Trenton – Gov. Chris Christie secretly underwent gastric band surgery in February to try to lose weight at the urging of his family, spokesman Michael Drewniak told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
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The father of four agreed to the surgery, in which a tube was placed around his stomach to restrict the amount of food he can eat, after turning 50 in September. Christie told The New York Post, which first reported the surgery, that he said he wasn’t motivated by thoughts of running for president.
“I’ve struggled with this issue for 20 years,” he told the newspaper. “For me, this is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them.”
Christie has never disclosed his weight. But he joked about his size during a February appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” pulling out a doughnut and saying his girth was “fair game” for comedians, who had made fun of his size for years.
Christie was soon angered by comments from a former White House physician who said she worried about him dying in office. The governor said Dr. Connie Mariano should “shut up.”
Days later, on Feb. 16, Christie had the surgery. He said the operation lasted 40 minutes and he was home the same afternoon.
“A week or two ago, I went to a steakhouse and ordered a steak and ate about a third of it and I was full,” he told the Post.
Christie declined to say how much weight he has lost since the surgery.
The Republican governor is running for a second term in November, although his name is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate.
“I know it sounds crazy to say that running for president is minor, but in the grand scheme of things, it was looking at Mary Pat and the kids and going, ‘I have to do this for them, even if I don’t give a crap about myself,'” he said.
Gastric band surgery is pitched as a minimally invasive procedure. One version of it is sold under the brand name Lap-Band. Its website says the surgery is appropriate for adults who have failed with more conservative alternatives, such as diet and exercise.
Christie has talked about working with a personal trainer since he first ran for governor four years ago.
The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery says that about 200,000 people in the U.S. have weight loss surgery each year.
good for him. best of luck governor
Ideal is to change lifestyle. However, if a person is unable to control their life without resorting to procedures, this is a step in the right direction. A gastric bypass would have been a better option- more invasive but better.
what a grubber !!
Stupid man, the band is horrible,ppl vomit and dont loose so much weight. He shudve gotten the sleeve
Like me and loose 130lb in 9mo like me
Lets hope it really does its job and he does in fact lose some good amount of weight. This guy is a fun governor.
It is unfortunate that their is prejudice against large people.
Good Gov Christie ! We need a president who is fit and looks good (American Beheimes all it counts is the looks)
It’s no one’s business what he did and if it was a secret, why is it being announced to the world on the web? I like Gov. Chriistie and I wish him good health. I know many people who couldn’t lose weight any other way than having surgery and although it seems rather drastic, it may be the only way for some people to lose weight.
Why does this have to be a secret? He is a public figure. He has discussed his weight loss struggles in the media. He should discuss his surgery openly especially since he can educate other people who may need similar surgery but don’t know facts or are afraid of it. Dick Chaney never shied away about his cardiac problems and heart transplant surgery was not a secret.
This man will never be president.
After he was disinvited from the most recent CPAC conference, Ann Coulter opened her CPAC talk thusly: “The sequester’s really ruined everything, hasn’t it? . . . Even CPAC had to cut back on its speakers this year by about 300 pounds.”
As hilarious as that remark was, I think she underestimated.