Repeat dieting, extra BMI classes, bariatric surgery, mixed bag

I've been looking around for evidence that repeat dieting--so-called yo-yo weight loss--makes it more difficult to lose weight with each subsequent try. I've found a few research papers which say no. As soon as I can find the sources again, I'll cite them for you. I had a gut feeling that I was no different from anyone else, so if it didn't become more difficult for me, why would it be different for anyone else? The best paper spelled it out, that both the overweight and obese dieter need not fear that a weight loss diet won't work. The diet works, if we do.

I get annoyed when people say that diets don't work. They may be very difficult, require supreme dedication, and need total commitment on the part of the dieter, but several types of weight loss diets work. A low-carb diet does cause weight loss, but not because fat's high calories make you thin. It's because fat has a lot of power to cause a loss of appetite. We're satiated more easily on it. Between fat, meat, and 5% carb vegetables, such as broccoli, greens, cauliflower, string beans, and so on, eaten with wild abandon, you're full. Add lots of water to that, and essentially you're on a low-cal diet. A lap-band procedure is also a low-cal diet, albeit a drastic one.

It always amazes me that people believe low-cal diets don't work, but bariatric surgery does. They're the same thing! Surgery doesn't perform some sort of miracle and change the laws of physics. It only forces the patient into not eating as much, which by definition is lowering calorie intake. Some people do that with diet and exercise, and some with surgery.

I mentioned before that I wasn't pleased with the trend now to perform surgery on people who aren't as obese as they had to be before to get it. The minimum used to be 100 lbs. over the maximum healthy weight, which in my case, would be 145 + 100, or 245. And the patient couldn't be sure that anyone would perform the surgery then. Now, a person doesn't need to be that fat.

The lap band procedure is the reason for most of the changes in bariatric medicine. In addition to its being done on lower weight patients, it's being done on much younger ones, such as adolescents. There hasn't been much study done of the long-term results of bariatric surgery on adults, let alone children.

To add to the BMI charts from before, in Eating Disorders and Obesity, there's an add-on for the top weights on the BMI scale. This source is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Underweight, BMI <18.5
Normal weight, 18.5 - 24.9
Overweight, 25 - 29.9
Obesity (Class I) 30 - 34.9
Obesity (Class II) 35 - 39.9
Extreme Obesity 40 - >40

You'll note the difference in these BMI classes from the regular ones in that usually, >30 indicates obesity and there it stops. With this chart, someone can get a better sense of where s/he stands.

Having a waist circumference over 35" for women, and over 40" for men, increases the risk of significant physical problems at any weight, but particularly at obese ones. There is a direct correlation of these markers with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

What's up tomorrow? I don't know yet, but this was just another info post. I hope these are working out for you. If not, please leave comments. I might go to more anecdotal and personal stuff again soon.