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Craving sushi? You likely will not be able to tolerate your favourite sushi rolls because of the rice and seaweed wrap, however there are several other equally satisfying options on every Asian-style restaurant menu to consider. Indulge in an order of tartar or sashimi. These rice-less options are easier to digest. Don’t be afraid to ask if your favourite sushi rolls can be made with a cucumber wrap instead of the traditional seaweed wrap. This is often a ‘low carb’ option on sushi menus. Order a side of edamame beans. These soybeans are not only a good source of protein, but they are also rich in fibre. Try a protein rich Asian soup. Asian-style restaurants often have a traditional soup with eggs, tofu, chicken, and/or shrimp. Prioritize the solid pieces and leave most of the broth behind. Salmon or tuna salad. Most sushi restaurants have a simple green salad with a seared piece of fish and a flavourful salad dressing. Sandwiches & Wraps· Choose a sandwich on toasted bread. If it is a large sandwich, remove the top piece of bread. Great options include: chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad and deli meats. Wraps are also a good option. Opt for baked chicken rather than crispy chicken. Breakfast egg sandwiches Choose a breakfast wrap or a toasted english muffin sandwich. Skip the bacon and sausage. Salad Almost all restaurants now have a green salad with chicken. Again, opt for grilled chicken instead of crispy chicken. Other high protein options include: taco salads, chickpea salads and bean salads. Chili Whether you choose the vegetarian or meat version, chili packs a lot of protein. They are also very easy to digest making them the perfect option if you have recently transitioned to solid food. Here are some other helpful tips to challenge those old fast food habits: Skip the combo option… yes, even if it’s cheaper! Don’t order a drink. You will be less tempted to drink and eat at the same time if you don’t have a refreshing beverage staring you down during your meal. Eat in the restaurant instead of in the car. If you are driving and eating, food is more likely to block. You can’t be mindful if you are multitasking! Choose foods described as: grilled, baked, sautéed, broiled, steamed, boiled, etc. more often. These cooking methods are lower in calories. Many corner stores and gas stations now have ‘grab and go’ options in their fridges such as sandwiches, salads, protein shakes, yogurt parfaits, etc. Next time you get gas, make a mental note of 3 appropriate meal options you could choose if you were in a pinch. Bon appétit!- Lisa & Monica

Another helpful addition is “Added Sugars”, which is found under the carbohydrate information. Naturally occurring sugars are primarily from fruit (fructose) and dairy (lactose). Vegetables and grains can also contain a small amount of naturally occurring sugar. For added sugars, look for the words sugar, syrup, agave, molasses, juice, beet sugar, brown sugar, turbinado and honey. Now that we have the total and added sugars, you can determine if the food or beverage is something you can work into your eating. While there are no formal guidelines, limiting foods and fluids to products that have less than 5 grams of added sugar is a starting point. A rule of thumb for carbohydrate foods is to eat the food that is closest to the farm. That means the least processed the better. For example, a peeled apple is better for you than applesauce. Applesauce is better for you than juice. One hundred percent real fruit juice is another way to say “sugar water” for bariatric patients. The Nutrition Facts Label will list naturally occurring sugars, but you won’t see added sugars listed. So, juice is a high sugar item. Your dietitian will assess your activity level, blood sugar readings, body composition and tolerances to help you find a healthy carbohydrate goal to work into your eating. We now have a better tool to hunt down the added sugars in our foods and beverages. Happy hunting!

I’m in New Zealand today, where I have been for the past three weeks. It has been a privilege to work with a number of bariatric professionals from different disciplines associated with the Foundations Healthy Living Retreat. During this five-day retreat, a small group of post-operative bariatric patients live together, eat together, exercise together, learn together and share with one another. Various staff members share their expertise about healthy living. Topics include much more than how to eat well and exercise. Participants learn the importance of focusing on personal values in all areas of their lives, discover the importance of positive self-talk, address self-sabotage and learn the importance of living mindfully. Coping skills, communication skills, and boundary setting skills are discussed. The topics of shame and vulnerability are explored, as well. Participants get what all bariatric patients in all corners of the world need following bariatric surgery: the Foundations of Healthy Living. Hmmm… good name for the retreat! What I think as I look around me are the many “non-coincidences” in my immediate surrounding. I do not believe that my being here, halfway around the world, is a coincidence. To begin with, Dr. David Schroeder, a bariatric surgeon, and his wife, Andrea, are, in many ways, absurdly similar in personality to my husband Steve and myself. David and Steve are both kind, intelligent, rational, left-brain thinkers who are mild-mannered and soft-spoken. Andrea and I, on the other hand, while also kind and intelligent, are passionate, passionate and more passionate. Translated, we are thinkers and DO-ers, we are upfront and direct, and are most definitely whatever the opposite of soft-spoken is. Oh, loud. That’s it! Andrea and David are passionate about their work in the bariatric field. They are zealous about the physical health of surgical weight loss patients and are also super passionate about the patients’ psychological health. The Schroeder’s know that the journey of recovering from obesity takes a lifetime and includes the physical and the psychological wellbeing of each person. Andrea created the Foundations of Healthy Living Retreat and they have been hosting the retreats for the past five years. It is definitely not a coincidence that David reached out to me after reading my first book, Eat It Up! Our professional philosophies are very much in sync. My work, with great help from Steve, is all about addressing the psychological needs of patients while their physical needs are being medically managed. David and Andrea, like Steve and myself, dedicate much more than our careers to providing bariatric patients with education and support. We address the WHOLE person, pre-operatively and after weight loss surgery. We put our hearts and souls into the work we do because we are convinced by the feedback our patients provide that they want and need much more than the surgical procedure can provide in order for them to live healthy lives, both physically and psychologically following bariatric surgery. Since meeting in 2011, I have learned a great deal by working with both Andrea and David. The Schroeder’s have twice brought me to New Zealand where I have had the opportunity to learn from and contribute to, the lives and education of their patients and staff. Andrea and David, as well as every person presenting information at the retreat, address bariatric patients from a whole person perspective. Each participant is treated respectfully and compassionately, as a human being who is much more than a bariatric patient. Their emotional support needs are emphasized, as a success following bariatric surgery involves more than dealing with a person’s biological innards. Is it a coincidence that Andrea and David, in New Zealand, know the same things that Steve and I know in the US? We all know and work toward, helping patients and bariatric professionals realize that bariatric patients have tremendous emotional and psychological needs that require attention. Behavior modification by itself is not enough when it comes to sustaining weight loss. If it were, well… wouldn’t more people have kept weight off after diets and bariatric surgery? Is it a coincidence that the bariatric patients I have talked with during individual sessions, along with the participants at the retreats, all from New Zealand, talk about the exact same issues as the bariatric patients I have worked with in the US for the past 15 years? I’m not talking about the physical problems. I’m talking about the lack of self-care this population acknowledges. Not just in their eating and exercise behaviors. These people talk about a great lack of self-value that translates to a lack of proper self-care. The greatest common denominator aside from the physical co-morbidities of the bariatric patients I have spent time with in both countries boils down to this: I don’t believe I’m good enough. That, my friends, is the definition of shame. Our bariatric patients need to heal from the shame that draws them back into unhealthy habits. Healing from shame requires much, much more than a bariatric procedure in an operating room, or “theater,” as they call it in New Zealand. It is not coincidental that bariatric patients across the globe suffer from shame. It is tragic that so few bariatric professionals around the world are willing to provide the full spectrum of care that patients require in order to be able to follow through with behavior modification techniques. Deep shame will eventually extinguish behavior modification efforts. How long before more bariatric professionals get it? How long before more than a handful of patients get the emotional support and psychological care they need after bariatric surgery? How long before we provide a truly comprehensive program to help our patients eliminate shame and establish self-acceptance? The shame belongs to the programs and professionals who do not provide a comprehensive program… because those programs simply aren’t good enough. (Along with the Schroeder’s, I will be offering residential retreats through bariatric centers in the near future. For more information, contact me at connie@conniestapletonphd.com.) I’m grateful for the non-coincidences that have led to meeting Andrea and David Schroeder. I am not surprised to see and hear that the patients in our very distant geographical countries are so very similar. Mostly, I am thrilled to know that there are professionals and patients who know that the Foundations of Healthy Living go way beyond medical care alone! For now, patients can participate in the GAIN While You Lose 10-week program. This is a great way for patients around the country (and the world) to have access to the same topics discussed in the Foundations of Living Retreat. This class includes an hour and a half “lesson,” taught live but available online or via recorded session, followed by weekly homework to make the information applicable to each person’s life. (http://www.conniestapletonphd.com/onlin…/weight-loss-program) Why aren’t we currently doing retreats in the US? Are you, the patients, willing to pay to attend? Are you willing to take the time and spend the money to invest in yourself? Do you value yourself enough to work on your emotional issues? You’ve most likely been willing to pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for weight loss programs, powders, gimmicks and scams. What about actually finding a way to find self-acceptance, a requirement for being able to follow through with behavior modification tools? Patients: there is no shame in having problems. It is tragic to me if you know there are problems, but choose not address them. Please seek the help you need! After all: YOUR HEALTH is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. THIS DAY. EVERY DAY.

In this space remember the importance of prioritizing good self caretaking, talking more kindly to and about yourself, embracing and feeling your feelings, setting boundaries, declining to engage in gossip or negative chatter, walking away from low energy people and situations, being gentle with yourself, not putting unrealistic demands on your time or energy, and understanding that it’s actually GOOD to be SELFish. Bring to the forefront of your mind your innate knowing of the absolute necessity of nurturing your soul with things like art and music and movement and nature and deep conversations with people you love, respect and admire. Let this Valentine’s Day be a Reminder that you need to Love YOU FIRST. That you need to be your most significant other <3! Live In Love, Louisa

If so you might be an EMPATH. An empath is a person with the ability to sense the mental or emotional state of another individual. An empath can psychically feel the emotions, feelings, energy and even thoughts of others. A few common traits of an empath: Highly intuitive Emotionally sensitive (often labeled by others as “overly sensitive” or “too emotional”) Can feel in their own bodies the emotions of others Often absorb other people’s energy Frequently feels overwhelmed in crowds Typically have accurate initial gut feelings about people/situations Need a lot of alone time Have big hearts and can be taken advantage of Because they can see and sense problems (and what needs to be done to resolve them) in other people’s lives they often feel responsible to fix them. What’s all this got to do with food? If you are an empath there is a good chance you are not using food to manage YOUR energy but to manage OTHER PEOPLE’s energy. It’s like you are psychic/energy sponge who absorbs other people’s energy throughout the day, whether it be the co-worker who is cranky, the happy giggly girl in line at Target, your good friend who is going through a break up, or the heated political debates on television. When you unknowingly absorb these energies you can be left feeling anxious, drained, depressed, overwhelmed, and even confused by the end of what seemed to be a normal, productive ‘uneventful’ day. Such feelings can be a trigger to overeat. If you are familiar with emotional eating you KNOW that overeating is a good way to escape or calm such emotions. So what’s an empath to do to stop from picking up and taking on everyone else’s emotions? Start to notice energy. Notice how you feel in different situations, around various people. Connect to your body: does your body feel calm and relaxed around this person or uptight and anxious, do you have a knot in your stomach, are your shoulders scrunched, do you feel the need to be defensive, or do you feel calm and safe? Notice how you feel in a cluttered room vs. a bare room, how you feel listening to different music, how you feel when you wear certain colors, etc. Protect your energy; before you leave the house in the morning imagine yourself being protected by a sparkly white or golden bubble and the only thing that can penetrate this bubble is love and healing energy, no negative energy can get through this beautiful circle of light. If you’ve been around someone who’s uptight anxious or angry literally brush their energy off your body with your hand. Hold your hands about and inch away from your body and brush around your head, down your opposite arms, down your chest stomach and legs. Or even just shaking your hands down by your side with the intent of shaking off their energy can help. If you are in a conversation with someone who is angry or anxious you can imagine you are behind a one way mirror and everything they say just bounces right back to them, or imagine you are wearing a suit of teflon and everything they say just slides right off. Stretch your body (we hold emotions in our muscles… when you stretch it helps release stored emotions). Spend time in nature. Walk barefoot in the grass. Take a bath in epsom salt. Create a transition ritual for when come home from an event, or work, or school, etc. It can be something like deciding to change your shirt and while changing your shirt ask that any energies that you've absorbed that are not yours be released saying ”I now release any energies that I may have absorbed that are not mine. I send them to be transmuted to light and love and sent back to their rightful owner!” Spend time near water. Meditate. I am seeing this more and more in my practice that energy sensitive people often struggle with food or some other addiction as a way to manage all the intense emotions of the world these days. If this article resonates with you it is important to understand that this is very real and that you begin to truly honor your intuition and energy sensitivities. Then set out to learn positive self nurturing rituals to protect and heal you own energy. I will be offering Zoom groups to discuss emotional eating, eating as a reflection of self love and respect, and learning to notice and protect your energy. If you have any questions or comments do not hesitate to contact me!

With the New Year comes the New Year Resolutions. For many people, one of the largest resolutions is a change in lifestyle - that includes losing weight! I remember my resolution in 2012 was to lose weight and get healthy. And I was able to do that with the help of the vertical sleeve. 2015 is going to hold that for many people and thousands of people undergo weight loss surgery to help them achieve their healthy goals for the new year. For those of you that are just thinking about surgery, I want to encourage you to know that you are not alone! You have a wealth of resources at your fingertips. I wanted to take a moment to share with you some amazing resources that you may find helpful on your journey! Websites BariatricPal.com Of course, BariatricPal is one of the very best websites to find information and support. Here there are “rooms” geared for each surgery as well as pages for recipes, articles, and much more. You will find information on everything you might want to know from before surgery to years after. I suggest checking out the Before/After pages for a good dose of motivation and inspiration! 7BitesShow.com 7 Bites is the first cooking series on YouTube geared specifically toward the bariatric community. The website has videos, recipes and blog posts. weightlosssurgerychannel.com Weight Loss Surgery Channel has a collection of videos on everything WLS related weather it be health, food and recipes, and more. BariatricFoodie The Bariatric Foodie has some great recipes for those that still love food, but want to stay on track TheWorldAccordingToEggface Eggface is one of the most popular of the bariatric cooking blogs. You will find great recipes, blog posts and giveaways on her blog. BariatricCookery.com This is a great resource page for everything from recipes to products. Books The “Big Book” series by Alex Breacher and Natalie Stein. There are four books in the series and all are great reads. They have a wealth of information on everything you need to know before, during and after surgery. The very best thing about these books is that they include personal stories from people that have been there. Breaking The Chains: A Guide To Bariatric Surgery by Jennifer DeMoss and Suzette Munson. The ladies of 7Bites pull from their and others’ experiences with weight loss surgery to provide a simplified, but comprehensive guide. Information on everything from how to pick your surgery and doctor to how to survive the first two weeks after surgery are included. The Sleeved Life by Pennie Nicola. This book tells about Pennie’s experience with the Vertical Sleeve procedure and discusses the ins and outs of the surgery from start to finish. Weight Loss Surgery For Dummies. The everything you ever wanted to know and then some guide to all things weight loss surgery. Many, MANY doctors and nurses recommend this book to their patients. Another great resource not listed here is your local bariatric support group! If you haven’t found one yet, contact your Surgery Center of Excellence or your nutritionist, they should be able to give you a good idea of one or two in your area. Or you can check out the list here on Bariatric Pal - it’s a very comprehensive list of support groups around the world!

A Attitude “ Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” – Winston Churchill A stands for Attitude. Your attitude will determine how you see the world, whether you see your glass as half-empty or half-full. Focus on having only a positive attitude towards your weight loss surgery. Realize that everything in your life needed to happen in order for you to have the life you have today, even the events that might have contributed to your obesity. Rather than viewing your life as “jinxed” or “cursed,” consider past events as lessons that had to be learned at the University of Life or at the “school of hard knocks”. Your attitude will also affect your aspirations. If your attitude is poor, then your aspirations will likely be small, when the truth is there are no limits to your aspirations. Most people have aspirations, but their aspirations are usually so small and uninspiring. Stop setting “realistic goals.” Instead, why not see how high you can fly? Like the renowned motivational speaker Les Brown said, “Shoot for the stars, so if you fail, you might hit the moon!” Stop staring into the bottom of that half-empty glass, and start drinking from the half-full glass of life. *The previous was an excerpt from Dr. Vuong's new book, Weight Loss Surgery Success: Dr. V's A-Z Tips for Losing Weight and Gaining Enlightenment, now available on Amazon.com.

Like pretty much everything else in your life, the holidays are a whole new ballgame after weight loss surgery. Your weight loss surgery diet is strict. It doesn’t include fatty foods and sugary desserts. Going off your weight loss surgery diet can stall weight loss and also cause complications. You could be prone to dumping syndrome if you have the gastric sleeve or gastric bypass, and lap-banders can face obstructions and acid reflux with the wrong foods or too much. If you let your guard down for the rest of November and December, you can find yourself slipping off of your diet and feeling pretty unhealthy. But by keeping your eyes open and planning ahead, you can keep yourself on track and get through the holiday season feeling proud of yourself. Watch Carefully to Avoid Extra Calories Calories show up everywhere at this time of year. Sometimes they don’t even seem that bad, but they add up quickly. Have a bite here and a handful there without paying much attention, and you might be disappointed when you weigh in on New Year’s Day. Don’t let calories slip into your diet. First, be aware of the extra calories that are around. They can include any of the following. Lunch or dinner out when a friend or family member comes to town. Chocolate truffles on the secretary’s desk or the break room at work. Cookies from well-meaning friends and family who want you to taste-test their creations. Sweetened, pumpkin-spice coffee instead of calorie-free regular coffee. Food court fare when you’re holiday shopping at the mall. Holiday parties, potlucks, and dinners. Stick to Your Good WLS Habits The first line of defense is to stick to your regular good everyday weight loss surgery habits. Log every bite of food you take to keep from getting in hundreds of extra calories from sneaking in a taste here and there. Even if you have to estimate the calories in some of your food, especially if you eat out or at a party, you can keep more discipline if you log your food. Also, think about your other healthy habits. Keep drinking water between meals. And, protein is still all-important. Make sure you have some at each meal and snack. Focusing on finding lean protein can keep you focused when you’re faced with all kinds of other unhealthy choices. Arm Yourself Against Temptation If you’re starving and you’re face-to-face with a basket of chocolate-covered pretzels, you might opt for the sugary, high-carb snack. Unless that is, you have your own weapon. Keep some high-protein and low-calorie choices with you at all times so you never need to go for the junk food in desperation. We have many health snack options at the BariatricPal Store! Take them with you to work, or in your car, purse, or pocket. You can have them if you’re stuck in traffic or at the mall at mealtimes. Almonds packed in 1-ounce portions. Beef jerky (not fatty beef sticks). Apples Cheese sticks Roasted soybeans or garbanzo beans Tuna pouch Work around Your Cravings You don’t need to deprive yourself completely at holiday time. If there’s a particular taste you want, there’s a good chance you can satisfy your craving with a healthier alternative. For example, you can have lean ham and turkey breast instead of brisket and turkey with the skin on it. Roast green beans with onions, rosemary, and balsamic vinegar instead of having green bean casserole, bake sweet potatoes instead of having candied ones, and puree cauliflower or carrot instead of making mashed potatoes. Use the same strategy for desserts. Go for sugar-free cocoa mix instead of chocolate fudge when you’re craving chocolate. Munch on plain popcorn while your friends are passing around the caramel corn. For breakfast, make high-protein oatmeal pumpkin pancakes instead of regular pumpkin pancakes. Plan for a Few Treats Almost everyone has a few holiday treats that are irresistible. There may be some family recipe that you’ve had at every Christmas for as long as you can remember, or maybe a coworker brings in her cinnamon rolls made from a secret recipe. Whatever it is, you feel as though the holidays are incomplete without it. There’s no reason not to plan for one or two key treats. Just be sure you plan for them and stick to a single serving. Savor it, and concentrate on the flavors and on the memories and feelings it brings up. Then get right back on your regular diet. There are a couple of reasons why some weight loss surgery patients might be better off skipping even the occasional special holiday treat. First, don’t start if you’re not sure you can stop. If you’re not confident that you can stick to a single serving, it’s best not to start eating. Second, some weight loss surgery patients can’t tolerate all kinds of junk food. Fried and doughy foods are risky for lap-band patients, since they can obstruct the band. Gastric bypass and vertical sleeve gastrectomy patients are at risk for dumping syndrome from eating too much sugar or fat at once. And, no weight loss surgery patient should eat too much, since that can stretch the pouch or sleeve. The holiday season is a happy time, but it’s a struggle if you’re trying to lose weight and get healthy. You can prevent it from sneaking up on you and interfering with your weight loss by staying alert and having a plan.

When new bariatric patients come to my practice, one of the first things we discuss is how unimportant the operation will be for them, in the big picture. Once they recover from the shock of that news, we explain that their mindset contributed to their weight problem, and their mindset will be the secret weapon to ultimately get the weight off. Here’s the thing--we don't operate on your brain. Bariatric surgery will only take you so far. Long-term weight-loss success requires a firm commitment to living a healthy lifestyle—eating the right foods--and ignoring the others that made you feel bloated and too tired to do anything. You need to stay very well hydrated and discover an exercise (or two or three) that you perform about 4-5 times a week for about 30-40 minutes. Take this stress and… Then there’s the stress of everyday life—we all have it. The trick is to find ways to offset these unavoidable pressure points, so that you aren’t on a one-way road to the kitchen. Food is not the answer to your problems, it never was. While you are improving your health, feed your brain with positive feelings by improving the quality of your life. Make the effort to become more social: Join a gym, catch a movie with a long-lost friend, invite the nice parents of your child’s best friend over for coffee. Give a little, get a lot One of the activities I recommend to every bariatric patient is to give back to their community. Want to feel better than any junk food could make you feel? Volunteer. If you look around, you’ll see that you’re far more fortunate than you may realize. Help out, make life better for someone else, even in a small way. Give your time, give your heart. Everyone needs a little help If you think you can’t go it alone, reach out to your bariatric or family doctor to ask for resources who can offer mental health support specifically for people with food/weight issues. You are never in this battle alone, always remember that.

The Struggle Often Continues For some patients, Weight Loss Surgery can lower your interest in food, so you are not constantly thinking about it. There’s no question Weight Loss Surgery can help you gain control of your eating, but it’s unlikely to eliminate your struggles with food disappear. A few lucky Weight Loss Surgery patients really do stop being tempted by food. The rest, who make up the vast majority of Weight Loss Surgery patients, continue to struggle. You still may be hungry, enjoy salt, fat, starch, or sugar, or be tempted to use food as an emotional crutch. Your family members may continue to insist on keeping high-calorie foods in the house, or pressure you to eat things you shouldn’t. Your friends may still be going out to eat and inviting you to join them in ordering high-fat, high-sugar items. “Why Me?” Isn’t Appropriate It’s easy, even natural, to think of yourself as unlucky. Why should you have to struggle with food? Why should you have to monitor every bite you take, while some people don’t? The fact is, almost everyone does. Ask almost any skinny person how they stay skinny, and you’ll get some variation of the same answer: “I work hard for it.” Just like you, they are aware of what goes into their bodies. They sometimes may be hungry; they sometimes may want to eat more than they should. But they, like you now, take responsibility for their decisions. They may: Skimp on portions if they over ate at the previous meal. Choose healthy foods first. Have a strategy for dealing with emotions and boredom that doesn’t involve eating. Have a support system that promotes healthy behaviors. Accept It and Manage It If you find you still have a rocky relationship with food after weight loss surgery, don’t conclude that WLS didn’t work for you. Instead, accept that you will need to fight the cravings and urges for months, years, or life, and start making a plan. Don’t be afraid to ask for help in developing strategies – whether you ask other BariatricPal members or an always-thin person you admire! Persist in Order to Get the Answers You Need We all want to be able to trust our doctors. You want to believe your surgeon takes care of all aspects of your Weight Loss Surgery, including your post-op, long-term nutrition. But it doesn’t always happen like that. Nutritional counseling may not be part of your surgery package, or you may only get a limited amount of generic information. Or, your surgeon may simply not know how to help you nutritionally. Remember that many doctors have no more than an hour of nutrition education in medical school. To become a weight loss surgeon, doctors need to learn surgery. There is no dietary education requirement. If you need help finding strategies to satisfy hunger – physical or head hunger – and your surgeon and primary care doctor are not able to help, keep looking. A session with a nutritionist may be more affordable than you think, and worth every penny. Your Emotional Support System and Your Relationship with Food The support system you built so carefully can come in handy right about now. Take advantage of your ability to talk to a therapist or psychologist if you have one to bring up your concerns. Discussing your ongoing struggles with portion sizes, food choices, and over-frequent nibbling with a mental health professional can help you come up with some strategies that work for you. Group sessions are also appropriate forums to talk about food struggles and strategies. Though it may feel embarrassing at first to admit you’re still thinking about food a lot, you will find nearly everyone in that room did or does have that same experience. Most Weight Loss Surgery patients do not find their surgery instantly eliminates their food struggles. You can take months or years to come to terms with a food addiction, and it may be something you need to learn to live with for life, but in a healthier manner than before Weight Loss Surgery. Be honest with yourself and those around you, and be open to suggestions, and you can figure out strategies that work for you. Do not assume WLS did not work for you!