Gastro band

shelby67

Hi guys,

Im a 24 year old man and i weigh 23 stone,i do have a fair amount of muscle and have a large frame. i have tried dieting before and it works fine for a while but then i just crack and pile on even more stones.

i do eat badly and have a very busy job with long hours so i dont have much free time to do a lot of exercise.

does anyone know much about these gastro bands? or what you have to do to get it or how much they cost?

any help would be much appreciated

cheers

bigbrotherfan

Your diet would be drastically changed after a gastroband! I suppose you realise that already but you need to be familiar with the change in lifestyle.

Alun

shelby67 wrote: »

i do eat badly and have a very busy job with long hours so i dont have much free time to do a lot of exercise.

There's your answer, right there. Do something about both of those, stop 'dieting' and just eat healthily all the time and find the time do some exercise. It doesn't have to be a lot, even if it's just walking where you would otherwise have driven or taking the stairs instead of the lift.

littletiger

shelby67 wrote: »

Hi guys,

i do eat badly and have a very busy job with long hours so i dont have much free time to do a lot of exercise.

cheers

Agree whole heartedly with Alun. You don't have to to spend alot of time to have a good diet. I was 18.5 stone, so though you are a bit heavier there isn't a massive difference.

I looked into the gastro band and found that my diet would have to change massively so I decided to change it anyway and not get the band. I am now 13 stone.

Just walking up the stairs will help you exercise. I started walking, 20 mins 3 times a week and took it from there...

I NEVER DIETED, I just ate healthily

If you need more advice i would be happy to help.

tbh

shelby67 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Im a 24 year old man and i weigh 23 stone,i do have a fair amount of muscle and have a large frame. i have tried dieting before and it works fine for a while but then i just crack and pile on even more stones.

i do eat badly and have a very busy job with long hours so i dont have much free time to do a lot of exercise.

does anyone know much about these gastro bands? or what you have to do to get it or how much they cost?

any help would be much appreciated

cheers

Hi Shelby, have a look here

tbh

also, just to point out that most hospitals won't even consider GB unless the patient has demonstrated their commitment by losing a significant amount of weight first (usually under a diet designed by the hospital, they won't just say "come back when you've lost two stone")

justsomebloke

slightly off topic but just as a matter of interest you say that you have tried dieting before and I was wondering when you diet what exactly have you been eating and what sort of portion sizes have you being having

shelby67

Joe the Santa wrote: »

slightly off topic but just as a matter of interest you say that you have tried dieting before and I was wondering when you diet what exactly have you been eating and what sort of portion sizes have you being having

i went to a dietician and i was eating porridge for breakfast. allowed 8 sandwichs a day, melon which i had with me all day, steak and v egetables for dinner or chicken

tbh

8 sandwiches a day?

r3nu4l

Hi Shelby, is there a medical reason for your current weight or is it just down to years of eating badly and not exercising? The reason I ask is that if it's the latter then it can be changed, even with very little time during the day!

I can cook a complete and healthy dinner in under 10 minutes using just a microwave and some hot water!

Salmon fillets take about 3-5 minutes depending on microwave wattage.
Cous cous takes about 3 mins just sitting in boiling water, no stirring, nothing!
Peas take about 2 mins in a microwave.

There's plenty of other healthy meals that take less than 10 mins too.

Do you drink alcohol a lot? If so, cut it down significantly if you can.
Drink diet drinks rather than sugary ones (try not to drink any fizz if you can!).

Either way, as tbh says, a gastric band will only happen if a doctor can see real evidence of a will to change (not just some tears!). This is because even with a gastric band it's possible to put on weight and some overeaters cause themselves serious problems by stuffing themselves when the band is fitted...

Anyway, come back to us, let us know a bit more about your situation (diet, for example) and we'll see if we can help.

If there is a medical reason for your current problems then we can't help, only a doctor can.

MagicMarker

shelby67 wrote: »

i went to a dietician and i was eating porridge for breakfast. allowed 8 sandwichs a day, melon which i had with me all day, steak and v egetables for dinner or chicken

Is this a joke? You ate a loaf of bread a day? And you're wondering why you haven't lost weight?

r3nu4l

shelby67 wrote: »

i went to a dietician and i was eating porridge for breakfast. allowed 8 sandwichs a day, melon which i had with me all day, steak and v egetables for dinner or chicken

This post was made while I was making my reply. Right, NO dietician would tell you that 8 sandwiches a day was okay, also, while melon is good for you, too much of it means you are taking in too many fruit sugars. Steak and vegetables? Surely chicken and vegetables would have been a better recommendation?

Please clarify.

shelby67

MagicMarker wrote: »

Is this a joke? You ate a loaf of bread a day? And you're wondering why you haven't lost weight?

first of all magic you tool it says i was allowed 8 a day. not all diets consist of water and peas, i paid top money to a top dietician and this is what she told me, i lost 3 stone on that diet but ended up piling it back on so i did loose weight on that diet just didnt keep it off.

i think a lot of people think that is easy to just eat healthy all the time, when you are fat food is like a drug and its actually harder for me to gve up sweet drinks than it was giving up smokes.

also i dont drink, i gave it up about 2 years ago

r3nu4l

shelby67 infracted for personal abuse. It's just a warning infraction as opposed to a proper infraction. Keep it civil folks.

EDIT MagicMarker, I've edited your post to remove the comment about the dietician, especially since Shelby67 has named the place in question.

shelby67

MagicMarker wrote: »

Your dietician is an idiot. Post over on the fitness forum and you'll get great advice for free.

Whether you like it or not, you'll have to change how you eat, with or without a GB.

Oh, and I don't appreciate the personal abuse. Thanks all the same.

magic i am sorry for what i said its just a very sensitive subject for me and it gets me down sometimes and i do appreciate your advice

MagicMarker

shelby67 wrote: »

magic i am sorry for what i said its just a very sensitive subject for me and it gets me down sometimes and i do appreciate your advice

No worries man, believe it or no I'm in the same position, I'm just a lazy fucker though:D

Post here. Tell them what you're eating in DETAIL, from when you get up to when you go to bed. Also post up what kind of exercise you're getting, and they'll give you great advice. Also read the stickies in that forum as they give good info on nutrition etc.

r3nu4l

Okay lads, I've deleted a couple of posts where the dietician was named and professional capability called into question. As it happens, only shelby67 was at that consultation and we weren't. We don't know what was said or why it was said. Let's keep speculation to a minimum

So shelby67, we'd love to help you, there's nothing worse than being overweight and not wanting to be! Visit the Nutrition and Diet and the Fitness forums on boards.ie. Read the 'Stickies' at the top of the forums.

How much free time do you have in any single day? If you have even one hour, then you can make a difference to your life, providing you don't have an underlying medical condition that prevents you losing weight.

You can easily cook a decent, healthy meal in 20 mins, some in under 10 minutes.

If you exercise for 30 minutes a day then you will lose weight. Start slowly, don't go on a diet and exercise bender that will fail within a week.

Start by giving up chocolate, except for one small bar a week. Continue eating as you do but replace white bread with wholemeal bread, only eat porridge in the mornings for breakfast or a boiled egg on some days. If you take sugar in tea, just add one less spoon than normal.

Go for a walk in the evenings for 20 minutes to begin with, then 30 minutes. Once you are used to it, walk a bit faster. When you've lost some weight, do some push ups, try cycling a bit, walk every weekend in a park, bring a healthy picnic with you to stop you buying some junk food at lunchtime.

Small steps, get used to that and then while you are getting used to that, read the diet and nutrition and fitness forums.

Believe me, knowledge IS power, it's the power to change your life. You wouldn't attempt to service a car without knowing anything about it, why attempt to lose weight without knowing how?

justsomebloke

wow it's amazing what my one simple post seems to have stirred up.

Ok the reason I asked my question in the first place is that I'm generally not a fan of diets and from the sound of it I think your dietician probably didn't give you the best advise.

Truthfully the best way to learn to lose weight is education. Cause without education both diet and exercise can be useless.

For me there are 3 things that all people should learn how to do.

1) learn about how different forms of exercise can impact on your body. For example Weights exercise will help keep your lean body mass high but different weights programmes have different outcomes while cardio can help you lose fat but then again different forms of cardio will help you achieve different goals. So knowing which one suits you best is better then getting someone who thinks the know what you want.

2) Learn how you body uses different food groups and why. Knowing how to fuel you body properly and knowing which foods are better for your goals is vital if you want to want to lose weight. Also knowing WHEN your body needs different foods is also a major factor that a load of people ignore but is vitally important. for example I am also trying to lose body fat at the moment while trying to put on some lean mass at the same time and am quite well. However people would wonder how if they knew I was eating a full pack of jaffa cakes and half a big bag of sweets nearly 4 days a week. The reason I can is that I know when my body needs sugar and so at these points I eat crap as it means I am less likely to eat crap when my body can't handle it

3) learn to cook and cook all your own meals from scratch where possible. This is probably one of the easiest and best ways to weight loss. Prepacked meals especially the weight watcher ones are woeful. Generally a home cooked meal is a lot nicer and a hell of a lot healthier for you. Also don't try and use sauces from a jar as they can contain a lot of crap and are best avoided if you want to lose weight.


So I know that is a bit long winded but hey it will work.

Ok truthfully I am not a fan of diets no matter how good they are unless at the same time you are making changes to what your usual eating habits are going to be after that you are going to be able to keep. truthfully it is easier to start with just altering your current diet in either of 2 ways. One cut down on portion sizes and 2 substituting poor ingredients for better ingredients. For example instead of getting a takeaway curry make your own curry, instead of white bread have whole grain. Instead of having a fry grill your food.If you want post up a full days diet including junk food and any drinks I can see if there is anything I could suggest (also if you can say why you eat all the food it would also be a big help i.e. is it because you are hungry, bored, just use to etc etc).


Finally you are only 24, a gastric band will be quite an extreme change and one which will force you to change your diet anyway but will also mean you will never enjoy a proper meal again for the rest of your life (hopefully a long one) and at 24 I think that is a bit young to be taking such drastic steps

shelby67

Guys thanks for all the help.

I have a very busy job that has me going to meetings all day long that can take a few hours at a time and when i get out of one im rushing across dublin to the next. i start at 7 and get home about 10, then i have paper work to do. i know the job is stressful but i love it and they pay is amazing.

ill post what i usually eat in a day.

breakfast
sausage rolls from the local garage and red bull.

lunch
sambo with ham,cheese and egg mayo, bottle of coke and cluborange, mars bar, 2 packs of crisps.

dinner
5 out of 7 days ill grab a eddie rockets or mc donalds wth coke.

supper
toasted sambo or special fried rice and coke.

11-12pm after paperwork
crisps,chocolate and coke or pot noodle

i have a big weekness for sweet drinks on average i would drink 6 500mls bottles a day and 2 cans of redbull.

there is a couple of times a week ill get to my ma's for a proper dinner

i find when i stop drinking coke and drink water i get this horrible taste of salt in my mouth and its constantly on my lips,its like been in the sea for a few hours and thats why i always go back to coke.

regarding excercise i walk the dog the odd time but just find it hard to get the time, and during a recession i really dont wana say to my gaffer i need to work less hours cause my job will be gone and i know itll be a pain to get a new one on the money im getting now.

tbh

shelby67 wrote: »

Guys thanks for all the help.

I have a very busy job that has me going to meetings all day long that can take a few hours at a time and when i get out of one im rushing across dublin to the next. i start at 7 and get home about 10, then i have paper work to do. i know the job is stressful but i love it and they pay is amazing.

ill post what i usually eat in a day.

breakfast
sausage rolls from the local garage and red bull.

lunch
sambo with ham,cheese and egg mayo, bottle of coke and cluborange, mars bar, 2 packs of crisps.

dinner
5 out of 7 days ill grab a eddie rockets or mc donalds wth coke.

supper
toasted sambo or special fried rice and coke.

11-12pm after paperwork
crisps,chocolate and coke or pot noodle

i have a big weekness for sweet drinks on average i would drink 6 500mls bottles a day and 2 cans of redbull.

there is a couple of times a week ill get to my ma's for a proper dinner

i find when i stop drinking coke and drink water i get this horrible taste of salt in my mouth and its constantly on my lips,its like been in the sea for a few hours and thats why i always go back to coke.

regarding excercise i walk the dog the odd time but just find it hard to get the time, and during a recession i really dont wana say to my gaffer i need to work less hours cause my job will be gone and i know itll be a pain to get a new one on the money im getting now.

ok, from tomorrow, stop with the red bull and coke, and switch to the sugar free versions. Do that for at least 10 days, otherwise you might as well eat what you want - there are 16 teaspoons of sugar in the a can of coke, and if you are not burning off that sugar, it's going on as fat. You've got to cut them out man, otherwise you'll never lose weight.

tbh

tbh wrote: »

ok, from tomorrow, stop with the red bull and coke, and switch to the sugar free versions. Do that for at least 10 days, otherwise you might as well eat what you want - there are 16 teaspoons of sugar in the a can of coke, and if you are not burning off that sugar, it's going on as fat. You've got to cut them out man, otherwise you'll never lose weight.

also - don't eat after 8:30. In fairness man, that's a savage amount of food to eat every day.

shelby67

tbh wrote: »

ok, from tomorrow, stop with the red bull and coke, and switch to the sugar free versions. Do that for at least 10 days, otherwise you might as well eat what you want - there are 16 teaspoons of sugar in the a can of coke, and if you are not burning off that sugar, it's going on as fat. You've got to cut them out man, otherwise you'll never lose weight.

deal.

ill go onto water and stick to it. yea it is a stupid diet alright,its just so easy to pull in to a shop and grab that stuff while driving.

tbh

shelby67 wrote: »

deal.

ill go onto water and stick to it. yea it is a stupid diet alright,its just so easy to pull in to a shop and grab that stuff while driving.

at least give it ten days to try to get used to it. The best thing about your diet is any small change you make to it will have a massive - and probably fairly immediate - effect.

Penn

shelby67 wrote: »

deal.

ill go onto water and stick to it. yea it is a stupid diet alright,its just so easy to pull in to a shop and grab that stuff while driving.

I'd go with the water rather than Diet drinks. The artificial sweetners can do almost as much harm as drinking the regular version. Up until about 3 months ago, I hated drinking water. Used to drink a lot of Lucozade. Now I drink over 2 litres of water most days no problem. You do get used to it. Same with healthy food. You don't have to be munching on lettuce 24/7. Just cut down on carbs. Instead of a sandwich, get a wrap with chicken for protein. Stuff like this over time can really make a difference

As others have said, check out the Fitness and Nutrition forums, expecially the stickies at the top.

justsomebloke

ok, I'm not going to properly reply to this yet as I want you to answer some questions first (actually I'm just knackered from being in the gym and couldn't be arsed as I'm bloated after a big feed).

ok the one question I want you to answer and think about it properly, is what is it that YOU think you need to do change in your diet and why, and then what small changes do you think you can successfully change that you will be able to maintain to help start the change do your diet.

r3nu4l

shelby67 wrote: »

breakfast
sausage rolls from the local garage and red bull.

Boil an egg the night before, when you get home from work, let it cool, eat it in the morning.
Or, place porridge oats in a bowl, add water, microwave for 2-3 mins, add skimmed milk and eat.

Sausage rolls are junk! Red Bull!? Have water instead.

lunch
sambo with ham,cheese and egg mayo, bottle of coke and cluborange, mars bar, 2 packs of crisps.

Tasty but junky
Have a chicken (or tuna) wrap or if you must have bread, use wholemeal bread, add lettuce, tomato and cucumber, no mayo or egg mayo and no coleslaw either. Drink water, have an apple or nectaine or peach, or orange or any damn fruit you like, no crisps and no chocolate, except maybe ONE day in the week.

dinner
5 out of 7 days ill grab a eddie rockets or mc donalds wth coke.

Do you have free time at the weekend? If so you can cook up some lovely shephards pie with lean mince, carrots, peas and topped with mashed potato (okay, that's carbs but your job seems to require energy!), freeze it in portion sizes and defrost a portion when you get in from work.

Try the recipes I recommended earlier for the salmon, cous cous and peas dinner.
Do some research on healthy, quick meals. Enjoy

Mc Donalds, Eddie Rockets and Coke 5 days a week? That's the type 2 diabetes and cardiac arrest express train right there mate!

supper
toasted sambo or special fried rice and coke.

How about boiled rice and stir-fried (in olive oil or one-cal oil spray) vegetables. Plenty of veg and less rice. Use wholegrain rice rather than white rice.

11-12pm after paperwork
crisps,chocolate and coke or pot noodle

Don't bother with any of this, glass of water and bed

i have a big weekness for sweet drinks on average i would drink 6 500mls bottles a day and 2 cans of redbull.

I used to drink 2 a day, then noticed the weight creeping on and stopped. Weight reduced without changing anything else. It still wasn't ideal so that's when I started to clean up my diet a bit.

there is a couple of times a week ill get to my ma's for a proper dinner

Nothing like a mothers cooking! I love it!

regarding excercise i walk the dog the odd time but just find it hard to get the time, and during a recession i really dont wana say to my gaffer i need to work less hours cause my job will be gone and i know itll be a pain to get a new one on the money im getting now.

Do you get a lunch break? If so then think about going for a walk at lunch time. Eat your wrap and then go walk! Every day. Every little bit of movement helps!

Now get reading those stickies in the Diet and Nutrition forum and Fitness forum and if you make even small changes to begin with you'll find yourself feeling a bit better.

Otis Driftwood

Hi OP.

Good for you that you want to shift the weight,its no easy thing.

I have to agree with the previous posters about cutting out the sugary stuff and eating late at night.

6 months ago,my younger brother (20) weighed 22 stone at a height of around 6.2.

He used to eat alot of crap,was a fecker for sweets and fizzy drinks,and eating late at night,particularly take aways.

6 months ago he decided enough was enough and cut out all the high fat and sugar foods and the weight has fallen off him.
He now weighs approx 17.5 stone and wants to get to 15 stone by christmas.

He gets no exercise at all but is working as a farm helper for the summer so that is quite physical work.It was just eating crap that was keeping the weight on him.

Its unlikely he will ever be svelt in stature but he is much happier in himself now,things that would have had him puffing 6 months ago are now easy and he in general is much healthier.

It was by no means easy for him but with a bit of will power and the desire to change,he is doing it and so can you.

I wish you the very best of luck.