If you are reading this then chances are I’m flying to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia right now. I have articles automatically set to post for the 10 days while I’m away so I hope that you enjoy them!

Speculation has long abounded about Star Jones Reynold’s dramatic weight loss. In the early days after the 100+ lb loss, you’d see headlines such as “Star Jones refuses to confirm or deny that she had weight loss surgery”. She’d talk vaguely about “eating right” and/or “exercising”, but on the specifics of her success, she was mum.

A year or so later, Star admitted that she had “medical intervention” for her weight problem. Her loss was fast and dramatic; the changes to her body appearing to be happening overnight. People would point to the “hanging skin” they saw on her neck and arms to prove to themselves and their friends that they were right about her having had surgery. In one photo Star was wearing a very revealing dress and I saw what appeared to be scars very similar to my own husband’s weight loss surgery scars. My husband had a laparoscopic procedure done to help him reduce his weight.

For the first time, Star has decided to come clean with what type of “medical intervention” she had for her longstanding weight problem and has written an article for Glamour Magazine that will appear on newsstands August 7.

What did she have done? For now, it’s only speculation. Her loss was fast and dramatic; most people in the weight loss community don’t believe that the surgery type LapBand was used, as that produces slower results than those seen on Star. In the United States, six types of surgeries are used. “Stomach Stapling”, as weight loss surgery was once known, is very seldom used anymore.

The website, ObesityHelp.com, gives great information on the surgeries and offers resources to find a surgeon, and has support communities available for before and after surgery. The following surgery types and their descriptions were taken from ObesityHelp.com This information can be found at http://www.obesityhelp.com/content/wlsurgery.html I would recommend visiting the site, because the site shows photos of how the surgeries “bypass” the stomach and/or intestines and there are pictures of the LapBand device as it appears on the stomach.
The types of weight loss surgery available in the United States are:

LapBand

Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

Vertical Banded Gastroplasty

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass

Duodenal Switch

Biliopancreatic Diversion

How Weight Loss Surgery Reduces Weight?

Gastrointestinal surgery for obesity, also called bariatric surgery, alters the digestive process so as to achieve rapid weight loss. The operations can be divided into three types: restrictive, malabsorptive, and combined restrictive/malabsorptive. Restrictive weight loss surgeries limit food intake by creating a narrow passage from the upper part of the stomach into the larger lower part, reducing the amount of food the stomach can hold and slowing the passage of food through the stomach. Malabsorptive weight loss surgeries do not limit food intake, but instead exclude most of the small intestine from the digestive tract so fewer calories and nutrients are absorbed. Malabsorptive weight loss surgeries, also called intestinal bypasses, are no longer recommended because they result in severe nutritional deficiencies. Combined operations use stomach restriction and a partial bypass of the small intestine.

Adjustable Gastric Banding (also known as the LAP-BAND) In this procedure, a hollow band made of silicone rubber is placed around the stomach near its upper end, creating a small pouch and a narrow passage into the rest of the stomach. The band is then inflated with a salt solution through a tube that connects the band to an access port placed under the skin. It can be tightened or loosened over time to change the size of the passage by increasing or decreasing the amount of salt solution.

Vertical Gastrectomy (also called vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy, Greater Curvature Gastrectomy, Parietal Gastrectomy, Gastric Reduction and even Vertical Gastroplasty) is performed by approximately 15 surgeons worldwide. The originally procedure, conceived by Dr. D Johnston in England, was called The Magenstrasse and Mill Operation. It generates rapid weight loss by restricting the amount of food that can be eaten (removal of stomach or vertical gastrectomy) without any bypass of the intestines or malabsorption. The stomach pouch is usually made smaller than the pouch used in the Duodenal Switch.

Vertical Banded Gastroplasty (VBG) VBG uses both a band and staples to create a small stomach pouch, resulting in quick weight loss. Once the most common restrictive operation, VBG is not often used today.

Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RGB)This operation is the most common and successful combined weight loss surgery in the United States. First, the surgeon creates a small stomach pouch to restrict food intake. Next, a Y-shaped section of the small intestine is attached to the pouch to allow food to bypass the lower stomach, the duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine), and the first portion of the jejunum (the second segment of the small intestine). This reduces the amount of calories and nutrients the body absorbs. Rarely, a cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) is performed to avoid the gallstones that may result from rapid weight loss. More commonly, patients take medication after the operation to dissolve gallstones.

Duodenal Switch (also called vertical gastrectomy with duodenal switch, biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, DS or BPD-DS) is performed by approximately 50 surgeons worldwide. It generates weight loss by restricting the amount of food that can be eaten (partial gastrectomy (i.e., partial removal of the stomach along the outer curvature see diagram) and by limiting the amount of food (specifically fat) that is absorbed into the body (intestinal bypass or duodenal switch). This weight loss surgery is more controversial because it has a significant component of malabsorption (bypass of the intestinal tract), which seems to augment and help maintain long-term weight loss. Of the procedures currently performed for the treatment of obesity, it has some powerful and effective components. Due to concerns of possible long-term effects of malabsorption and the technical difficulty involved with this type of weight loss surgery, many surgeons don’t perform it.

Biliopancreatic Diversion (BPD) In this more complicated combined weight loss surgery, the lower portion of the stomach is removed. The small pouch that remains is connected directly to the final segment of the small intestine, completely bypassing the duodenum and the jejunum. Although this procedure leads to weight loss, it is used less often than other types of operations because of the high risk for nutritional deficiencies. This surgery is not commonly done anymore.

None of these surgeries allow a person to “eat everything they want to and lose weight”. The person must follow the strict guidelines given to him or her after the surgery in order for the surgery to be successful. In some cases, people who do not follow the guidelines either do not lose weight afterward, or they gain more. Some of the surgeries will not allow patients to eat items such as sugar and dense, refined carbohydrates, or they risk severe intestinal discomfort and sickness. This is known as “dumping”.

Weight loss surgery is not for everyone, nor will all insurances pay for it. However, in the case of people with serious weight problems, such as Star Jones, it is often advantageous to have the surgery in order to reduce enough weight so that other health problems, known as “comorbitities” are reduced or eliminated. Too much weight can take years off a person’s life.

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Its no secret that Star Jones lost a lot of weight. And I’m not talking 10-20lbs here..she’s lost A LOT of weight. But how much exactly? The exact figure isn’t known but its estimated to be 150-160lbs (68kg-72.7kg)! Amazing! At first she wouldn’t admit that the weight loss was a result of surgery. It has now been revealed that Star underwent gastric bypass surgery to help with her weight loss. Although she did go under the knife, she still eats very healthy food and exercises. I’m sure the majorty of the weight Star Jones has lost was a result of the surgery, but I’d say theres also a fair bit of the weight loss was a result of diet and exercise (I have no idea how much exactly).

She decided to lose weight because she knew she was going to be leaving her job of 9 years. Here’s what she said…"When I was leaving The View, I knew that I was going to make a career transition, so why not make a full transition? So I said, “Go for it!"

What is Star Jones’ Diet?

I have three meals a day. I never miss breakfast. I’ll have a couple of power snacks in the middle of the day, like cheese or some almonds, because my blood sugar level will go down — then you find yourself gorging.I have a protein-heavy breakfast: an egg and a piece of some meat, like two strips of bacon or sausage. I often have fish — my favorite is sea bass with olive oil and herbs — for lunch with spinach.Lunch is almost always where I have my carbs like pasta or rice. Dinner is almost always veggies and protein, like chicken, fish or beef.

Her biggest weight loss tip is to half what ever is on her plate, whether it be at a restaurant, friends house or just at home. "Whatever is put on my plate, I half it before I start eating because if it’s not on your plate, you won’t eat it!"

She does cheat every now and then, but not too often. And she doens’t go overboard! "Once every two or three weeks I have some fast food. But instead of a Double Whopper with cheese, I’ll get a Whopper Junior" She also exercises regularly..and she isn’t afraid to tell us what she does! "I try to exercise every day. And now, for the first time, I’m playing sports, instead of watching them. I take swimming and tennis lessons at least three times a week. But the biggest thing is I walk every single day, for a minimum of half an hour!"

How much does Star Jones Weigh? How much weight has Star Jones lost?

"I’m about the same weight I was when I left the show last June, a couple of pounds heavier. I’m just a little more toned because I’ve been doing a lot more exercising.My weight is healthy. I’m within the guidelines suggested for my height at 5′5,” according to my doctor. When I walk past a mirror, I still see the size 26 girl. Star Jones Reynolds admits that as amazing as her makeover is, she’s not done yet! “I haven’t reached my goal,?? she says. “I don’t ever want to think that I’m there already! “I was a couch potato for many years, she says. “I do work out now because I know it’s necessary."

“I used to look in the mirror and take pride in my figure, but that was when I was legitimately a full-figured woman," she writes. "I’d gradually gone from full-figured to morbidly obese."

She then had gastric bypass surgery.

"At first, I didn’t know if the surgery would work," she writes in the first-person essay. "I had spent my entire adult life telling everyone that I was fine with the way I looked. I never thought I’d have to explain it.

The following article was taken from Star Magazine

Star Jones’ weight loss is simply amazing. She lost 175 pounds! Here is how she did it:

On her transformation:

I’d made a commitment to get healthier and lose weight. Mentally, I still looked at myself as that “big girl.” For my entire adult life, I was morbidly obese.

Why she lost weight:

When I was leaving The View, I knew that I was going to make a career transition, so why not make a full transition? So I said, “Go for it!”

Star Jones’ diet:

I have three meals a day. I never miss breakfast. I’ll have a couple of power snacks in the middle of the day, like cheese or some almonds, because my blood sugar level will go down — then you find yourself gorging.

I have a protein-heavy breakfast: an egg and a piece of some meat, like two strips of bacon or sausage. I often have fish — my favorite is sea bass with olive oil and herbs — for lunch with spinach.

Lunch is almost always where I have my carbs like pasta or rice. Dinner is almost always veggies and protein, like chicken, fish or beef.

Her eating tip:

Whatever is put on my plate, I half it before I start eating because if it’s not on your plate, you won’t eat it!

How she rewards herself:

Once every two or three weeks I have some fast food. But instead of a Double Whopper with cheese, I’ll get a Whopper Junior.

Star Jones’ exercise routine:

I try to exercise every day. And now, for the first time, I’m playing sports, instead of watching them. I take swimming and tennis lessons at least three times a week. But the biggest thing is I walk every single day, for a minimum of half an hour!

On her weight:

I’m about the same weight I was when I left the show last June, a couple of pounds heavier. I’m just a little more toned because I’ve been doing a lot more exercising.

My weight is healthy. I’m within the guidelines suggested for my height at 5′5,” according to my doctor. When I walk past a mirror, I still see the size 26 girl.

Star Jones Reynolds admits that as amazing as her makeover is, she’s not done yet! “I haven’t reached my goal,” she says. “I don’t ever want to think that I’m there already!”

“I was a couch potato for many years,” she says. “I do work out now because I know it’s necessary.”