surgery you should consult a weight loss surgery center in your area.
Reader Tammy from Fayetteville, Tn. writes: "I heard a segment on NPR recently about a clinic in California that was in trouble for its aggressive advertising of Lap Band and I wondered what someone who had the surgery's take on it was?"
Thanks, Tammy. Several readers alerted me to the NPR segment about California's 1-800-GET-THIN clinics, their advertising tactics, and the five patients who died. Many wondered what a Lap Band patient thinks about all of this.
Having only this NPR expose to go from, I can't comment specifically about this clinic. A fat loss overview can help you build a clear outline of what you require to focus on to achieve your fat burning purpose if you're a beginner; or serve as a reminder for these who are at an intermediate or more boost phase of their weight-loss program. Promptly after are seven steps that can serve as methods for your own weight loss system. The first thing that one must understand is that losing weight and losing fat is not a similar thing. Many weight loss applications have misled people into considering that it is the same, but most diets and weight loss applications only work by producing a person's body to burn more muscle cells and water than actual body fat, more help please visit The Fat Loss Factor. I can only give my perspective on reasons why you would choose, or not choose, to have weight loss surgery.
The choice to have weight loss surgery of any type should be made very carefully. The five deaths mentioned in the NPR story illustrate why the decision should be made carefully. While the risk of death associated with weight loss surgeries have decreased exponentially due to the advent of laparoscopic techniques and less invasive surgeries like Lap Band, the risk is still very real. I don't have any idea how the clinic NPR profiled handled informing patients of those risks, but the people at Baptist Metabolic Surgery Center, where I had my procedure, were very upfront about it from the very first consultation until the day of my surgery. They helped me weigh the "on the table" mortality statistics against the early mortality statistics of someone who weighed 450 lbs. and strongly encouraged me to share all of that information with my wife before making any decision.
But the risk of death is not the primary reason one should weigh carefully before deciding if weight loss surgery is right for you. Weight loss surgery isn't a magic bullet. It isn't a "get thin quick" scheme. It certainly isn't a "I want to lose 30 lbs. for my class reunion" procedure.
Lap Band, as well as Gastric Bypass and all other weight loss surgeries, should be a last resort for morbidly obese patients who have tried, and failed, at everything else. You don't just have the surgery, convalesce for a few days, and you're suddenly on your way to Thinsville. Weight loss surgery is a complete change of lifestyle and to maintain the weight you lose with it, it's a change of lifestyle that you will have to maintain forever.
Most credible weight loss surgery centers will put you through fairly rigorous psychological testing to ensure you're up for it. On the front end, this will seem ridiculous. It certainly did to me. A year or two in, you will be thankful your surgeon was so considerate of your mental health.
As I wrote about in a previous edition of Ask a Fat Man, numerous studies have shown that weight loss surgery patients are at a higher risk of suicide than the general public. Think about what food means in most people's lives. It's a social lubricant. It's a comfort. It's a good memory. For an overweight person, that's multiplied. Breaking a food addiction is, in my opinion, tougher than breaking a drug addiction because you can never go "cold turkey" from food. It's like saying "we want you to just use a little cocaine every day, but don't overindulge!"
Tammy, and any other reader out there considering Lap Band surgery, I hope the NPR 1-800-GET-THIN article doesn't scare you away from it. I just passed my two year anniversary and, while I struggle every day, I wouldn't take it back for a minute.
If you think weight loss surgery is right for you, go talk to the people at Baptist, Centennial, or Vanderbilt Bariatric centers in Nashville. All three offer free educational seminars where surgeons and dieticians will explain the risks, possible rewards, and necessary lifestyle changes to succeed with weight loss surgery. As a patient, I would strongly encourage you to take your spouse or someone important to you along. Weight loss surgery can feel like a lonely journey sometimes and it's important to have someone in your life who walked the path with you.
If you have a question you'd like to see answered in our Ask a Fat Man segment, you can post it in the comments section or e-mail me here.
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