why do people who do weightloss surg. don't go into starvati

sweetestthing

Hi all, quick question. How come when people do lapband or Gastric bypass, their bodies don't go into starvation mode and they lose tons of weight very fast? SOme of them eat 3-400 calories for the first 2-3 months. I just spoke with a guy who did it. He said you pgysically can't eat for the first few months. is the starvation mode not true? should we all be on very low calorie diets? Now i am very confused. Thanks in advance for all your advice.

SJSchwartz

I asked that same question a few weeks ago, and the responses I received were that it was because they were morbidly obese to begin with and the starvation mode doesn't apply to morbidly obese people... so I don't know..?

katya143

good question! my sister always asks that same question!

ErrataCorrige

I wonder if it's beacuse their stomach is telling their body that's full, so it doesn't think it's starving? I don't know, but I would be interested to find out.

halobender

I would imagine that after such a surgery you're moving too much to let fat collect. Even if your 300-400 calories came only from eating a tub of lard, you'd probably have no choice but to lose weight because the amount of energy expended exceeds any amount of fat that your body could hope to retain.

But, y'know, that's just my haphazard guess.

Aeriel

Good question. I don't know the answer, but I have some speculation. :laugh: If they can only eat that much (300-400 calories) for a little while, when they can eat more, maybe they are gradually increasing the amount rather than adding back calories in large amounts. Each little bit they increased might tell their body, okay, I have enough food, I can lose a little more. Then they do it again and again. Only a theory, looking forward to seeing the responses.

marrieandfive

I think they probably DO go into starvation mode, but with such a low calorie diet you can't help but lose anyway. Look at anorexic people...They can get VERY thin by eating very little. But when they start eating a regular diet of even of say, 1500 calories, they'll gain weight because their metabolism is very slow. Another thing to remember is that your body builds muscle to carry your weight, so obese people can spare a bit of muscle because you don't need as much muscle to carry a 150 body as you do a 400 pound body, so starvation mode wouldn't have the same terrible effect on their metabolism as it would on a person with less muscle.

The same thing happens during pregnancy, in the last months you gain muscle from carrying around all that extra weight, if you are smart you can end up with a BETTER body than before!

RMinVA

I'm pretty sure they are also put on a bunch of nutritional supplements, @ least starting out. So while they may not be "eating" as much, their bodies still get the vitamins/minerals that it needs.

It does sound a bit extreme to only be eating 300-400 cals. I thought that they just ate much smaller meals a LOT more often, like every 2 hours or so. However, morbidly obese people can handle extreme caloric deficits much better than the person that only needs to lose 20-30#.

MyaPapaya75

personally I dont think starvation mode sets in as easy as many would like to think...i often see posts about people "in starvation" mode just because they havent lost weight in 2 weeks...i just dont think it sets in so easily and by the time it does set in with those that have had surgery they are already on the road to eating larger portions...just my opinion I was considered morbidly obese when I started mfp and now Im not and on the same calories i have been ..very few plateaus and no starvation mode...could it be that when we dont make wise choices eating food that provide little nutrition this is when we go into starvation mode?..there is a lot of difference between 1000 calories of pure fat and junk and eating a well balanced 1000...just my opinion

NightOwl1

Essentially, the more fat your body has on it, the longer it will take to go into starvation mode. If you are several hundred pounds overweight, you body has ample stored fat that it feels comfortable burning the fat as excess energy without feeling like it is going to be starving itself, because there will still be a lot less. So if you are very obese, you can under eat and still lose fat. I wouldn't recommend it unless its for something like a surgery, since it's still not healthy to give your body that little nutrients, but you will not go into starvation mode.

Now, if you don't have a ton of weight to lose, or if you've lost a lot of weight and haven't changed your diet from when you started, you body has less fat stores to release as energy, so it will go into starvation mode easier.

Check out this thread for some more info: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat

LorinaLynn

They're also being *VERY* supervised by their physicians, moreso than the average person on DIY diet.

amydcarlson

I know 4 people who have had weight loss surgeries. One (a friend of my mom's) had her stomach "stapled" (whatever the hell that is) some 25 years ago and lost weight for a while. She is now back to morbidly obese and is even wheelchair bound. Her 2 daughters had gastric bypass they looked great for a few years, and now they are both fat again (although I know they are both heavy drinkers=liquid calories). My other friend just got the "sleeve" surgery done, and is the only one who hasn't gained the weight back....YET. My point is: I believe they DO go into starvation mode. It is just a temporary fix, like everything else.

RMinVA

I know 4 people who have had weight loss surgeries. One (a friend of my mom's) had her stomach "stapled" (whatever the hell that is) some 25 years ago and lost weight for a while. She is now back to morbidly obese and is even wheelchair bound. Her 2 daughters had gastric bypass they looked great for a few years, and now they are both fat again (although I know they are both heavy drinkers=liquid calories). My other friend just got the "sleeve" surgery done, and is the only one who hasn't gained the weight back....YET. My point is: I believe they DO go into starvation mode. It is just a temporary fix, like everything else.

To add to that I know 3 people that have had gastric bypass. One of them lost a bit of weight initially, but is now as big as ever. The other I met after his initial weight loss, but he has really been packing on the pounds this past year. The third is a very close friend of mine and I have to say that she looks fabulous. But she struggled with a few other issues, that she has since put behind her.

Bottom line, the surgery is just a "tool," the behaviors still have to change.

legacysh

Its all about the greyling effect. Something about a hormone that is produced that triggers your brains hungry cycle. After these kinds of surgery, it kicks in big time and the brain does not literally think it is hungry. Most of these patients really do not feel hunger for about 6 months post-op. They are supervised by nutritionists and doctors and gradually add back the correct amount of foods to eat like a normal portion, but like anything else, if they don't follow the guidelines of their program, they will reverse the effects and end up where they started.

kbaily

Read "Full, a Life Without Dieting" by bariatric surgeon Michael A. Snyder. He explains many things that I have been guessing about, including your question. The quick answer is that the receptors that tell you brain that you are full are at the top of your stomach. When you have bariatric surgery the bottom of the stomach is banded so your brain thinks you are full with small amounts of food. They also slow down the path to the intestines, so your brain thinks you are full longer. It's a good book; he has good advice for everyone wanting to lose weight; with surgery for the morbidly obese, and without for everyone else ...

sweetestthing

thanks everyone!!

BigBoneSista

Gastric Bypass patient's stomachs have been surgerically altered. Its about the size of a egg. It doesn't have anything to do with the mind telling them they can't eat...they only can consume teaspoons of food at first because of the size. Over-time it does stretch and they can consume 1 to 2 oz of food at a time. They eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. For the 1st year "the honeymoon stage" they can lose almost a hundred pounds" without doing much work but eating correctly. During this time they should be learning how to exercise, eat correctly and deal with the problems that allowed them to gain weight in the 1st place. In some cases that doesn't happen. Not because its not offered to them but because they are not not willing to use what is given to them. Some people think its a quick fix, but its not. Its just a start a beginning. If they want to maintain the weight loss and be healthy they have to eat healthy and exercise period. They also have to take supplements for the rest of their lives because their bodies can no longer absorb vitamins and minerals from food.

So its not that they can't go into starvation mode. They can once they get to the maintenance stage. They have to eat between 900 to 1700 calories depending on their workout. Their weight loss stalls. They gain. They lose. The ones that get this surgery and think its a quick fix and can solve all their problems are sadly mistaken and usually are the one that gain all their weight back.

lisawangccrn

The lap band procedure is a restrictive surgery. The roux-n-y gastric bypass surgery is both restrictive and absorptive. What that means is they staple off a part of the stomach so it only holds about an ounce. The duodenum of the small intestines is bypassed, therefore food is absorbed by the body in a different way.

Besides the supplements these individuals take, they are told to eat a diet very high in protein. When they drink water, it is never with a meal, but they need to sip water all day. They do not eat foods high in sugar or else they suffer from dumping syndrome. If they follow the meal, they almost enter a state a ketosis, therefore fat stores are burned instead of the carbohydrates we all consume.

songofserenity81

indeed with the lapband as long as a nutritious diet is maintained extra vitamines and minerals should not be required because all will be taken up from the food consumed.And yes all the surgeries are tools that we have to work with otherwise they just wont work. I had the lapband fitted in Dec 2007 I had lost 60lb prior to the surgery after the initial period i put on about 7lb but the big thing for me was from that point on I have maintained so for 2 and a half years I didnt gain back what I had lost. This for me was and is a huge thing because every time I had lost in the past it all went back on.In October of this year I desided enough was enough and I was going to do my best to work with the band to lose the rest of the weight I need to and it is working...I am putting in the effort to watch what I am eating and to exersice regularly and I am starting to reap the rewards with seeing the numbers on the scale finally move downwards. Never will I say the band had failed me...I had failed both it and myself...but no more

runs4zen

So...having had weight loss surgery, here's some info that I have, and it's only basic (it's a long enough post ) For the heavy duty info, do some research on the internet. There is tons of good solid info out there written by surgeons who do this sort of work:

1. There are different types of weight loss surgeries and not all are gastric bypass. the Roux en Y and the Duodenal Switch (my spelling is off) are gastric bypass. Then there is the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (I had this) which is NOT a gastric bypass but is used as part of the DS for morbidly obese folks as a step prior to the bypass if the patients doctor feels they are not healthy enough yet for a bypass due to the obesity. Lastly, there is the lap band, again, not a gastric bypass.

2. All of us have a restricted capacity to hold food.

3. Bypass patients, due to the bypass, lose much of their weight because of malabsorption combined with whatever was done to their stomach (vsg, stapling, whatever). The malabsorption is a result of the redirecting of the small/large intestines.

4. VSG patients (also known as the sleeve) lose weight primarily because we have tiny stomachs and eat far less than other folks at any one time. Our stomachs are surgically reshaped and resemble a banana shape. There is no redirecting of the intestines like a gastric bypass. thus, food is not malabsorbed and passes through the body as it always did. The part of the stomach that produces the hunger hormone, ghrellin, is removed, so, feeling hungry for MOST VSG patients is not something that bothers us too much after the surgery. At first, we lose weight because of the restriction and lack of hunger. Afterward, the lack of hunger is a really nice "boost" to not overeat but we still have to watch and eat sensibly.

My stomach, after the surgery held about 2 oz. of food. Now, a year later, it's between 6-8 oz, forever. I eat several tiny meals a day, low fat, low carb, high protein. Right now, I'm working on getting at least 1700 calories a day so I can maintain rather than lose weight.

5. Lap Bands are devices surgically placed at the bottom of the neck of your stomach to restrict the initial amount of food you eat. as the food breaks down, it then passes into the larger part of your stomach under the restrictive device and moves through the body normally. The device is connected to a port under your skin that the doctor will fill with saline solution periodically to adjust the tightness of the device around the neck of the stomach area

So, generally speaking, everyone has a different story about someone who had a WLS that did/didn't work. The thing is, bypasses, Lap Bands and VSGs are only tools. Like everyone else in the world who has to lose weight and then maintain it, WLS patients have to learn to eat correctly, exercise, and change their lifestyles. So why do it? We all have our own reasons.

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful!

Best regards,

J

porcelain_doll

Hi all, quick question. How come when people do lapband or Gastric bypass, their bodies don't go into starvation mode and they lose tons of weight very fast? SOme of them eat 3-400 calories for the first 2-3 months. I just spoke with a guy who did it. He said you pgysically can't eat for the first few months. is the starvation mode not true? should we all be on very low calorie diets? Now i am very confused. Thanks in advance for all your advice.

I wonder the same thing all the time. Unfortunately, none of these posts seemed to really clear things up for me. I was told that I went into starvation mode a few months back when my diet was pristine and I was working out almost every day. To me, it was an accomplishment to become that dedicated and disciplined, and to be told that I still wasn't doing something right (not eating "enough") broke my heart. So I have been trying to eat enough calories each day (which is why I joined this site), and I am still struggling to lose anything. I am now questioning the entire "starvation mode" theory based on the experience I have had.

jenX1174

Yes, in my case, I believe my body went into starvation mode. A year after my daughter was born, I had my lap-band done-- in June of '08, and I initially lost 35 pounds the first 6 months. I became really frustrated through the next 5 months when my weight would only bounce between 1 and 5 pounds, up and down. I'd go in and get a fill, lose a few, and then gain a few. I was exercising and only consuming 1200 calories a day, as I was instructed by the nutritionist. There was no education about eating your exercise calories back, so my Net cals were anywhere from 200-700 a day on average.

In Jan '09, I developed gallstones and had my gallbladder removed in Feb. I tried a couple more times that year to get back on track, but the weight wouldn't budge. In Feb 2010, I had a big upheaval in my personal life and mentally was in no shape to focus on my weight. I tried again last June to no avail. Yes, by this point I gained back about 15 of the pounds I lost. The link below my weight loss ticker is the perfect example of me before and after Lap band surgery. I wish I had this knowledge before. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't losing weight --- I barely ate anything, I figured I should be losing something. I hit one of my lowest points and believed I was just doomed to be fat for the rest of my life. I felt like a failure.

January brought me to MFP after hearing about it from a couple of coworkers who were using it. I did the profile, read some of the links provided for the "Newbies," and it all came together.

I've have been doing this for 4 weeks, and have dropped 8 pounds! I believe my body was in starvation mode and was fighting to hold on to everything it had. I was skeptical at first, and very afraid. I was afraid I would be putting in all this hard work and effort again only to fail again.

I guess we'll see. So far, so good, but I feel as if I will succeed this time. :drinker:

MizzTweezy

The lap band procedure is a restrictive surgery. The roux-n-y gastric bypass surgery is both restrictive and absorptive. What that means is they staple off a part of the stomach so it only holds about an ounce. The duodenum of the small intestines is bypassed, therefore food is absorbed by the body in a different way.

Besides the supplements these individuals take, they are told to eat a diet very high in protein. When they drink water, it is never with a meal, but they need to sip water all day. They do not eat foods high in sugar or else they suffer from dumping syndrome. If they follow the meal, they almost enter a state a ketosis, therefore fat stores are burned instead of the carbohydrates we all consume.

This totally makes sense to me.... I am a lap band patient as well, and find myself in and out of ketosis a lot.

smc864

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS STARVATION MODE.

I could bring up examples of holocaust victims or starving people in Africa, but that would be a bit morbid. Please read this article. All of you.

http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

SezxyStef

Hi all, quick question. How come when people do lapband or Gastric bypass, their bodies don't go into starvation mode and they lose tons of weight very fast? SOme of them eat 3-400 calories for the first 2-3 months. I just spoke with a guy who did it. He said you pgysically can't eat for the first few months. is the starvation mode not true? should we all be on very low calorie diets? Now i am very confused. Thanks in advance for all your advice.

Well that would be because starvation mode is a myth.

Your body does not magically hold onto fat due to low calories...and it does not magical create weight gain on low calories.

Take the woman who got stranded in a vehical for 48 days in Nevada....all she had to eat was trail mix and candy and drinking water from a stream...she had lost 30lbs...and was nearly dead. Tell her she went into starvation mode.

That doesn't mean go on a low calorie diet...that is not healthy. You lose muscle along with fat, you have no energy, lose your hair etc etc.

Weight loss is not fast, you didn't gain 20lbs in 5 weeks you wont lose it in 5 weeks. Eat at a reasonable deficet, don't try to lose it too fast and make sure you weigh your food so you know for sure how much you are eating....trust me 3oz of pasta is not a lot...and a serving of cereal is not a bowl full.

Weight loss is simple calories in <calories out.