Poor eating habits, a lack of exercise, and work stress had left Australian Lisa Maree Spiteri with severe weight problems to battle. It didn’t help that being overweight ran in her family.

When she was 37, Lisa weighed a hefty 137 kilograms with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 54, putting her in the morbid obesity range.

Thankfully, Lisa never had to combat discrimination professionally. However, it was a different story when it came to her social life.

“The worst part of my weight problem came from people who judged me because of my weight, mainly the general public and people who didn’t know me,” recalls Lisa, who admitted she had tried dieting and exercising but without any success.

When Lisa came to Singapore to work in 2000 she learnt about lap-band surgery, a keyhole procedure to combat obesity. She considered it for a while, but a combination of hectic work schedules and the lack of motivation meant that it was soon pushed to the back of her mind. Then, a family crisis emerged and changed all that.

“When my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, that made me determined to get my weight off in order to help my family. At that point, I just needed to get it done and desperately wanted to get on with my life.”

The procedure was carried out by Dr. H.G. Baladas, a pioneer of lap-banding surgery in Singapore. The Specialist in General Surgery at Raffles Surgery Centre is considered a leading lap-band surgeon in the region.

A year after the operation, Lisa had lost 40 kilograms and by the next year, she lost another 40 kgs. By 2005, Lisa weighed 65 kgs with a BMI of 22, which put her at the ideal weight for her height.

When one eats a small amount, the pouch above the band fills and becomes stretched, sending signals to the brain of being full, which can then result in decreased calorie intake and drastic weight loss.

Needless to say, everyone who knew her was stunned by her transformation. For Lisa though, it was not just looking slimmer that changed her life.

“I am a new woman now. I look and feel a hundred per cent better and I have a lot more energy for everything. I just feel so good about myself these days,” she declares.

Lisa sincerely believes the operation has added 20 years to her life. While she never really had any problems making friends, nowadays, men certainly pay a lot more attention to her.

Lisa has grown used to smaller portions of food, and now eats a much more balanced diet. She also walks for exercise. “I thought the operation would allow me to get on with life at most. I never expected it to give me a life I never really had!” she cheerfully acclaims.