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Twelve percent of Swiss people are obese. A gastric bypass can help – as does Alexandra Baumann. This is her way to a better body feeling.
“If you had told me four years ago that I would do a via ferrata one day – I would have thought it was a bad joke!” says Alexandra Baumann. At the time, the 43-year-old communications specialist weighed 140 kilograms and was 1.60 meters tall. She suffered from weight-related type 2 diabetes, and even climbing stairs was a challenge.
The turning point for Alexandra Baumann came while playing with the Gottimeitli. “I couldn’t get up anymore. That’s when I knew: I can’t go on like this.” Alexandra Baumann decided on a gastric bypass operation.
Today she is forty kilos lighter. And much fitter, as she says. Baumann has been training with personal coach Steve Husistein for four years. A considerable financial outlay for her, but worth it: “I would never have made it out of my comfort zone on my own.”
No chance without hard training
How do you learn to appreciate a body you’ve always rejected? For Alexandra Baumann, sporting challenges are the way to a better body feeling. She wants to climb a via ferrata for the first time in her life. “I want to prove to myself that I can do it!”
Personal coach Steve Husistein supports them. Alexandra needs to develop enough strength to pull her weight up the rock and overcome her fear of heights. The mental aspect is particularly important for Husistein.
It wasn’t easy for musician Caroline Krattiger either. She lost 40 kilos in a year. Without an operation, but with a radical change in diet, a fitness coach and a lot of training. “I lose weight quickly,” she says, “but unfortunately also quickly regained weight”. She was never diagnosed with obesity, “but at 120 kilos I probably belonged in this category”.
Alexandra Baumann knows the yo-yo effect well enough. Hardly a diet she hasn’t tried. As a result, it ended up becoming heavier instead of lighter. This experience is consistent with scientific knowledge. Crash diets are not a solution for people with obesity.
The stress of eating
Alexandra Baumann and Caroline Krattiger have a difficult relationship with food. Neither of them can cook, they discover. And enjoy? Rarely, both say: “Eating is always a stress.”
People with obesity lack the “stop signal” when eating. The automatic control of the feeling of satiety works poorly or not at all for them. You can imagine it like a broken traffic light, experts say. The brain signals “more” – no matter how much has been eaten. The predisposition to it is hereditary. It is difficult to deal with this with the will alone. In the long run, the body usually has the upper hand.
“Even as a child, I was rounder than others,” says Alexandra Baumann. She was teased and laughed at. Alexandra sought comfort in food. A vicious cycle of overeating, dieting and shame began. “The more I felt ashamed of my secret food and my body, the more frequent the binge eating became. Today I have better control over my eating disorder. But I didn’t get rid of her.”
Unlike Alexandra Baumann, Caroline Krattiger has not suffered from her weight. She has never experienced bullying. “On the KKL stage, it’s not your looks that count, but whether you play well or not.”
The weight stagnates
Three years after the operation, Alexandra Baumann is at a difficult point. Medically, the operation was a success. She has lost forty kilos, the diabetes is gone. Freedom of movement and quality of life have improved massively. But her weight has been stagnating for a year and the desired normal weight has not come about. Alexandra Baumann is struggling with that.
Anyone who doesn’t know me still sees an overweight person. Not the success. I have to live with that.
After two to three years, the effect of the gastric bypass decreases significantly, confirms doctor Philippe Beissner from the Diabetes Obesity Center Zurich (DAZZ). Two-thirds of weight loss happens in the first six months. The rest in another six to twelve months: “This is the ‘honeymoon’ phase, it just goes down. After that, the metabolism becomes more economical, there can even be a slight yo-yo effect.”
That could be tough for the patients. In his experience, the weight often only levels off after seven to ten years.
Alexandra Baumann is convinced that the reasons for severe obesity are often to be found in the psyche. The gastric bypass could not solve this button. “One is operated on the body, not on the head,” says Baumann. Finding peace with your body takes time. “Losing weight is a marathon. But I’m on the right track!”