Alex Brecher

I edited it and it's back online. Thanks for the reminder

Now, you’re motivated to cook healthy for yourself, and you have a few ideas for recipes. Now, it’s time to make sure you have the foods on hand to execute your meal plan. This article continues our series on cooking for one. It covers the staples and other foods to stock your kitchen, and how to buy them in quantities you can use. Plus, there are suggestions for using and storing perishable ingredients and leftovers. By the way, most of these tips can help you out even if you’re not cooking for just one. Getting in Your Proteins and Other Essentials Protein is the foundation of your weight loss surgery diet. Some sources, such as canned salmon and tuna, tofu, canned beans, and beef jerky are non-perishable. You can stock up on them just like you would if your entire family were eating them. But what about other sources? Buy pre-portioned frozen packs of grilled or baked fish and chicken breast, or veggie and turkey burgers. Don’t be intimidated by eggs. They don’t have an unlimited shelf life, but you can go through them pretty quickly. Each white has 3-4 gram of protein, and if you have just two whites a day, you’ll go through the entire dozen in less than a week. Buy family packs of chicken breasts, fish fillets, and lean ground turkey to save money. Just open the package, separate them into single servings, and freeze them. Or, cook the meat first so it’s ready to be eaten or used in a quick recipe later. Store enough yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese for at least a week. Fruits and vegetables are the other big contributor to your diet. You don’t need to watch huge packages rot or go grocery shopping every day just to get in your fruits and vegetables. If you can go even twice a week, you can have fresh produce every day. Eat or cook mushrooms, greens, lettuces, berries, and sprouts first because they have the shortest shelf life. Carrots, apples, oranges, onions, spaghetti squash, and bell peppers are just a few examples of vegetables and fruits that last a little longer. You can cook any vegetable as soon as you buy it, and store it in the fridge or freezer. You can also freeze bananas and have a half for a healthy treat instead of ice cream. If you’re can only get to the store once a week and you’re not able to cook all of your vegetables on weekends, you may want to depend on some frozen or canned veggies and fruits, Check the label to make sure they don’t contain salt or added sugars. Pantry Staples for One or a Crowd The beautiful thing about staples is that they last a long time. You can stock your kitchen with essentials even if you’re not planning to go through a lot of food. Having the right foods on hand can keep you inspired and enable you to make delicious food at any time. Keep these in your kitchen, and you should be just an ingredient or two away from making any recipe. Spices, including cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, dill, basil, oregano, thyme. Salt and pepper. Milk or almond milk. Baking powder, baking soda. Sweetener. Broth or bouillon for cooking and flavoring. Olive oil. Spaghetti sauce. Condiments: mustard, low-sodium soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, red wine and white wine vinegar, fat-free salad dressings or dry mixes, fat-free mayo. Garlic. Protein powder. Learn to Love Leftovers Remember when dinner used to mean making a box of macaroni and cheese or ordering a pizza, and finishing it? Even if you had something healthy, there weren’t always leftovers. When there were, they went quickly enough by the next day. If you’ve ever had a teenaged boy in the house or the guys have come over to watch sports on TV, you also know what it is like to watch food disappear. It seems any food you buy will disappear within hours, so you never have to worry about it going off. That’s no longer the case when you’re cooking for yourself after weight loss surgery. Your portions are tiny, so you’re not plowing through mounds of food anymore. You need to either cook one serving at a time – that’s a drag! – or learn to love your leftovers. You can eat them straight, such as taking your leftover spaghetti squash and turkey meatballs for lunch the next day. You can also transform them each time you see them. For example, enjoy a grilled chicken breast on day one. On day two, slice up leftover grilled chicken to put on your green salad at lunch, and make chicken skewers with grilled eggplant and zucchini for dinner. As you’re eating dinner, stew the rest of the chicken with canned tomatoes and a can of beans for a high-protein dinner for day three. One of the barriers to cooking for one is having a variety of healthy ingredients on hand, but it’s not impossible. Stock up your kitchen with non-perishables, and plan your menus and shopping trips ahead of time so you can pick up what you need. Also, be prepared to cook and store extra food that you will come back to later. Next up in our series on cooking for one: handy kitchen tools that’ll help you make and store your food.

Num num num, sounds delicious and really simple to make! I'm definitely going to give this a try.

Great article! Thanks for sharing with our community.

Scary as hell that they didn't have the member info encrypted, just to save a few $.

Reminders of Valentine’s Day are everywhere from media to supermarkets and other stores. February 14 means different things to different people, depending on your relationship status and attitude. After weight loss surgery, you might experience Valentine’s Day on a whole new level. What does Valentine’s Day mean to you? Exactly what it’s “supposed” to mean. It’s a hot date night for me and my SO! I put my weight loss surgery diet on hold for Valentine’s Day. It’s a celebration of my new lifestyle with my SO. We spend time together, have a romantic meal, and keep it healthy – read how in the conversation below! I’m not with anyone now, so I use Valentine’s Day as a reminder to celebrate my health and happiness after weight loss surgery. Nothing. It’s not really one of my big holidays. Ugh. It’s a reminder that I’m not where I want to be in life – either because I’m missing someone to share it with or I’m not as healthy as I want to be. Other. Read about it in the conversation below! Mark your answer and explain it in the conversation below. We want to know how you feel about Valentine’s Day!

^ exactly!

Absolutely!

I received personal messages from a member posting on this topic that there seemed to be an issue with unintentional multiple posts. We're trying to troubleshoot this issue and would appreciate if you would use the REPORT feature or link found next to each post that's duplicated. Thanks in advance for your assistance with this small annoyance.

In the first article of this series, we talked about getting into the right mentality for cooking for one after weight loss surgery. It’s not always easy, but you have no choice if you want to stick to your weight loss surgery diet. This article will get down to some specifics and provide some high-protein, low-calorie ideas for each meal and snack. Big Batches to Make on the Weekend Make a few full-sized recipes on the weekend and freeze them in single-serving portions. You can also season and cook some proteins to save a few minutes during the week. Just thaw them and eat them on a salad or with a side of veggies, or in a stir fry or other simple recipe. Try making: Soup with beans or diced chicken breast and vegetables, such as onions, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and celery. Low-fat meat loaf with extra lean ground turkey. Bake the meatloaf in a muffin tin or slice it into smaller portions after the loaf is baked. Chili with beans, ground turkey, tomatoes, celery, green peppers, and onions. A dozen or more hard-boiled eggs. If you’re eating two or three whites at a time, you’ll go through hard-boiled eggs pretty quickly. Casseroles with plenty of vegetables and one or more lean proteins such as egg whites, lean ham, canned tuna, non-fat cheddar cheese, ricotta or cottage cheese, and chicken breast. Seasoned, grilled or baked chicken breast, turkey or veggies burgers, or fish to quickly thaw and serve with steamed veggies or a salad. Breakfast Breakfast…some call it the most important meal of the day. You’re best off with at least two servings of protein, and it’s a chance to get in some extra fiber and other nutrients. Try one of the following for a quick, one-person meal. Microwave egg whites in a mug with some chopped veggies, such as spinach, tomatoes, or fresh or frozen broccoli florets. Add lean ham or top it with fat-free shredded cheese. Experiment to find a high-protein pancake that works for you. Ingredients like cottage cheese, egg whites, and protein powder add protein. Add more protein powder or oats to make your pancake batter thicker, or increase the egg whites or almond milk to thin out your batter and make the pancake more crepe-like. Aim for about 150 calories, or about 1 large scoop of protein powder, ¼ cup of non-fat cottage cheese, and 2 to 3 egg whites. Use ½ teaspoon of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and cinnamon to taste. Serve your pancake with fruit or Greek yogurt. Muffins are perfectly portioned, and there are almost infinite bariatric surgery-friendly muffin recipes you can make. Try pumpkin muffins, chocolate muffins, and savory muffins with low-fat cheese and turkey bacon. If you’re in a rush in the morning, you can make a breakfast that’s far healthier than grabbing a pair of Pop-Tarts (420 calories and 70 grams of carbohydrates). Make overnight oatmeal by soaking oats, sliced almonds or pecans, and cinnamon in skim milk, or put together a breakfast sandwich with lean ham, sliced tomatoes, and sliced fat-free cheese on a light English muffin and toast it in the morning. Lunch The same nutritional rules apply to lunch. Start with protein, and make sure you get some veggies or fruit in your lunch. You can add a starch if that fits into your meal plan. Salmon burgers: puree canned salmon, canned garbanzo beans, pepper, two egg whites, and a small amount of low-fat parmesan cheese. Eat your burger on half of a whole-wheat English muffin or wrapped in a lettuce leaf. You can also use canned tuna or ground turkey for your burger base instead of salmon. Salad: Always use a base of greens, such as Romaine lettuce, spinach, or baby mixed greens, and include lean protein, such as grilled chicken, tuna, canned beans, or tofu. The rest is up to you, whether it’s fat-free cheese, sliced strawberries – frozen work fine – slivered almonds, mushroom slices, or bell pepper strips. Zucchini pancakes served with non-fat ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. Grate a zucchini and half of an onion, mix them with two beaten egg whites, a pinch of salt, black pepper (optional), and a scoop of unflavored protein powder. Bake the pancakes until they are browned and firm. You can also cook them in a pan with cooking spray. A mixed salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, basil, fat-free mozzarella or feta cheese, lean ham, and a dash of olive oil. Serve with slice of whole-wheat, high-fiber toast. Dinner For dinner, you can always heat up one of your dishes from the weekend or defrost a lean protein and serve it with some veggies. These are some other quick dishes to try. Baked bell pepper halves stuffed with Italian seasoned lean ground turkey or non-fat ricotta. Serve with tomato sauce. Make two halves and save one for tomorrow’s dinner. Cauliflower “fried rice” with defrosted cooked chicken and a small head of fresh cauliflower or a package of frozen cauliflower. Sauté diced onions and minced garlic in 2 teaspoons of olive or use cooking spray, then add the cauliflower and diced chicken, and some soy sauce and ginger. Scramble 4 egg whites in the side of the pan, and then mix them with the rest of the dish. Pizza on a Portobello mushroom or whole-grain English muffin. Add tomato sauce, veggies, and lean ham or diced chicken. A bean burrito using a low-carb wrap, fat-free refried or black beans, salsa, diced tomatoes, and cooked shredded chicken or lean ground turkey with Mexican seasonings. You can also add grilled veggies, such as yellow squash or green peppers. Top your burrito with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Quick Fixes These can work for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks at home or on the go. They are quick to put together, give you variety without making you work hard in the kitchen, and are naturally designed for single servings. For a meal, choose one or two servings of protein, one or two vegetables or fruits, and the occasional whole grain. You can also include a healthy fat. For a snack, choose a protein plus a vegetable or fruit. Mix and match to get infinite possibilities. For example… Breakfast: Egg whites scrambled with spinach and feta cheese. Breakfast: Cottage cheese and cantaloupe or blueberries. Lunch: Greek salad with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, fat-free feta cheese, olives, and low-fat Greek vinaigrette or balsamic vinegar. Lunch: Air-popped popcorn, a cheese stick, turkey breast, and cherry tomatoes. Dinner: Grilled salmon served with asparagus and brown rice. Dinner: Tofu baked with parmesan cheese and tomato sauce and served with steamed broccoli. Snack: Celery sticks or apple slices with peanut butter. Snack: Air-popped popcorn Now that you have a few ideas for quick meals for one, next up is how to stock your kitchen to make those meals possible. Stay tuned for the next part of this series!

What are you using to rotate the pics please ?

We are looking in to this issue, thanks! You can use the REPORT feature next to any post if you notice a dupe.

Yup! We hope to have this issue resolved in the very near future. Appreciate your feedback!

It’s not always that easy to hit your 65 to 80 or more grams per day, whether you just had surgery or you’re a few months or years out. Some weight loss surgery patients depend on protein supplements like bars, shakes, and powders, while others try to get their protein from foods. Do you have protein supplements? Nope. My surgeon doesn’t support them, and I’ve been meeting my needs through high-protein foods. No, I can’t stand the thought of processed protein.I try not to, but sometimes it’s the only way I can get my protein Only in emergencies. I keep some bars, shakes, or powder in the car or at work so I can always get my protein no matter what happens. I just had surgery and am still depending on shakes and powders. I’m not eating solid foods yet. Other. I’ll tell you in the conversation below! Mark your answer, then tell us about it in the conversation below. Your answers can help other WLS patients who are trying to meet their protein requirements.

style="margin:0;padding:0;background-color:#d8dde8;color:#5a5a5a;font:normal 13px helvetica, arial, sans-serif;position:relative;"> Hey BariatricPal Members! How is winter treating you? Are you finding ways to stay active and developing your own healthy comfort food recipes? Or is the dreary weather getting you down a little? If it is, the newsletter can help! Here’s what you’ll find. Member Polls: What’s Your Opinion? Member Spotlight: Meet RJ’s/beginning! Super Bowl Sunday: Go for the Victory! After going through the newsletter, come on over to BariatricPal and get the spark back! Find out how others are staying motivated and what you can do to stay on track. Thanks for all of your support! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal Member Polls: What’s Your Opinion? When you want to know what others are thinking, go to BariatricPal’s Member Poll Forums. It’s a place to check out other members’ thoughts and give your own opinion. There are always new polls coming out, and if you have an idea for a poll, just PM Alex Brecher. Here are a couple of hot ones this week. Some Encouragement for Beginners… If you’re even thinking about weight loss surgery, you’ve struggled with your weight for years. If you haven’t gotten surgery yet, why haven’t you? If you already had surgery, what was the last thing holding you back before you decided to go ahead with it? Your answer and explanation can help other BariatricPal members make their decisions. Give your answer here! One for the Ladies… Overweight or not, there’s something that almost every woman thinks about: her dress size. Sound like you? Are you driven to become a red carpet-reminiscent size 0 to match the Hollywood stars? Is a “normal weight” 6 to 10 more your style? Weigh in on our poll on “What’s Your Ideal Dress Size after Weight Loss Surgery!” Member Spotlight: Meet RJ’s/Beginning Our featured member for this newsletter is RJ’s/beginning from Dieppe, Nebraska. Her story is one of struggle, bravery, and determination. It’s also one of remarkable weight lost. Unlike many BariatricPal members, RJ remembers a time in childhood when she was not overweight. Her family was poor and did not have much to eat. Once her family situation stabilized and food was available, RJ began to gain weight as a teenager and throughout her adult life. Diets helped her lost weight many times, but she always gained it back and then some. Her weight ballooned up to a high of 381 pounds after falling in a bathtub eight years ago. The fall left her with a back injury and migraines, and she was barely functioning. RJ got a referral for the vertical sleeve gastrectomy in 2008, and waiting for four long years until she could get the surgery. RJ just celebrated her 2-year surgiversary, and is already at her goal weight of 170 pounds! She lost an amazing 211 pounds, which is well over half of her original body weight! Since surgery, RJ says her mobility has improved 100 percent, and she has only a few migraines. She can do the chores, play with her granddaughter, tie her shoes, shop ‘til she drops, and walk for hours. She no longer feels “doomed to a no life at all.” It’s been far from easy for RJ, though. As she says, “I am one of those 10% of patients who has endured extreme complications from the choice of weight loss surgery. I got a leak shortly after the surgery and went septic. I ended up in surgery and in an induced coma for nineteen days.” Doctors were finally able to get down her temperature of 104 and get her out of the coma. That, she says, was when the real work began. She had 14 procedures and surgeries, and ended up with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. She needed to learn how to walk, write, talk, and eat again. Five and a half months later, she left the hospital and went home under the care of family, a friend, and nurses. She’s still recovering from the ordeal, having developed a stage IV bed sore in the hospital. Because of her struggles and triumphs, RJ has been able to help others who have had complications with weight loss surgery, as well as those who are still considering it and are scared for their futures. She hopes to help them see that there is hope. RJ says she started using the BariatricPal forums for information, and the vets who reached out treated her kindly but firmly. She was touched by their sincerity in wanting to help her succeed. RJ may have started out using BariatricPal for get help, but now she’s one of the ones who helps others. She hit her 3000th post on BariatricPal a couple of weeks ago, and she also helps out the community by being a BariatricPal host. RJ remains optimistic because, she says, “Failing is not an option.” It’s worth the fight to maintain good health and chase happiness. She remembers a lesson she learned from a nurse: “One step at a time. This is your life now.” She doesn’t regret her decision to have bariatric surgery, saying she wouldn’t be the person she is today without it. She wouldn’t be as compassionate, and she’d be in a wheelchair. Her surgery gave her a new purpose in life. RJ, we’re grateful to you for sharing your story and for all that you do on. Congratulations on your weight loss success, and best of luck as you continue to recover from complications of surgery. It takes a special kind of person to go through so much and come out with the dedication to help others that you have. If you want to be in the newsletter or there´s another BariatricPal member you´d like to see in the spotlight, please let us know in the Member Spotlight Forum! You can also PM Alex Brecher if you´re shy about posting. We want to hear from you! Super Bowl Sunday: Go for the Victory! One of the best parts about weight loss surgery is getting your life back, but life includes the Super Bowl. As much as you may want to hide while the rest of the country is at a Super Bowl party, you can’t. The good news is that you don’t need to. You can use the Super Bowl as a healthy experience that makes you even more confident that you are a weight loss surgery success story. Practice Hard for the Big Day The countdown begins. As the big day approaches, the teams are practicing hard. You should be, too. Make it a point to get in your daily workout every day this week. You wouldn’t want to show up on Game Day and know you didn’t give it your all. Make these workouts fun, and challenge yourself a little. Find a buddy and toss a football…or find a wall, and toss a tennis ball. Run or walk obstacle courses with tires and ropes to test your agility, just like the players. Plan for the Attack The attack? You may not be a quarterback facing the entire defensive line, but you are going to be facing a roomful of high-calorie food and drinks. For every play the opposition could make on you, you need a strategy. While they sit and eat, you find something to keep your hands busy so you don’t munch mindlessly for the entire three-hour game. Play with the kids if there are any over at your house. Or, be the bet keeper for your friends and family and write down each play and how much keep track of how much you owe each other. Keep it strictly game-related, or include items of interest to the non-sports fans, like the number of red shirts shown during commercials. The more complicated you make it, the less likely you’ll be to overeat. You can predict the food disasters that are going to show up, so have a plan to counter those, too. If they serve beer, you drink Water. Put a lime in it if you want it to be more interesting. When they eat junk, you eat right. Forget the chicken wings, cupcakes, and snack mix. They’ll make you sick. Instead, go for weight loss surgery-friendly recipe makeovers. Raw veggies low-fat dip or hummus. Grilled chicken or shrimp skewers. Portabello or button mushrooms stuffed with ground turkey and Italian seasoning. Turkey bacon wrapped around fat-free cream cheese with sliced olives. Seven-layer dip with fat-free Beans, Greek yogurt, diced tomatoes and green onions, guacamole, olive slices, and fat-free cheese. Make what you can ahead of time or get up a few minutes earlier so you have time to get in a quick walk or another workout. It’ll make you feel more motivated to be strong today. During the game, be a good host or guest. Take people’s empty dishes into the kitchen to keep moving, and everyone will appreciate your generosity while you get in a few extra steps. Go on to Victory Gather your food, take a deep breath, and it’s show time! Stick to your eating plan, and get busy with something other than eating. Get through the game, and you’ll be proud of yourself. Your Super Bowl victory will give you confidence for the future. Maybe you’ll be inspired to set your own challenge, whether it’s walking a 5k this spring, getting back some of those high school football skills, or learning a new sport. We hope this newsletter helps you out on Super Bowl Sunday and, football fan or not, during the rest of the month. Have a great one, and see you on the boards!

One problem that can come up after weight loss surgery is cooking for one person. You need to cook healthy meals, but you can only eat tiny portions. And, you can’t take a day, or even a meal, off. You need each healthy meal and snack, and nobody’s going to make it for you. You may already be used to cooking if you cook for the entire family, but now you might need to cook separate meals for yourself if you no longer eat what they do. On the other hand, you may be learning to cook for the first time, especially if you used to eat out instead of cooking for yourself before weight loss surgery. It’s also possible that your significant other used to be the family chef, but you need to take charge and cook for yourself now to make sure you stick to your weight loss surgery diet. On top of everything else, you still have the real-life time and money constraints that everyone has. How can you possibly stick to your weight loss surgery diet without getting bored out of your mind, wasting food and money, and spending all of your spare time in the kitchen? This series of articles will look at some strategies for cooking for one after weight loss surgery. In the first article, we have strategies for approaching the kitchen when you’re cooking for just yourself. The second article has a few helpful recipes. Finally, the third and fourth articles will help you stock your kitchen. Don’t forget to check out the BariatricPal conversation on this topic for tons of tips from other BariatricPal members. Add your ideas to the mix! Organization is Key The more you plan, the better you’ll be able to handle cooking for yourself. This is true whether you’re cooking for one or for the entire family, but when you are cooking for one, nobody else is depending on you to follow through. The dedication needs to come from within. Use the weekends to prepare what you can. Plan your meals, buy the ingredients, and make some recipes. Then, divide the recipes into single-serving portions, put some in the fridge, and freeze the rest. You can make: Soups, using almost any combination of broth, vegetables, and lean proteins such as beans, chicken, turkey, and shrimp. Stews, chilis, stir-frys, and casseroles. High-protein muffins. You can also prepare some ingredients to use later in the week. Wash, peel, and chop your veggies and fruits, cook a pot of beans, and cook some chicken, ground turkey, or fish to freeze for quick use later. Playing with Portions Portions need to be small on your weight loss surgery diet. You basically have two choices when it comes to cooking. You can make regular-sized recipes, divide them into weight loss surgery-sized portions, and store these portions in individual packets or containers. The benefits are that you get to make more interesting recipes, and you have multiple meals on hand after cooking only once. Or, you can make small single-serving recipes that you make up or get from someone else. That way, you don’t need to worry about measuring individual portions after you cook the recipe. If you love what you made and eat the whole thing, you don’t need to feel guilty about overeating. But, cooking this way can be a little more effort because you won’t have leftovers. The best approach is to do a little of each. Make some full-sized dishes to depend on during the week, and fill in the rest of your diet with single-serving meals and snacks. Don’t Overdo It or Get Intimidated Unless you’re one of the few people who just loves to cook and has enough time and energy to do so, you’re not going to want to cook a gourmet dish for every single meal and snack. That’s okay. Don’t put pressure on yourself to do so. There are plenty of ways you can cheat on your kitchen time without cheating on your diet or cheating your taste buds. These are some other ways to catch a break in the kitchen. Eat out, drive through, or order in. Really. It’s okay. Whether it’s a side salad with low-fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing and a grilled chicken patty from McDonald’s (150 calories, 22 grams of protein) or half of a Chicken Bella dinner with zucchini and spaghetti squash from Ruby Tuesday (260 calories, 23 grams of protein), you can fit it into your diet. Just stay away from the baby-back ribs, pasta, and burgers and fries that can be over 1,000 calories per order. Use meal helpers. Heat up a tray of Green Giant Just for One cauliflower and cheese or Italian seasoned broccoli and carrots and serve it with chicken or tuna, or toss tofu with bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables. Take advantage of easy meal options, like whole grain cereal mixed with Greek yogurt and fruit, canned tuna or salmon with cottage cheese, and low-fat string cheese and baby carrots for a snack. Frozen meal have preservatives, but the occasional one can help you out by keeping you from eating something far worse out of desperation. Choose ones with lean protein, at least one serving of veggies – unless you’re planning to add your own – and a whole grain or starchy vegetable instead of potatoes or a refined grain. It’s far better to eat an entire low-fat frozen pizza for 290 calories than to order in an 8-slice large pepperoni pizza for 300 calories a slice. Learn to love leftovers. When you make too much, get excited about saving it and using it another time. Also, get creative with your ingredients. If you eat half a can of tuna for a snack, figure out how you will use the rest in a different way so you don’t get bored and the tuna doesn’t go to waste. For example, you can make a tuna melt with fat-free cheese on a portobello mushroom. Now that you are in the mood and have the right mentality for cooking for one, it’s time to get to the specifics. Stay tuned for the next article, which will have tips for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for one.

Reeger Cortell has been puzzling over the reasons that many people do not seek out surgical treatment for severe obesity, even though they could benefit. Roughly 70% of people with severe obesity say they would not even consider surgery. As a Nurse Practitioner, Cortell cares for people seeking bariatric surgery and produces the outstanding Weight Loss Surgery Podcast in her spare time. So she reached out to the people who follow her to do a survey of the obstacles. She came up with ten. We share them with you as she so generously shared them with us. Financial. Health plans put a financial wall around bariatric surgery with exclusions, limitations, and out-of-pocket costs. On top of that, there’s the cost of missing work during recovery. Contrary to the bigoted stereotypes out there, people with obesity tend to be a hard working tribe. Fear. Despite a good safety record, the prospect of surgery evokes an outsized fear of complications, including death. Equally daunting is the fear of failure and weight regain, both of which would be humiliating. Other fears, not to be dismissed, are the fear of change and the loss of food as a source of comfort and coping. Independence & Self Reliance. People have it drummed into them that worthy people can lose weight on their own. They shouldn’t need surgery. It’s a powerful lie. Negative Press. Popular media is full of stories like the People magazine annual edition of “100-pound Losers Without Surgery or Gimmicks!” The suggestion is that outliers are the norm. General Negativity. Surgery is consistently portrayed as cheating or the “easy way out” for character flaws and lacking willpower. A recent study found significant job discrimination against people who had success with weight loss surgery. It demonstrates how pervasive the negativity is. Families and Friends. Surprisingly, being shamed by family and friends for seeking surgery is all too common. The impact is devastating. Internal Locus of Shame. “I was too ashamed to ask for help.” Lacking Knowledge about Surgery. Let’s be frank. The process can be overwhelming to prepare for surgery. “I had no idea where to start so I never did. Way too many hoops to jump through.” Lacking Knowledge of One’s Own Obesity. People don’t seek solutions for a problem they don’t fully recognize. Resistance from PCPs. “I asked my doctor and he refused to refer me.” Cortell summarizes by saying, “Bariatric surgery has a terrible brand image.” Deserved or not, such an image problem is no small task to fix. It requires a thoughtful, long-term strategy. It requires innovation in the delivery of care. It requires commitment. If you haven’t yet discovered Cortell’s Weight Loss Surgery Podcast, click here to check it out. This is a repost from an awesome blog I read on a daily basis. See more at: http://conscienhealth.org/2015/01/10-obstacles-for-people-who-need-bariatric-surgery/#sthash.SAHIDMsU.dpuf

We have an entire forum dedicated to complications: http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/429-gastric-sleeve-surgery-complications-support-group/ Same for the other procedures.

My original AP Lap-band slipped a few years in. I had it repositioned and it's been great since. At the same time, I also had my port replaced but that was for cosmetic reasons. The original Lap-band ports looked like a periscope sticking out of my belly I moved over to a low profile port and you can't see it sticking out any longer.

One of the biggest barriers to getting weight loss surgery is the fear of complications. From mild ones like nausea and constipation to more serious ones like obstructions and leaks, complications are common among bariatric surgery patients. Did you have complications after Weight Loss Surgery? Nope, aside from a little soreness during the recovery, things went great! Yes, but nothing serious. I just had some stomach issues. Yes, somehow I developed some nutrient deficiencies. See below for which ones I had and how I fixed them or whether I’m still dealing with them. Yes, I ended up back in the hospital. See why in the conversation below. I haven’t had weight loss surgery yet, but I’m crossing my fingers that nothing serious happens to me. Other. Read my answer in the discussion below. Mark your answer and give us the details in the conversation below. Sharing your experience can help other members who are making their own decisions about weight loss surgery.

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Trasladado a corregir bordo, gracias . (Moved to correct board, thanks.)

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