Obesity(bariatric) surgery

Seven years ago I lost lots of weight - it was so easy! I just got lung cancer...

I don't recommend it though!

Sat in the cinema yesterday next to a young girl who was colossal- she was overflowing into my 'area'. She had a carrier bag full of snacks and was constantly eating popcorn, chocolate, crisps, biscuits, soft drinks all through the 3hours we were in there.
Why do people do this?
How can we educate someone like this? She must surely know what she's doing. It's going to cost the NHS a small fortune in the future, all paid for from our taxes. It's a very scary prospect and I'm not sure that fitting gastric bands is the answer. Prevention is better than cure?
But I felt as skinny as Twiggy sitting next to her.. It's really sad I think.

As someone mentioned earlier in this thread, supermarkets have isles of junk. I was shocked recently when I visited one and found it had two dedicated to sweets cakes and biscuits and a further one with crisps, instant noodle pots!
Many people do not know or want to know how to cook but I feel this is an important factor in a healthy life style. Keep away from take away meals, pizzas and some ready meals. Cook from scratch using fresh fruit and vegetables. Avoiding packets or jars of sauce which while convenient are often full of sugar and salt and not buying crisps, biscuits or cakes- if you haven't got them in the house you can't eat them. Drink a glass of sparkling water if you are hungry rather than eating something can fill the gap. These are all ways to help keep your weight down. For me these help. For my DH he needs to throw away the bottle opener or at least avoid finishing the bottle each time!

I like the plank, can't see what everyone complains about. Now if you talk about the saw that's another matter, who says its easy?

Funnily enough we do the plank at Keep Fit (la gym douce) and I can hold it for so much longer now my power to weight ratio is improved. It is also because the instructor makes me do the counting in English as he says the class keeps going longer that way.... We are up to fortee now.

PS I've just fallen totally off the wagon with a BLT for tea washed down with a G&T.

Don't worry about it coming off too quickly in week 1, that often happens especially if you have quite a bit to lose. It will soon settle down to a steady 1-2lbs a week.

To avoid losing more muscle to fat ratio, keep up the exercise, but not just walking. Throw in 10 mins of hand weights for your upper body most mornings and/or some yoga or Pilates, the Sun Salutation is a good one.

Yes what has done it is to stick to the 150gm rule with regard to carbs. Everything else is really as normal so hopefully the hand rule of palm fish, meat etc, 4 fingers carbs and hand veg, fruit etc. so easy to visualize.

I agree that it is coming off too quickly and 1lb a week is the aim really but never look a gift horse!!

So pleased to hear that whitewave
I stalled for a week when we were visiting England, but have now continued to lose weight steadily.
The other thing I did at the beginning was to try a bit of high intensity bursts of exercise. So in the middle of my normal daily walk I did two lots of 20 seconds uphill as fast as I possibly could and then increased to thirty seconds and eventually forty. Unscientifically it seemed to kick start my metabolism iyswim.

Bett & whitewave well done! I think you have lost it quickly, too quick and you will simply put it on again very quickly. I read somewhere that ideally you should lose 1 lb a week.

I agree with you both about just cutting back and not eating the wrong things. The trouble with 'diets' is that you eventually stop them and go back to old habits. Much better to simply change what you eat and stick to it. I think we all have to find our own way depending on our own circumstances but think that the more we eat home made the easier it is to understand exactly what we are eating. I also think that a rule about sticking carefully to it at home and at work is good but then when we go out we should simply enjoy whatever we want.

Soooo pleased after all advise and taking on board what other people do (mamie ) I have lost 3lbs this week seems to be turbo charged!! Finding it easy to I was eating too much carbohydrate so have simply cut that down and bingo. Yesterday for e.g. I had a huge salmon nicoise with an egg and anchovies but with only the equivalent of 1 new potato, whereas normally I would have had perhaps 3 potatoes.

So hopefully that and walking for at least 1hr 20mins a day puffing on to the downs will do it - watch this space!

Good link Mamie

Thanks for the link, Mamie. I'm sure Rosie Boycott writes from the heart, and I agree with her.

This is an interesting article, especially the bit about the initiative in Croydon and Lambeth.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/18/food-is-a-drug-and-we-have-to-learn-to-say-no
I suspect that the sad truth is that this multi-faceted problem does need sustained action on all fronts.
I remember reading about the Finnish approach and the success that they had at the time in changing eating habits.

Well done Bett, I agree that over time you do get used to eating less, but it's not easy!

Margk, some GPs will refer people to Weightwatchers and to exercise classes at local leisure centres.

Bett, you are amazing, what will power and determination. I started just a few pounds less than you and after nine weeks I have managed to lose a stone with another stone to go but, as I said in a previous post, loosing weight seems to be much harder after the menopause, even if you are still physically fit and very active - and I am 17 years your junior.

I shall be 88 years old in a month. I realised I was gaining weight when the scales said 11 stone 8 pounds... I am not very good on diets, usually it is just too much trouble.
I decided to just cut my food down to half......It works,, A Ryvita with my morning cup of tea and juice, then just water until about 3 o'clock, when I would have my coffee and a little salad, then about 6/7o'clock I have a cooked meal......
Usually meat or fish with mixed veg, I was hungry at first but soon managed to just enjoy the food I had.
I did not loose it quickly, but now four weeks later I am down to just under 11 stone. Hooray.
I am sure I can get down to 10 stone, slowly, but I will get there..

Perhaps if the GP's surgeries offered free weight loss classes, similar to Weight Watchers and Slimmer's World, people would go to them and lose weight without having to resort to surgery. A lot of people don't go to slimming classes because they are too expensive.

I'm used to it Mamie been a long time. I'm not a martyr though, when we go out to eat I have what I like, trouble is we go out rather a lot so I workout as well.

That sounds really difficult for you, Nonnie.

Mamie for a long time I used myfitnespal.com and entered absolutely everything I ate or drank and it usually ended up averaging about 800 calories. It always told me I wasn't eating enough.

Today I have eaten a 49 calorie yogurt for breakfast, a banana and another yogurt for lunch. 2 small nectarines and we are having salad for dinner which will not include eggs, cheese, bread or potatoes. It will be salad, veg and a slice of ham.

I must stress that this is because I am hypothyroid and have learnt over the years that I need a lot less fuel than most people. I would expect everyone else to eat more than me.

It is all well and good having gastric band surgery, but most people who need it at present have to prove that they can lose some weight which shows commitment and also for health reasons when going under the knife.

The other downside to this is that it is a very drastic operation. You will never be able to eat and drink like you did before. This can cause untold mental anguish, depression and the like. So many people do not realise the impact of not being able to eat normally will do to them emotionally.

It is very rare for someone to have obesity problems due to hereditary factors or even 'big bones'. The usual thing that can cause this is by being in an obese family to start with due only to the fact that portion sizes and the wrong types of food e.g. fast food, sugary drinks etc in large quantities are the norm along with lack of exercise.

There is no right or wrong way to try to stop the spread of type 2 diabetes, but if something is self inflicted then they should not get priority for operations to the detriment of others who are waiting for more urgent operations through no fault of their own that are being cut back due to costs.

I notice that there is already a private clinic called 'The Bariatric Group' up and running who are offering gastric bands FROM £4995. They have a 'recommended' finance provider for you too called 'First Medical Loans'. It all looks suspect to me. Surely a sensible and determined diet would be a lot cheaper.

In the past people lived far more active lives than we do now, no cars, so people walked and cycled a lot. Before school buses my uncle cycled 10 miles to school each day and back in the evening in all weathers in Yorkshire. Many men's work involved hard manual labour, women had no labour saving devices to help with the housework so also spent much of their time doing hard manual labour at home. Homes were much colder and there was no central heating. Portions were smaller and many people were under nourished.

The other thing is that it does get a lot harder to lose weight as you get older. We need to eat much less. I have a good diet so have not needed to change my eating patterns but I only eat about half the amount of food I did before the menopause. Before the menopause my weight was nearly always within the accepted range and if it started going up I just cut back my food a bit and walked more for a couple of weeks until I got back to normal. Since the menopause I have put on a stone and a half and I am struggling to lose it, despite the fact that I am much more active than I was when I worked and normally now eat much less.

For the last few weeks I have been on the Fast Beach Diet, a more stringent version of the Fast diet, on which I lost no weight at all and my weight is now coming down, but it is hard work.