Alex Brecher

RNYTalk.com was launched just a few months ago. With the help of our amazing members we're the #1 Gastric Bypass support community online today! Most of our members have found our Gastric Bypass community or mobile apps via search engines, by chance or through one of the other WLS communities we operate. We're asking all members to reach out to their surgeon and staff as well as any friends or family members that have Gastric Bypass surgery and let them know about our awesome community. Are you a member of other weight loss surgery communities ? Message your online friends and ask them to join us on RNYTalk.com and let them know about our mobile apps! Let's spread the word!

We were having issues over the last few days with our Android app. These issues should now be resolved and your app should be loading fine. You might need to restart the app if it's already loaded. Let me know if you're still having any issues.

We were having issues over the last few days with our Android app. These issues should now be resolved and your app should be loading fine. You might need to restart the app if it's already loaded. Let me know if you're still having any issues.

I'm from Brooklyn. Hello to me fellow NY'ers!

Message me with his full name and web site and we'll add him to our directory.

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RNYTalk Newsletter By Hey, RNYTalk.com members!The weather’s warm, zucchini and watermelons are abundant and the Summer Games are providing inspirational moments for all of us. We hope life is good for you and you’ve been achieving your own goals this summer. To help you stay focused, here’s another newsletter from RNYTalk.com. This is what we’ve got for you: Burning question: What are the Best Sources of Protein? Member Spotlight: Meet KevinsBabyGirl85! Bypass Challenge: Record Your Diet! Life after Bypass: What’s Your Emergency Plan? We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and you get inspiration and a few great ideas from it. Of course, when you’re done reading, come on over to the RNYTalk.com board and talk about the newsletter or anything else that’s on your mind. Also remember to drop me a line any time if you have comments or suggestions for the boards. Thanks! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder liquid diet after weight loss surgery, Protein shakes and Protein powder can help you meet your needs. Fat-free milk is another good source, and it also has Calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones. In the pureed foods stage, you can add in things like canned flake chicken, extra-lean ground beef and light tuna. Tuna has an extra benefit because of its heart-healthy omega-three fatty acids. Fat-free yogurt is another great option. You always want to look for lean meats and fat-free or low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat ones. That’ll help you limit your calories and reduce saturated fat, which is unhealthy for your heart because it raises your cholesterol levels. By the time you get to the soft (semi-solid) foods and solid foods stages, you have a lot more options. Fish, crab, white-meat, skinless chicken and turkey, and egg whites are almost pure protein – plus some essential nutrients. Be very careful to avoid any bones or gristle in your fish or meat. Some vegetarian options are tofu, Beans and low-fat cheese. Melted cheddar cheese makes a delicious topping for almost anything. Always eat slowly, savor the flavors and chew your food well before swallowing. Choosing Proteins that are lowest in calories and saturated fat will help you lose weight and stay healthy. Did you miss the previous Burning Question? You can always see the earlier Burning Questions in our sleep apnea and back pain, and couldn’t even go outside in the heat without losing her breath. KevinsBabyGirl85’s story is a little different than some we’ve seen. Many gastric bypass patients choose to get the surgery because they’re worried that they’ll have a health crisis in the future. For KevinsBabyGirl85, it was a reality. She spent 47 days in the hospital, including 21 on life support, when she needed two lung surgeries after catching bilateral pneumonia. Something had to change, and for KevinsBabyGirl85, gastric bypass was the answer. Since the surgery in January of 2012, KevinsBabyGirl85’s down to 164 pounds en route to her goal of 120 pounds. Some of her toughest moments have some as she’s figured out who her true friends are based on their support during her weight loss journey. A rewarding moment? Being able to stand with both legs in one pant leg of her old jeans! We bet she has a lot more energy now to keep up with her 7-year-old twins and their 5-year-old brother. KevinsBabyGirl85 is active on the boards and well-known for her generous and helpful advice. She uses RNYTalk.com to get support and provide it for others. Two pieces of advice for others? Take it one day at a time, and don’t ever give up! Thanks, KevinsBabyGirl85, for sharing your advice and story. You’re a great example of how well your advice really works! Don’t forget to check out KevinsBabyGirl85’s before and after photos in her member profile – she’s looking pretty awesome! Each newsletter features a different RNYTalk.com member in the dinner in the future. How will you let out your inner Olympian? Let us all know in the member Challenge Forum! Tell us what you did and whether you think it worked for you! The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we’d love for you to share your experiences. You’ll help inspire others to chase their own dreams. Miss a challenge? No problem! Just go back to the old newsletters to see what the challenges were. It’s never to late to try something new and tell us about it on the forums. Life after Bypass: What’s Your Emergency Plan? It’s Sunday morning and you haven’t been able to eat or drink all night because of nausea and vomiting. Your surgeon’s office hours are from Monday through Friday. You wait miserably until first thing Monday morning, when you call your surgeon. The receptionist is horrified to hear about your ordeal and says, “Why didn’t you call yesterday? We have someone here 24/7 for emergencies!” This scenario comes up all the time on the boards, and it’s truly heartbreaking because in most cases, the suffering you feel is entirely unnecessary. You should know what number to call when you have trouble. If your surgeon didn’t give you an after-hours number, ask for one. You should never have to wait a whole day just because your emergency happens on a weekend. And with that advice, we’re done with this newsletter. You can always read it again and look through old newsletters in the Newsletter Forum. We’re always happy to hear from you and to see increased participation on the boards, so log in and get talking! Thanks for your support. Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ==============================================================If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.rnytalk.c...&tab=newsletter

Hey, Banders!The weather’s warm, zucchini and watermelons are abundant and the Summer Games are providing inspirational moments for all of us. We hope life is good for you and you’ve been achieving your own goals this summer. To help you stay focused, here’s another newsletter from LapBandTalk.com. This is what we’ve got for you: Burning question: What are the Best Sources of Protein? Member Spotlight: Meet kll724! Bander Challenge: Record Your Diet! Life with the Lap-Band: What’s Your Emergency Plan? We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and you get inspiration and a few great ideas from it. Of course, when you’re done reading, come on over to the LapBandTalk.com board and talk about the newsletter or anything else that’s on your mind. Also remember to drop me a line any time if you have comments or suggestions for the boards. Thanks! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder LapBandTalk.com Burning Question: What are the Best Sources of Protein? Last week we talked about why you need protein when you’re losing weight after surgery. But where should you get your protein from? There are a bunch of good sources. When you’re on a liquid diet after weight loss surgery, Protein shakes and Protein powder can help you meet your needs. Fat-free milk is another good source, and it also has Calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones. In the pureed foods stage, you can add in things like canned flake chicken, extra-lean ground beef and light tuna. Tuna has an extra benefit because of its heart-healthy omega-three fatty acids. Fat-free yogurt is another great option. You always want to look for lean meats and fat-free or low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat ones. That’ll help you limit your calories and reduce saturated fat, which is unhealthy for your heart because it raises your cholesterol levels. By the time you get to the soft (semi-solid) foods and solid foods stages, you have a lot more options. Fish, crab, white-meat, skinless chicken and turkey, and egg whites are almost pure protein – plus some essential nutrients. Be very careful to avoid any bones or gristle in your fish or meat. Some vegetarian options are tofu, Beans and low-fat cheese. Melted cheddar cheese makes a delicious topping for almost anything. Always eat slowly, savor the flavors and chew your food well before swallowing. Choosing Proteins that are lowest in calories and saturated fat will help you lose weight and stay healthy. Did you miss the previous Burning Question? You can always see the earlier Burning Questions in our Newsletter Archives. You don’t have to miss any important information! Member Spotlight – Meet kll724! This week we have the honor of featuring kll724 – or Karen – from Lakeland, Florida. This 64-year-old woman had gained weight over the years, ending up at a size 24 from her young adult size 7. She decided to get banded when she saw the success that her friend’s daughter had with the surgery in Mexico. Her surgeon in Florida had her follow a six-month pre-surgery diet, along with taking phentermine, so she could “learn to eat like a skinny person.” Not everything was smooth sailing. She had to get a complete unfill and revision due to slippage. She got dehydrated because she waited until Monday to call her surgeon before finding out that she could have called on Sunday! Karen is now down 100 pounds from her high weight of 244 pounds. Her arthritic knee is no longer troublesome, and she walks every day “without breaking a sweat.” Her husband calls this beautiful lady his trophy wife! Success with the lap-band seems to run in the family – both of her children have also been banded. Karen truly appreciates the warmth of LapBandTalk.com, where, as she says, “no one cares if you are 20 or 70.” Having maintained her goal weight for a while now, she offers wise advice for other banders. First, follow your surgeon’s advice. Second, be patient with yourself and don’t compare your weight loss to others. And finally, “remember that the band is a tool, and you do need to work at the weight loss.” We know that her advice works – if you need proof, just head on over to kll724’s profile and take a look at her photo gallery. She’s looking awesome! Thanks, Karen, for being such a supportive member of the community and for being in our spotlight! Each newsletter features a different LapBandTalk.com member in the Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! We’re all eager to hear more about you, so let us know who you are! If you’re shy and don’t want to post publicly, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. This is our favorite part of the newsletter! Thanks for making it happen! Bander Challenge – Let out your inner Olympian! The Bander Challenge is the section of the newsletter when we suggest a challenge for you to try. The goal is to motivate you to push yourself to the next level – and that’s definitely the focus of this newsletter’s challenge! The Olympics are in full swing, and the whole world is watching these phenomenal athletes chasing and achieving their dreams. You may not have the grace, power and strength of the world’s best athletes, but you do have goals, hopes and dreams – just like Olympic athletes – and the chance to make them happen. So this newsletter’s challenge? Go for the gold and act like an Olympian! Olympic athletes put 100 percent of their effort toward achieving their dreams, and you can put 100 percent of your effort toward losing (or maintaining) weight and living a healthy lifestyle. Your challenge is to figure out what specific actions you might take to ensure your success. These are some ideas. Eat for success. Olympians choose nutritious foods over junk food because they’ll perform better. A meal with vegetables, fruit and lean meat will go a lot further than a hamburger and fries. The same is true for you – you’ll feel better, think more clearly and have more energy when you eat nutritious foods. Plan your meals and exercise. Success is no accident. Olympians plan every aspect of their training programs from training and recovery to diet and sleep. You should plan your own diet and exercise so that you always know what to do. Keep a log. An Olympic athlete keeps a training log to record each day’s workout and be able to look back and see what worked and what didn’t. Keeping your own diet and exercise log keeps you on track and lets you look back to see what patterns led to success and where you could have improved your choices. Visualize success. Most successful athletes take time each day to visualize their victory. They think about running that last lap in record time and accepting their medal on the victory podium. You can think about the bikini that you’re planning to wear next summer and the proud look on your spouse’s face when you two go out to dinner in the future. How will you let out your inner Olympian? Let us all know in the member Challenge Forum! Tell us what you did and whether you think it worked for you! The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we’d love for you to share your experiences. You’ll help inspire others to chase their own dreams. Miss a challenge? No problem! Just go back to the old newsletters to see what the challenges were. It’s never to late to try something new and tell us about it on the forums. Life with the Lap-Band: What’s Your Emergency Plan? It’s Sunday morning and you haven’t been able to eat or drink all night because of nausea and vomiting. Your surgeon’s office hours are from Monday through Friday. You wait miserably until first thing Monday morning, when you call your surgeon. The receptionist is horrified to hear about your ordeal and says, “Why didn’t you call yesterday? We have someone here 24/7 for emergencies!” This scenario comes up all the time on the boards, and it’s truly heartbreaking because in most cases, the suffering you feel is entirely unnecessary. You should know what number to call when you have trouble. If your surgeon didn’t give you an after-hours number, ask for one. You should never have to wait a whole day just because your emergency happens on a weekend. And with that advice, we’re done with this newsletter. You can always read it again and look through old newsletters in the Newsletter Forum. We’re always happy to hear from you and to see increased participation on the boards, so log in and get talking! Thanks for your support. Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=newsletter

VerticalSleeveTalk Newsletter By Hey, Sleevers!The weather’s warm, zucchini and watermelons are abundant and the Summer Games are providing inspirational moments for all of us. We hope life is good for you and you’ve been achieving your own goals this summer. To help you stay focused, here’s another newsletter from VerticalSleeveTalk.com. This is what we’ve got for you: Burning Question: What are the Best Sources of Protein? Member Spotlight: Kyllfalcon! Sleever Challenge: Record Your Diet! Life with the Sleeve: What’s Your Emergency Plan? We hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and you get inspiration and a few great ideas from it. Of course, when you’re done reading, come on over to the VerticalSleeveTalk.com board and talk about the newsletter or anything else that’s on your mind. Also remember to drop me a line any time if you have comments or suggestions for the boards. Thanks! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder liquid diet after weight loss surgery, Protein shakes and Protein powder can help you meet your needs. Fat-free milk is another good source, and it also has Calcium and Vitamin D for strong bones. In the pureed foods stage, you can add in things like canned flake chicken, extra-lean ground beef and light tuna. Tuna has an extra benefit because of its heart-healthy omega-three fatty acids. Fat-free yogurt is another great option. You always want to look for lean meats and fat-free or low-fat dairy products instead of full-fat ones. That’ll help you limit your calories and reduce saturated fat, which is unhealthy for your heart because it raises your cholesterol levels. By the time you get to the soft (semi-solid) foods and solid foods stages, you have a lot more options. Fish, crab, white-meat, skinless chicken and turkey, and egg whites are almost pure protein – plus some essential nutrients. Be very careful to avoid any bones or gristle in your fish or meat. Some vegetarian options are tofu, Beans and low-fat cheese. Melted cheddar cheese makes a delicious topping for almost anything. Always eat slowly, savor the flavors and chew your food well before swallowing. Choosing Proteins that are lowest in calories and saturated fat will help you lose weight and stay healthy. Did you miss the previous Burning Question? You can always see the earlier Burning Questions in our scale victories has been while clothes shopping. Her old size was a 3x. After surgery, she mail-ordered a 1x pair of pants, and it was too big. She exchanged it for an XL, but that didn’t work, either. She finally settled on a size large – and we bet it’ll be too big for her soon! Kyllfalcon’s also proud and relieved to say that she can still enjoy family parties while losing weight! She can share in the pizza and birthday cake, but now she’s in control and knows when enough is enough – and when the party’s over, it’s time to get back to business. Kyllfalcon’s arthritis has improved a lot, and her blood pressure is under control. Water has been a little tough, but she fixes it up with Crystal Light. She reports a pretty smooth weight loss journey so far, and we think her success is due to her positive attitude. Kyllfalcon counts VerticalSleeveTalk.com as part of her official support group, along with friends, family and coworkers. She visits each day to get and give support. Some of her tips? Keep fighting – if you fall down, “get right back up to fight another day.” She also encourages you to “see yourself thin and healthy.” Thanks, Kyllfalcon, for being such a great role model and sharing your story in our member spotlight! Each newsletter features a different VerticalSleeveTalk.com member in the sleep. You should plan your own diet and exercise so that you always know what to do. Keep a log. An Olympic athlete keeps a training log to record each day’s workout and be able to look back and see what worked and what didn’t. Keeping your own diet and exercise log keeps you on track and lets you look back to see what patterns led to success and where you could have improved your choices. Visualize success. Most successful athletes take time each day to visualize their victory. They think about running that last lap in record time and accepting their medal on the victory podium. You can think about the bikini that you’re planning to wear next summer and the proud look on your spouse’s face when you two go out to dinner in the future. How will you let out your inner Olympian? Let us all know in the member Challenge Forum! Tell us what you did and whether you think it worked for you! The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we’d love for you to share your experiences. You’ll help inspire others to chase their own dreams. Miss a challenge? No problem! Just go back to the old newsletters to see what the challenges were. It’s never to late to try something new and tell us about it on the forums. Life with the Sleeve: What’s Your Emergency Plan? It’s Sunday morning and you haven’t been able to eat or drink all night because of nausea and vomiting. Your surgeon’s office hours are from Monday through Friday. You wait miserably until first thing Monday morning, when you call your surgeon. The receptionist is horrified to hear about your ordeal and says, “Why didn’t you call yesterday? We have someone here 24/7 for emergencies!” This scenario comes up all the time on the boards, and it’s truly heartbreaking because in most cases, the suffering you feel is entirely unnecessary. You should know what number to call when you have trouble. If your surgeon didn’t give you an after-hours number, ask for one. You should never have to wait a whole day just because your emergency happens on a weekend. And with that advice, we’re done with this newsletter. You can always read it again and look through old newsletters in the Newsletter Forum. We’re always happy to hear from you and to see increased participation on the boards, so log in and get talking! Thanks for your support. Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=newsletter

I just logged in to the chat room and there were 5 members online.

Should be back online some time tomorrow.

It should be back online some time tomorrow.

Are you still having issues ?

Great article. I'm a Chonani purist myself.

Hey, SleevePlicationTalk members!We’re into the long, lazy days of summer – but there’s plenty going on at SleevePlicationTalk.com! So why don’t you use this newsletter as a reminder to get on over to the boards? It’ll help you stay on track or motivate you to get back on board if you’ve gotten off track a little. Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter. Burning question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Member Spotlight: We Stand Corrected over Pranjala's Story! Sleever Challenge: Record Your Diet! Become a Board Expert: How to Get More Involved We hope you’re having a great summer and feeling great about meeting your weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals. Enjoy the newsletter, and of course please contact me any time with suggestions, comments or any other feedback. See you on the boards! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder SleevePlicationTalk.com Burning Question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Okay, anyone who’s gotten weight loss surgery or who is seriously thinking about it has probably already heard a ton about protein. You’re supposed to get about 60 to 80 grams per day, and eat your protein foods first at each meal so that you finish them before getting full. Also, your Breakfast should be high in protein to give you a good start for the day. But why is protein so important? First, it’s an essential nutrient for your immune system and as a part of your muscles, skin, bones and other body tissues. But it’s even more important when you’re losing weight so fast, like you are after your sleeve plication procedure. When you lose weight, you’re losing body fat, of course. But if you’re not careful to get enough protein, you’re going to lose a noticeable amount of lean body mass, too. That means you’ll lose some muscle mass and your metabolism will slow down. Another benefit of protein is that it actually helps you stick to your low-calorie post-surgery diet so that you lose weight faster. Protein takes a longer time to digest than carbohydrates. That means that eating a high-protein meal will help you stay full for longer than a high-carbohydrate meal without much protein. So don’t forget to hit your protein at each meal! Aim for one to two servings per meal, and if you have a snack, include some protein. What are the best sources of protein? Stay tuned for the answer coming up in a future newsletter! If you have a burning question that you’d like to see answered in the newsletter, just send Alex a PM over in the forums. It can be about anything – sleeve plication problems, food, fitness, weight loss, health…just let us know! Member Spotlight – We Have a Correction! In the last newsletter, we featured Prandala in the Member Spotlight section. In case you missed her great story, you can go back and read it in the old newsletter section. But, we made a mistake. Prandala actually got her sleeveplication done in India through the Bariatrics and Metabolism Initiative (BMI), and not in the U.S. as we stated. Our apologies for the mix-up, and thanks for pointing it out to us! We feature a different SleevePlicationTalk.com member each week in our Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! Nominating yourself isn’t bragging. We all want to learn more about you if you’re willing to share your trials, triumphs, tricks and tips! If you’re shy, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. Thanks! Sleever Challenge – Record Your Diet! Each newsletter, we challenge you with another Sleever Challenge. It’s a chance to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone or get you thinking about ways to make your weight loss journey even more successful. The challenge can inspire you to try things that you’d never thought about but that can make you more successful and confident in your weight loss journey. The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we hope you’ll post your results in the Challenge Forum so that other members can be motivated by your own challenge actions. Study after study proves that the most successful losers – and maintainers – record their diets. If you don’t already do it, now’s a good time to get into the habit. This newsletter’s challenge is for you to record your diet for three days. Include what you eat, how much and what time you had each meal and snack. You can also put in details like how hungry you were before you ate and afterwards, whether you ate exactly what you’d planned, and whether you were eating with people or alone. Did you learn anything new about your diet? Is there anything you can change so that your choices are healthier? Let us know how it went in the Challenge Forum! There, you can always look back at the previous challenges and post your results. It’s never too late to try something new. Better Boarding Tips – Getting into the Swing of Things For some members, jumping right into the conversations on the board feels natural. You know exactly what to say and have no trouble asking for help and providing your own support. For the rest of us, it can be a little tougher. We may not always know what to say to someone who needs help or how to reach out for support when we need it. How can you improve your social boarding skills? Practice! The more you post, the more comfortable you’ll feel. Start by filling in your profile, if you haven’t already. Head on over to the Tell Your Story Forum (or you can get there from the front page) and welcome a few new members. Then browse the forums until you see some topics that call to you. You might be able to answer some member questions about food choices or some of the pros and cons that you’ve experienced with your weight loss surgery. You’ll soon feel like an old pro with so much practice, and the other members will sure appreciate your input! That’s about it for this week’s newsletter. You can always find the old newsletters in the newsletter forum if you ever miss one. Thanks as always for your support, and we’re looking forward to seeing you out on the boards! Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ==============================================================If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.sleevepli...&tab=newsletter

Hey, Banders!We’re into the long, lazy days of summer – but there’s plenty going on at LapBandTalk.com! So why don’t you use this newsletter as a reminder to get on over to the boards? It’ll help you stay on track or motivate you to get back on board if you’ve gotten off track a little. Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter. Burning question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Member Spotlight: Meet TanyainNY! Bander Challenge: Record Your Diet! Become a Board Expert: How to Get More Involved We hope you’re having a great summer and feeling great about meeting your weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals. Enjoy the newsletter, and of course please contact me any time with suggestions, comments or any other feedback. See you on the boards! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder Breakfast should be high in protein to give you a good start for the day. But why is protein so important? First, it’s an essential nutrient for your immune system and as a part of your muscles, skin, bones and other body tissues. But it’s even more important when you’re losing weight so fast, like you are after your lap-band surgery. When you lose weight, you’re losing body fat, of course. But if you’re not careful to get enough protein, you’re going to lose a noticeable amount of lean body mass, too. That means you’ll lose some muscle mass and your metabolism will slow down. Another benefit of protein is that it actually helps you stick to your low-calorie post-surgery diet so that you lose weight faster. Protein takes a longer time to digest than carbohydrates. That means that eating a high-protein meal will help you stay full for longer than a high-carbohydrate meal without much protein. So don’t forget to hit your protein at each meal! Aim for one to two servings per meal, and if you have a snack, include some protein. What are the best sources of protein? Stay tuned for the answer coming up in a future newsletter! If you have a burning question that you’d like to see answered in the newsletter, just send Alex a PM over in the forums. It can be about anything - lap-band problems, food, fitness, weight loss, health…just let us know! Member Spotlight – Meet TanyainNY! TanyainNY from Cooperstown, New York, has used the lap-band to turn herself into a wonderful success story. Tanya is a registered nurse whose weight was a poor example for her patients. Like so many others, Tanya decided to get banded after she felt ashamed of asking her 6-year-old son to move to the dining room table to play board games instead of being able to sit on the floor with her children. Tanya got banded in December of 2009. At 5 feet 5 inches, her starting weight was 270 pounds. Now, she’s down nearly 100 pounds, only 20 pounds away from her goal weight of 155 pounds. This 39-year-old mom has the energy of her 20-year-old self. She does it all, from bench-pressiing and squatting with the big boys to taking muy thai kickboxing classes. This self-described gym rat has even become a Zumba instructor, and she competes in running races. Her next venture is to master the art of riding her new motorcycle. Tanya’s diet has been transformed along with her body. She no longer depends on “white foods,” such as Pasta, chicken and cheese. Now, her diet is a variety of healthy foods, including two salads a day and plenty of fruits, vegetables and protein. Her friends now come to her for nutrition advice! She’s loving life and taking full advantage of every opportunity! Congratulations on all of your success, Tanya, and thanks for being in our Spotlight! We feature a different LapBandTalk.com member each week in our Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! Nominating yourself isn’t bragging. We all want to learn more about you if you’re willing to share your trials, triumphs, tricks and tips! If you’re shy, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. Thanks! Bander Challenge – Record Your Diet! Each newsletter, we challenge you with another Bander Challenge. It’s a chance to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone or get you thinking about ways to make your weight loss journey even more successful. The challenge can inspire you to try things that you’d never thought about but that can make you more successful and confident in your weight loss journey. The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we hope you’ll post your results in the Challenge Forum so that other members can be motivated by your own challenge actions. Study after study proves that the most successful losers – and maintainers – record their diets. If you don’t already do it, now’s a good time to get into the habit. This newsletter’s challenge is for you to record your diet for three days. Include what you eat, how much and what time you had each meal and snack. You can also put in details like how hungry you were before you ate and afterwards, whether you ate exactly what you’d planned, and whether you were eating with people or alone. Did you learn anything new about your diet? Is there anything you can change so that your choices are healthier? Let us know how it went in the Challenge Forum! There, you can always look back at the previous challenges and post your results. It’s never too late to try something new. Better Boarding Tips – Getting into the Swing of Things For some members, jumping right into the conversations on the board feels natural. You know exactly what to say and have no trouble asking for help and providing your own support. For the rest of us, it can be a little tougher. We may not always know what to say to someone who needs help or how to reach out for support when we need it. How can you improve your social boarding skills? Practice! The more you post, the more comfortable you’ll feel. Start by filling in your profile, if you haven’t already. Head on over to the Introductions Forum (you can get there from the front page) and welcome a few new members. Then browse the forums until you see some topics that call to you. You might be able to answer some member questions about food choices or some of the pros and cons that you’ve experienced with your weight loss surgery. You’ll soon feel like an old pro with so much practice, and the other members will sure appreciate your input! That’s about it for this week’s newsletter. You can always find the old newsletters in the newsletter forum if you ever miss one. Thanks as always for your support, and we’re looking forward to seeing you out on the boards! Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=newsletter

Hey, RNYTalk members!We’re into the long, lazy days of summer – but there’s plenty going on at RNYTalk.com! So why don’t you use this newsletter as a reminder to get on over to the boards? It’ll help you stay on track or motivate you to get back on board if you’ve gotten off track a little. Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter. Burning question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Member Spotlight: Meet Mamiof3kids! Bypass Challenge: Record Your Diet! Become a Board Expert: How to Get More Involved We hope you’re having a great summer and feeling great about meeting your weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals. Enjoy the newsletter, and of course please contact me any time with suggestions, comments or any other feedback. See you on the boards! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder RNYTalk.com Burning Question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Okay, anyone who’s gotten weight loss surgery or who is seriously thinking about it has probably already heard a ton about protein. You’re supposed to get about 60 to 80 grams per day, and eat your protein foods first at each meal so that you finish them before getting full. Also, your breakfast should be high in protein to give you a good start for the day. But why is protein so important? First, it’s an essential nutrient for your immune system and as a part of your muscles, skin, bones and other body tissues. But it’s even more important when you’re losing weight so fast, like you are after your gastric bypass surgery. When you lose weight, you’re losing body fat, of course. But if you’re not careful to get enough protein, you’re going to lose a noticeable amount of lean body mass, too. That means you’ll lose some muscle mass and your metabolism will slow down. Another benefit of protein is that it actually helps you stick to your low-calorie post-surgery diet so that you lose weight faster. Protein takes a longer time to digest than carbohydrates. That means that eating a high-protein meal will help you stay full for longer than a high-carbohydrate meal without much protein. So don’t forget to hit your protein at each meal! Aim for one to two servings per meal, and if you have a snack, include some protein. What are the best sources of protein? Stay tuned for the answer coming up in a future newsletter! If you have a burning question that you’d like to see answered in the newsletter, just send Alex a PM over in the forums. It can be about anything – roux-en-Y problems, food, fitness, weight loss, health…just let us know! Member Spotlight – Meet Mamiof3kids! This week’s spotlight is on Mamiof3kids, also known as Maybelin from New York, New York. At 5 feet even, this 33-year-old mother weighed 211 pounds at her highest weight. She decided to get the bypass because she was always tired and her knees were always hurting. Maybelin got her gastric bypass done on May 30, 2012, and she’s already down to 167 pounds! One of the best things about her surgery and weight loss is that spending time with her children is way more fun. As she puts it, she has a 15-year old teenager baby girl, a 3-year-old baby girl and a 2-year-old baby boy. She uses LapBandTalk.com to get advice on how to eat after the bypass, and encourages others who are struggling with their eating to find a dietitian for good advice. Keep enjoying your family and working toward your goal weight, Maybelin. Thanks for sharing your story and being in our member spotlight! We feature a different RNYTalk.com member each week in our Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! Nominating yourself isn’t bragging. We all want to learn more about you if you’re willing to share your trials, triumphs, tricks and tips! If you’re shy, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. Thanks! Bypass Challenge – Record Your Diet! Each newsletter, we challenge you with another Bypass Challenge. It’s a chance to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone or get you thinking about ways to make your weight loss journey even more successful. The challenge can inspire you to try things that you’d never thought about but that can make you more successful and confident in your weight loss journey. The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we hope you’ll post your results in the Challenge Forum so that other members can be motivated by your own challenge actions. Study after study proves that the most successful losers – and maintainers – record their diets. If you don’t already do it, now’s a good time to get into the habit. This newsletter’s challenge is for you to record your diet for three days. Include what you eat, how much and what time you had each meal and snack. You can also put in details like how hungry you were before you ate and afterwards, whether you ate exactly what you’d planned, and whether you were eating with people or alone. Did you learn anything new about your diet? Is there anything you can change so that your choices are healthier? Let us know how it went in the Challenge Forum! There, you can always look back at the previous challenges and post your results. It’s never too late to try something new. Better Boarding Tips – Getting into the Swing of Things For some members, jumping right into the conversations on the board feels natural. You know exactly what to say and have no trouble asking for help and providing your own support. For the rest of us, it can be a little tougher. We may not always know what to say to someone who needs help or how to reach out for support when we need it. How can you improve your social boarding skills? Practice! The more you post, the more comfortable you’ll feel. Start by filling in your profile, if you haven’t already. Head on over to the Tell Your Story Forum (or you can get there from the front page) and welcome a few new members. Then browse the forums until you see some topics that call to you. You might be able to answer some member questions about food choices or some of the pros and cons that you’ve experienced with your weight loss surgery. You’ll soon feel like an old pro with so much practice, and the other members will sure appreciate your input! That’s about it for this week’s newsletter. You can always find the old newsletters in the newsletter forum if you ever miss one. Thanks as always for your support, and we’re looking forward to seeing you out on the boards! Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ==============================================================If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.rnytalk.c...&tab=newsletter

Hey, Sleevers!We’re into the long, lazy days of summer – but there’s plenty going on at VerticalSleeveTalk.com! So why don’t you use this newsletter as a reminder to get on over to the boards? It’ll help you stay on track or motivate you to get back on board if you’ve gotten off track a little. Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter. Burning question: What’s the Big Deal about Protein? Member Spotlight: Meet Queen of Crop! Sleever Challenge: Record Your Diet! Become a Board Expert: How to Get More Involved We hope you’re having a great summer and feeling great about meeting your weight loss and healthy lifestyle goals. Enjoy the newsletter, and of course please contact me any time with suggestions, comments or any other feedback. See you on the boards! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder Breakfast should be high in protein to give you a good start for the day. But why is protein so important? First, it’s an essential nutrient for your immune system and as a part of your muscles, skin, bones and other body tissues. But it’s even more important when you’re losing weight so fast, like you are after getting your sleeve surgery. When you lose weight, you’re losing body fat, of course. But if you’re not careful to get enough protein, you’re going to lose a noticeable amount of lean body mass, too. That means you’ll lose some muscle mass and your metabolism will slow down. Another benefit of protein is that it actually helps you stick to your low-calorie post-surgery diet so that you lose weight faster. Protein takes a longer time to digest than carbohydrates. That means that eating a high-protein meal will help you stay full for longer than a high-carbohydrate meal without much protein. So don’t forget to hit your protein at each meal! Aim for one to two servings per meal, and if you have a snack, include some protein. What are the best sources of protein? Stay tuned for the answer coming up in a future newsletter! If you have a burning question that you’d like to see answered in the newsletter, just send Alex a PM over in the forums. It can be about anything – questions about the sleeve, food, fitness, weight loss, health…just let us know! Member Spotlight – Meet Queen of Crop! This week’s member spotlight is on…Queen of Crop, otherwise known as Sharene from…somewhere in the world! You all know her as an inspirational and beautiful lady who motivates others on the board to follow in her footsteps, but it took a rude wake-up call and some amazing support from her husband to get her where she is today. Sharene and her husband sold their business and house in Hawaii last year, when Sharene was 57, and started to travel. From the U.S. they went to Europe, spending countless hours walking and enjoying the sights. She and her husband were truly living every retiree’s dream – until the wake-up call came. At 200+ pounds, and only 5 feet 3 inches tall, Sharene’s body couldn’t keep up. Her hip, knees and feet gave out, and something serious needed to be done. There was some drama as Sharene and her husband finally talked about the monster in the closet – her weight. But through it all, he was supportive in her need to get healthy. She and her husband were willing to come back to the U.S. if needed, but they found a surgeon in Frankfurt, Germany, who could do the vertical sleeve procedure on her. Now, their travels are not only an adventure in new places, but Sharene is able to enjoy everything so much more, and she and her husband have only grown closer. Sharene continues to visit VerticalSleeveTalk.com every day for support and to help others, and she is grateful for the information she gets here, not to mention the friends she’s made. Want to know where Sharene is now and what’s she and her husband are up to? Check out her blog at www.queenofcrop.com. She updates it every Sunday and, as she puts it, it’s a chronicle of a year in the life of a sleever. Thanks, Sharene, for being in our Member Spotlight! We feature a different VerticalSleeveTalk.com member each week in our Member Spotlight section. Let us know in the member spotlight forum if there’s someone you want to learn more about or if you want to be our spotlighted member! Nominating yourself isn’t bragging. We all want to learn more about you if you’re willing to share your trials, triumphs, tricks and tips! If you’re shy, just PM Alex with the message that you want to be in the spotlight. Thanks! Sleever Challenge – Record Your Diet! Each newsletter, we challenge you with another Sleever Challenge. It’s a chance to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone or get you thinking about ways to make your weight loss journey even more successful. The challenge can inspire you to try things that you’d never thought about but that can make you more successful and confident in your weight loss journey. The challenge is completely non-competitive, but we hope you’ll post your results in the Challenge Forum so that other members can be motivated by your own challenge actions. Study after study proves that the most successful losers – and maintainers – record their diets. If you don’t already do it, now’s a good time to get into the habit. This newsletter’s challenge is for you to record your diet for three days. Include what you eat, how much and what time you had each meal and snack. You can also put in details like how hungry you were before you ate and afterwards, whether you ate exactly what you’d planned, and whether you were eating with people or alone. Did you learn anything new about your diet? Is there anything you can change so that your choices are healthier? Let us know how it went in the Challenge Forum! There, you can always look back at the previous challenges and post your results. It’s never too late to try something new. Better Boarding Tips – Getting into the Swing of Things For some members, jumping right into the conversations on the board feels natural. You know exactly what to say and have no trouble asking for help and providing your own support. For the rest of us, it can be a little tougher. We may not always know what to say to someone who needs help or how to reach out for support when we need it. How can you improve your social boarding skills? Practice! The more you post, the more comfortable you’ll feel. Start by filling in your profile, if you haven’t already. Head on over to the Tell Your Story Forum (or you can get there from the front page) and welcome a few new members. Then browse the forums until you see some topics that call to you. You might be able to answer some member questions about food choices or some of the pros and cons that you’ve experienced with your weight loss surgery. You’ll soon feel like an old pro with so much practice, and the other members will sure appreciate your input! That’s about it for this week’s newsletter. You can always find the old newsletters in the newsletter forum if you ever miss one. Thanks as always for your support, and we’re looking forward to seeing you out on the boards! Take care of yourself and each other, Alex ============================================================== If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you may unsubscribe by going to your Control Panel and clicking on the Newsletters tab, or clicking on the following link: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/index.php?app=core&module=usercp&tab=newsletter

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Her husband had Gastric Sleeve surgery as well! I just watched the following clip of her and her husband on Dr. Drew: