Anyone here had gastic banding?

[dnar]

I am thinking of getting gastric banding done very soon, I have found a good surgeon and met with him today. I could have the surgery performed in just 2 weeks time if I decide to go ahead.

I was 86kg when I was married. Today I am 136kg and growing. (4kg gained in 7 months since I stopped smoking). My BMI today is around 40 which is high risk. I suffer hypertension and am at high risk of stroke or heart attack. It's breaking my balls Hans!

I watch what I eat, I really do, low fat, low sugar, low carb, NO beer, I exercise when I can, the weight just keeps heading North...

Does anyone here have any experience with gastric banding, first hand or otherwise? The surgeon tells me I will only be able to eat like a 3 year old, no bread, no meat (unless it's small and in a curry or casserole) - yikes!

[LaNeK779]

I say be very very carefull wayne. This is what i call "seriously fucking up nature's work"

My own experience: i had reached 128kg (at 180 height) and then i visited a dietologist (or what they call it) and by following his instructions and recipies (weekly menu) i dropped to 91kg, which is more than ok with the ammount of bone and muscle i have (quite higher than average). No exercise at all, no diet pills, no medication. It took me 10 months and it has been two years since then. No more of 5kg of the loss have come back 9plus i also quit smoking in the meantime), so i think i've cleared the mark and i can eat pretty much what i want nowadays.


Then, there is this friend of mine, with whom i have had long talks and some one or two day trips, so i have a good view of his routine. He had this gastric banding thing (he is around 170cm height and at the time was over 145 kg). Well, he lost some weight but since then if he eats pizza he vomits, If he eats pasta he vomits, if he eats bread.. guess what, he vomits. Everything he eats is sized for an average adult pigeon. His blood pressure has gone a bit crazy. He generally thinks it was a bad idea. And the weight loss was not all that great. He was much more succesfull after a one month trip to thailand where he was feeding on exotic fruit and local women (lucky bastard)

In general, think of your body as two parts (leaving our huge brains and even huger balls out of the equation for the moment ). These two parts are fat and muscle. Fat is more difficult to burn, so if you starve yourself with unsuitable diets or small quantities of food, the body will burn down all your muscle which is easily available energy. This will have two bad consequences. It will leave you with all the fat and when you start eating normally again, the body will not build more muscle, but more fat instead to avoid further starvation in the future. (something like the camel's back)

In general, i thought i was cautious of what i eat, too, but the weight was still going up. It proved however, that despite being cautious, i had no idea what i was doing. It took an expert to guide me to success.

if you visit an expert, you do and eat what he tells you and the weight still goes up, then you should run blood tests and check your thyroid. Or you can even do this now.

to my opinion, gastric banding should be your absolutely last resort (oh and 15 chars in case i have not hit the minimum yet)


edit... no smokes, no booze, no food.... what;s the point in living anyway??? lanek goes off to shoot himself

[dnar]

Hmmm. I am thinking maybe I should try to eat for a week as if I had the banding, to see how restrictive and anti-good-time it will be...

then you should run blood tests and check your thyroid. Or you can even do this now.

Done that. It's normal. I have had the whole medical shebang, tests etc. including the back passage which is no fun!!!!!!!

edit... no smokes, no booze, no food.... what;s the point in living anyway??? lanek goes off to shoot himself

I can do with out the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Well, actually, I can't do without the rock 'n' roll...

[LaNeK779]

no small quantities! you will starve. with the banding, you feel full quickly, so the small quantity is ok. without the bandiing you will start chewing your limbs off

i think you should try and eat in a regulated pattern like, one meal every three hours.

for breakfast have some low fat milk and whole grain cereals
three hours later eat a couple of fruits, or a turkey and low fat cheese sandwich in whole grain bread
three hours later have some meat and a salad (no dressing, sauce etc)
three hours later have a low fat yoghurt with some honey
and three hours later, have a salad and another sandwich, or an egg, or a can of tuna

this was a typical day in my diet at the time i was finishing it. at the begining, i used to have two main meals (the same) on some weekdays. i.e. chicken for lunch and supper.

and the main course was different each day in a pattern. one day pork, next day pasta, next day chicken, next day some green stuff (green beans, peas or something, then fish, then beef... the days i had meat, there was no cheese. the days that there was no meat, there was a significant ammount of low fat cheese, as cheese is proteins and you need proteins in order not to burn up muscle instead

[dnar]

no small quantities! you will starve. with the banding, you feel full quickly, so the small quantity is ok. without the bandiing you will start chewing your limbs off

i think you should try and eat in a regulated pattern like, one meal every three hours.

for breakfast have some low fat milk and whole grain cereals
three hours later eat a couple of fruits, or a turkey and low fat cheese sandwich in whole grain bread
three hours later have some meat and a salad (no dressing, sauce etc)
three hours later have a low fat yoghurt with some honey
and three hours later, have a salad and another sandwich, or an egg, or a can of tuna

this was a typical day in my diet at the time i was finishing it. at the begining, i used to have two main meals (the same) on some weekdays. i.e. chicken for lunch and supper.

and the main course was different each day in a pattern. one day pork, next day pasta, next day chicken, next day some green stuff (green beans, peas or something, then fish, then beef... the days i had meat, there was no cheese. the days that there was no meat, there was a significant ammount of low fat cheese, as cheese is proteins and you need proteins in order not to burn up muscle instead

This sounds like the grazing diet. Sounds good actually, keep the fire burning as someone put it to me recently... I'll give it a go.

My other problem is Red wine. I drink loads of it, sometimes 2 bottles per night. Empty calories.

[LaNeK779]

I'll give it a go.

the point is that you need someone to guide you and control you (and that has a clue of what diet he "prescribes").
even the idea that you will have to answer to the doctor once a week helps keep you in check, the feeling of the naughty kid that is caught in the act

and about the grazing... well... you are right, i felt a bit like sheep, or cow or a giraffe from time to time.. but better this than feeling like a vrontosaurus
plus the feeling goes away after a while, now i absolutely need salads, they make me feel better

the only difficult part was alcohol, i'll have to admit it. he only allowed 2-3 drinks a week. i asked him to kill me instead... he wasn't as mercifull though...

[Fenechlaser]

My other problem is Red wine. I drink loads of it, sometimes 2 bottles per night. Empty calories.

A glass of wine helps prolong the heart, but this much wine will do more harm than good. Liver cirrhosis is one of the greatest complications with excess alcohol intake, not to mention the brain damage. And wine is not exactly empty calories. It is not beer, but still, two 0.75l bottles have around 120 ml alcohol which in the body is easily metabolised for energy. As LaNeK779 said, alcohol not only gives you carbs, but it also affects your metabolism, resulting in weight gain.

Dnar, you also mentioned you are hypertensive. Do check out if you need anti hypertensive medication as untreated hypertension will lead to congestive heart failure and strokes. I'm not trying to worry you, but always check this out (you didn't mention cholesterol, which makes things even worse). And reduce salt!! I've seen enough cadavers and dissected (failed) hearts, not to mention I'll soon be having exams on this...

Exercise is also good for your heart and hypertension (to some extent), just get a bike and enjoy riding..

[-bart-]

...A glass of wine helps prolong the heart...

Fraudulent researcher !

[Fenechlaser]

Fraudulent researcher !

That's a researcher and not the wine itself. Fraud, especially in science is shameful, but there is still research going on and I believe that many of them are evidence based not fund winning gibberish....

[dnar]

A glass of wine helps prolong the heart, but this much wine will do more harm than good. Liver cirrhosis is one of the greatest complications with excess alcohol intake, not to mention the brain damage. And wine is not exactly empty calories. It is not beer, but still, two 0.75l bottles have around 120 ml alcohol which in the body is easily metabolised for energy. As LaNeK779 said, alcohol not only gives you carbs, but it also affects your metabolism, resulting in weight gain.

Dnar, you also mentioned you are hypertensive. Do check out if you need anti hypertensive medication as untreated hypertension will lead to congestive heart failure and strokes. I'm not trying to worry you, but always check this out (you didn't mention cholesterol, which makes things even worse). And reduce salt!! I've seen enough cadavers and dissected (failed) hearts, not to mention I'll soon be having exams on this...

Exercise is also good for your heart and hypertension (to some extent), just get a bike and enjoy riding..

I have been on medication for blood pressure and cholesterol for 5 years now (read expensive). My doctor thinks this could change if I loose 40kg.