Before we can talk about why to consider gastric surgery, we have to look at why diets don’t work.  We know that 80% of any type of weight loss journey is 80% food related and  20% is attributed to exercise and genetics.  The fact is, losing weight can be hard, but keeping it off is nearly impossible.  Most people (95%) who lose weight regain within 1-5 years.

Why diets don’t work

Dieting, by definition, is a temporary change to a normal eating plan/habit.  We put on weight and then embark on the one thing the world tells us to do.  Diet.  So, we change our normal eating patterns for a short period of time, eg (3-6 months) food intake reduces, fat storage reduces.  Great result.  But then the diet is finished as it is unsustainable,  food intake goes back to normal, fat storage increases.  This is called the YO-YO diet.  We like to call it, the YO-YU (You Over-eat, You Under-eat).

As a result, weight goes down, weight goes up, weight goes down, weight goes up.  On the upside of the cycle, fat storage usually increases above the starting point, meaning you face a bigger challenge each time you begin another diet regime.


As the body adjusts over time to the YOYU, it begins to form patterns around your behaviour to protect itself through mechanisms such as metabolic slowdowns and hormonal influences. This makes it tougher and tougher to lose the fat over time.

Fad diets are downright dangerous

If diets don’t work, fad diets are absolutely dangerous.   Why?  Let’s actually define what a fad diet is.  A fad diet is a diet that promises quick weight loss through what is usually an unhealthy and unbalanced diet.  Some of the current and past fad diets are quite mainstream.

  • Weight Watchers
  • Atkins
  • Paleo diet
  • Jenny Craig
  • Meal replacements like Optifast, Tony Ferguson, Optislim, Fat Blaster etc
  • South Beach Diet
  • Ketogenic Diet
  • Vegan Diet
  • The Zone Diet


Fad diets promise the world and in some cases deliver weight loss, but at what cost?  Nutrition, minerals, vitamins and other essentials the body needs to be considered healthy.  There is no point being skinny if you are a nutritional mess. (Skinny unhealthy)  Again, in 95% of cases, the weight comes on as soon as the fad diet has run its course.

Gastric surgery solves the puzzle

The stomach alone produces over 200 hormones we know only about 80% of their function and purpose.  We still don’t know the interactions they have with each other or with different stimuli (foods).  The body is a highly complex machine and what we do know is that gastric surgery solves a problem that most dieters face.  (1) Volume of food consumed (caloric intake)  (2) feeling satisfied with a smaller amount of food so that (1) works!

  • Gastric surgery reduces the size of the stomach pouch (in the case of a gastric sleeve), you, therefore, physically cannot eat as much food.
  • It promotes satiety. That is; you feel full.  After about 2 months once the body has gotten used to the ‘new norms’, eating half an egg and a tiny piece of bacon you will feel like you’ve eaten Christmas dinner.
  • Food becomes the ACCESSORY rather than the CENTREPOINT of social interactions whether family or otherwise.  Gastric patients report they’re engaged socially and not focussed on stuffing their face with food.
  • Gastric patients report that it feels like the surgeon operated on their brain rather than their stomach.  This is an outcome of the removal/reduction of the hunger hormone along with retraining of the brain.

What would you do to save your life?

If you could see cancer growing on your body, most people would do anything to remove it. If it meant losing your hand to save the whole body you would sacrifice the limb.  If it meant losing one eye would save your life would you do it?  Obesity is a killer, in fact it is now the 2nd biggest single contributor to early death, behind smoking!  That is what gastric surgery gives you the choice to do.  You can’t change your brain out for a new one, so the next best thing is to have a surgeon create the stomach you need to live a long and healthy life.

Over 24,000 people per year in Australia undergo weight loss surgery and are working towards a new life.  In 2011/12 62.8% of Australia’s population were considered obese rising 1.5-2% every year.   Take action now to ensure you aren’t a statistic in the future when there was a simple procedure to solve the problem.

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