I don't understand!!!

[ElfiePoo 109]

You might wonder where the "danger" is then. Er... you might put it back on? you will look gaunt? you might need Vitamins? er... er... where is the "danger"?

2lbs a week would not be fast enough for me to justify weight loss surgery. Period. It is not "safer" than a faster weight loss. I want 3-4lbs a week at least.

Actually, rapid weight loss puts you at higher risk of losing your gallbladder. So there is a 'danger', I suppose.

But I agree with you about all the 'experts' saying you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs per week. Anyone who says you shouldn't lose more than 2 lbs per week obviously has not done the math. The more overweight you are, the faster you will initially lose. The more sedentary you are (assuming you are doing what the experts say and exercising every day or several days a week), the faster you will lose as you begin to move and exercise.

.

[Awkward customer 5]

ElfiePoo,

I think a measure of scepticism about claims that rapid weight loss is dangerous is more than justified. Every claim made by any study is instantly reported as fact by the media, and much of science itself has turned into some kind of policy advocacy where self-righteous campaign groups make themselves feel better by calling for various kinds of action. Think of global warming and the "science" behind that. Think of "passive smoking" - actually disproven by countless studies, but a great source of self-righteousness to those campaigning around it. Obesity itself is yet another one of these campaigns - constant programmes on obesity on the TV strike me as "pornography for the middle class". It has been demonstrated time and again that carrying a little extra weight over the 25 BMI level (and am not talking about morbid obesity) is not dangerous to health, but many health professionals get a self-righteous kick out of the campaign around obesity and continue to assert interpretations that are not backed up by science. An awful lot of false claims are made. There is a fascinating article at Four fat myths about obesity and cancer | spiked about how the links between obesity and cancer have been completely misrepresented by health professionals, particularly so in the case of those with BMI below 40. Then when we do try to lose weight, the self-righteous intone, "you shouldn't be doing that. You shouldn't have lost 4lbs in a week".

It is the way in which these studies are reported that is problematic. Eg a study showing-- and this is the type of thing reported in countless studies-- that "20% of people who are 30% overweight are more likely to develop condition X" would be breathlessly reported by the media as "having proved a link" between obesity and condition X. You only have to open the newspaper or turn on the TV to be subject to numerous examples of this sort of thing. "10% of children whose parents are at least 20% overweight are 15% times more likely to develop condition X on 5% of Tuesday mornings". The key weasel word is "linked". Something is "linked" to such-and-such a result. But "linked" is not a scientific word. A weak statistical link - which is what we are talking about in nearly all these studies - does not prove anything.

In the case of weight loss and gallstones - yes, one can see that without the right mineral balance weight loss "can" lead to gallstones. So, are we saying that 90% of very large people who lose 4lbs a week in the first three months of a diet, before the weight loss slows down as they themselves become smaller, will lose their gallbladders? By posing the question that way you expose the "advocacy" at the heart of these health campaigns: they could not answer yes to a question posed in that way. Loss of the gallbladder is statistically not the most likely outcome from rapid weight loss. Rapid weight loss is just a heightened risk factor - and a fatty diet that many obese people consume is itself a heightened risk factor for gallstones.

There seems no sense of proportion or perspective in most of these claims. Crossing the road is "a heightened risk factor" for a collision with a car. In the end overweight people - people whose BMI is in the 40s, not people whose BMI is 25.1 - need to lose weight, and for them to lose 3-4lbs a week for a while, slowing down eventually to 2lbs a week, and then taking steps to keep it off for life -- that's healthy. That's what they need to do. Who knows if by losing 15 lbs in the first month the dieter has not warded off what would have been a massive heart attack or stroke that was coming? These people who talk of "links" and "risk factors" are probably mainly trying to raise money for their organisations--they are forgetting that morbidly obese people are "at risk" of strokes and heart attacks, and a small statistical possibility of gallstones by losing weight fast is not the only thing they have to consider. Much of this "science" shades off into charlatanry.

Edited February 20, 2010 by Awkward customer

[btrieger 21]

Well said AC. Love the comparison to global warming and second hand smoke. I was thinking the same.

How can we not be skeptical when they are trying to convince everybody that they are overweight?

I don't know what the media is like across the pond but in the states all we hear every day is how most of us are fat and getting fatter.

Then we see television commercials for drugs and exercise equipment starring some housewife that may have been a pound or two overweight and lost it.

[Awkward customer 5]

Btrieger,

we have reached the stage where all children are being weighed at school (an invasion of privacy and abuse of human rights, for sure). See this slim 5-year-old who was told she was fat at Mother's fury as nanny state brands her healthy daughter, 5, 'fat and at risk of heart disease' | Mail Online

[btrieger 21]

Wow!

I never would have thought that other countries were becoming as fascist concerning weight as we are.

That kid doesn't look like she has an ounce of body fat on her.

[DizzyLizzy 21]

Thanks!

I understand what you are saying but I don't think whether it works or not has anything to do with your gender. There are different calculations for men and women.

I suspect that most of the people that it is way off on may have altered their metabolism by a lot of yo-yo dieting.

I am still trying to make sense of the people saying that they are gaining weight on 500 calorie a day.

I've never been a yo yo dieter...never really been on a diet at all until I started seeing my lapband surgeon. My prior weight loss had been mostly due to increasing activity and very slight food modification, never anything drastic. Never tried the fad diets. Well, I tried some OTC pill, but after a week it made me feel weird so I stopped them immediately. I never was a dieter because I didn't want to become a yo yo dieter.

I think my weight issue is highly related to hormones. I've been fat since preschool, but most of my drastic weight gain in short periods have been after I had kids and I started birth control and now most of my weigh loss post band occured when I started this extended menstrual cycle! Which may attribute to why women have more trouble losing weight. Damn hormones. Just a thought.

[DizzyLizzy 21]

Btrieger,

we have reached the stage where all children are being weighed at school (an invasion of privacy and abuse of human rights, for sure). See this slim 5-year-old who was told she was fat at Mother's fury as nanny state brands her healthy daughter, 5, 'fat and at risk of heart disease' | Mail Online

Oh thank heavens, my 5 year old boy is healthy weight! (sarcasm) He's the same height as that little girl and weighs 1 pound less. And looking at their chart they say 17kgs at that height is healthy!?!? That's like 37lbs. My goodness is my boy was 37lbs he'd look like a skeleton, he's aready very thin! That's ridiculous!

[Awkward customer 5]

Can I clarify for any Americans reading the article that a stone is 14 lbs? So the girl at 3 stone 9 lbs is 51lbs - looking at the picture she is the perfect weight for her height and not actually overweight at all.

[Humming Bird 275]

What a beautiful little girl! It's too bad that someone is already messing with her head at such a young age about being overweight. Isn't this how they say some eating disorders start?

[jensmallwood 0]

Check out Gina Kolata's book, Rethinking Thin for a (IMO) really interesting look at the "science" behind weight loss and dieting. It's subtitled "The new Science of Weight Loss- and the Myths and Realities of Dieting."

I thought it was quite well written.

[prtygirl79 0]

Like other posters, we all gained the weight for different reasons. I for one don't "stuff my face", but I did have dessert after meals:thumbdown:. I don't lack Portion Control in general-that's not my problem.

I've always wanted to be the girl who can eat 1/2 a tuna sandwich or a Slim Fast for lunch and be ok until dinner. But for me I'd always stay hungry when I tried...so I top my meals off with a cookie or a piece of chocolate. The band is my opportunity to finally be the girl who is full from 1/2 a sandwhich, which is also the girl who won't eat a cookie if she sees progress in the mirror!

[wonderwoman2009 0]

I was banded 7/14/09 and I have lost about 67 pounds I feel great. I Still and trying to eat right because I have a fear of gaining the weight back. My goal I want to lose 100 pound by my bandiversay. I am now living in onederland and I am soooooooooooooo happy.

[Humming Bird 275]

I did the math and used the Harris Benedict Equation .

Even with the lowest amount of little or no exercise and 1000 calories (I eat less) , it shows I should be dropping at least a pound every 3 or so days. The last couple weeks have been at a standstill. I think my body is doing some hoarding.

The equations and calculations are just not adding up for me in this past week or so. Don't get me wrong, I still believe the band has been magic for me and I am still thrilled with the weight I have lost so far. I hate counting calories and writing everything down, but after reading other posts about plateaus and the ideas given by other bansters, I wrote down everything that crossed my lips today. I ate 605 calories. This is my typical calorie count. Even if it is more on some days I stay well under 1000 cal.

The weight should still be coming off this week.

[elcee 3,340]

I read quite an interesting article in an old Readers Digest this week.

It was about how the way that calorie values for foods are calculated using an old and not entirely accurate method.

Apparently various things affect the amount of calories in food that are absorbed. For instance there is a certain calorie value for carrots. Yet if the carrots are eaten raw rather than cooked a lot less of the calories are actually absorbed. Cooked meat by the same token has a higher absorbable calorie value.

One of the other factors that affects the calories absorbed is if the food is hard or soft. Apparently soft foods are easier to digest and more of the calories are absorbed.

The example used in the article was a muffin compared to a muesli bar. The muffin has a lower total calorie count so most people would opt for this even though it has less nutritional benefit than the muesli bar. However a far lower portion of the muesli bar is actually absorbed so the calories from this work out lower.

Apparently to overhaul the entire system of calculating energy values from food would be incredibly difficult and expensive so it is unlikely that it will be done in the foreseeable future.

But it was interesting and may go some way to explaining why one person eating 1000 cal and burning 1500 may lose weight and another may not!

[flowerchild 0]

I felt the same way before I was banded. Very confused and wasn't sure what the difference would be if I still had to use willpower because I was never able to do that before. This is just my experience but there is no way I could stuff my face now. I follow the band rules because I am forced to. If I drink while I eat I feel like food is expanding in my chest and it hurts. I can't eat too much because it hurts. I don't hurt too often any more because I have learned to follow these rules. I have never once felt like I am on a diet. I try to stay away from sweets for the most part but I do have them if I really want them and I don't feel like a failure because I do. I don't get hungry unless I go 4 or 5 hours with out eating. I don't see how you could not lose weight with the band unless you are not at the right restriction. It can be hard to get there for some but once you do you will lose. A quote from my dr. "if you are using willpower you need a fill".