does gastric bypass ruin your looks?

I should add I didn't ask but I assume she took an easy way out because she ate like a pig and was always lazy as fuck.

Some people only look attractive when their face is fuller. Same thing happened to a dear friend though she didn't lose anything like that. Maybe 40 - 50 lbs or so. Her thin face was very unattractive and she had been very pretty before. She lost via Weight Watchers.

Same here, OP. I had a friend that had the bypass that I hadn't seen in about a year. I saw her about two weeks ago and didn't recognize her - she looked like an old woman and I was stunned. She, too, used to have a pretty face but now she looks so haggard and frail.

Maybe it was just the shock of seeing her after losing so much weight and not being used to her look but, damn, she looked terrible - I felt bad for her.

I used to take steroids and had a bloated pumpkin head. People always thought I was much younger than I actually was because: no wrinkles. Then I stopped taking steroids and my face deflated and I looked much older than I actually was.

Think about a balloon just out of the package. You blow it up nearly to the breaking point. Smooth, right? Deflate it and the deflated balloon is more wrinkled and misshapen than it was before you blew it up.

Star Jones had that deflated-balloon look right after her surgery.

Fat fucks up people's faces.

Gravity doesn't do us any favors. Now combine gravity with all that extra weight in your face. When a person is fat, you don't see how much the fat drags down all the facial muscles. When the fat is gone, you're left with a saggy face with stretched skin.

This is so depressing. I hope I'll never get really fat.

Their skin gets stretched out when they are fat and thus looks more wrinkled when they are thin

I'm not sure what bariatric procedure these people had but one friend looks fantastic; a coworker looks like shit, a neurologic disease that has been in remission for a number of years has returned, and her dumps smell so bad that people have commented on it (it's called dumping syndrome for a reason). The only difference is age. One had it done in her 40s the other in her 60s.

The bodies entire metabolic system is being starved and the "flora and fauna" of our gut, which, we are discovering has a huge role in every aspect of our life, is being completely thrown out of whack, with potential terrible consequences.

I think the procedure should be done ONLY when it is life or death situation. It is not an easy panacea.

Gastric bypass doesn't ruin you looks, losing hundreds of pounds of fat actually ruins your looks. My mother had what was effectively gastric bypass, she had stomach ulcers so bad they had to remove half her stomach, she had always been very skinny and her looks really didn't change at all.

Skin just doesn't shrink back as effectively as it expands. Many people who lose a lot of weight have to have excess skin removed.

Did you hear the joke about the woman who lost 100 pounds then killed herself? Turns out she didn't have a pretty face after all.

Al Roker

My best friend had GB & never lost weight. But whenever we go out to eat I notice he has a really hard time swallowing food since the surgery. He said it really messed him up. I didn't want to ask a lot of questions. Does anyone know anyone else this happened to?

Are the people who lose the weight by diet and exercise any better off?

A little R114 because the weight loss is slower and the body has a chance to adapt.

Gastric bypass is not the "easy" way" out. It is a tool to get you into habits of eating better amounts and kinds of foods, and needs to be accompanied by exercise. Trust me, as one who had the procedure ten years ago and lost about 80 lbs, it does not make the struggle to keep weight off simple--but more manageable. And women have more negative side effects than men for some reason (it may be physiological)--as a man, I've had no side effects to speak of.

We still don't know why some people feel the need to overeat--what neuroscientists call the satiation factor--so it doesn't help anyone nor is it good science to get all moralistic about eating--particularly if you ever smoke, get drunk, or cruise compulsively.

R16 all the fat people I know--myself included--eat too much for emotional reasons. None of us are happy.

You are hundreds of times better losing weight through diet and exercise. Studies show people who lose weight either via gastric bypass or lipo have exactly the same health risks they have before the surgeries.

Those who diet and exercise, have markedly decreased risks of cancer, stroke, high blood pressure and heart attack. The only important area lipo and bypass helps is with lung diseases such as asthma, which is greatly relieved. But of course it's equally relieved by diet and exercise.

So surgery alone isn't going to help your risks much if any. You're still going to need to change your lifestyle. This is why it used to be only for the truly obese who simply could not get the weight off. It was supposed to be an absolute last resort.

Any massive weight loss (even natural) will leave skin loose...unless its done in the early 20s (and even then, it will - depending on how much). That's why people get "total body lifts" where they cut out huge pieces of excess skin. Facelifts help in this way as well. The skin is lax and stretched out and needs to be tightened.

A close family friend of ours had the surgery and became an alcoholic.

You mean tying your stomach in a not might not be good for you?

OP, she would not look very attractive lying in one of these.

That's why the only way to lose weight is through diet and exercise!

Honey, there just isn't any other way.

Instead of dying from obesity-related issues, gastric bypass kills people by slowly depriving the body of essential nutrients that supplements can't provide. Really sad.

[quote]A close family friend of ours had the surgery and became an alcoholic.

This is not uncommon. When they remove so much of your stomach the alcohol uptake is faster and you get more intense effects from the alcohol. I think this happened to Carnie Wilson too.

A close family friend also had the surgery and then was hit by a bus.

The sleeve works better than the bypass I think. You don't lose as much weight as fast, but you don't get dumping syndrome. I've lost 60 lbs. from my gastric sleeve surgery since December of last year. I'm also exercising and look and feel so much better. I'm 50, and don't have any saggy skin on my face. I do, however, have stretch marks on my stomach and near my pits. But hey, it's better than the alternative.

People do become alcoholics because they no longer can drink lower alcoholic beverages like beer due to the carbonation so many move to hard liquor. Gastric bypass never removes the major reason these people are overeating so they usually gain it all back. I have a few coworkers that have gotten this and only one looks decent afterwards. And she only looks good because she gained some of the weight back and began to change her diet.

I know someone who had this done and now her bones seem to be really weak. She had a minor fall and shattered a bone in her leg. And this is a woman under 30! Her face looks fine though.

The money spent on this surgery should be sued on therapy to find out why you overeat.

This procedure is for those with a slow metabolism who only lose weight if they eat less than 500 calories a day, which is almost impossible to stick to without the operation or strong amphetamine appetite suppressants.

Why don't doctors prescribe the speed weight loss pills anymore? They seemed to work.

Because some people were having heart attacks and strokes on them, r32. Phen-phen, in particular, caused heart issues. Which is sad because that shit WORKED.

those drugs can also fuck up your sleep. Even if you take them with breakfast, they don't necessarily just stop working at 11pm.

They increase anxiety too. I've tried basic stimulants as appetite suppressants and they kinda work but then I will still be hungry. The level to get me to not be hungry makes me sweaty and jittery.

It worked great for DJ AM. The skin is supposed to snap back if you are young enough but not everyone is blessed with good genes. I was once in a swimming pool and there was a group of morbidly obese girls: some of them had stretchmarks everywhere: on their shoulders, on their arm, on their thighs. It was a scary and very sad sight.

How does that happen? I know in pregnancy, it's normal bc the abdomen rapidly expands. However, with obesity, are they eating THAT fast that they expand before their skin can't expand without causing those marks?

Then someone else posted that he had stretch marks around his arm pit - post bypass... so you get them on the way down too?

When you lose weight through surgery, the skin loosens and sags which ages a person significantly.

R36, stretch marks occur when you either gain or lose alot of weight in a rapidly short manner. Pregnant women lose about 10-15 lbs immediately after birth which is why they get marks. Someone who got bypass would get stretch marks because the skin dramatically contracted in a short amount of time. This is why steady and slow weight loss is best because it gives your skin the chance to accommodate. Slower weight loss is also easier to keep off. Rapid loss is easy to gain back. Many folks that got lipo or bypass gained all the weight back if they still had the same binge eating habits as before.

It's not necessarily how much or how FAST you eat, r36, it has more to do with your skin. I have stretch marks on my boobs - they didn't balloon up overnight but over several months during puberty. Some people have very fair, thin skin and weight gain of 10 lbs is enough to cause stretch marks.

Several guys I know also have stretch marks from growing in puberty - not fat but tall. It's like their skin couldn't grow fast enough to keep up with their bones and it got "stretched". (An odd analogy, I know).

Some people learn to eat around the GBs

The stretch marks happen from the weight gain, not the loss. I hear comments that you get them from the loss on Datalounge and that is bullshit. My skin was very tight when I was young and I gained 80 pounds in a year and half due to emotional issues. My skin which was tight on a 155 body already would develop angry red tears which would fade to shiny white later. I lost the weight, but then the stretch marks looked like crepe as they are not being stretched tight. BUT the stretch mark OCCURRED on the way up, not down. Everyone's does. You many notice them more when you become body conscious after dieting and they show up a bit puckered, but losing weight too fast does NOT cause them.

I've only known a couple of people who have had it done. One guy did well and kept it off for a year and half - but his hair was VERY thin and brittle. Ended up getting a divorce and ate all the weight back on again. It can happen - people think once it's off, it's gone. NOPE. The emotional issues are still there and if you're not exercising and trying to change your relationship with food, then nothing will work.

The second person - woman in her 40's - got it done and had to have a full body lift. She now has frankenstein scars on her arms and legs from where all the skin was removed. She's now having a lot of intestinal issues and problems with alcohol.

I have no idea what it's like to be severely overweight - but from what I can see, there's a world of denial and lying that fat people do to themselves. There's a lot of cheating going on - if I do this, then I don't have to worry about what I eat - or, this is healthyish, when it isn't.

Conflict avoidance and being obese can really fuck with your hormones and levels. You're really not an average person when you get more than say 50-60 lbs overweight internally and chemically. Vicious cycle and it can be very difficult to ever get out of. I really feel sorry for many fat people - but the key is to STOP PEOPLE once you seem them get to a certain weight. It only gets worse after that.

There's a woman who I run into occasionally that went on some ridiculous diet and lost at least 100 pounds within a few months. She approached me a few weeks ago and I didn't even recognize her; I thought it was just some random woman being nice. When she told me who she was, I blurted out, "OH MY GOD, DID YOU HAVE GASTRIC BYPASS??" without thinking. It was like it came out of my mouth before it even went into my mind. Fortunately, she was just flattered that I would ask that, and I made sure to follow it up with, "Sorry, it's just... you look AMAZING!" But the poor thing looked sickly. To make matters worse, I just found out last night that her son died on Monday and she didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I'm going to hell.

Thanks for the stretch mark info. I asked also because I am having a year like R41, though not quite up to 80. It's around 20 in the last 12 months. It's a bad cycle of eating --> getting more depressed --> eating more. I haven't noticed my skin doing this (I am in my late 30s, not sure how much that matters). But, I was worried it might. I keep trying to lose it but then end up with some issue that leads to a pig out.

My face looks better at this "overweight" weight, because it's naturally too gaunt. My neck is too fat, though. I wish I could have body lipo and neck lipo as I am, and keep my face this way. Oh, and my ass looks good now too. If I lost 20 lbs, I'd have no ass and a gaunt face (with love handles, still). My body is not proportioned right. I've been considering lipo for a few years for love handles mostly, but now I am too fat for it I think.

Stretch marks really vary in size and depth. There are some that are very light and others which are wide and form deep indentations which change the texture of the skin forever. A friend of mine has stretch marks like this on her breasts and stomach and has basically ruled out sex forever because she can't bear the idea of someone touching them.

TRIM SPA BABY!

R36, many people have stretchmarks, even skinny fucks!

Stretchmarks often appear during a teen's growth phases, despite them not being fat or even chubby.

[quote] A close family friend also had the surgery and then was hit by a bus.

This is not uncommon. When you become so much less massive, you are harder for bus drivers to easily spot.

W&W R48

A friend who had it just died at 40. She said it triggered some autoimmune disease. I have never heard of a link of that but there are cases of it.

I don't get it. If you are way overweight then you are eating way more than 2000 or even 3000 calories a day, so slowing down to 1800 should already bring about results.

I've never been obese in my life and I have stretch marks (knees and waist) due to puberty. I grew up over 10cm in one year and my genes told my butt to basically double its size, and there was nothing I could do about it. It all happened very fast, between the ages of 14 and 15.

Thank you for your post, R39. I have fair, relatively thin skin.

R41 is right. I got stretch marks from my skin getting stretched too quickly (growing up and what is called "gaining hips", which feels more like your butt doubling in size).

I had a colleague like R42 described. Early thirties. Lena Dunham's twin, but fatter. I knew she had to cheat but I didn't know how. One day right after lunch (say 2 pm), I saw her eating guiltily a huge chocolate cream cake. She had felt challenged somehow that day. That's when I knew it was hopeless.

She was great at recommending movies and took really cool pictures. Sadly, her life revolved around her son.

What I notice when fatties drop a ton is their hair suddenly looks like shit. Especially women who keep it long. It seems to go flat and stringy and looks oily.

It will, r56. Several friends of mine have had the sleeve or the bypass and the one shaved her hair off. I asked her why and she said it's one of the little-talked about side effects - your hair falls out because your body thinks it's starving. Some people - especially women - can be vain about it and just keep it long hoping no one notices.

But your body DOES think it is starving so it will go into starvation mode instead of utilizing the FAT you already have. WTF is up with that? Bullshit. That's why some people, once they get fat, can never lose weight - they are constantly hungry because their body thinks it's starving.

If loving cake is wrong I don't want to be right.

She was eating a whole cake r55?

[quote]I don't get it. If you are way overweight then you are eating way more than 2000 or even 3000 calories a day, so slowing down to 1800 should already bring about results.

You are correct about that. I'm obese, but am starting to work on my emotional issues and have been trying to eat a bit healthier lately. In the past 5 weeks, I have lost seven pounds!

Yes, there's still over 200 lbs to go, and I know that, but even this slight loss has proven to me that I *can* lose the weight on my own with proper diet.

I absolutely will NEVER get a gastric bypass/sleeve of any sort, I believe it is extremely dangerous. Yes, even more dangerous than obesity!

The chick I know doesn't have hanging jowls or anything shelse just looks emancipated like a crack ho kind of.

Hang in there, r60. It's a long (and frustrating) process. But it gives your body enough time to adjust to your new weight.

I know a few people at work who have had gastric bypass surgery years ago. I've noticed they've all regained the weight and then some. I feel bad for them. From talking to a couple of them, there really isn't any therapy to go along with the surgery. They were required to attend a couple of group therapy sessions. Once the novelty of the surgery wares off, the emotional eating creeps back into their lives.

[quote]Once the novelty of the surgery wares off, the emotional eating creeps back into their lives.

My cousin in a nutshell. And the sad thing is the stomach can be made bigger again by eating more, it's not like it stays small forever.

Not at all.

My friend's partner had GB many years ago. After weeks of vomiting and hardly eating anything after surgery, he lost over a hundred pounds over the next year. He felt great for a while, but as other posters have mentioned, the psychological problems remained and he started drinking alcohol in excess and binge eating. He died of a massive heart attack at the age of 56.

My cousin thinks about getting one but after reading all those stories, I'll tell her to rather try a new diet. It gonna be less dangerous.

I have seen the same, a very cute woman before gastric bypass, I hate to say it but she was ugly afterwards. I felt sorry for her. I hoped her rich Daddy would give her money for plastic surgery.

I have known two women who have had it done. The first was a friend that I met in my twenties. She was big-boned but quite attractive. I had no idea that she had once been twice the size or that she had undergone the procedure until we were eating out for maybe the third time and she couldn't eat much of anything - maybe 3 bites. Her stomach would cramp and she would literally throw up if she ate more. She could no longer drink alcohol without becoming so inebriated that she looked close to passing out - so she stopped. Was a huge pot head though. Whatever the case, she was thrilled in her new body - I just worried about her getting needed nutrients. I know that she took a lot of supplements. The second is an acquaintance now. She has VERY fine, thin hair although her mother and sister have very thick hair. I never made the connection. She is 25 yoa. I am surprised at how much she still eats and she isn't all that thin. From what I am told - she lost a ton of weight though. Generally, she looks pretty anemic and unhealthy IMO.

It's not just "emotional eating." It's HUNGER. Either the body has gotten used to the high caloric intake that the person's body and brain got habituated to (more likely than not in childhood) and doesn't want to break the habit (like any other addiction) or there was a neurological/hormonal problem with satiety in the first place. It's very much a chicken-and-egg thing, which is why there are no clear answers, but study after study has shown that the perception of hunger (and really, all hunger is a perception) is real. And when you consider that animals have only 3 real biological imperatives that override everything else entirely (eating, drinking, and fucking), it is understandable why even highly-motivated individuals have trouble dieting. Going cold turkey is not an option as with drugs or alcohol (for obvious reasons) , and most diets are not structured gradually enough to allow the brain to rehabituate.

All of which is a long-winded preface to saying that gastric bypass was expected to control hunger-hormones and it hasn't worked out that way, which is why the weight regain is statistically not much lower than that with a diet.

By the way, reasonable people tend to expect enemy foreign states to do dirty shit, so yeah, they don't usually clutch their pearls as much as when it's happening on their own soil. Good god.

Whoops, wrong thread.

These surgical solutions should only be used in cases where health is severely compromised (people who cannot walk, multiple conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes, heart, etc.) It has become the go to first stop solution for far too many, and it seldom works long term. Many people have emotional issues which affect their eating patterns, surgery won't cure the need to cope with food. There is concern about the body not getting proper nutrients through normal eating. New research is putting together a picture of genetic, hormonal, metabolic factors that affect weight loss and gain. It isn't all diet and exercise alone.

So, what is the solution? For people who are significantly overweight 30-100 pounds, focus on losing 25% of body weight slowly. Eat a lower carb/glycemic diet, lots of vegetables, lean protein. Have your blood sugar evaluated, if you are prediabetic ask your endo or dr to prescribe metformin while reducing which will reduce the glucose in your bloodstream and help avoid the pancreas dumping insulin constantly. Exercise moderately but regularly, gym 2-3x week for weight work, walk or swim other days. Give up alcohol.

I did this and lost 37 pounds over 7 months, and have maintained the loss for a year. Blood sugar normal, bp normal, cholesterol excellent. Now I am going to attack the last 35 pounds. When I do that I will still be 25 pounds heavier than my ideal weight, but I think that maintaining a 75 pound total loss will be challenge enough.

One thing, my doctor has been very supportive, regular blood work checks and I saw her every few weeks for the first months as we worked on my food choices and I learned more about the science of how the body processes foods. Also the best advice I got was this. You must be willing to do whatever you did to lose weight to be able to maintain it. Commitment.

There are obese/overweight people who genuinely cannot eat more than 1000 calories a day without putting on weight, and have to diet on 500/700. I am one of these people and it's probably affected my life more than any other factor.

In my 20s and 30s I was determined to lose weight, whatever it took, but sticking to 700 calories was so fucking difficult. The only way I could do it was by taking the psuedoamphetamine phentermine, which at the time cost £1 a pill from private clinics in London. This gorgeous appetite anaesthetic meant you could drop as low as even 400 cals a day and it would block all the stomach rumblings and cravings.

I lost three stone every summer like this and got down to 140 pounds at 5 ft 9 (I'm a woman). Then I'd go off on a beach holiday to Greece or Turkey for a fortnight and eat out every evening, but swim miles in the sea every day. My boyfriend would lose weight from all the swimming but I would put on a stone in those two weeks, every time.

The phentermine only worked for about five months, after that I had to stop taking it in order to lose tolerance and take it again the next summer. I would try and stick to 1000 cals a day (plus lots of exercise and an active job) but I'd usually fail and be three stone heavier by the time the next summer came round, when it was time to take the phentermine again.

In my 40s I got sick of this and self-prescribed myself thyroxine from the internet. I worked up to 300mg a day and this meant I could eat 2000 cals a day without putting on weight, but losing weight was nigh on impossible because it increased my appetite. It also made me overheat really quickly and holidays in the sun became an absolute ordeal. I got air-con for my London flat because I couldn't bear the summers, which I hadn't really noticed before as I was a freezie when I had the super slow metabolism.

In my 50s it started making me really anxious and sick so I stopped it and resigned myself to the ever increasing weight gain.

You HAVE to take a regimen of vitamins for life post surgery...or your hair will fall out and your skin will look like shit because your body doesn't absorb nutrients like it did before the surgery. I have to take a multi twice a day, as well as daily doses of B12, D and E.

You should take a good multivit like Perfectil on a low calorie diet too, plus fish oil if you've cut right down on fats. But this is common knowledge amongst low calorie dieters.

Hey - it's great to lose a lot of weight - it must be wonderful. Now it's time for a little nip and tuck to get the sag out of the face - and if the budget allows do the tummy too ...

Weight loss doesn't always age the face. A jowly face or a face with huge cheeks and three chins isn't youthful in the slightest.

I can't even imagine the ways that R74 fucked his or her self up by taking thyroid meds that weren't prescribed by a Dr. Some of which won't be apparent until older.

I worked with a guy who was at one point 500 pounds. He hired a trainer and started eating 2000 calories a day and exercising 3.5 hours a day 10 years ago. He lost a lot of weight but he's hungry all the time--always. And now he has to either reduce his calories or exercise more as his body is getting used to this regimen and he's putting weight on. He's 46 and he doesn't know if he can keep it up.

My bf is tiny and has stretch marks ALL over his body. A teen growth spurt marked him for life.

I hooked up with a formally obese guy in his late 30's. He had the flaps of skin. Besides how weird that is, all the skin was in really bad shape. His face hadn't been destroyed, miracle. He was handsome. He had a huge cock. And flaps of skin all over his arms, torso and even legs. Poor guy.

extreme anything always ruins your looks at first. same with drug binges. i do everything in moderation including being a junkie.

I would puke if I hooked up with a former fatty and they undressed and had enough flappy skin to make lampshades. If he's got a huge cock, fine, leave your clothes on, unzip your fly, and I'll suck you off. I've got standards.

R84 Whoever is with you obviously doesn't.

He left his sweats and t-shirt on but I got plenty of looks. R84 it wasn't disgusting it was weird.

Was it this guy R86?

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Hmm thats startling because R88 sort of looks like him... This must have been about 6-8 years ago I met him. Where is that guy from?

He's this guy R89.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Skin removal ops mean the former fatty looks great clothed, but they're left with huge, deep red scars.

Nope, not this guy Brian. But kudos to him. My guy had the same body situation. By the way I am 6.2 180 lbs so I wasn't a fattie hooking up with him, just a size queen.

So few seem to know later that the skin removal surgery is a high risk surgery with a high mortality rate and long recovery. It doesn't click with them that the skin is an organ and you are going to start chopping that up.

R94 on My 600 Pound Life many people have issues with infection and torn stitches and long painful recovery.

I'm skinny and can eat like a pig although I don't, but when I lost the baby fat in my face I had a fat graft to restore it to the cheeks and sides. That was over ten years ago. Worked a treat.

I find that since my sleeve surgery, my appetite is larger than my stomach. I used to eat until my plate was clean. Now I throw at least half of my food away. I also alternate with protein drinks to replace meals and I drink a ton of water. Started walking and now I've incorporated weight training. Life is good.

R20, I have read about that phenomenon: the person seems to be prone to obsessive behavior and just changed from overeating to over-drinking.

Very sad.

Some people are ruined already so probably doesn't make a fuckload of difference

R73, thanks. Good info.

Did I mean obsessive or compulsive? Well, you know what I am trying to say.

Just by the by, uppers are obviously no longer prescribed for weight loss.

But ADHD meds are, in effect, uppers. Some teens that are given them start to lose weight.

Also, the Reverend Al Sharpton is way too skinny now. Does he admit to having a gastric bypass?

It must really fuck with your self-esteem to lose lots of weight, look good, and have people finally be nice to you.

I hope that people who get G.B. have access to counseling for this very thing.

People can be real shits.

My boss had gastric surgery, and her looks afterward were the least of her worries.

She died seven weeks after surgery from a clot.

It ruins your ENTIRE life.

I was molested.

This is quite an informative, if depressing, thread.

I know of several people who've had the procedure --and they are all now all dumpy looking and saggy all over.

^^^and look gray with thin hair.

I wonder if the surgery is harder on women since they have to deal with fluctuating hormones, especially during menopause.

I have a female friend who gained weight during her first pregnancy. She is petite and used to be very slim when we first met. She never lost the pregnancy weight and then she got pregnant with her second child. She still looked good, just plump. The kids are now in their late teens. She maintained her weight until she hit menopause. I saw her recently and she told me that she had gained twenty pounds in two years. And she just looks worn out and, frankly, her looks are gone. I think hormones can really fuck you up. Her hair looks great, though.

Years ago I was at this Thanksgiving dinner and there was a woman in her late 40s who had gastric bypass surgery done just months before. That's all she talked about at the dinner; her protein shakes. Needless to say, she did not eat much, but she got properly drunk, and she insisted on driving home. After she left, the hostess told us that the woman was an alcoholic. How can an alcoholic even qualify for the surgery.

She became an alcoholic BECAUSE she had the surgery.

Funnish fact: when diabetics have the surgery, there is an immediate metabolic change, such that they are no longer diabetic.

Being heavy most of your life and then losing it is hard on your face whether it's fast or slow, I weighed 290 at my heaviest and over the years I've gotten down to my current weight of 170 and I can tell it's really aged me, to the point it's kind of ruined what little self esteem I had.

Yes, it does ruin your looks. I took a Nutrition course in college and the professor mentioned that their bodies can't absorb vitamins, especially vitamin c. Even if they took 100 vitamin C pills a day, their body still won't absorb it, because of the removal of some or most of their small intestines.

I had a friend that did it and sadly she looks like she is always ill now. She was pretty and spunky before, but now she always looks drained of energy.

Drew Carey looks horrible now, and Star Jones looks like an alien.

The thing with Star Jones is that she just has an ugly, long mannish face. When she was fat, it looked sort of cherubic and hid her harsh features.

r8 I don't agree with that entirely. My friend had cancer from which he fully recovered, and he only lost about 20 lbs. (he went from 160 to 140) and gained 10 back, so he's now about 150, but he's small framed guy. The point is just that small drop in weight aged him about ten years.

I was morbidly obese when I was young and lost 190 pounds in a year through a 1500 cal diet and 2-4hours of exercise daily (combo of walking, dancing, biking and weight training). I was fine bc I ate balanced meals. A few years later my cousin who at most had to lose 70 pounds had gastric bypass. I told her, lose the weight through diet and exercise. That she didn't need to exercise a crazy amount like I did to lose it but to walk and do some resistance training. She wouldn't take my advice and since the bypass she's had multiple medical problems and looks gaunt and really bad. She's had multiple surgeries for various health issues. Obviously the loss of nutrients fucked her up.

I am lucky that I became knowledgable of nutrition and dealt with the emotional issues that had led to my obesity. It's hard but not impossible to lose and maintain weight loss and that's why I am anti GB for anyone who is not in a life threatening situation.

Watching my 600 Pound Life I am amazed at how fat some of their faces get. Of course they are huge all over, but some of them manage to keep relatively normal looking heads/faces considering how big they are and others just have gigantic pumpkin heads. Of course when your face gets THAT big after it deflates you are gonna look old and saggy. Insurance doesn't cover a face lift or removal of a turkey neck when they get skin removal surgery and since most of these people are poor they can't afford it on their own.

As others have said, they aren't absorbing nutrients the same way either. Many of them were malnourished when they were obese too, so they have years of being malnourished even before the surgery. It's just not a good combination. Some of the patients are required to lose a really significant amount of weight before they get approved for surgery. They prove that they can do it without the surgery so I don't understand why they just don't keep it up and continue to lose without the surgery. It just seems like it does too much damage to the body, sometimes even more than being overweight, to be worth it.

A male coworker had this surgery about six years ago and went from 550 pounds to 165 pounds. He then developed some type of blockage and literally could get down more than a few bites of food without getting nauseated. One of the doctors working with him didn't know what to do, and told him the problem was psychological because he was terrified of gaining the weight back. After that remark, and the fact that his weight plummeted to 128 pounds, he went to a new physician who discovered the blockage, and was able to reverse it. His health was compromised to the point that his weight dropped even further to 119 pounds. He is now 46 years old, but looks like a frail 75year old, and is considered disabled. He tried working on a part time basis, but just doesn't have the stamina to do so. His weight it up to 152 pounds, but on a 6' 1" frame it's not enough. Who knows what the future hold for him, but I fear it's not good. He's one of the nicest people I've every met. So sad.

R116, I love your story. Good for you.

Al Roker and Al Sharpton or two good examples of people who looked much better fat.

R120, yes!

Roker is always being quoted bemoaning the fact that he is unable to finish a single slice of pizza.

The Rev Sharpton is only 62! He looks so much older. He is far too thin right now.

I am sorry to say but I have seen some people actually look awful after they lose the weight. I hope they feel better but they do not look like they feel good.

I had it. Look all old and saggy now. Oh well...

I have to take vitamin and get IV iron infusions for the rest of my life.

R118, wow, I had a friend who had this very experience. Except he wasn't over 500 lbs. So sad!

I remember when he said he was going to do the GB, I was thinking, "You're over 6 feet tall...you're really not that heavy."

This is a little off-thread, but I just wanted to say, I was thin my whole life and then started to gain weight in my late 40s. I'm a little thinner now....but nothing like in my youth.

Well, was so noticeable how people would treat me badly. Clerks in stores are rude. If someone holds the door for me, they don't make eye contact.

People really treat other people like shit.

I've worked with many nurses who have had gastric surgery, and at least 60% of them gained weight after a year or two. Most of them were not prepared for the rigid and restrictive lifestyle that followed surgery, and basically fell off the nutritional wagon, and went back to their old habits, and the weight slowly crept back.

This should be a lesson to all of the DL diet specialists. There is no easy solution, no one-fits-all plan. If someone has gone through the rigors of preparing for bypass surgery, and in the end can't deal with it, what does that tell you about the difficulties of following a basic program of diet and exercise. Some people won't ever be able to lose the weight, no matter how hard the try. And all the snide remarks and unsolicited advice only make it even harder. JUST LET THEM BE !

I fucking love R65!

(If anyone doesn't know the story behind that picture, it's a formerly-pretty girl who was a meth addict. She's got a half-dozen booking photos where she got more and more fucked up and scabby, but still pretty. Then her meth house exploded and her face and upper torso got burned, leading to the disaster that is visible in that pic)

best decision I ever made! now i'm tipping the scales at just 800 pounds!!

I had the lapband done about 15 years ago. I lost 120 lbs and maintained it. Last summer i had to have it taken out, it slipped and had calcified around my stomach. Since then i've gained 40 lbs, and extremely depressed. I just started nutri-system yesterday.

My sister had the gb done about 10 years ago. She has lost all her weight and maintains it. Her health isn't that great though. She has a lot of metabolism issues and has had to get iron infusions.

R130, do you move around much?

I know someone who lost about 90kg over 4 years. She looks great and is in fantastic health .

In western Australia it seems counselling and losing a fair bit of the weight before GB or the sleeve is common. The lapband surgery doesn't involve eother of those things so more people seem to keep weight on

R80 I'm in okay shape, exercise a lot and mainly eat vegetables and protein but african mango extract and garcinia cambogia make it significantly easier to do that. I'm also insulin resistant and on a high dose of metformin. Doctors tell me that eating foods like white rice or potatoes is not possible for me so I avoid them. It took years of bad health and ongoing infections before they picked up on the IR. With the metformin, I'm- ironically- healthiest I've been in a long time. Maybe your friend has a subclinical metabolic issue or thyroid condition? Undiagnosed sleep disorders wreak havoc. They caused my IR, I'm told. Maybe he can get a sleep study done.

R131 no, i don't. i know i need to. i used to go to the gym about 3-4 times a week. I stopped going when my membership ran out.

Okay, I just read in the NYT this weekend that the Rev. Al Sharpton's weight is about 135 pounds.

That is really sad.

No.

Here is the NYT link.

Shows Sharpton's various hair styles over the years.

Towards the end of the article, it says that he eats only a green salad and a banana as a day's sustenance.

A diet starts at the grocery store/supermarket. Whenever I am lured by the sight of something unhealthy at the store, I stand there until I remember how bad it felt eating that particular food in the past.

Visualize how bad you felt eating something and you won't be buying it again. Keep doing it until you are turned off from eating certain foods for good.

I eat pasta maybe a couple of times a year, and each time it makes my stomach feel like it's full of some sloshy, heavy substance. I reach for quinoa.

I love cheese, but eating it leaves me with eye bags next morning (salt!). Same with anything salted, like chips or crackers. I skip them.

Then I think how good it feels to have an apple, or some lentils, or sauteed greens. And I buy those.

I suspect that R137's entire post was cribbed from "My Way of Life."

Well, yes, I do my groceries right after my ice water facial.

R137, I feel like reading the calorie content on packaged foods is a really good deterrent to eating crazy fattening/unhealthy stuff!

I had the sleeve two years ago. I’ve lost about 85 pounds, currently on a plateau. I want to lose fifty more pounds...but I’ve slowed down despite exercise and calorie containment. I think that it is the carbs!

R141, Good on you for losing the 85 lbs and keeping them off!

Can you eat foods with high fiber content, R141?

Congrats on the weight loss so far.

I seriously considered the balloon procedure. Even went on line to possibly set up a free appointment. Then I realized that I may have a problem with simple carbs. I get a headache after eating bread and pasta. Looks like I'll be trying a health version of Atkins/Paleo diet to lose the 70 lbs. I have to lose. I'll also be working out with weights (bought Beachbody's Body Beast DVDs a while back) and walking now that it's DST and almost Spring. Since you are required to watch your food intake and exercise following weight loss surgery, I might as well do it WITHOUT the surgery!

I work with a woman who had GBS. As some have said, she can only eat a few forkfuls of food at a time, has to take supplements, and has to wait 30 minutes after meals to drink water. Basically she's eating about every 2 hours which, ironically, she finds to be a pain in the ass. Her hair was thin to begin with but now it's worse.

R144, thanks for the info.

I feel like GBS is like LASIK surgery in that the more you know about possible side effects, the more afraid of the procedure you are!

You're welcome, R145. My former optometrist told me the optimal time for LASIK is in your 40s. After that, you may still wind up with readers. I know they're expensive but I think I'll stay with my daily disposable contacts.

My sister was in the hospital for gastric cancer. She had a roommate that was in for stomach complications from GBS. My sister made me promise me I would NOT have any kind of gastric surgery. My sis died almost a year ago.

I was interested in the coolsculpting procedure as well but I've heard that the freezing may freeze nerves which may cause issues. It's true what they say. They really is no shortcut. Move more, eat less.

R144, I am terribly sorry to hear about your sister.

Thank you, R145. It was tough. She was just 56 years old but a pretty heavy smoker.

The ketogenic diet is a good solution. But some people refuse to believe it and give up theit carbs.

The keto diets are now suspected of causing the diabeetus

It ruined my health!

Low carb is the answer to diabetes.

Hawdly. I is still one fine lookings man.

I’ve now lost over 90 pounds via gastric sleeve surgery, modifying my food and lots of exercise via weights and cardio. It’s not easy nor fun but I would do it again. I haven’t felt this good about my body since boot camp.

OP, I lost a bunch of weight when I stopped drinking. My face looked gaunt as a result and I was really unhappy. About a year later, my face became normal again. I am still thin, but my face no longer looks like shit. No fillers, no Botox. I just kept the weight off, ate well, and continued exercising.

Allow me to point out that I’ve never been obese. I’m certain that people who have been need surgical intervention in order to correct loose and saggy skin.

Also, OP, allow me to point out that loose skin snapping back in, has a lot to do with genes.

I’m fortunate to have really good genes on both sides of my family as far as skin is concerned.

Ketogenic diet is good shit, man.

I weighed 225 lbs 13 years ago when i had gastric bypass surgery. i'm a 5'2" woman, and even after having a benign tumor removed from my thyroid 2 years before the bypass, i still didn't lose weight. I've always been a fairly healthy eater (no bingeing on sweets - never really liked desserts and wasn't a volume eater either), and I couldn't lose the weight no matter what i did - even counting points on WW and exercising obsessively.

Before having the surgery as part of the approval process, I breathed in to a machine that tested my resting metabolic rate. it measured just under 1000 calories. trying to lose weight with that MR made it impossible to lose weight. i had the surgery and lost about 100 lbs. i had hanging skin that was extremely unsightly, and had a massive surgery to remove (and donate) the skin. i got down to 99 lbs...and looked like a cancer patient. People who didn't know what was going on with me actually asked me that - if i had cancer.

13 years later, i'm still 100 lbs. down. I did lose a LOT of my hair, but that can happen with any major surgery - ask any hair stylist. My face always stayed pretty good looking, only getting gaunt after the massive plastic surgery. It still looks good, but my family is blessed with a fuller face/cheeks. I do have significant scars around my lower back and legs, but the surgery was so long ago, they've faded quite a bit. i never had surgery on my arms, and still have some significant hanging skin. i don't go sleeveless very often. When i tell people i had gastric bypass surgery and that i used to weigh over 200 lbs, i ALWAYS get the response "wow, i would have never thought you were that size - you look so NORMAL." lol

I never "drank" before my surgery, but yes, i became - and still am - a raging alcoholic. It runs on both sides of my family and i grew up watching my mom in her disease, but truly, until my surgery, i can count on two hands the amount of drinks i had between the ages of 18 and 34. I'm sober now.

I don't regret having gastric bypass surgery. i do often regret having the plastic surgery, but what's done is done. Anyways, there's my story.

DL has dozens and dozens of threads on the subject, so it seemed silly to start a new thread just to post this article: On getting weight reduction surgery by Roxane Gay.

Those of you who had the surgery, how does your experience differ from hers, if at all?

[italic]I am losing a significant amount of weight very quickly — that’s what the scale shows, on those rare occasions when I am not too afraid to get on the scale, terrified I’ve done all this, spent all this money, only to not lose weight. My clothes are looser. My shoes are inexplicably loose. My ring is loose. I fit into my car in a way I never have. I fit into chairs better. I fit everywhere better, and it’s still so early.

But I can’t believe that I am losing weight, despite all this evidence. I’ve told my person — more than once — that someone is messing with me, sabotaging my sanity by adjusting my seat in the car, stretching out my clothes and shoes to trick me. I am assured such is not the case, that my body is actually changing. For a few moments, I am quieted, and then the doubt creeps back in.

When I look in the mirror, I see no difference — none at all. No one, save for a couple people, has openly acknowledged any weight loss, if they’ve even noticed, which is a relief and a frustration and a reminder of just how much weight I have to lose. I don’t want any weight loss to be acknowledged (or, worse, celebrated), but I also very much do.

I’ve replaced one set of anxieties with another. I worry I’m eating too much and stretching my new stomach (something I was warned about, repeatedly and vigorously). I have brief moments where I allow myself to imagine hiking Runyon Canyon or wearing a fabulous outfit because it is available in my size or going to see a musical without making special arrangements…and then I tell myself to get ahold of myself. I tell myself not to want. I tell myself that I’ve failed to discipline my body before and I will probably fail this time, too. I tell myself these things because I’ve carried this weight for almost 30 years and it is terrifying to face who I could be without it.

I had weight-loss surgery, but I am still the same person who went under the knife. I still have that yawning cavern inside of me that I want to fill with food, only now I cannot fill it with food. I’m rarely hungry, but I am ravenous. Want continues to rage desperately beneath the surface of my skin. I turned to food when I was sad and happy and lonely and scared and anxious. I turned to food, and away from everything else; it was my comfort and my friend. Food helped me survive something I did not think I would survive. Food numbed the uncomfortable feelings I very much did not want to feel.

And then, that comfort was gone. I’ve lost the best friend I never had the courage to acknowledge but who was my constant, loyal companion nonetheless. I am left holding the shattered pieces of whatever has been left behind, trying to assemble them into something new, something that serves me better. The forced restriction brought about by the surgery is maddening. Yes, I eat, but I physically cannot overeat. At restaurants, waitstaff interrogate me about all the food I leave on my plate. At home, I eat sad, tiny portions (or, given what I used to eat, what feel like tiny portions). After a few bites of anything, the discomfort begins, and then that discomfort evolves into pain.

Sometimes, when I am feeling rebellious, I try to ignore that pain and try to surrender to my desire to eat with abandon. My body reminds me that rebellion will not be tolerated. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I am empty, but I know what fullness is, and I hate this knowing.[/italic]

Roxanne Gay shows nearly every sign of having been sexually abused as a child/assaulted, as were many morbidly obese men and women. Weight can feel safe and eating can literally stuff feelings. Surgery cannot change that, it all needs to be unpacked and dealt with.

She was raped when she was twelve, R161.

I did not know but guessed, R161. Dealing with that until the feeling of safety that being obese provides is no longer needed, is at the root of it all. Often, if the assault was on children, they were told they were hot or sexy or whatever and subconsciously they want to be invisible to that kind of attention. Quite sad but there are support groups and 12 step groups like SIA that can help.

I have a friend who had gastric bypass. Stomach smaller so she can't eat as much but she NEVER exercises. So slowly and steadily weight has been returning even though she eats noticeably less. I have wondered if I should say something but I know she's very sensitive about her weight.

Someone mentioned these people should use therapy to find out why they eat. That’s movie psychology. It won’t stop the eating. Especially once the weight comes off.

OA is a great program for anyone with 100 lbs or more to lose. Because if you have ever been in that boat, the jury is in—you need a daily program and support to get the weight off and keep it off permanently. For the rest of your life. Most people who go and stick with it lose all of the excess weight within one year without surgery.

Except for that heinous moral element in OA, R165. I won't ever participate in thinking of myself as a "sinner" for eating that extra piece of carrot. No thank you. I like my self-help to be fuelled by kindness and science not an Old Testament god.

Thanks for posting Roxane Gay's piece. Very moving.

If you need gastric bypass your looks were gone a long time ago, like a couple of lifetimes probably.

What is gastric bypass? When all food passes me by?

Gastric bypass and other similar procedures are often about surgeons making money; I think we need to be clear about that.

This thread was very instructive to me.

I had not been aware of the hair loss, etc.

Did Mrs. Ozzie Osborne have a gastric bypass?

She looks pretty good!

A friend of mine had the surgery and died a few weeks later from an infection.

R173, that is so sad.

I wonder if the hospital was remiss in its aftercare.

I lost a lot of weight at one point (started working out more, better emotional state) and my hair was almost gone. Is there any trick to making it grow back? It's filling in, but very slowly. I don't want to be bald.

R175, a friend swears by organic, blackstrap molasses. After a hair loss due to stress, I thought it helped. Another friend who lost hair to chemical breakage also thought it grew back faster. Put a tablespoon in your coffee twice a day (and rinse your teeth off). It may be the copper? There are testimonials about it online. I am not a big molasses fan but after a while got to like it, tastes like a fancy latte.

Eating lots of nuts and seeds and rotating which kinds is also supposed to be good. They have a lot of trace minerals that we might be lacking. Nutrition from food is more bioavailable. Good luck!

Thanks r176. Will give the molasses a try. Will also start hitting the nuts. Pun not intended.

Sunflower and pumpkin seeds are good too, R177. With nuts it is all about portion control. Walnuts, cashews, almonds, all very good for you.

R167 here again.

Roxane Gay's story really upset me. I will have to read more about her.

It seems like she became obese as a reaction to her childhood trauma of being molested.

So, the gastric surgery is a (vastly imperfect) medical solution to psychological trauma.

There's got to be a better way..........

Not if you were hideous to begin with

Let's ask the Reverend Al Sharpton!

Any fast weight loss is hard on the looks.

Especially R182 on older people.

R182, R183, yes. Rapid fast loss is hard on the looks because it is hard on the body.

R182, R183, yes. Rapid weight loss is hard on the looks because it is hard on the body itself!

Please ignore the msg above.

Have there been sightings of Roxane Gay since her gastric bypass?

I have seen that too. A really cute girl but very round. After she had bypass, she reminded me of a horse, not cute at all. I felt sorry for her.

My personal trainer has always been thin and exercises a lot. Her face kind of looks like it is coming off. She has a nice face, but it seems like it is somehow sagging off her head, I saw this once before in another big gym fanatic. It seems to really take a toll in the faces of women in 40s and 50s, these super healthy lifestyles.

Forgive me for saying this, but I think that A. Franklin passed away of complications from gastric bypass surgery.

She looked gaunt a la weight loss surgery, not gaunt a la cancer. Sorry. Love you, Lady Soul.

When I was in my 20s I could take speed two or three times a week and it was great. I could get a lot of work done and I would barely eat.

Your face sags with age because of fat loss in the cheek area. Really fat people have a lot of fat to loose there, so they can look older once it's deflated.

[quote] self-prescribed myself thyroxine from the internet. I worked up to 300mg a day and this meant I could eat 2000 cals a day without putting on weight, but losing weight was nigh-on impossible because it increased my appetite. It also made me overheat really quickly and holidays in the sun became an absolute ordeal. I got air-con for my London flat because I couldn't bear the summers, which I hadn't really noticed before as I was a freezie when I had the super slow metabolism. In my 50s it started making me really anxious and sick so I stopped it and resigned myself to the ever increasing weight gain.

My Moms has the opposite (though she is 60). On th yr ox ine for years now she has lost her appetite for fatty foods in large quantity and gets cold even easier than she used to. Her moods have stabilised if anything and she has become more mellow and tolerant (hell, she didn't break a single dish when I came out to her at Mardi Gras). She has no spells of sickness or nervousness to speak of, either. She lost weight before she went on it and has stayed the same weight while taking it, and she's small anyways. After six months I was relieved to hear her say that she wasn't suffering the symptoms she had when she was hypothyroid, like fainting and compulsion to binge-eating and getting night-terrors & sweats.

That said, sadly since starting the drug - and it pains me to say this so plain and truthful - she looks absolutely busted in the face. It's like her facial features have just melted and moved and turned in on themselves, like one of those freaky evil puppets in LABYRINTH or something.

It's sadder bc she isn't overweight or unhealthy, stands at a petit height, has nice healthy hair & teeth and is a sweet perky energetic middleclass lady with a social life (irritating and a dumb dropout flyover frau, but sweet). It's just that this drug has done something janky af to her once-glam face and tbh it's distressing & distracting for those who knew what she looked like before. As her kid it's like looking at a stranger and not the woman who raised me pre-th yr o xi ne, so I can't imagine what it's like for her looking in a mirror. To preserve her feelings I make a point of always giving her generic compliments "you look so cute today"/"you smell good"/"that outfit is pretty Mama" when I see her, even though I'm crying inside.

And before EGs start screaming that it's natural and I'm ageist or race trolls come for me saying that it's 'white genes' or sth, know that my white piece-of-shit narcissist Pops is A) a heavy smoker who has never heard of SPF/moisturiser or a plantbased diet, B) years older than my Moms, and C) from a poor hideous family of inbreds...but still looks handsome like he did in his 40s/50s minus the thick head of hair/smooth skin (so maybe I still have a chance of ageing well so long as I avoid sickness/pha rma and get my Pop's good luck in the looks dept.....pray for me). My maternal Grandmama didn't lose her looks this early either and neither have my Mom's friends. It's just her (oh, and her alcoholic brother who is into some weird dark rich-folk shit, but we won't get into that).

Th y r ox ine also seems to have given my Moms the world's most irritating phlegmatic cough/congestion that will not clear up no matter what remedy we try. She's been coughing for years and it is totally enraging to listen to; I've no idea how her Boss hasn't fired her ass for disrupting the office. Every time I'm around her I have to grit teeth as she wetly hacks and chokes and splutters every other fucking sentence (plus avert my eyes bc as I mentioned I get upset just looking at her face).