What's the difference

1. Why would we rip the second person a new one (don't tell most people on this site wouldn't, I know better), for going under 1000 calories etc? If someone who had the surgery does the same thing.
2. Would something like this work?

1. There is a HUGE difference between starving yourself on your own for the sake of losing weight in a very unhealthy manner (mot getting enough vitamins, nutrients, or calories to sustain your body's basic functions) and severely restricting calories under medical supervision. Two different animals.

2. Would it work? Sure, you can severely restrict calories and you will lose weight but don't expect to be anywhere near healthy or for your body to be able to function properly. You could be setting yourself up for long term health implications. So yes, it would "work" but at what cost? This is what could be called "disordered eating" since it certainly wouldn't be a healthy relationship with food. Or sustainable, for that matter.

As somebody who loves food, I don't understand why you would purposely eat significantly less than what would be necessary to lose fat.

1. There is a HUGE difference between starving yourself on your own for the sake of losing weight in a very unhealthy manner (mot getting enough vitamins, nutrients, or calories to sustain your body's basic functions) and severely restricting calories under medical supervision. Two different animals.

2. Would it work? Sure, you can severely restrict calories and you will lose weight but don't expect to be anywhere near healthy or for your body to be able to function properly. You could be setting yourself up for long term health implications. So yes, it would "work" but at what cost? This is what could be called "disordered eating" since it certainly wouldn't be a healthy relationship with food. Or sustainable, for that matter.

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Plus, the people I've heard of having this still eat over 1000 calories a day. Just because they eat in small amounts doesn't mean they go too low in calories.
Ultimately the biggest difference is doctor supervision.

I have often wondered this myself. I know a few people who have had their stomachs stapled and they eat next to nothing. Losing half the capacity of the stomach shouldn't make a difference in the amount of calories and nutrients a person needs for healthy survival. Maybe I just don't understand because this is science and I am liberal arts.

Gastric Bypass patients have a history of losing the weight on the restricted diet and then ballooning back up when they go back to eating normally. The Lapband, reduces the size of the stomach, but encourages the patient to eat MORE SMALLER MEALS... They should be eating an appropriate number of calories to lose weight healthily, it just keeps them from gorging themselves all at once because it makes the stomach "smaller" and sets off the "I'm full" receptors sooner.

Consider that starving yourself is sometimes better than eating junk that is the size of an egg.


IMHO surgery should not be resorted too no matter how many doctors or how skilled their surgical team is and how much attention you will receive etc etc. If you can diet on solely fruits and vegetables and are minimally active you will lose weight, slowly, but surely.

Start eating a healthy diet and supplement vitamins and minerals.

A healthy and motivated mind, which only comes through good food, promotes a goal to keep a healthy body, which only comes through good food as well. Logic eh?

We must realize that the amount of food we eat is much and the amount of healthy vitamins and minerals they contain is very little. You would be ever so surprised at how the soils do not even provide much for healthy fruits/vegetables to sustain enough of their natural vitamins/minerals content.

Eating healthy keeps you stead fast, focused, goal oriented in order to persevere for your weight loss.

Start off through your diet, implement a short and fast exercise routine several times a week and you will realize how fast you will lose weight, how much better you will feel, how much more energy you will have, how much more you will feel you have rested, how much more you will want to keep it up and how much more positive you will see yourself and others and how others will see you. Sounds like an oxymoron.

Boy that's a super long sentence!!!!

Let dopamine do its job!

I was expecting something like this, and this is where I ask, why do we say it's "starving yourself" if you do it by yourself, and not say it's "starving yourself" if it's because of the surgery? Is it only because one has to go to a doctor every so often?

If I could be brutally honest here, I think there is a notion in this country that if the doctor says it, it must be okay. I've had doctors tell me and other family members HORRIBLE advice, particularly in regards to nutrition--with lasting, irreversible results. I simply do not give doctors my full trust until they've proven themselves to me. Maybe I'm jaded, but that's my approach. I think there is a dangerous belief that doctors know everything, and if they allowed something, or perform some surgery, or give some advice, it must be true. There are good doctors and bad doctors. The good doctors, in my opinion, will help you find lifestyle changes and will support you with a good plan to better your health, without the use of extreme medical intervention. The bad ones (again, in my opinion) will simply prescribe a pill or perform a surgery, and hope that you aren't too irresponsible, or that you won't be one of the MILLIONS of people who experience side effects that are worse than the original symptom (like death).

But that's just my take on it.

I think you're talking about two entirely different schools of thought here, but really - it's no more healthy or unhealthy for a person who has had surgery to be on an extremely low calorie diet than for anybody else. All this weight loss stuff that we bat around here are theories (not facts), and different things work for different people, so whatever you believe - your results may be different than whatever test group you're imitating. If one approach doesn't give results after a reasonable period of time, there are other approaches to try.

Personally, I was placed on a 420- or 480-calorie diet in the late 1980s (can't remember exactly) by Weight Loss Clinic, and the weight definitely came off without any major problems (other than constantly battling my appetite). My body didn't shut down from starvation or anything like that, but as soon as the diet ended, I gained all the weight back plus extra within six months to a year. This time I am slowly but definitely changing my habits, and I don't care how long it takes (so far, it's been -22 pounds in 4 years) - when I get to my goal, I will have developed the habits needed to maintain.