Gastric Bypass And Obesity

Why do you think obesity has reached epidemic proportions?

Because like anything in the US, we are all about consumption and the biggest everything and having the most and always wanting more and never being satisfied. It's just a dangerous mindset that we have and it just builds upon everything. Whether it's wealth, you always want more. Whether it's food, you always want more. Whether it's alcohol, you always want more. When you have something, you want more. It seems to be the lifestyle more and more Americans are going toward. You have a job, you want a better one. That's the American dream. That's fine. When it comes to a point where you want more just because you can have it or because it's what everyone else is doing, that's when it becomes unhealthy. And in food, it is taught at a young age as well now. More and more people are giving into their kids because they are tying emotion in with food. If a kid is crying, a way to get them to stop crying is to give them bad food because it's a way of coddling.

What nutrition mistakes or misjudgments did you make during your life?

I probably never understood what protein did for my body. I would hear the word protein and just assumed meat, but I wouldn't understand why it's so vital. I wouldn't understand how important vitamin D is, and I wouldn't understand Calcium. And now I'm on Calcium pills for the rest of my life. I need to help my bones, I need the vitamin D to have a very healthy colon, and to just continue living a prime lifestyle, and continue being healthy. It's not understanding why people promote healthy eating, not understanding how it impacts your body.

Should gastric bypass be the first choice in treating obesity?

Gastric bypass should be one of the last choices for treating obesity. Gastric bypass should be when you've exhausted the options, when you have reached a point where there's nothing else. Because the decisions you make with gastric bypass will affect you for the rest of your life and to make a decision that will impact the rest of your life, it should be a last resort. Especially when it comes to something like treating obesity, changing vital components in your body, changing the chemistry, changing your mind is big.

Would you recommend gastric bypass to someone who is severely overweight?

There are so many variables in answering this question. If someone is obviously in a bed, and can't get up, obviously there is a time where that is a prime example when medical intervention is needed whether it is a medically supervised diet, or the gastric bypass. But I wouldn't recommend it for a person who is forty pounds overweight, and just can't lose those extra love handles, because you don't want to make a decision like this for the rest of your life because you have forty pounds to lose. You need a tool that will change your life and will add restriction to your life, and you will have to live with it every day; its not an easy fix. Because, like I said, everyday of your life it is with you. I would not recommend it to someone who is not severely overweight because there is absolutely no reason to put yourself through this much trauma, through this much risk, through this much pain, all to lose a small amount of weight. You have to be extremely overweight.

What tips do you have to keep weight off?

I would have to say mindfully eating, understanding what you are eating. Looking at everything that comes in your body and you don't have to scrutinize it but just ask yourself what is this doing for me? Is this going to satisfy my protein requirement or is this junk? I recommend just at all times going back to the fundamentals. What is this going to do for me? Do I need this? I have to say continue sipping, don't gulp. I would have to say don't go back to eating the sugary stuff even if you can only eat a small bite, don't even do that. Why do that? You don't need it anymore. You're beyond that now. What is it going to do for you? You just have to live your life with food as sustenance. Don't drink when you eat because there is only so much room in your new body in your new stomach and just continuing to make sure that you're seeking out your support because, you know, one bad thing can happen in your life again that may trigger some emotions that are left inside of you. So you want to make sure you have the support group and you are attending it and you have your support network because the last thing you want is to cause damage to your body which can happen after this.