Big episode of Biggest Loser last night. There were lots of highlights and not as much game playing as we have seen in the past couple of seasons. All the people this season look really excited to be there and there seems to be a lack of alliances that I saw so far.

First everyone was really excited to be on the show and they got to the ranch and without coaches tried their first workout (with Bob and Jillian watching on TV). Just after they started trying to workout Bob and Jillian gave it up and went into the gym, prompting excitement and the old guy to collapse and be taken to hospital.

Jerry the old guy

The old guy by the way is Jerry. Jerry is in his 60s and started at 369 pounds and in the first week he lost 25 pounds. I thought that was the most amazing story of the show last night. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Bob, gastric bypass surgery, jillian, Laura

The gastric bypass surgery is one of the most well known ways of achieving quick weight loss. It is a balm for those who have tried every other avenue in order to lose weight and failed miserably. It is a hope for those who are frustrated with their weight loss attempts as well as the excessive hype that is prevalent in the weight loss industry.

Many doctors claim that gastric bypass surgery is totally safe because it has been widely tested for a long time before it was made available to the public. Even then, people are concerned about two things:

1. Whether it is safe and effective for everybody

2. Whether it comes with any post-surgery side effect that is so common with any type of surgery! Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: diabetes, food intake, Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, high blood pressure, hypertension, killer disease, obesity, pain, quick weight loss, stroke, surgery, weight loss surgeries, weight loss surgery

You have tried eating like a baby in the name of ‘dieting’, spent hours in your local gym in the name of ‘workouts’, wasted hundreds of dollars on weight loss pills and supplements, and have even gone to the extent of procuring those attractive but useless exercise gadgets that claim to burn your fat effortlessly; yet, you are unable to lose a single pound of fat.

If this is you then weight loss surgery is the only way to go. While there are many types of weight loss surgeries available out there, most people seem to go for the gastric bypass. The gastric bypass surgery, even though it helps you lose weight, is risky. In this article I will tell you about the complications you can possibly encounter after undergoing the surgery.

Celebrities and Gastric Bypass

Gastric bypass has always been more or less popular, but it was made even more popular with celebrities such as Al Roker and Carnie Wilson going for it and losing weight successfully with its help. Now it is your turn to try it out.

It is a known fact that the key to successful weight loss lies in reducing your food intake. If you eat less than your normal diet, you would get rid of the extra pounds. However, it is easier said than done. Try as you might, you would never be able to reduce your food intake to the desired level because the constant hunger pangs won’t let you do so.

The only solution available to you is that of reducing the size of your stomach so that you don’t feel hungry even after reducing your food intake drastically. This is exactly what the gastric bypass surgery does for you, and this is the reason why it is so popular among the masses and celebrities alike.

Gastric Bypass Risks

Now let’s talk about the possible risks associated with the surgery. While weight gain can trigger a host of diseases such as heart strokes, kidney problems, digestion problems, sleep apnea, cancer, gout, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, psychological problems, etc., weight loss achieved through gastric bypass can also cripple you.

Known complications associated with gastric bypass surgery are stones in gall bladder (or gallstones), anemia, hair loss or thinning of hair, osteoporosis, blood clotting, infections, ulcers, stomach stenosis, incisional hernia, and even possible death.

Your decision on Gastric Bypass

Now the ball is in your court. You have to take the decision about whether to go for the gastric bypass or not. Weigh the risks of obesity with those of the gastric bypass surgery, and then take the decision. You may also want to consult with your doctor or a health specialist, preferably someone specializing in bariatric surgery.

If you ask me though, I would suggest that you try losing weight with diet and exercise once again. Lots of people have lost weight this way, so there is no reason why you cannot. Both of them are not only risk-free, you would also gain a lot of extra weight loss benefits that are not available to those losing weight through gastric bypass. In short, you should consider gastric bypass only as your last resort.

Tags: Al Roker, anemia, Asthma, bariatric surgery, cancer, Carnie Wilson, diabetes, food intake, gallstones, Gastric bypass, Gastric Bypass Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, gout, health specialist, high blood pressure, hypertension, Incisional hernia, obesity, osteoporosis, sleep apnea, strokes, surgery, weight loss surgeries, weight loss surgery

Have you decided to go for the weight loss surgery. You are not the only one to take such a decision. Obese adults who have struggled and failed with the conventional weight loss methods have turned to weight loss surgery as the next best option available to them.

Now, if you are morbidly obese and unable to lose weight in any other way, you should definitely go for weight loss surgery; otherwise, consider it your last resort. In this article I will tell you why.

One of the most popular weight loss surgeries available today is liposuction. People go for liposuction in order to get rid of fat around their waists and hips. Many people, young and old, have gone for it because it is not only a fast but also a good way to lose the extra weight without struggling through diet and exercise.

However, if the findings of the recent studies are to be believed, liposuction offers you none of the weight loss benefits that can be acquired through diet and exercise. Thus, it doesn’t tone up your muscles, make your body fitter and flatter, or lower your blood sugar level.

Worse, almost 40-50% of those who undergo liposuction are unable to maintain the lost weight for any considerable amount of time. The reason is that they forget that surgeries won’t be able to save them from future weight gain if they go back to their old, unhealthy lifestyle habits. Some even believe that if they workout regularly after undergoing surgery, it is okay for them to eat junk foods. This is not true at all as many have learned the hard way.

Another weight loss surgery available is the gastric bypass surgery; however, it is only for those who are morbidly obese with a BMI of 40 or more. Moreover, gastric bypass is notorious for its side effects. A few complications you may have after undergoing this surgery are abdominal hernias, infections, blood clotting, internal bleeding, etc. Some patients even develop stones in their gall bladders after undergoing it. Surgery-related deaths is also not a very remote possibility with gastric bypass.

The purpose of weight loss is not only to make outward, cosmetic changes to your appearance but also to make you healthier. One overlooked issue with weight loss surgeries in general is that they don’t really make you ‘healthy’ in the real sense of the term. As a matter of fact, surgery usually causes a huge loss of nutrition in the body.

Therefore, if you are wondering about how to lose weight by bypassing dieting and exercising, I would say that your view about weight loss is flawed. Unless you are willing to follow healthy food habits (dieting) and work out regularly (exercises) after undergoing the surgery, it is only a matter of time before you would become your former “overweight” self.

Tags: Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, healthy food habits, liposuction, surgeries, surgery, weight loss surgeries, weight loss surgery

If you wish to go for the weight loss surgery, and are wondering abut how it helps one lose weight, this is the perfect article for you.

First, let me tell you what happens to the food you eat. When you eat food, it reaches your digestive tract, whereby it is broken down into pieces for the purpose of digestion. Once digested, your body absorbs the nutrients from the digested food and uses the calories to produce energy. Of course, any unused energy is deposited in your body as fat, which is how you gained weight.

Weight loss surgery helps you get rid of fat in an artificial manner, by bypassing the entire process of normal digestion I described above. There are different types of surgeries available today. Some, like the gastric bypass, reduce the size of your stomach by stapling it; when your stomach size is reduced, you would automatically reduce your food intake and never again gain weight. Other surgeries work by bypassing your digestive tract.

As a matter of fact, not everyone can undergo a weight loss surgery. Only those who are morbidly obese, that is, whose body weight is at least a hundred pounds more than normal (your normal or “ideal” weight is the appropriate body weight of a normal person of your age and height) can opt for it.

With that said, let me offer you short introductions to two of the most popular weight loss surgeries available today.

1. The Gastric Bypass Surgery: The gastric bypass surgery, invented by Dr. Edward Mason in the 1960s, has evolved a lot and been renamed as the Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass. Unlike the old bypass surgery which involved the partition of your stomach, the new gastric bypass works by reducing your stomach size with the help of staples. Your intestine is then cut to fit the newly created “smaller” stomach.

With a smaller stomach, you cannot but eat only small meals. Eating small meals is a great way to keep the extra weight away.

2. The Biliopancreatic Diversion: Developed by Professor Nicola Scopinaro, this can be said as the combination of the “old” and “new” gastric bypass surgeries. More and more patients are opting for this new-age surgery because it allows them to eat huge amounts of foods and yet maintain a slim and fit body. Patients are able to lose weight with the help of malabsorption.

However, it is not without its side effects. Some of the after-effects of this surgery include protein deficiency in your body, stools of foul odor, flatus and even stomach ulcers.

Tags: Bypass surgery, digested food, Edward Mason, energy, food, food intake, Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgeries, gastric bypass surgery, GBP, Nicola Scopinaro, professor, protein deficiency, Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass, Stomach ulcers, surgery, unused energy, weight loss surgeries, weight loss surgery

I set off a bit of an email flurry a couple of days ago when I suggested that Gastric Bypass surgery is bad and is the wrong way to lose weight so I thought that I would explain why I do not like the idea of losing weight using gastric bypass surgery.

Gastric Bypass for those that are not aware of the idea is a surgery that either puts a band around a part of your stomach or staples your stomach so that it is smaller. This smaller stomach of course can hold less food so most people are going to lose a lot of weight very quickly and because of this Gastric Bypass surgery has become very popular.

OK so it is relatively easy to shed pounds with Gastric Bypass surgery how could I then be against it as a way to lose weight?

The truth is that Gastric Bypass surgery does not make you fit or healthy. The day after your gastric bypass you will have the same issues with food that you had the day before but now you will now be able to eat as much food. Also any emotional issues will not be solved with your weight loss. Most of these issues cause you to overeat although most people that are overweight think that that is the cause of their emotional problems.

Another more important problem is the nutrition that we all need from our food. If you starve yourself like is going to happen then you will have no way of getting the nutrients that you need and have to rely on supplementation to get everything that you need to live a healthy life. Now that I have broached this subject, how about the health aspect of this kind of weight loss? Being thin does not make you healthy as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, in fact being thin can lull you into the false expectation that you are healthy. If you are getting lots of exercise then you need more calories to feed your muscles and after a gastric bypass you are not going to be able to get what you need actually get healthy.

Lastly there is no guarantee with Gastric Bypass. Once you are at the point of needing gastric bypass you can either die on the operating table or die after during recovery as your body is not strong enough for the surgery. Also there is a way that if you do overeat after your gastric bypass surgery that you may be able to stretch your stomach and now you will be in the same place that your were before.

So what can you do instead of Gastric Bypass?

Gastric Bypass used to be the only way that people that are morbidly obese could think of to lose weight but now that we are in the fourth season of the Biggest Loser anyone can see that there is another option. Sure it may be very difficult and take a long time to lose weight through diet and exercise but people that are really overweight can lose 100 pounds in a year and over this time you can become healthier, happier, build incredible self worth and overcome all of those food demons as well.

If you have been thinking about gastric bypass surgery I certainly hope that this has given you pause to reconsider. There is an alternative.

Tags: calories, emotional issues, food, food demons, Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, less food, lose weight, losing weight, overweight, staples, surgery, Weight Loss

Looking around I have found the following interesting articles around the web that caught my eye as interesting

Physical fitness activity is rising across the US which is a really nice to see. I saw last night that apparently in just a few years 25% of all adults in America will be obese
Physical Activity Rising in U.S. Adults

Food side effects? I had never thought of these like this until now. These are some really great things to watch out for
10 Food Side Effects You May Not Know – Dumb Little Man

Get all the sleep you need or you just might get fat from your lack of sleep. I kind of believe this, if you are tired you are going to make bad food decisions and decide more easily not to eat
Childhood: Too Little Sleep May Pose Obesity Risk – New York Times

I have always been intrigued by the drink known as Absinthe. Apparently Absinthe is a liquor type substance that has helped inspire writers and artists for centuries. I have never tried it so I can’t vouch for it’s effects.
Connections – Absinthe – Column – New York Times

Gastric Bypass surgery is back in the news. Carnie Wilson says that she was a drunk and has not been able to lose the weight since having her baby a few years ago. I am not in favor of Gastric Bypass surgery as it has a really bad side effect of often killing it’s patients. I think the Biggest Loser show has proved that there is an alternative for morbidly obese people.
Lite and Hope | Carnie Wilson Infomercial, Morbid Obesity, Weight Loss Surgery

Tags: America, bad food decisions, Carnie Wilson, Column - New York Times, Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, Little Sleep May Pose Obesity Risk - New York Times, morbid obesity, United States, Wilson Infomercial

Today I watched my first Oprah episode in years. The reason I watched Oprah? Kirstie Alley was on to talk about her weight loss over the last year. It has been a pretty amazing year and between the media machine that Jenny Craig created and the media machine that is Oprah this was a very talked about event with Kirstie Alley showing up in a bikini and then getting interviewed while wearing a dress.

It was an interesting episode where Kirstie Alley was very forthcoming about how tough it was to lose the weight and get comfortable with herself as a 55 year old woman, actress and the weight that she is at. Kirstie is 5 foot 8 and lost 75 pounds so she is now at 145 pounds.

The best quote of the show to me was that she never appreciated her body when she was 30. She says she would never appear on T-V in a bikini then because she was too introverted. She says women never feel like they’re good enough, or thin enough, or pretty enough, but they are.

One very sad story to me, was a story about a woman that lost 170 pounds by having gastric bypass surgery to make her father love her. As we all know gastric bypass surgery is very dangerous with close to half of all people getting the surgery dying within just a few years. This story was a real painful one to watch as it really showed the lengths that women are willing to go to for acceptance in society.

Tags: actress, gastric bypass surgery, kirstie alley, surgery

A couple years ago my wife was considering weight loss surgery as her years off dieting and exercise and the yoyo weight loss/gain nightmare had mad her tired of the whole weight loss industry. Using Weight Watchers and getting the exercise to a more moderate lvel have helped Michelle lose three pounds or so per week and she is quickly dropping the weight that was so stubborn just a couple of years back. Yesterday Michelle got a call for the gastric bypass surgery consultation which here in Alberta Canada takes 19 months, I am happy to say that she turned it down because a healthy lifestyle has maed the difference for her. As you probably know there are a lot of instances where this surgery is really helpful for people but only in cases where there is a risk of imminent death by now doing something as drastic as this surgery is.

I have found an article from Bloomberg that I think really shows the importance of this surgery and the possible implications. Below are some exerpts from that article.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: American Medical Association, arthritis, associate professor, back surgery, bariatric surgeries, bariatric surgery, Bloomberg, Bruce M. Wolfe, California, David R. Flum, David S. Zingmond, diabetes, food, Gastric bypass, gastric bypass surgery, GBP, health care services, heart surgery, high blood pressure, hip replacement, insurance, John M. Morton, Journal of the American Medical Association, knee surgery, lead researcher, Los Angeles, Medicare, Michelle Fay Cortez, Minneapolis, obesity, obesity surgery, Oregon Health Science University in Portland, plastic surgery, Portland, professor of medicine, professor of surgery, reporter, Seattle, Stanford University in California, surgeries, surgery, UCLA's School of Medicine, United States, University of California at Los Angeles, University of Washington in Seattle, weight loss surgery