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Miscellaneous Ramblings Nutrition/Weight Loss

Lap Band Requires a Post-Surgery Low Carb Diet?

Let me be clear up-front: I am a proponent of the idea of gastric bypass for morbidly obese people with hundreds of pounds of fat to lose. While I was able to lose my excess weight (and enjoy the process), there is a huge difference between losing 70 pounds and losing three or four times that.

That said, after reading “Father, Son lose 260 Pounds After Weight Loss Surgery”, which is basically just an ad about a father and son who had the “Lap Band” installed, it makes me wonder why they bothered. I take that back – I know why they did it. But it just seems so unnecessary. Because it is predicated on the simplistic and very flawed theory of calories-in/calories-out as a form of weight loss. The purpose of this Lap Band thingy is to “make you feel fuller sooner”.

I think they would have done just as well, but perhaps not as quickly, by just making the changes to their diet that they were forced to make to comply with the discomfort that the Lap Band requires, post-surgery.

The most interesting quote from one of them:

“Carbohydrates are pretty much off-limits as well, Matt says.”

It is not uncommon for people to lose hundreds of pounds on a proper diet (i.e., one that is low in carbohydrate). I would bet that they would have successfully lost the weight (though it looks, based on the pics, that they still have a ways to go) much easier and certainly more safely had they just eaten right to begin with. With the Lap Band screwing up what they can eat (they say fibrous vegetables are tough to eat now!), I think they may have had an easier time just avoiding the surgery completely and going on a low carb diet.

What do you think about these surgeries?

One reply on “Lap Band Requires a Post-Surgery Low Carb Diet?”

Thank you for the post but I think there is more to it –and I do think that the combo of both the band and low-carb is necessary for many. I’m 1 of those people who needed low carb and the band.

I’m a small women in my 60s and have been on and off of low carb since Atkins first wrote it. After yrs of losing and gaining, I always relapsed and gained more than I lost. Finally, at 5 ft tall, I was 100 lbs over and that is almost double my proper weight. I’m also not an exerciser which makes it even harder. At my age, height, time constraints and activity energy, I can’t just eat 1500 to 2000 calories on low-carb and lose. Believe me – low carb just doesn’t work for me if I go over 1200 calories a day! I’m sure a man, or a larger women or more active person can have more calories –but not someone my size, age and activity level.
I finally got the band. The band made it possible for me to stick to a low-carb diet near 1000 calories a day over the long-haul. And for the first time, I was able to stick to low carb. It worked.

I hope the take away message people will get is —- Do whatever works for YOU! I believe in low carb and I also know that there are reasons why s person will need additional tools, like calorie reduction, exercise or the band in addition to low carb. If you need it — do it!

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