Christie Undergoes Weight Loss Surgery

[antigop]

Source: Wall Street Journal

He says he did it for his wife and kids, not for his political ambitions. But either way, the political world gobbled up news early Tuesday that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had secretly undergone stomach surgery to lose weight.

The story, first reported in the New York Post, quotes the governor on why he chose the lap-band procedure to shrink the size of his stomach. “I’ve struggled with this issue for 20 years,” he told the paper. “For me, this is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them.”

Asked whether it might have something to do with any potential 2016 presidential ambitions, Mr. Christie said, “It’s so much more important than that.”

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/05/07/gov-christie-undergoes-weight-loss-surgery

[Botany]

1. I wish the Governor well

n/t

[mwooldri]

2. Good on him, IMO way overdue but I wish him the best.

Putting politics aside, morbid obesity is no laughing matter. Seeing my wife at 360+ lbs and her choosing to have the lap band is amazing. I'm proud of what she did, and and it has helped her lose over 110 lbs (and counting).

Don't be surprised if Chris Christie eats very little, and when he eats that he goes to the bathroom quickly.

[Myrina]

3. Good thing he's got access to that thar' socialized medicine ...

.... seriously, though, I hope it helps him live and longer & healthier life for his family.
Carrying all that weight (from a lifelong chubby gal's perspective) just isn't fun. Or easy on the body.

[fitman]

5. I lost 100 lbs

went from 290 to 188 currently. Age 51. Took me 2 years. No more sore knees, my bp and cholestral is now normal and I was borderline diabetic.

To loose weight it is 80% diet ( but I do weights 4 days per week and cardio 6. ) If you have a crappy diet no amount of exercise will help you.

Never went on any wacky diets (atkins etc)or starved myself.. just ate healthy. Lot's of fish and chicken and veggies.

I will never go back to being fat..ever.

[Myrina]

16. I eat sensibly & walk 3 miles/dy .... still no dice.

I'm post-tubal, pre-menopausal and starting to think all the talk about 'changing hormones' is true & it really does affect a woman's ability to lose weight.

I come from a lonnnnng line of chubby Bohemians. "Born to pull a plow", as my grandma said.

[fitman]

18. I bet if I look at what you eat every day

Last edited Tue May 7, 2013, 12:21 PM - Edit history (2)

you are eating too much. Write down everything you eat every day and you will be surprised. For instance, if you are taking vitamins and supplements they are very high calories-you can wolf down 150 calories day with vitamins and fish oil without blinking an eye.. Go to a site like "fitday" and record what you eat and the calories. Calories in, calories out..

Hormones and age do play some role but most people just eat way too much.. too much processed foods, too much bad carbs (breads etc) .

Also your body get's accustomed to the 3 mile a day walk. You need to constantly change your workout regiment.. change to a more hilly terrain or go extra fast or do ellipticals for a week or do Hitt training.. Work out as hard as you can for 20 miniutes and that's it..it works wonders to rev up your metabolism.

I change my workout program every 3 weeks because my body get's used to what I am doing. You need to keep your body guessing and challenged.

[SunSeeker]

21. Excellent points. Recording food eaten is really eye-opening...and depressing.

I use the fatsecret.com smartphone app because it makes it really easy to log your food; including a scanner feature that lets you just scan the barcode on the package of whatever you are eating and automatically logs it in your diary, complete with the nutrition info, etc. It keeps a running bar graph of your total calorie count for the day. I often don't make it to dinner before my calorie max for the day is reached. Sigh. That means salad and fat free dressing for dinner. But it also means I am not blowing out, like my relatives of the same age who have just given up. No cholesterol meds or diabetes for me.

[CTyankee]

31. Also, at what you drink. A good friend of mine recently told me that she can't lose weight,

that she isn't eating any more but...she's putting away a bottle of wine every night (by herself). I didn't say anything since I know she lost her husband just one year ago and she may just be temporarily depressed. I sure hope it is temporary. She lives alone and is 68 years old...

[Beacool]

63. Your friend may need help.

If she drinks that much every day she's probably an alcoholic.

[CTyankee]

69. I have wondered about that. She has become somewhat difficult to deal with

temperamentally over the past year or so. I chalked it up to her difficulty caring for a husband dying of brain cancer for over a year. But there is a definite change in her attitude for a while now. We recently worked on a volunteer project and she seemed pissed off all the time. I feel grief for her.

[Beacool]

70. She's probably angry that her husband died.

It's one of the 5 stages of grief as described by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. Her excessive drinking may also be contributing to her change in temper.

Anger
Anger is a necessary stage of the healing process. Be willing to feel your anger, even though it may seem endless. The more you truly feel it, the more it will begin to dissipate and the more you will heal. There are many other emotions under the anger and you will get to them in time, but anger is the emotion we are most used to managing. The truth is that anger has no limits. It can extend not only to your friends, the doctors, your family, yourself and your loved one who died, but also to God. You may ask, “Where is God in this?

Underneath anger is pain, your pain. It is natural to feel deserted and abandoned, but we live in a society that fears anger. Anger is strength and it can be an anchor, giving temporary structure to the nothingness of loss. At first grief feels like being lost at sea: no connection to anything. Then you get angry at someone, maybe a person who didn’t attend the funeral, maybe a person who isn’t around, maybe a person who is different now that your loved one has died. Suddenly you have a structure – - your anger toward them. The anger becomes a bridge over the open sea, a connection from you to them. It is something to hold onto; and a connection made from the strength of anger feels better than nothing.We usually know more about suppressing anger than feeling it. The anger is just another indication of the intensity of your love.

http://grief.com/the-five-stages-of-grief/

[CTyankee]

71. thanks for that. I didn't know that about anger and grief.

I knew anger was part of it but I do appreciate your giving me the text. It explains a lot.

Thank goodness my friend has two grown sons nearby and other members of both her and her late husband's family close by.

[Beacool]

72. Yes, anger is a common reaction to grief.

It comes in various forms, anger at the reason why the loved one is gone (illness, accident, etc.), anger at the deceased for leaving her alone, anger at the world at large. It's hard for someone who is in deep mourning to see that the world goes on, to hear people laughing and having a good time. How can the world remain the same when I'm so unhappy?

Hopefully, she'll get over this stage and accept the loss. You might have to be patient with her. If the drinking persists, maybe the sons can do an intervention (like Betty Ford's family did when her drinking became unmanageable).

Good luck.

[CTyankee]

73. I remember how angry I was when my beloved sister in law died.

We had lived thru so much together.

Thanks for your advice. You've been helpful.

[Beacool]

80. I'm glad I was of help.

[enlightenment]

53. Good intention, poor delivery.

Unless you know the individual to whom you responded, you should probably refrain from suggesting that someone you have never met eats too much and doesn't know how to exercise or even consider their personal fitness.

There is no way for you to draw a conclusion like that based on a single post - and while I'm sure you mean well, your advice is inappropriate for a forum of this nature. Suggesting an exercise routine to someone, sight unseen, is foolish - and the rest of the comment borders on rude.

Congratulations on your weight loss and new lifestyle, really, but please leave the "I know you better than you know yourself" comments at the door.

[Posteritatis]

58. Seriously. Isn't it something how everyone becomes an expert on everyone else w/this topic? (nt)

[fitman]

60. The info I gave to her

is fitness 101. It's the basic facts. If she is walking 3 miles per day and still gaining weight/or not losing weight she is eating too much..

Giving her any other advice is sugar coating the problem..

[Scout]

89. oh bull fucking shit.

if "fitness 101" and the basic facts as you call it were true and worked for everyone all the time, we wouldn't have an obesity epidemic now would we?

for fuck sake, fat people are not only fat and eat too much and are lazy, i guess they are stupid now too ... you know, too stupid to figure out that they're just eating too much and not exercising!

human metabolism is much more complex than a simple "calories-in, calories-out" formula.

sometimes your body doesn't even get a chance to burn the calories as energy ... some of us store them directly as fat, bypassing that whole burning them for energy ... metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, pre-diabetes and many other things including stress and lack of sleep can influence metabolism.

so those of you with your simpleton calories in calories out garbage can just shove that simple ass shit up your tight simpleton asses.

[aristocles]

55. Check out www.myfitnesspal.com

Recommended.

You can record your daily food intake, pulling food items from their database of every imaginable food. Track your weight daily against a long term goal you define.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. I'm going through the same thing. I'm damn near vegetarian and eat carbs maybe once or twice

a week. I exercise 6 days a week--walking, running, biking, Pilates. I'm still struggling to lose. I really do believe it's hormones and/or hereditary (though not many people in my family are heavy).

[Kolesar]

32. There's something about "hill training"

If you get your pulse up for a few seconds, your body uses up carbohydrate-based energy reserves. If you climb a hill for a minute or more, your body depletes the carbs and begins to use up fat-based energy reserves.

On your first hills, you will get exhausted, but you will be able to climb more hills without fatigue on successive days as you train your endocrine system to consume fat.

I read that in Bicycling a decade ago.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

34. I'm definitely going to try that. I want to get good at hills without tearing up my knees, of course

[Kolesar]

38. Bicycling advised flatlander Floridians to hill-train on a freeway overpass

That's not steep, it's only twenty or thirty feet high, but it's still a hill. That makes it seem mildly humorous. I would imagine that a young cyclist would find that overpass and train there every once in a while if there was scant opportunity for hill training.

So, you could do this on any hill, it does not have to be steep.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

40. Sounds like a similar concept to hill training while running. I will try that and see how it works

for me. Thanks again!!

[fitman]

36. People can also destroy their metabolism

by being on perpetual diet..You should only be eating 300-500 calories less than your maintenace calories..max.. In other words if your maintenace calories are 2000 per day i.e. the calorie level per day you won't gain or lose weight, take 300-500 off of that and eat that-. You will lose 1-2 lbs per week this way which is the optimal amount.
Every 3-4 weeks go back to 2000 calories for a while.

Eating low calories all the time does put your body in starvation mode.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

39. Thanks. I like the idea of cycling like that.

[RebelOne]

75. Nothing wrong with being vegetarian.

I have been a vegetarian for about 15 years now and have not a problem with weight gain.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

87. Didn't mean to imply that. I was a vegetarian for many years but suffered from severe

anemia. My weight is primarily due to hormonal changes. I'm getting old.

[bitchkitty]

33. Maybe investigate eating raw.

Not necessarily fully raw, but having a green smoothie in the morning (fruits, coconut mlk and greens) and a big giant salad for lunch and dinner, really turned my life around. For the past 10 years, I was just waiting to die and trying not to think about it.

Well, I decided that I was not going to die - I read an article that detailed a new drug combo that can CURE people with my condition. I started eating raw and for 3 months I didn't turn on my stove or use the microwave. The difference in me is astounding. People who haven't seen me in a while always exclaim "You look beautiful!" or "Is that YOU?"

I am addicted to those organic baby field greens. They are like crack to me - a little olive oil, squeeze of lemon, a few grinds of pepper - Ambrosia!!!

Good luck with whatever you decide - but one thing, don't "DIET." If you do, then make damned sure you're getting in a good hour of continuous exercise, so your metabolism doesn't slow down. My mom was a big woman, as is my sister, they dieted continuously and just got fatter. I wasn't always skinny, but I never had a weight problem like that. The only difference between them and me is that they never got up off their butts.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

35. I love it! I'm going to try. It'll be hard during the summer because everyone wants to go out

to eat and throw parties and crap. I do like to have a glass of wine from time to time, but I'll work on that.

I have a spinach-kale shake every single morning. I have a huge salad for lunch. So, I think I will do the same for dinner. I will try this for awhile to see what happens.

There's also something called the alkalline "diet," which really isn't a diet, but it focuses on restoring acidity levels to normal. Apparently we don't get nearly enough alkalline minerals in our diet. I may try that and see how it works.

Thanks so very much again!!

[bitchkitty]

42. I won't lie - it's hard at first.

You have to overcome a lifetime of eating habits. But if you stick with it, the way you will FEEL in a month or two will give you the motivation to continue. Not to mention, your skin will LOVE you.

On edit - have your wine. A glass or two never hurt anybody. And wine is vegan!

[Arugula Latte]

44. I know someone who gained 100 pounds -- in spite of eating well and being vegan

She went raw and the weight melted off. Amazing!

[bitchkitty]

74. It's hard not to lose weight when you go raw.

In fact, I lost too much, got a very low BMI and had to add in some cooked foods for the winter. I'm only about 50% raw now but still vegan and still very healthy, all things considered.

[freshwest]

81. That's the only thing that worked for me, with some detoxing upfront, after going veg then vegan etc

[bitchkitty]

84. I can't wait for summer.

We've got peppers, tomatoes and zucchini in the ground now and more to go in as soon as I get down there (I'm moving next week). Raspberries and grapes will come along soon. YUM! And of course, melons.

The way I feel when I'm totally raw was a real revelation to me. It is difficult sometimes and expensive (damn it) but so worth it.

Have you tried zucchini hummus yet?

[freshwest]

85. Never heard of it. Please post it in Cooking and Baking for me!

[bitchkitty]

86. Will do! n/t

[Beacool]

64. Congratulations!!!

That's a hard achievement.

[2ndAmForComputers]

45. +1

Hardly a vanity surgery.

[graham4anything]

4. Wellness. Glad he finally listened to Mike Bloomberg. however...it is one day at a time 24/7/365

one can't just get the surgery and think that is it

one has to STOP the excess

No more ice cream cones on the Jersey Shore boardwalks

No more 48 ounce sodas.

If he doesn't do all that, he wasted his money and will be back where he started from.

[CTyankee]

6. He has to be looking at food with a new perspective. Perhaps he should talk to Bill

Clinton, who went from being a glutton to be a vegan. Your attitude CAN change...if you want it badly enough...

[LibDemAlways]

7. Yep. Stopping the excess is key. I have a good friend who

underwent lap band surgery. Didn't lose a thing. It's not a panacea.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. Good for him, and I wish him well.

You can still have cannoli on occasion, Gov, just watch those portions!

[hamsterjill]

9. Good for him, and I, too, wish him well.

But come on, we all know his political future comes into play with this procedure, as well as his life situation.

For a Republican, I think he's one of the better ones, so I'm all for him doing whatever he needs. But if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

[onehandle]

10. I wish him good health and complete and total political failure. nt

[hrmjustin]

11. Good luck to him in his health, and Bad luck politicaly.

[Marrah_G]

12. Good for him!

[Larkspur]

13. Gee, I thought Republicans believed in individual will power to lose weight

not quick and dirty medical procedures. Isn't Christie's obesity a sign that he is failing the self-control test worshiped by Republicans and Libertarians?

Will he return to eating donuts on Letterman's show if his surgery is successful?

[JudyM]

15. +1! n/t

[madokie]

14. I'm happy for him

Say what you will but he seems to like his constituents as he showed us in his response to Sandy.
Yes Gov. Christie life is most important and without losing weight he wasn't going to live much longer.

[rocktivity]

17. SECRET weight reduction surgery? And the jokes keep writing themselves

Not that I'm complaining -- now we can concentrate on what an ass he is rather than the ass he has.


rocktivity

[TlalocW]

19. I thought republicans believed...

That you can't just throw money at problems...

Huh.

TlalocW

[Mr. David]

20. Lap band procedure doesn't work.

A look at my cousin who underweight the procedure, and said it's not even worth it.

Look for the fatty to try to cheat on his lap band.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

25. On DU we respect evidence when it is more than merely anecdotal.

No surgery or medical treatment is 100% effective, so there are always anecdotal examples of failure.

[mac56]

26. ^ THIS ^

Right on, Bernardo.

[gateley]

52. As with anything, it works for some, not for others.

I read an article about the Jets Coach, Rex Ryan, who Christie consulted with. He'd had the surgery and it worked for him. If you read upthread you'll see that a DUer's wife has lost over 100 lbs, and is still losing.

Just because it wasn't successful for your cousin, doesn't mean it's not successful for some.

[Beacool]

65. The procedure does work if people change their eating habits.

The lap band is a tool, but it's not a magic bullet. The individual still has to change his eating habits and become more active.

[dawnie51]

22. I predicted that the way you would know Christie was going to run....

for POTUS; he would begin losing weight. No sign of weight loss, he's not serious. Apparently, the man is serious. He will no doubt be the nominee in 2014.

[HeiressofBickworth]

56. I've made the same prediction

that we'll know his political intentions by his weight loss (or no loss).

I do, as a compassionate human, wish him good health. However, good health doesn't change his politics so I will never be a supporter.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

24. "we must reduce the size of government"

Last edited Tue May 7, 2013, 03:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Due to three complaints (and despite no complaints about the fat joke just below my post), I have edited out the cartoon.

I understand that some overweight people have genetic issues and I do not wish to offend anybody with genuine issues that prevent them from reducing the size of their food intake.

The statement "We have no other option but to make the hard choices, cut ... fundamentally reduce the size" is a direct quote from his speech in front of the convention, which was a very hypocritical statement and speech.

I found this one from the same place and it shows him without alteration. Those who wish to can consult the edit history and compare. In the meantime, let the truth stand:



"Our problems are big ... We all must share in the sacrifice."

[hedgehog]

27. Really? A fat joke? Only a person who has never had a weight probelm would think that funny.

Best of luck to Governor Christie as he tries to lose weight.

[2ndAmForComputers]

46. Shame too. "Reduce the size of government" was a nice joke. Rude 'shop was completely unnecessary.

[bitchkitty]

43. ???

I'm kind of surprised that you would post something like this.

[hedgehog]

48. points for eliminating the photoshop!

[dembotoz]

28. bet you a double cheeseburger he is running

[sofa king]

29. Rich boy problems.

The first two days of my work week are spent on food, and that sum increases if I work more or harder.

Fuck Christie's weight problems--his constituents' problem is avoiding starvation while working to death, a state of affairs created by Christie's party and perpetuated by Christie himself.

He is the literal embodiment of the fat rich bastard who fucked us all, and I would remind my fellow Democrats to remember that well.

[CountAllVotes]

30. I would NOT have that surgery for anything!

Last edited Fri May 10, 2013, 01:13 PM - Edit history (1)

I've been overweight in my life and I stopped eating as much and guess what? I lost the extra weight. It did not go away overnight, but yes, I lost that extra weight and it was a lot to lose indeed (abt. 70 lbs.). I've kept it off too.

I know of a woman that had that surgery and she is in a horrid state.

She was over 300 lbs. and is now abt. 100 lbs. at the most.

Everything she eats goes right through her and she looks gaunt, grey, sick and plain awful now.

Being the food she eats goes right through her she now has malnutrition and she has to be hooked up to an IV every night to be "fed" via IV.

Great results there ...

I'd starve myself before I'd ever have that surgery! It can and does kill some people!

Good luck Gov. Christie. I hope it works for you. *eek*

[Samurai_Writer]

41. Sounds like your friend had gastric bypass, not lapband

With lapband surgery, the food processes normally, and you do get all of the nutrition from it... you just don't eat as much food, because the band restricts the available space in your stomach. Gastric bypass actually bypasses the stomach and dumps food directly into the duodenum.

I had lapband surgery in 2009. Lost 130 pounds in one year. Unfortunately, the lapband caused a severe hiatal hernia, and I had to get the lapband removed. I gained about 50 pounds back in 2 years... have lost 20 of that 50 in the past year.

Of course, even with weight loss surgery, the key is eating right and discipline. It's not an 'easy' way to lose weight... it's just a tool to help you lose more weight than you could on your own.

[Phentex]

50. good info

I hate when people tell others how easy it is. It is DIFFERENT for everyone.

[CountAllVotes]

62. She had the lapband

and yes, that is the problem, she gets no nutrition from the food.

She was on protein shakes, etc. for awhile but it did no good.

The last time I saw her she looked pretty good and then she told me that she "gets hooked up every night". I was like and then she explained what is going on to me.

Sad indeed.

Nice lady too and a person who has been quite kind to me.

I hope she gets well soon!

[Beacool]

66. The lap band is supposed to be adjusted periodically.

The procedure can also be reversed. If your friend is losing so much weight, then her doctor can loosen the band a bit so her stomach is a bit larger.

[CountAllVotes]

67. I am no expert on this

so I cannot say what is going on w/her.

All I know is that she had this done several years ago and here she is like this today.

[Beacool]

68. What you describe usually happens more frequently with the gastric bypass.

The lap band is not as drastic a procedure. A silicone band is placed in the upper part of the stomach like a belt. Below is more info.



http://www.obesitylapbandsurgery.com/tecmain.html

[Samurai_Writer]

90. Sorry to hear about your friend.

I hope she gets well soon also. However, I don't understand what she means when she says she 'gets hooked up every night'...

[CountAllVotes]

91. Neither did I!

And then I asked and she told me that her husband hooks up a needle that is embedded into her arm to an IV so that she can be fed during the night.

It is very sad and I didn't ask any more questions about it other than if she was glad she had this done. At one point it was a yes, then it was a no, and the last time I saw her I did not ask again.

I believe she had this surgery several years ago when it first came out, that is about all I know about it other than she said her stomach was real small now and that she could not eat much. She was supposedly drinking a lot of "protein shakes" she said but, everything goes right through her she said. Since I've known her I watched her literally disintegrate before my eyes.

I consider this to be very risky surgery given what I have seen!

It was not a gastric bypass, I know that much.

Thanks for your good wishes for my friend!

[Samurai_Writer]

92. OK, now I'm really confused...

TPN (total parenteral nutrition) is feeding someone through an IV. I've never heard of it done outside a medical setting, by a registered nurse and under a doctor's supervision.

If she had lapband, why didn't they just remove the lapband? That's one of the plusses to lapband surgery -- it's reversible.

As a nurse, I'm just curious as to what all this is about. It seems very unusual for a lapband patient. Please know that what your friend is experiencing is an extreme circumstance. Most lapband surgeries are without complications and quite successful.

I do hope she is getting quality medical care from a bariatric specialist ... sounds like she needs it.

[CountAllVotes]

93. She does not care to revert to

Over 300 lbs.

I guess she's willing to die to stay "thin".

Yeah, she looks real thin now alright!

Before she got to where she is now (constantly losing more and more weight and the first thing she asks me is, "Do I look real thin to you?&quot . After that, she began wearing very tight black leather clothes and other ultra-tight clothing. Real strange IMO but I never said a word about it.

She is no spring chicken btw (50+), a mother of at least four or five children, one of which is quite ill.

There is no nurse attending to her best I know (care sucks where I live, believe me!).

As I said before, I never asked too many questions because frankly I do not believe she is going to be around a whole lot longer.

[Samurai_Writer]

94. That is so sad...

That she would rather die than be overweight again. I do hope she is getting some counselling.

[CountAllVotes]

95. I do hope she is getting some counselling.

I do not believe that she is.

I spoke w/her last week and she is so thin and now suffer from malnutrition that she is on disability and is applying for SSDI.

I really wonder about her husband I must admit. Why doesn't he say something?

Maybe he likes her in the tight leather clothes? I don't know but I do not believe she can exist for any great length of time the way she is now.

[RebelOne]

77. My daughter had gastric bypass and lost 200 pounds.

That was about 10 years ago and she has still managed to keep the weight off.

[Posteritatis]

57. Gastric bypass is a pretty devastating procedure

I wouldn't wish it on anyone and certainly wouldn't suggest anyone look into it unless they were in no-other-options-and-you're-gonna-die territory. Sometimes a combination of diet and metabolic problems can get people into places they can't get out of easily at all, and there's options for those, but GB's about as extreme as they come.

A friend of mine was considering it for weight issues for a couple of years and backed off that once she saw what the procedure does to people a couple of times. She's getting there the slow, considerably safer way now, no thanks to a douche of a doctor who kept hawking the surgery as the first and only option.

[Fearless]

37. He does have some nice health insurance.

[Iggo]

47. Good!

[Phentex]

49. I wish him well. It doesn't work for everyone...

and he will have to get used to a different lifestyle but good for him. I hope he is pleased with his progress.

[Jennicut]

51. Hope it goes well for him, weight issues are a terrible thing to struggle with.

I don't have major weight issues like Christie does but I do have diabetes. If he doesn't have type 2 diabetes already, he is certainly at risk for it. It's not a disease I would wish on anyone. I have type 1 and it is tough when you get sick constantly because your immune system is shot. Type 2 is no picnic either. I hope for his wife and kids that he loses the weight.

[gateley]

54. I wish him the best!

And as others have posted, it's key to change your ATTITUDE about food.

I know a woman who had gastric bypass, lost over 100 lbs, but gained almost all of it back. She was still using food as a drug to numb herself.

Another friend who when on MedFast (or something like that) told me that there were a number of people on the program who had re-gained weight after surgery, so it's not a panacea for ever and ever.

Good luck, Governor -- you can do it!

[Posteritatis]

59. If someone's getting surgery like that they've been in a rough place healthwise for awhile

It's definitely not something to joke or sneer about; you don't do stuff like that lightly and the effects for even a less-invasive thing like lap band surgery are pretty far-reaching. Being in a position where that becomes an option sucks.

(I'm actually pretty pleased to see the general reactions in the thread - I expected a lot more venom and a lot less humanity than is actually getting posted.)

[gateley]

61. I read or heard that he's tried "everything else" -- I sure hope this does it for him and that

he loves how he feels once he's dropped some weight, so he'll have incentive and WANT to keep it off.

I can't imagine being in the public eye with something, as he said, is so personal. More power to him!

[liberalmuse]

76. Aw, good. Fat Shaming has won!

It's a great day for shallow assholes.

[graham4anything]

78. Personally, I wish him the best and wish the fat jokes would stop..I also wonder

when the doctor yelled at him that he was too heavy, and would not live long,
and CC cursed that woman, and then ate those donuts on Letterman

I think CC in reality took that as a hard slap of cold glass reality in his face, and that inspired him to finally do something. I think the good doctor scared the sheet out of him and he tried to hide it over the years

and wellness rules.

I wish people would stop with the fat jokes

did anyone stop and think-maybe CC became a bully and a republican because of the abuse he might have gotten being obese his entire life and having people make fun of him?

I wouldn't vote for him, but I sure sympathize with him and his problem.

He does need to take it one day at a time, 24/7/365.

People have made fun of wellness, mostly young people. when one gets to 45, 50, older,
and looks around, a decade or so later, not very many people are alive weighing that much.
All of a sudden the 48 ounce sodas & tubs of buttered popcorn are not worth fighting for or dying over.

BTW-Coke today announced they will worldwide give more accurate totals to the amount of calories and sugar in each 12 ounce can and larger.

[HockeyMom]

79. His wife and children deserve this

I will give him the benefit of doubt that he did this for his love of them, if not for his own health. He doesn't warrant ridicule, or hidden motive, for something like this.

[former9thward]

82. Michelle Obama says Christie is "terrific".

I think Governor Christie is terrific and you know, his family is wonderful, and I wish them the best.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/michelle-obama-chris-christie-terrific-91060.html#ixzz2SkYpTr2Q

[freshwest]

83. I know two people who had this done. It's tough. Wish we had this from British research:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6262347.stm

Or this:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9384856/Flab-jab-could-provide-obesity-breakthrough.html

At one time this was suggested to help those with Prader–Willi syndrome which can lead to the need for constant supervision.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prader%E2%80%93Willi_syndrome

There are other things such as:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240209.php

These are for those who can afford medical solutions. For the rest, it's plenty of water and being careful with food.

One of the people I knew who had the surgery went on to lose a lot of weight and didn't get the rubber band or staple (or however CC is getting his done) removed for a long time until she felt she had made major changes. She did fine.

Another woman with serious problems from childhood SA ended up not losing weight, even though one would think that impossible. She passed on, but in a way, it wasn't obesity, it was her life that killed her.

I don't care for CC's politics but wish him well in his ordeal. I hope it will help him be a better person than he's been at times.

Maybe he can visit Obama at the White House and do some exercise there if either of them have any time.