The holidays are always bad for any diet, but I seem to have come through OK. I picked up only 3 pounds, so I feel pretty good. It’s time to get back to being completely focused.
After the holidays, I’m still holding
December 26th, 2008Up & Down … stuck a bit
December 20th, 2008I’m stuck a bit here … floating up and down a few pounds every time I check my weight. It’s happened before, so I’m not worried, I’ll get over it, but it sure is discouraging.
Weight Loss Surgery & Cancer
December 18th, 2008A recent posting relating obesity to cancer interested me in it’s suggestion that weight loss surgery (WLS) might very well contribute to reducing the risk of cancer.
To quote “A recent study by Dr. Nicolas Christou of McGill University suggests that weight loss surgery for obese patients in particular lowered the risk of developing cancer by as much as 80 percent.” His paper was presented to the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (the professional organization for Bariatric Surgeons) in June.
He points out that there is a direct relationship between morbid obesity and cancer that WLS reduces.
I looked up Dr. Christou who specializes in laparoscopic weight loss surgery and has an impressive set of credentials and publications. If you can’t control your weight with diet, this is certainly something you should consider. The risks are still high and the necessity to drastically change your lifestyle is still there, but it may extend your life.
I MUST be losing weight
December 15th, 2008WOW! Here’s something I didn’t expect … I’ve lost some weight now and my pants are falling off!
I can’t believe that I have to wear suspenders even with pants that have an elastic waistline. That’s making me feel cocky and wonderful and I need it right now.
Why not weight loss surgery?
December 12th, 2008I’ve spent time working for companies on the periphery of the weight loss surgery industry. I know how dangerous this can be. A pretty good case for not doing it was made in the article ‘Why not weight loss surgery‘. I think it’s worth a read.
My view is that it should be a last option for only those people who cannot find a way to lose weight otherwise. I’m not really sure that it’s done with that in mind. Despite guidelines that suggest it MUST be the only thing that will help, some people go to great lengths, even going overseas, to get the surgery.
It’s time to think about it and get serious about a diet before selecting what SEEMS like the simple way out. Believe me … Weight Loss Surgery is simple only going in. Once you’ve had it, life is never simple again.
Doctor’s Visit
November 21st, 2008I saw the doctor yesterday … I’m dealing with a small infection, but I need to be careful since an infection almost killed me several years ago. However, the highlight of my visit was being weighed in at 42 pounds below the last time he saw me. He wants me to keep doing whatever I’m doing and keep up the good work!
The doctor was impressed … pants falling down because they’re all for the heavier me, weight lost on their carefully calibrated scale, insulin requirements halved …. it’s all going in the right direction.
My only concern in this is that the measurement wasn’t real. Could there have been a mistake in their scale? It was much lower than my home scale. I’ll have to see how I can confirm it.
Time for calibration
November 16th, 2008I spent some time checking out my scale and found that I could get different readings by stepping on it several times in succession. Looks like I need to check it’s calibration more carefully and verify it’s accuracy.
Surgical Weight Loss
November 10th, 2008I recently asked about a friend who intended to have surgery to lose weight (Bariatric Surgery). I was surprised to find that he won’t be getting it because it was decided that he wasn’t a good risk for it. He HAD lost weight on Nutrisystems (I understand about 50 pounds) but dropped the program. I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I think I’d advise him to get back on the diet.
I’ve worked with several companies in the industries around Bariatric Surgery. While this is a very good and effective procedure and really helps some people, many people who are considering it just don’t realize how much of a change in their lifestyle it’s going to make. Too many people considering surgery seem to think that it’s magic and will let them lose the weight without any effort. Let me say right away that it just isn’t so.
I’ve known a lot of people who’ve had surgery and it’s tough. Anyone who has lost weight by this means and kept it off deserves every bit of praise you can give them because they’ve made radical changes in their lifestyle. Weight Loss Surgery is a last resort and should be because it’s a major intervention in your body, but more than that, it’s not a magic bullet that will automatically make you lose weight and keep it off. The people I know who’ve had it have struggled to create new lives for themselves, lives that change their habits in ways that help them keep their weight down. It involves more than just changing eating patterns, though that’s a major part of it; it means living with a special diet, it means coping with massive weight loss, it means the need for plastic surgery if you want to look half-way decent, it means coping with problems you never expected, it means many things will have to change for you to be a continuing and not a fleeting success.
My hat goes off to anyone who has accomplished all of that. I’m not brave enough to do it.
AMAZING!
November 9th, 2008After several so-so days where I allowed myself to participate in what I’ll call ‘non-diet’ eating, I weighed myself and found that I’m down 32 POUNDS! Now, I’m sure there’s some daily variation in that and that all the factors probably came together on the same side to make the number larger, but even accounting for normal variation, I’m feeling REALLY good about the number!
Fat is Good????
November 3rd, 2008Would you believe there is a benefit to being fat? Recent research reported in the Times of India suggesting that at least some overweight people have a gene critical in the production of melamin that is working in “overdrive”. Melamin may help some over-weight people avoid the some of the problems that are correlated with obesity.
What does it mean? I don’t know. I’ve only seen a news report and not the original study and I don’t believe how reporters interpret scientific research or its meaning. I certainly will be on the lookout for the actual paper. I understand it was by researchers at George Mason University and INOVA Fairfax Hospital in Virginia.