Bariatric Bad Girls Club

I am now officially 18 months post op.  That magic window that I have spoken of before is closing and closing fast.  I have always advocated that Weight Loss Surgery is not a quick bandaid approach to losing weight.  If you treat it as such - you will still lose the weight - but then you are at risk of putting it all right back on.  Because of the surgery - you will lose weight - and a lot of it.  But your body (I still marvel at our bodies and how they adjust to things - smaller stomach - missing organs, etc...) will adjust to a smaller stomach and re-routed intestines. You may stop dumping when you eat too much sugar or carbs - your little pouch may stretch a bit to accomodate more food - or you and your brain may figure out how to bypass the signals that your body is telling you you have eaten too much or the wrong things.  I mean - let's face it - I didn't get fat by accident people.  I ate - and ate - and ate.  And to be honest - there are days even now that I can get around the rules and eat quite a few things that I couldn't before - and eat all day if I time it right.  I still dump, but it takes more sugar for me to dump than it did before and I'm still unpredictable at it.  I can't eat a lot at one time, but if I time it right I could snack all day long and get in a ton of calories.

So the question becomes - what am I going to do about it?  I've lost about 115 pounds.  I would love to lose about 10 more.  I am down to a size 10 (I have even managed to squeeze into a few size 8's - but the extra skin makes it quite difficult).  I don't want to go back to the land of size 26 !  I don't even want to go back to size 12 or 14! I want this to stick - I want to take what I have learned over the past 18 months and make it work for me.

So that is where the Bariatric Bad Girls come in.  They are a group of wonderful women I have come to know (and quite honestly stalk!) who have are several years out from surgery.  They have lost the weight - and some of them have gained a little back - but they have lived to tell the story.  They do have the occassional slip in behavior - but they are committed to keeping the weight off.  These are the women I identify with - they don't sugar coat life.  In fact, they sometimes have sugar!!!  OH NO!  But then they get back on the band wagon - and they get back to the business of living the post bariatric surgery life.  I love it.  I am so with them.

The Obesity Action Coalition has been formed as a way to educate people about obesity and it's effects on our lives.  The Obesity Action Coalition is an IRS registered 501(c)3 National non profit organization dedicated to giving a voice to those affected by obesity. The OAC was formed to build a nationwide coalition of those affected to become active advocates and spread the important message of the need for obesity education. To increase obesity education, the OAC offers a wide variety of free educational resources on obesity, morbid obesity and childhood obesity, in addition to consequences and treatments of these conditions. The OAC also conducts a variety of advocacy efforts throughout the U.S. on both the National and state levels, and encourages individuals to become proactive advocates.

The Bariatric Bad Girls Club has come up with a way to donate some money for the OAC.  They have created a bracelet that you can purchase for just $5 and proudly display your membership in the BBGC!  Part of the procedes go to the OAC to help promote Obesity action and awareness.  I have a link for purchasing the bracelets on the right of my page.  Click on and join the cause to bring more awareness!  I know it can be a touchy subject - it was for me for many a year, but my sister reminded me of something recently when I had to have my kidney removed.  She said "Can you imagine having to do this 115 pounds ago?"  Yeah - kinda brings a lot into perspective for me.  :)

Overweight

I know! I know! I know! I have been neglecting Pamelot again! I have many worthy excuses, I promise. Though, I'm sure you're not really interested in any of them. It's been a crazy few weeks getting things ready and set up for this year's Upward Cheerleading season. The work as Cheer Commissioner is keeping me a bit busy. I am also in a very busy phase of my project at work.

I am now 10 months out from surgery - hard to believe. I am in the phase where I am able to eat more and more foods - my body is adjusting nicely to my new insides - and I am feeling like I have adjusted to "my new normal". It's no longer this new novel thing to have had gastric bypass. I feel like I have finally adjusted and settled in to life with a smaller stomach and less intestines (romantic isn't it?). I don't have to think so hard about what I'm going to eat, or plan ahead so much. This is just my life and I have settled into it. And I like it.

The weight loss has slowed dramatically - as I knew it would. I would like to lose 20-30 more pounds. I feel that when I up my exercise (I have been slowly getting back to exercise since my ear surgery) I will be able to get a better handle on that and make some progress there. The scale still does move, which is encouraging.

I was having an interesting conversation with some co-workers about BMI yesterday. We were talking about what a "normal" BMI is - how most people are not "normal", and how even though I have lost over 100 pounds I would still be considered in the "obese" range. We were playing around with a BMI calculator and seeing what different weight and heights gave us. So I plugged in my latest weight and discovered .... I am finally overweight! I am no longer obese!

18.5 or less	Underweight
18.5 to 24.99	Normal Weight
25 to 29.99	Overweight
30 to 34.99	Obesity (Class 1)
35 to 39.99	Obesity (Class 2)
40 or greater	Morbid Obesity

Some calculators also put a category of BMI's above 45 as "Super Morbidly Obese". At my heaviest just before surgery my BMI was 47.6, and so I fell into that awful category. As if "obese" isn't bad enough - you add morbidly to it - then super morbidly. UGH! I always hated that! But it was telling me what I didn't want to hear.

Dictionary.com defines the word morbid as:

1.	suggesting an unhealthy mental state or attitude; unwholesomely gloomy, sensitive, extreme, etc.: a morbid interest in death.

2.	affected by, caused by, causing, or characteristic of disease.

3.	pertaining to diseased parts: morbid anatomy.

4.	gruesome; grisly.

Unhealthy mental state or attitude - check. I had a bad attitude (some would argue I still do!)
Characteristic of disease - check. High Blood Pressure, Sleep Apnea, sneaking up on Type II Diabetes, hard to breathe, hard to exercise, hard to do just about anything.
Pertaining to diseased parts - check. Not much to explain there - felt like my whole body was diseased.
Gruesome; grisly - check. That is definitely how I felt about myself.

But I spent many years denying and simply avoiding this about myself. If I can actually loose these last pounds I will find myself in a "normal" BMI range. That actually blows my mind a bit.

Myths about Weight Loss Surgery

I frequent a site called Obesity Help. They often have some great articles on there. I really liked the one they recently posted on myths surrounding weight loss surgery. So I am posting it here.


1. Weight loss surgery requires an inpatient hospital stay.
Not true! In fact, most weight loss surgeries can now be performed as an outpatient. The laparoscopic adjustable gastric band is the most popular outpatient weight loss procedure. The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy can often be performed as an outpatient. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass can also be performed with an overnight stay or a short one to two-night hospital stay.

I was released from the hospital the day after my surgery.

2. Weight loss surgery has high risks.
While weight loss surgery used to be considered a high-risk operation in the 1970s and 80s, this was due to many factors including the large open incision required, the severe medical problems of the patient candidate, and the relative inexperience of the surgeons and staff. All of these factors have changed markedly. Today, weight loss surgery is performed very safely with low risks in the hands of experienced surgeons and centers. And while any treatment or surgery or intervention has risks, for most people considering weight loss surgery, the risks of not undergoing surgery usually far exceed the risks of undergoing the procedure.

3. Surgery is the “easy way out.”
Successfully losing weight and keeping it off with weight loss surgery requires lots of hard work. It requires undergoing a rigorous evaluation and then attending educational classes and support groups and working on lifelong healthy habits and behaviors. It requires a great commitment and desire to achieve a valuable lifelong goal of reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

Don't get me started on this one. Major pet peeve of mine.

4. You have to weigh over 300 pounds to qualify for weight loss surgery.
Many studies and many societies including the American Heart Association, the National Institutes of Health and the Medicare Reimbursement Process consider people candidates based on health conditions plus a calculation of the height and weight called the Body Mass Index or BMI (go to www.sasseguide.com to calculate your BMI). Numerous studies in recent years have shown marked health advantages to even moderately obese individuals who undergo weight loss surgery. Many people qualify who are as little as 50 pounds overweight.

My insurance requirements were a BMI of 40 or above OR BMI of 35
with 2 co-morbidities. I started out at a BMI of almost 48 and I
had 2 serious co-morbidities - high blood pressure and severe sleep
apnea.

5. People who undergo weight loss surgery need to have advanced, serious health conditions such as advanced diabetes and heart disease to qualify.
Each individual is assessed based on his or her specific health conditions and the Body Mass Index calculation. It is widely agreed that anyone with a Body Mass Index over 40 qualifies for weight loss surgery, even in the absence of health problems. It is also widely agreed that people with a Body Mass Index over 35 qualify for weight loss surgery when one or more obesity-related health conditions is present (including high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and obstructive sleep apnea).

6. You have to be in perfect health to qualify for weight loss surgery.
In fact, many people undergoing weight loss surgery do have health problems related to obesity. Some of these individuals have mild forms of the conditions and other people have more severe forms of the conditions. Each person should be assessed by an experienced bariatric surgeon to determine candidacy.

If you were in perfect health - why would you need surgery? Let's
own up to it - if you're heavy enough to qualify for surgery you are not in
perfect health.

7. There is a long recovery time after weight loss surgery.
Most people recover from weight loss surgery within one to two weeks. Some people go back to work and activities within a few days, especially after adjustable gastric banding surgery.

I timed my surgery between Christmas and New Year's. I took 4
days off of work - I was back to work a week after surgery. It was one of
the easiest surgeries to recover from - and I've had my share of
surgery.

8. After weight loss surgery, you won’t be able to eat anything that’s good.
Most people can eat a wide variety of all kinds of foods after weight loss surgery. Some people who have had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery experience an unpleasant sensation when eating concentrated sweets such as desserts. However, most people can eat just about anything after weight loss surgery in small quantities.

Let's face it - I have redefined what "good" means to me. It does
take a while to get back to being able to eat "normally", but with the exception
of foods high in sugar - you should be able to eat other foods in
moderation.

9. You have to be a certain age to have weight loss surgery.
While it’s true that most centers describe age criteria, the range is usually very wide such as from 18 to 65. In addition, there are many studies citing the benefits of weight-loss surgery in patients over 65 and under 18.

10. You can’t have surgery if you have diabetes.
In fact, weight loss surgery is fast becoming a primary treatment for diabetes, particularly type II diabetes because of the high rate of cure of the disease after weight-loss surgery.

11. You’ll have a large incision and a big scar from weight-loss surgery.
Many centers perform over 95% of the weight loss surgical cases with minimally-invasive surgery or laparoscopy. This normally requires five or six small incisions on the abdomen.

I can't even see the small incisions from my surgery any more. I
have much larger scars from other surgeries.

12. Weight loss surgery is irreversible.
While most weight-loss surgeons and centers believe that it is best to think of the surgery as permanent, the truth is that surgery can be reversible. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, in particular, is reversible fairly easily. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is reversible but requires a more significant operation in order to undo the bypass procedure.

It is helpful to think of it as irreversible, though.

13. Weight loss surgery has no real benefits except for looking better.
The truth is that weight loss surgery is primarily an intervention for improved health. While there are side benefits of improved self-esteem and cosmetic appearance, many of the health complications caused by being overweight can be dramatically improved or, in some cases, completely resolved by surgical weight loss procedures.

Two immediate benefits that I had from surgery was resolution of my
blood pressure and my sleep apnea. I was quickly headed to being a
diabetic and that resolved as well. And while I won't lie in that I feel I
do look better - there are parts of me that are SCARY from the extra
skin.

Kent Sasse, MD, MPH, FACS, is founder and medical director of both the
iMetabolic International Metabolic Institute and Western Bariatric Institute. He
is the author of Outpatient Weight-Loss Surgery: Safe and Successful Weight Loss
with Modern Bariatric Surgery. www.sasseguide.com.

Food and Feelings

I see a wonderful therapist and she has been helping me with this after-WLS world I am in. She has me going through a book called "The Food and Feelings Workbook". It is by Karen Koenig. I highly recommend this book for anyone who struggles with their relationship with food - whether it's turning to it for comfort, or trying to control it by denying yourself of it - this book is great. The basic tenant of this book is that "accepting your emotions, however painful they are, is the key not only to ending dysfunctional eating but also to achieving the health, happiness, success, and deep satisfaction about life you want and deserve." Going through this book has been a big wake up call for me about how I use food to avoid certain feelings. It's not just a comfort to me - the food and eating it is comforting - but I seek the comfort so that I don't have to feel things I don't want to feel. Do you find yourself doing this, too? Here are some guidelines that Karen Koenig has in her book:

1. First, acknowledge that, as a person who intentionally and regularly rejects or consumes food to distract from feeling, you most likely have a negative view of uncomfortable emotions.


2. Second, identify exactly what you believe about emotions.


3. Third, make a conscious, ongoing effort to change your beliefs.

Acceptance does not mean letting them run you ragged or having a field day with other people. Nor does it imply that you must like having unsettling and sometimes acutely wounding emotions. it merely requires that you acknowledge the hurt and give unpleasant feelings the right to come and go, just as you do the pleasant ones.

If you want to end disordered eating, you have to break the link between feelings and food.

If you're a dysfunctional eater who turns toward food when you're feeling bad, it tastes good in part because you're desperately looking for ways to ward off the blues, the blahs, the jitters. ... Another reason that food tastes good for people who view it as a panacea is that it's meant to be eaten so that our species will survive and flourish. Food is supposed to be appetizing and appealing, delectable and divine. So when you bite into a juicy apple or a buttery croissant, it's no surprise that your taste buds cheer wildly. They're happy even if you're not. But just because something tastes good doesn't mean you should be eating it, especially if the real business at hand is
attending to emotions.

Science has come a long way in understanding the complexities of appetite and affect. Research tells us that under stress our bodies crave carbohydrates, which have chemical properties to soothe and relax us, just as milk did in infancy. not only does food taste heavenly, it's also a source of what we're physiologically lacking in moments of distress. Take carbohydrates whose chemical compounds break down in our bodies in such a way as to calm and comfort us. Food does this job extremely well - too well!

She talks about the physical manifestation of emotions - takes you through exercises to help you recognize those physical manifestations - things such as:

• dry throat


• fatigue


• shortness of breath


• queasiness


• racing pulse


• flushing


• inability to focus or concentrate


• butterflies in your stomach


• pounding heart


• a lump in your throat


• tightness or hollowness in your chest


• constriction around your eyes

She says "To become a whole, healthy person, you have to stop trying to avoid feeling badly and welcome all your emotions without judgment, no matter what they are."

I have been known as the Queen of Denial. I like to camp out there often. It's really quite comfortable there, and I tend to find an unending supply of cookie dough when I need it. I also like to point out to other people when they are visiting that great land. I know because I am the Queen and I can recognize it easily in others.

Karen Koenig identifies the 7 most difficult feelings for disordered eaters. They are:

1. Guilt - Practically every dysfunctional eater is other-oriented, a caretaker, a do-gooder, has an overly-developed sense of responsibility, and rarely (if ever) believes she is doing enough. Because they are people pleasers and feel naughty or selfish when they do things for themselves, their self care is only fair to poor. The major way they take care of themselves is - you guessed it - through food.


2. Shame - Disordered eating may be a way to maintain the shame they unconsciously think they ought to feel or are used to feeling.


3. Helplessness - Occurs when there is nothing we can do. It underlies many feelings - frustration, impatience, anger, and anxiety. Something terrible is going to happen and I can't do a damned thing about it! Many disordered eaters combat their helplessness by taking action, usually in the form of micromanaging their food intake or consuming every morsel in sight.


4. Anxiety - People who eat to sooth their nerves. These individuals are anxious about what they did yesterday and about what they're going to do tomorrow.


5. Disappointment - Chronic disappointment can lead people to believe that they don't deserve to have positive expectations and outcomes in life. Wanting causes them to feel needy and so they deny their genuine desires. Because it's too scary to have expectations of themselves or of other people, they turn to something that's predictable and always in good supply - food. When an emotional eater suffers the letdown of disappointment, food picks them up, at least for a while.


6. Confusion - It runs rampant in a population of eaters who are out of touch with their physical needs and wants. They're not sure whether they're really hungry or deserve to eat, what they should eat, when they're full, what they ought to look like, and what they should weigh. Most of their confusion is about the concept of enough in numerous areas of their lives. What drives their confusion is the desperate urge to find out what's right so they won't fail or make mistakes. Because it's difficult to tolerate the tension created by vague, mixed or conflicting feelings, they often give up and instead take a stroll down a supermarket aisle or focus on numbers, which are sharp and clear - on a scale or food package.


7. Loneliness - A soul killer - no wonder lonely people seek solace in food! When disordered eaters feel this depth of loneliness, they're desperate to bond with something, anything - to merely feel alive.

You will begin to realize your dreams when you allow your emotions to speak to you, when you listen carefully to what they have to say, and when you make conscious choices based on authentic feelings couples with sound judgment. To do this, however, you must become conversant with the language that emotions speak - and that's often the language of pain.

People who allow themselves to experience their heartache and learn from it lead happy, successful lives, whereas people who run from emotional pain end up unhappy and unfulfilled.

So I think the feelings that stand out for me are Helplessness, Anxiety, Disappointment, and sometimes Loneliness.

There are so many things in this life that I have learned I have absolutely no control over. It makes me feel helpless - I don't like not having control (as I have talked about in earlier blogs). Eating gives me a sense of control - and it also feels very good. Problem is - when I have binged to give myself the feeling of control - I only end up feeling more out of control. Why did I do that?

I totally eat to soothe my nerves. This is still a problem for me. I had a disturbing appointment last week and as I was driving back to work I found myself screaming in the car "I just want a freakin' cheeseburger, damn it!" I passed an Arby's (which I love) and I just wanted to pull in for a roast beef sandwich and some curly fries! Make it go away!

Ah yes, Disappointment. Somehow in my twisted mind I have convinced myself that my favorite foods never disappoint me. They are always there for me when I need them - always providing the comfort I seek. When someone doesn't treat me the way I feel I deserve to be treated - food does - it makes me feel so good. But how twisted is that? It disappoints me every time - every pound I put on because of it.

I have had those moments of strolling down the supermarket aisles - searching for my comfort. I have found myself going faster and faster - not even knowing what I'm looking for - just knowing that I will know it when I find it. It could be some cookie dough - maybe brownie mix or frosting - or how about that Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream - or it could be something salty like Doritos or a sausage egg and cheese biscuit. I have even found myself standing in front of my pantry or refrigerator in the middle of the night after a stressful confrontation or a fight with my husband. I'm tired of the conflict and I am tired of feeling this way - give me some food to make it go away.

And having de-carbed since surgery - I can so see how carbs do affect my feelings. The few times that I have had some small carb with what I am eating since surgery have nearly sent me on an eating binge again. I can't even describe it! It just feels so good! I know that this surgery is the only way for me to divorce food. I can't binge anymore - I get sick - very ill - it downright hurts. In fact, there are days that eating is a downright chore.

Karen Koenig gives some great techniques for slowing down - recognizing the physical manifestations of our emotions and feelings - deep breathing that helps you become more in tune with what your body is trying to tell you.

So how is your relationship with food? Are you obsessed with it? Or are you using it the way it should be used? Have you learned to live with your feelings? Do you turn to food or to something else to not have to deal with those feelings? Do you have feelings which you have deemed "bad"? Why do we think emotions in and of themselves are bad? They were given to us by our creator for a reason. We should not ignore them or push them aside - we need to get to the root of the emotions and discern what they are telling us so that we can move on.

GGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

I usually take stupid comments by stupid people in stride. (I know some of you are reading this and totally laughing at me and thinking "Pam? Seriously?") But I realize that most people have no idea how WLS works. Many people consider it the "easy way out". And part of why I started this blog was to help educate friends and family (and cyber stalkers) about this process and journey. So I do understand that there are a lot of misconceptions out there about this whole thing.

But today - someone's comment to me has really stuck in my craw! UGH! We were in the kitchen at work and she was asking me how I was doing (everyone at work knows I have had this surgery). Her son-in-law is considering this surgery and she keeps checking in with me to see how it's going. A frequent question I get is "Are you able to eat real food yet?" That one always gets me. Well most food I put in my mouth is real - what kind of food do you eat? Never mind - that is just the dry humor of my Father coming out in me. So I was telling her some of the things I can eat now that I am in the pureed/soft food stage. So she mentions that her son-in-law "needs to get his act together soon or he's gonna have to do this the hard way by watching what he eats and exercising."

Yeah - so I made a real conscious effort not to beat her down.

As politely as I could I told her that if he chose to have surgery he would have to watch what he eats EVEN MORE than if he hadn't had surgery. I have never been so conscious about what I am putting in my mouth in all my life! I count calories, I count fat grams, I count carbs, and protein and ounces of water. I have cut out virtually all sugar from my diet. And exercise - I exercise a lot! This is a lifestyle change people - that's not cliche. Doing what I have always done will NOT get me anywhere different. I have to change everything about how I was living if I want this to be a permanenet and life altering change. People who don't abide by these new rules do not succeed. They are the ones that your friends will whisper to you about ... "My aunt had her stomach stapled, but now she put all the weight back on" ... I did not go through all of this to keep living the same way. I knew there had to be changes - major changes - this surgery has helped me to make those changes and helps me to stick by them. With a regular "diet" you can cheat - you can have that one candy bar - those 2 cookies - that bite of ice cream. I can't. This surgery ensures that I don't cheat. I don't eat too much, I don't eat too fast, and I don't eat what my body cannot absorb and process well.

So let me assure all of you out there that may be reading this thinking that I took the easy way out - this was anything but easy. You still have to watch what you eat - even more so now than ever. You don't want to put something in your mouth that will make you dump. You can't eat too much or you will puke. You have to go through a lot of stages while your new pouch heals with clear liquids, full liquids, pureed foods, soft foods. You have to be sure to get a certain amount of protein, and fluid in each day. And you still need to exercise - that needs to become part of your daily routine. It helps the weight come off - it helps it stay off - it helps your body heal - it helps your energy levels - it helps with extra skin. WLS is a tool for those looking to loose a lot of weight. A tool. Not a magical wand. More like a sledge hammer or a chisel. Be careful with both.

Keep Moving Forward

I have long attested that the greatest Disney movie of all time is Meet the Robinsons. I watched it with the kids again tonight and I am again reminded of what a great movie this is!

I love the messages in this movie. "Let go of the past and keep moving forward." Wouldn't we all be wise to shake off our mis-steps and keep moving forward? So many times we let something in our past control our present - possibly even our future? Grudges, regrets, something we feel that has shaped who and what we are now - feeling as though we are completely held captive to that thing.

My favorite scene in the movie is when Lewis tries to fix a machine that will make peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches automatically, but something goes horribly wrong and there is peanut butter and jelly EVERYWHERE. Wilbur and the rest of the Robinson family applaud and hail Lewis. "You failed!" They celebrate his failure. He is completely stunned and confused. One of the family members says "From failure you learn; from success, not so much."

This film also stresses the importance of owning up to our mistakes. Admitting when you have made a mistake - owning up to it and the subsequent consequences.

I want so much for my children to see this - that it's OK to fail - you don't always do everything right - and when we screw up we learn huge lessons. I want them to learn that they have to own their mistakes in order to learn from them. I want them to learn to let go of the past (and all the hurts that may be associated with it) and to keep moving forward. Living in the past only brings guilt. Fearing the future only brings anxiety.

I have had my share of failures. I feel like I am finally owning the mistakes that got me to this point. I hope that making this change in my life while my children are young will show them that I do see how much I have to live for - how much I want to make ammends for this "epic fail" in my life - letting myself get this heavy. In doing so - I have to make peace with my past - let it go - and keep moving forward.

I also love the song that Rob Thomas sings as the theme for this movie. It's called Little Wonders.

Here are the lyrics:

let it go,
let it roll right off your shoulder
don't you know
the hardest part is over

let it in,
let your clarity define you
in the end
we will only just remember how it feels

our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

let it slide,
let your troubles fall behind you
let it shine until you feel it all around you
and i don't mind
if it's me you need to turn to
we'll get by,
it's the heart that really matters in the end

our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

all of my regret
will wash away some how
but i can not forget
the way i feel right now

in these small hours
these little wonders
these twists & turns of fate
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours
these small hours, still remain,
still remain
these little wonders t
hese twists & turns of fate
time falls away
but these small hours
these little wonders still remain






Thanks for indulging me while I pontificate a bit. :)

Hunger Hormones - who knew!

I have found some very interesting and educational articles recently. Here is one by National Geographic:

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/fat-costs.html

The National Geographic Channel is also running a show called The Science of Obesity on this Sunday at 3pm. I haven't seen the show myself, but I have heard it is very interesting and educational. Here is a link with more about that show:

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/science-of-obesity-3082/Overview

Another show that I really like to watch is Big Medicine on TLC. Here's a link to that as well:

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/big-medicine/big-medicine.html

But the most interesting information I have found on gastric bypass and the difference between it and say the Lap-Band is regarding the Hunger Hormones in our body. I had no idea that our body had hormones that control our appetite, our hunger, our physiological reaction to dieting or conversely - over-eating. I can't explain it as well as the experts - so here are some links to some very well written articles on the subject that you may find interesting:

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040712/gastric-bypass-curb-hunger-hormone

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3889185.stm

http://news.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-2/Hunger-hormone-may-be-key-in-weight-loss-8006-1/

Happy reading!