Celebrities with gastric bands
If you're famous sometimes a fast paced lifestyle and a crack like addiction to fast food can often lead to obesity. Sure, one way to lose the weight is to spend a lifetime of eating right and exercising but these days there is another way to accomplish the impossible. If you need to lose a few pounds one way of doing it is surgically. In case you're the sort of person who only does things that cool people do, you'll be interested to know that Sharon Osbourne had the treatment, Courtney Love has been highly rumored to have had it, and there are sure to be many others. The word "celebrity" usually conjures up images of trim physiques and beautiful faces. However like most Americans, there are celebrities who have struggled with their weight. Many of these celebrities, who are scrutinized in the public eye, have turned to weight loss surgery. Some, like the Today Show's Al Roker and Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips fame, are very upfront about having weight loss surgery. Others, including Star Jones (formerly of The View), spend years denying that their weight loss was the result of surgery. This is a very popular (though often denied) diet among Hollywood's stars, and has the added advantage of not actually being a diet. The popular roux-en-y surgical procedure, involves the combination of the creation of a pouch (essentially a smaller stomach) and surgically bypassing a section of the intestines. This type of bariatric surgery is associated with faster weight loss, but can be more expensive and harder to reverse than a gastric banding procedure. Celebrities who have had traditional gastric bypass weight loss surgery include: Michael Gendary (actor); John Popper (lead singer of Blues Traveler, Songwriter); Al Roker (weatherman Today Show, author); Star Jones (TV personality), and; Carnie Wilson (singer in Wilson Phillips).
The Fobi Pouch method, a variation of the roux-en-y gastric bypass procedure, uses a band to divide the stomach, creating a smaller pouch. Celebrities who underwent the Fobi Pouch method of gastric bypass surgery include: Jennifer Holiday (singer, actress); Jo Marie Payton (actress); Etta James (singer), Rosanne Barr (actress, comedienne), and; Randy Jackson (American Idol judge, musician, record producer). Unlike gastric bypass surgery, the LAP-BAND® System does not reroute the intestines. Instead, a silicone band is used to create a small pouch at the top of the stomach. Although not as popular in the United States as gastric bypass surgery, LAP-BAND® System surgery is typically less expensive and is both adjustable and reversible. Celebrities who have had LAP-BAND® surgery include: Mikey Robbins (Australian TV personality); Anne Diamond (British TV personality); Brian Dennehy (actor); Joe Gannascoli (actor); Khaliah Ali (fashion designer, author, daughter of Muhammad Ali); Ann Wilson (lead singer of the rock band Heart), and; Sharon Osbourne (TV personality, music manager/promoter, wife of Ozzy Osbourne).
When celebrities radically transform their appearance, the public usually wants to know how they did it. Did the celebrity have surgery? Work out with a trainer for hours at a time? Use diet pills? Numerous celebrities are willing to disclose that they had surgery. Some announce the surgery through a media outlet or even place the weight loss surgery at center stage. For example, Carnie Wilson had a live Internet broadcast of her gastric bypass surgery in 1999. After going from a size 28 to a size 6, Wilson showed off her new physique by posing for Playboy. Al Roker permitted a video portion of his gastric bypass surgery to be aired on television, after initially hiding the fact that he was going to have the surgery. By the time the segment aired, he had lost nearly 100 pounds. Some celebrities may admit to having weight loss surgery when asked, but won't go out of their way to talk about it. Many times, once the weight loss surgery is made public knowledge, a celebrity will be featured in a magazine article or on the website of the surgeon who performed the procedure. Jo Marie Payton, Etta James, American Idol's Randy Jackson, and Roseanne Barr have all been featured in weight loss articles and on the websites of their bariatric surgeons who performed their surgeries.
