Happy July 4th from BariatricPal!

[Alex Brecher 10,484]

Hey, BariatricPal Members!

Happy Fourth of July! This summer holiday is filled with parades, barbecues and concerts, and we hope that your holiday involves family and friends! Any weight loss surgery patient or potential patient can use a little advice to get through a three-day weekend, so that’s why we’ve put together this newsletter! Here is what you’ll find.

• Pay It Forward This Independence Day
• July 4 Barbecue: What Are You Bringing to the Party?
• Go, Team USA, at the FIFA World Cup!
• A Little Honesty, Please! (From Yourself, to Yourself)!

Have a safe holiday weekend! We hope you find some time to spend part of it with us.

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder

BariatricPal.com

Pay It Forward This Independence Day

On July 4, the United States celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence as a significant step in the separation from the United Kingdom. Since then, Americans have enjoyed a degree of prosperity that is unparalleled in most places in the world, and many of us are grateful for the freedom that we have to express our thoughts, pursue our interests, and choose our friends.

This weekend, we suggest that you take a few minutes to reflect on some of the things in your life that you are grateful for, whether that includes your family and friends, your job, or your freedom to make decisions that affect your own health.

We also suggest taking a few minutes to help someone else out in any way that you can think of. You could help your neighbor clean out the garage, volunteer at a homeless shelter, or read a book to children at a local library. Your way of helping may be as simple as logging on to BariatricPal and giving a struggling member a few words of encouragement. Kindness can only make this country better!

July 4 Barbecue: What Are You Bringing to the Party?

Your friends or parents invited you over for a barbecue this Fourth of July weekend, and you know what that means: ribs, hot dogs, baked Beans, potato salad, coleslaw, and cupcakes. Unfortunately, you know from past years that there is not going to be anything that you can eat. What can you do without being rude?

Be polite, of course! No good guest shows up to a party empty-handed, so why would you? Think about the foods that you need to stick to your diet during the barbecue, and bring them. Just make sure you bring enough for several people because these healthy treats may be the biggest hits of the afternoon.

First, make sure that you bring some lean Protein. You might bring a package of vegetarian burgers or turkey burgers to be grilled along with the other meat. If you don’t think the host will be willing to grill your Protein for you, bring your own pre-cooked veggie burger, low-fat cheese, or hard-boiled eggs. Another option is to bring a high-protein salad to share. You might try chicken breast, egg white, or tuna salad made with Greek yogurt.

You’ll also want another dish or two to eat with your protein. These are a few foods to consider bringing.

• Classic green salad with a bottle of dressing on the side.
• Raw or grilled veggie kebobs with cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, bell pepper pieces, and zucchini slices.
• A cut-up watermelon so that you and the other health-conscious guests can have something to eat for dessert instead of brownies and chocolate chip Cookies.
• Frozen bananas. These may simple, but a half of a frozen banana can keep you from digging into the ice cream.

When you bring enough delicious and healthy food for everyone to share, you can be certain that you will be able to stick to your diet at a barbecue and still be able to enjoy the occasion with everyone else.

Go, Team USA, at the FIFA World Cup!

Soccer is nowhere near being as popular in the U.S. as in many parts of the rest of the world, and it lags far behind the major sports of football, baseball, hockey, and basketball. Many Americans do not watch any Major League Soccer games during the professional season, and can’t name the top American or international players. Still, that lack of interest changes once every four years during the FIFA World Cup.

As the games play out in Brazil, millions are watching these incredible athletes. Whether you are a patriotic American who roots for Team USA, or you have chosen your favorite teams based their stories or on your or your family’s ancestry, you can use the FIFA World Cup 2014 as motivation to get in better shape.

You may not have the athleticism of these seasoned and talented athletes, but you can use a soccer ball to get yourself moving. One great idea for getting some exercise is to bring a soccer ball with you whenever you go to a picnic or another outdoors event. Take it out and kick it around with your friends and family when you have a few minutes to spare, and you’ll burn a few calories without much effort. You would be surprised at how much of an effect this can have on your weight loss when you do it regularly.

You don’t need to be a good athlete to have fun and burn calories with a soccer ball. If you’re not up for sprinting up and down a soccer field during a full-out game, try one of these lower-intensity alternatives with a soccer ball or another kind of ball.

• Kick the ball around with your friends and family.
• Play dodgeball.
• Play monkey-in-the-middle.
• Play kickball.

Whenever you make exercise fun and convenient, you are more likely to do it. So, keep your soccer ball handy and get it out whenever you can! You’ll also be showing your support for the World Cup teams.

A Little Honesty, Please! (From Yourself, to Yourself)!

This topic comes up all the time on BariatricPal, and it’s worth mentioning here as a little reminder. The only way you will be able to lose weight and keep it off is to be honest with yourself with respect to your food choices, portion sizes, and exercise. What other people believe doesn’t matter. Tricking yourself into thinking you are following the plan when you really aren’t will not lead you to lose weight.

If you hit a weight loss plateau, you start to feel sick frequently, or your health numbers are not as good as your doctor expected, ask yourself these questions.

• “Am I measuring every single bite?”
• “Am I drinking enough Water every day in between – not with – meals?”
• “Am I eating a source of lean protein at every meal and snack? ”
• “Am I choosing nutritious foods or sugary, fatty foods?”

If you’ve fallen into a few bad habits and you’ve noticed that you might not be telling yourself the whole truth and nothing but the truth, a three-day weekend like the Independence Day weekend can be a good time to get back into it. Use the extra time to figure out what you can do better, and how you will make it happen.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes on BariatricPal!

[InfiniteButterfly 438]

Have a happy fourth!

[RJ'S/beginning 5,357]

In Canada it was last weekend....lol

But thanks anyway....Canada Day, not USA day here.....hehehehe

[kll724 3,055]

Happy Independence day to us in the USA and to Canada whose day was last week!

[hcabrooks197 20]

Happy fourth of July! I hope I make great choices today!

[Makinchanges4me 44]

Happy 4th of July. Hope everyone has a great holiday!