The relationship between weight and cancer risk is a bit of a mystery to researchers. They know that obesity is a risk factor for cancer, but it’s not understood exactly how or why.

A new study sheds a little more light on the subject. Women, but not men, had a decreased risk of cancer following stomach stapling. The Swedish bariatric surgery study was published online at The Lancet. You can also read more at msnbc/health.
The study, which began in 1987, included 2,010 obese patients who had stomach stapling performed and 2,037 obese controls who didn’t have the surgery.
Of the women who …read more

I just finished reading a really fun novel that touches on the topic of weight loss surgery, A Stitch in Time, by Allison Bottke. The main character, Dee Decker, loses 150 pounds in a year after having gastric bypass surgery.
It’s interesting that this is the second book I’ve read in the past month where I got an up-close look at life after WLS. I reviewed Susan Maria Leach’s Before & After here, and that introduced me to this whole concept.
If you’ve ever considered WLS, this novel will show you what it’s like to live post-surgery, where you must …read more

In my review of Susan Maria Leach’s book, Before & After: Living & Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery, I mentioned that this book has helped me make a major change in my life.
After reading it, I realized for the first time that I’ve acquired the unhealthy habit of overeating at the dinner table. I clean my plate every meal. It’s a habit, and I don’t even consider whether I feel full or not. I also feel like this shows appreciation to the cook (even when it’s me) by eating every single bite. And to further express my gratitude, …read more

I just finished reading this book, Before & After: Living and Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery, by Susan Maria Leach. I checked it out from our library because the key words “living well” caught my attention — see, I was thinking of you Lively Women readers!
Actually, somebody in cover design did a great job because skinny Susan in her black dress and killer shoes, set against the bright pink cover drew my eyes to this book immediately.
I confess I’d never thought about weight loss surgery before, so this book was eye-opening for me. After a lifetime of …read more