Alex Brecher

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Everyone needs a little motivation now and again. Since spring is here and spring break is soon to be history, your next break might be a few days off in the summer. So, it’s a good time to set your goals for this spring so that you can head into summer knowing you look and feel as good as possible. So, what’s your goal for the next couple of months? Are you hoping to lose a certain amount of weight? Schedule your surgery? Complete a challenging hike with your family while on summer vacation? How will you stay motivated over the next little bit? Share here!

Doctor’s Orders: Lose the Weight Almost all Weight Loss Surgery patients and nearly everyone who’s considering getting WLS had a similar experience to the following. You go for a routine visit to your primary care physician, endocrinologist, or regular doctor, and you get the news you’ve come to expect: you’ve gained a little weight since the last appointment and you’re developing obesity-related problems. Bottom line, your doctor says, is that you need to lose weight. It’s no secret that you need to lose weight. You’ve probably tried a thousand different diets. They may have worked, but only for a time. Then any weight that left came right back, with a few extra pounds. You recently started thinking about weight loss surgery, and you bring up that idea to your doctor. “Weight Loss Surgery Is the Wrong Choice” Some doctors are against weight loss surgery. They have the same reasons as anyone else who may be against weight loss surgery. They say it’s the easy way out, or you can lose weight on your own, or you might have complications. It’s great for them to express their concerns to you since that’s their job. But it’s not okay to deny you the opportunity to lose weight just because they don’t like the idea of WLS and may not have ever done any research into it. The Ideal Doctors are supposed to be compassionate, understanding, and competent. If that sounds like a tall order, it is. But it’s not unrealistic. You need to feel comfortable discussing your health and health decisions with your doctor without your doctor making you feel like a failure for not losing weight already and for considering Weight Loss Surgery. You Come First Your doctor should put you first. Putting you first means taking into consideration your future health, your dieting and weight history, and your own beliefs about whether weight loss surgery is right for you. Your doctor should put you ahead of any personal beliefs or biases about weight loss surgery, or lack of knowledge about it. Seeking a “Second Opinion” You’re always entitled to a second opinion when it comes to your health and healthcare decisions. You may not need an official “second opinion” on whether you should get WLS if you’ve already decided you’re going for it. What you do need is an opinion from a doctor who will support you. You can consider switching your primary care doctor if it’s important to you that your PCP be supportive of your WLS journey and during it. You may even want to find a doctor with some understanding of WLS and how to help you prepare for and recover from it. That’s not always possible, for insurance and logistical reasons. It may not be desirable if you like your PCP otherwise and don’t want to jump ship. A Supportive Bariatric Surgeon Whether or not your family doctor approves of Weight Loss Surgery, your surgeon absolutely needs to be on your side. While you can expect bariatric surgeons to be supportive of you getting WLS, that’s not the only thing to consider. Consider whether the surgeon makes you feel confident you’ll get the support you need and that you will succeed. Whether because of their poor bedside manners or lack of attention to detail, some surgeons will keep you in doubt about your decision. Those are not the right surgeons for you! You may need to have initial consults with one, two, three, or even more surgeons before settling on the one that’s going to boost you up. A Personal Decision Ultimately, weight loss surgery is your decision. You can decide to get it, or not to get it. It should be a decision based on what you think will help you lose weight, how much risk you’re willing to take by going “under the knife” (although it’s laparoscopic these days!), and how you think it stacks up against your other options. It should NOT be a decision based on what your doctor thinks or how uncomfortable you feel talking to your doctor or surgeon about it. It’s up to you.

@@Gaylene Davison, First, I am sorry you are having trouble. As you are experiencing, it can get tougher as time goes on and there isn’t the excitement of losing weight or of achieving new goals every day. It sounds like you have two concerns here. One is fear of band erosion. I would talk to a surgeon or a few surgeons about that and see if they think pre-emptive band removal and gastric bypass is a good solution. The other is head hunger. The trouble is that head hunger doesn’t go away necessarily. It can, in some cases, but not usually. It is more likely something you will always need to cope with. I would take a serious look at what you are eating that you shouldn’t, and what triggers it, and what you can do instead. Then think about whether the gastric bypass will help that. Good luck – and don’t feel like a failure. You are not!

It’s up to me. I have the choice.

@@Proud2BMe, Yes, it is definitely depressing to see their regain, but I think we can learn from it (I didn’t see it, but I have heard about it). The initial response is “What happened?!” and I think it’s a good question to try to answer. The more we can recognize in them, the more we can try to recognize in ourselves and avoid those same mistakes that led to regain. Like the others said, don’t forget about the difference in starting weight between you and them. If someone on the show lost 400 pounds and regained 60 pounds, that’s a regain of 15%. If you lost 170 lbs and gained back 15%, you’d gain back 25 lbs – not ideal, but not insurmountable. You could lose it again if you wanted to. Also, I think the show is a good reminder that this is hard for everyone. Even though the show participants were “famous” and presumably had good support, it hasn’t been easy for them. It’s a good reminder to not feel sorry for ourselves and wish we were in someone else’s shoes. So yes, it is sad they didn’t all keep all of their weight off, but there are some valuable lessons here.

It can be a drag if you have to cook for other people while you’re on your weight loss surgery diet. If your family refuses to “eat healthy,” you can easily find yourself making two different meals every night so you can have your healthy meal and they can eat what they like. But at some point, you may be able to sneak something healthy past them. That makes it a lot easier because then you only have to make one meal. Plus, once you tell them it’s healthy, they may be more open to eating healthy foods in the future! Turkey chili comes to mind: most people can’t tell the difference between lean turkey and ground beef in chili. You might even be able to sneak soy crumbles into the dish! Cottage cheese oatmeal pancakes with fruit could be another winner. If you can’t sneak healthy foods past them, you can try to save yourself some effort by serving a meal that serves both purposes: you can pick out the parts that are healthy, and they can eat the entire meal. For example, taco bars and make your own pizza bars let everyone pile on their own favorites, while you can stick to the lean Proteins and veggies you know are right for you. So, what is your best recipe or meal idea that is healthy but that everyone will eat, even if they don’t like healthy meals?

@@doppelganger, Congratulations on your surgery! At least know that it is normal for everything to taste too sweet, even if it isn’t fun. It’s nothing to worry about. At this point, unflavored Protein powder might be a good idea. You can put it in broth if you want a salty taste instead of sweet taste. The other suggestion is, as was mentioned, to keep sipping! Just do what you can all day long. This stage doesn’t last too long. It’ll get better soon. The ironic thing is that the better you do with this stage, the faster it’ll pass.

@@Gail Ann, I think it makes sense to be able to eat a whole bagel with cream cheese a year after getting the sleeve. A bagel is only a few ounces, so that’s a reasonable volume and weight for a single meal. I think it really underscores the importance of food choices in addition to quantity of food. Even with eating only a few ounces at a time, it’s possible to face weight regain if those ounces are calorie-dense or high in sugars, starches, or fat. Eating a few ounces of ice cream, brownies, French fries, or pizza multiple times a day is way different than eating a few ounces of Protein and vegetables. I would also wonder about eating one meal a day. It seems like it would be hard to get all the nutrients you need in one meal without stretching your sleeve. For example, a large bagel with, say, 2 ounces of cream cheese has only about 15 grams of protein. Add your yogurt, and you’re still at only about 25-30 grams of protein a day. What did your nutritionist or surgeon recommend? Most suggest at least 65 grams a day. Also, as some of the others said, I would worry about the future – is one meal a day sustainable long term? I am definitely a fan of doing whatever works for your individual case even if it’s not what the majority says, but just make sure you think it through and are honest with yourself! Like the others said, you might want to use the internet to find some sources of protein and also some suggestions for healthy post-op Bariatric Eating. Good luck!

@@Mary2016, I am sorry this happened. It always makes me so angry when this happens. It is hard enough to go through the pre-op steps of arranging surgery, dealing with insurance, having the medical exam, and going through the pre-op diet. Then people at the doctor’s office – whose job it is to do these things properly! – tell everyone at your workplace about the surgery. @@OutsideMatchInside, I was wondering the same thing, but then I realized I don’t think it matters for the HIPPA violation whether @@Mary2016 sent that fax legally or not. If her site did have that policy, it would be a violation between the workplace and @@Mary2016, and the medical office still wouldn’t have had the right to reply to the workplace when @@Mary2016 told them not to. @@Mary2016, I do thank you for sharing your story on here. It can help all of us to know what to do when our privacy rights are violated. I am sorry some posters may have come across as accusatory, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the BariatricPal community.

Thanks for all of these great ideas! Thanks also to those of you who added the nutrition stats, too. I forgot to ask about those, but it is so helpful to see them posted here. @@VSGAnn2014, I agree that McDonald’s is an easy choice. You always know what will be on the menu, so it’s very easy to plan ahead. I also like that you can actually get fruit there now: apple slices and tangerines. @@OutsideMatchInside, thanks for the tip on Chick-Fil-A. I hadn’t realized they had those grilled nuggets – what a great find! They have some nice sides, too: chicken with some fruit and a salad can make a very satisfying and healthy meal. @@erp, those are some good ideas. The Chipotle taco without cheese or sour cream plus lettuce and salsa has 230 calories, plus the taco shells. Each one has 70-80 calories, so stick with one and you’re right – you should be good to go! The El Pollo Loco double chicken salad is a good call. I just noticed that the Classic Chicken Salad has even fewer calories – 27. Thanks to everyone for the tips. It really helps to know what to order where.

Wow…we have an ambitious group of members here! I am so proud to hear all of your weight loss, fitness, habits, and other goals! Good luck to all of you – I know you can hit them. @@Margie122, Congratulations on leaving obesity behind forever!

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Some say Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. They say it boosts metabolism and provides extra nutrients. It keeps you from being as hungry during the morning, so you’re better able to make healthy eating choices the rest of the day. It gives you energy to be more active. And, it can give you a good dose of that all-important nutrient – Protein. Still, breakfast isn’t always the top priority for everyone. We may be too busy to cook, or too rushed in the morning to sit down for this meal. Or, it can just be too boring to make eggs every day, or grab a container of yogurt on the way out the door. Do you eat breakfast every day? Did you used to, or did you start when you first started thinkg about WLS or even after? What do you usually have for breakfast, and how do you make sure you have time to prepare it every day?

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style="margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#d8dde8;color:#5a5a5a;font:normal 13px helvetica, arial, sans-serif;position:relative;"> Hey BariatricPal Members! Happy Easter from BariatricPal – and if you don’t celebrate Easter, we’d like to take the opportunity to wish you a healthy and happy spring! It’s a time full of new hope and growth, and we’d like to be a part of whatever you have going on as you work towards losing weight and staying healthy. Here’s the run-down of the newsletter. A Healthy Easter Brunch and Beyond Your Weight Loss Surgery Spring Break Cheat Sheet Healthy Spring Recipes to Celebrate the Season Getting a Head Start on Your Fitness Enjoy the newsletter, and take some time to focus on your family and yourself. Then come join us at BariatricPal! Chat with other members on the forums, and take advantage of the store for the best deals on great-tasting bariatric products. Thanks for your support, and see you around! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal A Healthy Easter Brunch: Top Do’s and Don’ts You may look forward to Easter Sunday all year if you’ve been celebrating it all your life. There are the treats from the Easter bunny, maybe an Easter egg hunt, and an Easter brunch or dinner. Along with all that, unfortunately, can be 1,000 or more extra calories, and enough sugar to give you dumping syndrome. This year, don’t let Easter sabotage your weight loss plans. Here are our top tips for coming out on the other side just as you should: lighter, energized, and proud of yourself. Do prep some healthy foods. Have healthy alternatives on hand, and you’ll be less likely to sneak in the chocolate Easter eggs and cheesy potato casseroles. Ideas that you and everyone else can enjoy include hard-boiled egg whites, fruit salad with herbs, and fresh radishes, carrots, and sugar snap peas. Don’t steal from your children’s Easter basket. You don’t need their jelly beans, marshmallow chicks, and chocolate bunnies, and they don’t want to share them with you. If you can’t help but nibble as they go through their baskets, opt for grown-up treats instead, like fresh strawberries and toasted snow peas. Do ham it up. Ham isn’t the best choice, since it’s high in sodium and it can be full of cancer-causing nitrates. Still, it’s far from a disaster, especially compared to some other holiday choices. It’s pretty low in calories and high in protein, which is just what you want on your WLS diet. If you can, go for an all-natural, uncured ham, and consider getting it low-sodium. Don’t let your guard down. Lent may be over, but it’s not time to add back candy, alcohol, or whatever indulgence you gave up into your diet. You did just fine without it for over a month; you can keep up the smart choices now! Do celebrate the season. Add spring greens, strawberries, arugula, carrots, and other seasonally fresh produce to your Easter menu. Don’t get lazy. Whether you’re on your own, with your family, or together with friends, you can get active before or after brunch. Go on an Easter egg hunt, or walk to a supermarket or, better yet, a farmers’ market to pick up some healthy fresh food for the day. Just like you always do, think about the WLS basics so your Easter turns out well. Plan your food ahead of time, go for protein and vegetables first, and watch portion sizes. And, enjoy the company! Your WLS Spring Break Cheat Sheet Spring break…a time to sit back, relax, eat some good food, throw back some drinks…and gain a few pounds. No way! You can recharge this spring without getting off track. Just make a few minor changes to your usual vacation routine, and you can feel proud of yourself this year. Don’t Play “Invisible:” Keep Your Doctor in Mind Spring break seems like a nice chance to hide yourself from the realities of life, but that’s when you can get in trouble. A good way to keep yourself on track is to plan to tell your doctor or nutritionist exactly what you ate and how you exercised on your vacation. If you’re post-op and beyond the point where you are in close contact with your team or if your surgery is far enough in the future that they’re not monitoring you too much, just pretend. Imagine that you are going to tell them all of your dirty little secrets…and you may find that your secrets aren’t so “dirty.” You may eat clean and exercise regularly! Swap Out that Drink Alcoholic beverages and spring break go hand in hand, but alcohol can really wreck your good intentions. It’s high in calories, with 100 to 200 or more calories in a mixed drink. It gives you a buzz pretty fast if you have the sleeve or the bypass. It forces you to break the golden WLS diet rule of separating food from beverages, since it’s unsafe to drink alcohol on an empty stomach. And, it lowers your inhibitions, so you’re more likely to overeat unhealthy foods while you’re drinking alcohol. Bottom line: don’t do it! And if you do need a drink, keep it way smaller than you used to, and plan out your food carefully. Get Moving! Take Advantage of the Time and Place You’re on break. You have a little extra time. Don’t spend all of it laying on your beach chair. Take a few minutes in the morning, at mid-day, and in the evenings to get moving. You can walk around town or the beach to explore, or swim a few laps in the pool, or splash around in the ocean. Those few minutes add up to more energy, faster metabolism, and a clearer head so you can make good eating decisions, too. Explore the Local Cuisine Be like the locals and eat fresh and healthy. Ask the servers what is in season and how they can prepare it simply for you. You don’t need to tell them about your WLS if you don’t want, but don’t be afraid to let them know you have a small appetite and that you can’t have too much sugar or fat. You can still explore the local cuisine if you’re on spring break at home rather than away. Visit a farmers’ market to see what’s in season, and ask the vendors for ideas on how to use their fare. Gather the ingredients you need, and take your time making a meal you’ve never tried before. Stash Your Own Meals and Snacks You never want to take the chance of being caught off guard without the foods you need for your WLS diet. You may need to take protein powders and shakes and protein soups and gelatins if you’re on the liquid diet, or stash a few protein bars in your suitcase for travel days. It’s easy to make yourself instant protein oatmeal using hot water in a hotel room to start each day off right. Everything you could need for travel is available at The BariatricPal Store. You can even find handy shaker bottles to carry your protein shakes. There’s no reason not to have a healthy spring break! Spring: Fresh Start, New You Spring just screams of new beginnings. You can see new green leaves on trees, and watch flowers budding and blooming. People are coming out again after settling in for winter, and you may even be thinking about your summer plans. What better time than now to rededicate yourself? You can get back on track if you’ve fallen off in recent weeks. Take advantage of spring cleaning to clear out your kitchen and restock it with healthy staples and fresh foods. Get out and about to burn a few calories now that the great outdoors is a little more welcoming compared to the snow and ice storms of recent weeks. Compare your goals and habits now to what you’d hoped when you set New Year’s resolutions a few months ago, and make any changes you think would be helpful. It is also a good time now to set a few new goals for the summer. Maybe you’re ready to commit to your first 5k run/walk, or you want to fit into a certain summer dress. Maybe you’re hoping to fit onto the amusement park rides when you go with your nieces and nephews, or you want to be included when the family goes for a hike or scuba diving. Maybe you want to lose a few pounds so you can be approved for surgery! Whatever it is, it’s not too early to start. Good luck! I hope you are having a great spring and your goals are within reach. Thank you for all of your support for BariatricPal, and I can’t wait to see you on the boards!

Doctors can be intimidating. It can be hard to open up to them when the issue is something that’s embarrassing and super important, which is definitely the case with obesity and weight loss surgery. Some primary care physicians frown on weight loss surgery, and can make you feel guilty about considering it or scared to take that next step. Others can support you and give you the confidence you need to go ahead. Bariatric surgeons can also influence you. They may talk down to you or fail to give you the time and explanations you need. This can make you feel that WLS may not be for you. Or, they can informative, helpful, and supportive. They can make you feel that WLS is something you can do. I know people who have spoken to the first – the negative – type of doctors and surgeons and nearly given up on their ideas about WLS. Then they’ve gone to a more positive environment and decided to go through with it. Did you have any negative-seeming doctors at first when considering WLS? What did you do? Did you just ignore them and move forward? Did you find another doctor or surgeon? Share your experiences and tips for not letting a doctor scare you off!

I do think there are some changes. I gained confidence. I became a stronger person because losing weight was so hard and took such commitment. I also became more positive, although I’ve always been a pretty positive person. I appreciate everything so much more now than I did before WLS.

@@GSleeve822, Good question! There’s no right answer that works for everyone. It depends on your preferences, your surgeon’s recommendation, what you’re eating, and what your sleeve can handle. Some people can get in all their Protein and calories in three meals, and some need to add Snacks because they can’t eat enough at meals. If you do snack, just be sure they’re planned snacks with healthy foods. Serve yourself, sit down, and eat. If you start mindlessly grazing throughout the day, you’re probably not going to lose as much weight. I think the key is to be honest with yourself. Log your food and make sure your calories and protein add up right each day. Make sure you’re eating when hungry, and not eating when not hungry.

@@jmc534, You’re right to be nervous. It’s great that you’re nervous about making the lifestyle changes. If you weren’t nervous, it would probably be because you hadn’t thought much about them and you hadn’t realized how seriously you’re going to need to change! As for telling other people and worrying whether they’ll wonder about your quick weight loss, I think you may be surprised. A lot of people don’t notice very much. You may be more likely to have the opposite experience: that you lose a ton of weight and you’ll wonder why nobody seems to notice! Don’t be embarrassed. Just think how good and proud you’ll feel when you hit goal. I would start to think really hard about which changes you’re going to make to your lifestyle. How will you keep the drinking to a minimum when you visit breweries? How will you stay away from the food when watching Sunday football with friends? I’m guessing you don’t want to give these up because these are pretty central to your life, so I hope you can figure out some good strategies for enjoying your hobbies without eating too much and drinking. Good luck with surgery!

@@Comfy_Blue, Sorry about this situation. Congratulations on your own weight loss and commitment to health. I agree with the others who say your husband has to want it. You can’t want it for him, and forcing him to agree to surgery in a weak moment can be a big mistake. I also agree that maybe you should focus on problems other than the actual weight: that he can’t do things with you, that he has terrible and worsening health problems, and that it’s getting in the way of your relationship. Maybe marriage counseling would help. Another possibility would be if he’s scared to try seriously because maybe he feels “behind” you since you’ve lost so much weight. Maybe he feels afraid of failing, or maybe he’s afraid he’ll never “catch up” to you or be as good as you. Let him know that you’ll support him however he wants, and ask him what he needs from you. Good luck.

@@Kelly84, Good luck with the pre-op diet! My main advice is to follow it. The last thing you want is to get to surgery day and have your surgeon tell you you can’t have surgery because you didn’t follow your pre-op liquid diet. Another good thing about actually following that diet is that it boosts your confidence. It’s tough, and it’s a big change. When you stick to it and see that you can actually do it, you’ll be super proud of yourself and go into surgery and the post-op diet with a lot more confidence that you can do it. I also suggest testing out a few different types of Protein shakes. Sometimes they get boring, and it’s nice to have some different brands and flavors to turn to. Good luck, and congratulations on your upcoming surgery.