NHS Gastic Band Ops in the news today

[*honey]

me three on the education. I think the root of the problem needs to be tackled, that lack of education on healthy eating and more importantly the lack of cooking skills in this generation ( god i'm sounding old........im ONLY 30!! )
But having watched Jamie Olivers Ministry of food ( teaching people to cook) and the BBC3 Young dumb and living off mum, being able to cook is a dying art!! Therefore people are eating the crap convienience food.
I've been brought up on correct food and have only needed to lose weight after a stressful 2009, where we ate home cooked food and lovely puddings, just of the full fat variety!

 

[Wannabeelovely]

At the end of the day, there really is no easy solution to the problem of being overweight/obese. There are no short cuts - its all down to hard work, discipline and the desire to be at a healthy weight over the desire to eat the foods that made us gain weight. Its a lifelong slog and no gastric band will make that easier. I have 2 friends who have had them fitted and they still struggle and have several weeks at a time where they don't lose. Their weight losses are only about the same as someone who's fully focussed on any diet plan - I think gastric bands are not the godsend they're made out to be. The ONLY solution is to permanently change our eating habits - but, more importantly, our attitude to ourselves and what we want out of life. Easier said than done but the only way! xxxx

 

[downsizingmycurves]

Gosh I didn't realise the weight loss surgery cost the NHS (tax payers) so much.

The SW voucher scheme is a comparitive drop in the ocean.

 

[Shrinking_Bev]

As someone's already said, unless you have an illness that makes you put on weight it's all down to bad eating.
I did mention to my Dh about the bands and he said it would be cheaper to just gag me! (His black eye took about a week to disappear completely!)

PMSL!! Love it :8855:

 

[jinkles]

Hi everyone, I had a gastric band fitted privately in january 2009.
I had this procedure after almost 2 years of research and contemplating what to do with the support off my husband and family. Since having it fitted I have lost over 7 stones!!
I had been overweight since I was 13 and at my heaviest I weighed 20stones. My problem with food was eating very large portions and not really having any feeling of fullness. I visited dr's and dieticians numerous times over the years to no avail.
I now am struggling to lose the last two stones of my excess body weight, I think the band has done all it can do for me. I still have restriction and can only eat toddler sized portions, I excercise daily which consists of 40 mins on cross trainer and 30 mins toning and powerplate. My body has now plateau'd, got used to the amount of energy in and out, leaving me with very little else to cut back on.
I have recently returned to the slimming world eating plan and think I have perhaps kick started my metabolism as I have lost 10lbs in 2 weeks by food optimising but obviously very small meal portions!!

I think in some cases the band can and does work very well and successfully (as in my case). However, it is in the control of the person who has the band. It is still quite possible to over eat as many people who say the band hasn't worked for them regularly eat 'slider foods' chocolate, ice cream, pasta with calorie rich sauces, or even going to the extreme of liquidizing takeaways etc to get them to go down, in their cases it is a waste of time and resourses which is a shame.

I sometimes think that I took the easy way out, but this weight loss journey, for me has been no easy ride to say the least. It's been bloody hard work mentally. It has taught me that I ate the way I did because of 'head hunger' not physical hunger, and FORCED me to face alot of feelings I had locked away inside my head, which no dr or councellor could!!
My battle with food will never be over, (like alcoholics, once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic) my gastric band is there to remind me!!! I love my gastric band!!!!
Good luck to all those on their weightloss journey, which ever way you choose to do it x x x

 

[Wannabeelovely]

Wow Jinkles! That was a very powerful post - and well done on losing your 7 stones AND the 10lbs at SW! I admire your determination and your honesty.
It IS a hard lifelong battle and I wasnt putting gastric bands down as such, just as a perceived EASY option. They're clearly not a quick fix and are open to abuse in the same way as any other means of weight loss. It just worries me that the media seems to promote the idea of a band as something that will sort all your weight problems out without any effort on your part whereas, in truth, its just another means of losing weight with all the hard work, guts and determination that is involved in any weight loss method. Each to their own I say but be realistic and prepared for a battle whatever route you choose. There really ARE no short cuts are there? xxxx

 

[jinkles]

I totaly agree with you. Because of all hype surrounding gastric band surgery and adverts stating how wonderful they can be, it is easy for some people to get the wrong perception of them, and some are having the procedure done without any proper knowledge and to get that quick fix, for them the band WILL fail. It's down to each individual to work with their band as with any diet.......HARD WORK AND DETERMINATION ID THE KEY!!!

Wow Jinkles! That was a very powerful post - and well done on losing your 7 stones AND the 10lbs at SW! I admire your determination and your honesty.
It IS a hard lifelong battle and I wasnt putting gastric bands down as such, just as a perceived EASY option. They're clearly not a quick fix and are open to abuse in the same way as any other means of weight loss. It just worries me that the media seems to promote the idea of a band as something that will sort all your weight problems out without any effort on your part whereas, in truth, its just another means of losing weight with all the hard work, guts and determination that is involved in any weight loss method. Each to their own I say but be realistic and prepared for a battle whatever route you choose. There really ARE no short cuts are there? xxxx

 

[sugar_lipswales]

Jinkles - I don't think anyone on here will ever say that having gastric surgery is an easy option, personally I was too scared of the operation to even consider it lol! I think we object to the fact that the NHS is having to pick up the bill for all these people who are perfectly capable of dieting, it's like it's become fasionable these days. If it is their last chance then fair enough but some people should just get up off their backsides and do the work!

 

[Lovely_Laura]

I'm sure there are people who do it because they're too lazy to try and stick to something BUT I do think they are the minority. Having been through the NHS to try and have a GB myself I can honestly say they aren't thrown around at anyone. Well unless the Consultant I saw was very strict compared to others. There is a really strict set of guidelines you have to go through. Not just losing weight first to show you're willing to but also therapy so you understand your whole relationship with food will have to change plus a number of other things.

When I went a long for the first time I was sure they'd see how desperate I was and how I obviously needed help. I didn't think I'd be sent away to lose weight when it seemed obvious to most people that I simply couldn't do it. This wasn't laziness as such but because my mental state was dreadful and I simply couldn't get my brain to co-operate. I was sent away to sort my head out and to come back when I'd lost over 3 stone by myself. I was so angry that he wouldn't understand that I felt I couldn't do it. Fast forward over a year and having gained more weight and whatever needed to 'click' finally did. Luckily I had that click moment or I might be dead. Am I angry at the consultant that he wouldn't help, yes I am because I could easily have gone home to eat myself to death. However I'm no longer angry it wasn't done because I'm managing it alone but it could have been very different. The way I look at it now I am losing a similar amount each month that I would expect to lose with a GB, I have binges still which I wouldn't be able to do with one fitted but then I'm also learning how to deal with the emotions in a more healthy way. So I think I've been lucky on the whole.

GB's, especially when paid for privately where the need to fit around the rules isn't so strict may seem like an easy option and yes the majority of people can do it without but I'm not sure how many people, having given it a lot of thought and done their research would rather never eat normally again if they felt they could do it themselves. If you wait for that 'click' moment for years and it never comes then I completely understand how it's the last option.

I was amazed by how many op's were done last year and I heard a radio 4 programme a few weeks ago talking about the ethics behind weight loss surgery which was very interesting. In an ideal world we would have no need of them, we'd all grow up knowing how to eat correctly, there'd be no rubbish on the shelves to tempt us and even if there was we'd not want to try it because having never eaten that sort of thing before it would taste awful - if only! It's not like that and it never will be so while GB's may seem extreme I think for some people they are the only way to learn control around food. They'll always be people who choose this sort of thing as an easy route but I think they'd be unpleasantly surprised. Whether the NHS should pay for them is difficult. If it gives someone their life back so they can work and be normal rather than sitting at home slowly killing themselves then I think it's an easy decision.

Yikes that was long, sorry.

 

[wussbird]

Jinkles - you would have been a much better person for the BBC to interview. It seems that you know the ups and downs of having a GB whereas the woman on the programme made me really cross as she had such a throwaway attitude about the whole thing.

Well done on your amazing weight loss!