Attended Gastric Bypass class today.
I attended the class today for the Gastric Bypass surgery. It was interesting being in a room full of people that are all in the same situation as me. It was a lot like I had anticipated though, I really didn't learn much that I didn't already know. After 2 years of research, I almost felt like I could teach that class. :)
One thing that was actually quite shocking to me though was the success rates that most people who are morbidly obese have when trying to lose weight on their own. The numbers are staggering! On plans like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, the average person loses 6% of their excess weight, and usually gains that weight back VERY quickly. With the help of some of the medicines that are available now days, the average person loses 12% of their excess weight, which again, is not very impressive, and they also typically gain the weight back within a relatively short period of time.
Then, you look at Gastric Bypass and Gastric Banding. The success rate is amazing! The average person will lose 40-50% of their excess weight with the Gastric Banding surgery, and 60% of their excess weight with the Gastric Bypass. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds a hell of a lot better than the chances of doing it on my own.
It is really interesting to me, because I beat myself up for years that I have failed at diets over and over and over again. The facts are though, that not only are the odds against me, but they are ridiculously stacked in favor of not succeeding at losing weight without the help of the surgery.
I know these are just statistics. I know that there are some awesome cases where people have lost the weight on their own, and kept it off for years and years. I applaud those people immensely, and there are parts of me that wish I was able to do it that way. But the bottom line is there is no reason to feel as if I failed simply because I couldn't lose the weight on my own. Me and almost EVERYBODY else that ever tried a diet.
After the presentation about the surgery, the nutritionist came in and talked about the kinds of foods that a person who is getting Gastric Bypass will need to be eating and drinking. The main points are that liquid calories are NOT allowed. Period. No regular soda, no juice, no milk, no anything that has more than 10 calories per 8oz serving. Also in nearly the same category is Ice Cream, since it melts on the way down and liquefies nearly as soon as it reaches the stomach. Of course there were the obvious other things like foods high in fat, or high in sugar. It was basically common sense stuff that any other nutritionist would tell you. There was also a fairly long discussion on portions after the surgery. Let me tell you, they are SMALL! But, the beauty of it is that those small portions are enough to make you feel like you've eaten a thanksgiving dinner.
So, now I need to make 2 more appointments, one for a psychological exam, and one for the nutritionist. Seeing as I am not much for waiting, I went up to make the appointments right away.
First I went to the Psychiatric Clinic. They told me at first that there were no appointments until the middle of June. I was not interested in hearing anything like that. In my opinion, this is the kind of administrative crap that I don't think is going to offer me very much benefit. So I pressed her and asked to speak with a supervisor, and she looked a little harder and found one for next week. Perfect! :) But, there's a catch, there is always a catch. I have to come back tomorrow morning RIGHT after work and take this test they use as part of the evaluation. Sigh... so tomorrow is going to be yet another morning down in Minneapolis. Hopefully it doesn't' take terribly long.
Next I went up to make the appointment with the Nutritionist. The told me I need to get the letter in the mail that tells me who to call before I can make an appointment. "Who will they have me call, won't it be you guys?" I asked. "Well yeah, but you need the letter that says that before we can make the appointment..." Ugh! I get so frustrated with process and procedure sometimes. So, I'll just call tomorrow. :)
One thing that was actually quite shocking to me though was the success rates that most people who are morbidly obese have when trying to lose weight on their own. The numbers are staggering! On plans like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, the average person loses 6% of their excess weight, and usually gains that weight back VERY quickly. With the help of some of the medicines that are available now days, the average person loses 12% of their excess weight, which again, is not very impressive, and they also typically gain the weight back within a relatively short period of time.
Then, you look at Gastric Bypass and Gastric Banding. The success rate is amazing! The average person will lose 40-50% of their excess weight with the Gastric Banding surgery, and 60% of their excess weight with the Gastric Bypass. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds a hell of a lot better than the chances of doing it on my own.
It is really interesting to me, because I beat myself up for years that I have failed at diets over and over and over again. The facts are though, that not only are the odds against me, but they are ridiculously stacked in favor of not succeeding at losing weight without the help of the surgery.
I know these are just statistics. I know that there are some awesome cases where people have lost the weight on their own, and kept it off for years and years. I applaud those people immensely, and there are parts of me that wish I was able to do it that way. But the bottom line is there is no reason to feel as if I failed simply because I couldn't lose the weight on my own. Me and almost EVERYBODY else that ever tried a diet.
After the presentation about the surgery, the nutritionist came in and talked about the kinds of foods that a person who is getting Gastric Bypass will need to be eating and drinking. The main points are that liquid calories are NOT allowed. Period. No regular soda, no juice, no milk, no anything that has more than 10 calories per 8oz serving. Also in nearly the same category is Ice Cream, since it melts on the way down and liquefies nearly as soon as it reaches the stomach. Of course there were the obvious other things like foods high in fat, or high in sugar. It was basically common sense stuff that any other nutritionist would tell you. There was also a fairly long discussion on portions after the surgery. Let me tell you, they are SMALL! But, the beauty of it is that those small portions are enough to make you feel like you've eaten a thanksgiving dinner.
So, now I need to make 2 more appointments, one for a psychological exam, and one for the nutritionist. Seeing as I am not much for waiting, I went up to make the appointments right away.
First I went to the Psychiatric Clinic. They told me at first that there were no appointments until the middle of June. I was not interested in hearing anything like that. In my opinion, this is the kind of administrative crap that I don't think is going to offer me very much benefit. So I pressed her and asked to speak with a supervisor, and she looked a little harder and found one for next week. Perfect! :) But, there's a catch, there is always a catch. I have to come back tomorrow morning RIGHT after work and take this test they use as part of the evaluation. Sigh... so tomorrow is going to be yet another morning down in Minneapolis. Hopefully it doesn't' take terribly long.
Next I went up to make the appointment with the Nutritionist. The told me I need to get the letter in the mail that tells me who to call before I can make an appointment. "Who will they have me call, won't it be you guys?" I asked. "Well yeah, but you need the letter that says that before we can make the appointment..." Ugh! I get so frustrated with process and procedure sometimes. So, I'll just call tomorrow. :)
posted by Josh at
3:54 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home