Riverswept

With the holidays around the corner, gifts may be on the top of your mind. You may be thinking about making up your own gift list to pass around to others. Aside from the usual items, maybe such as something for your favorite hobby, a new piece of furniture for your home, or the latest smartphone, you might want to include a few items that help you move forward in your weight loss surgery journey.
Here is the BariatricPal holiday gift list that you can give to others or that you can use as inspiration as you search for gifts to give to another weight loss surgery patient in your life.


Protein Snacks and Meals
What? Our first idea is to give food to a weight loss surgery patient? Yes, and with good reason. A gift of a healthy snack can keep the recipient away from the junk food without feeling deprived. Healthy, instant dinners offer a practical alternative to drive-throughs, fast food, and take-out. Protein snacks and meals help suppress hunger and maintain lean muscle mass.
The snacks and meals need to be great-tasting if the recipient is going to choose them over alternatives such as chips, cookies, and fast food. The BariatricPal Store does not disappoint, with a full selection of snacks including Protein Bars, Protein Chips, Protein Cookies, and more. Protein Breakfast options include pancakes, omelets, cereal, and oatmeal, and our Protein Entrees include low-carb pasta dishes, chili, enchiladas, and more.
A Smart Scale
A good scale can be one of your most important tools during your weight loss surgery journey and as you maintain your weight. Knowing that you have to step on the scale tomorrow morning can motivate you eat better and exercise today, and seeing the numbers drop can inspire you to keep making those healthy weight loss decisions. Still, it’s not all about the weight. Your journey is about gaining health, too.
With the Yunmai Wireless Bluetooth Smart Scale, your weight is only the beginning of the list of what you can track. Monitor your body fat and muscle mass to see how effective your workout program is, and check your bone density to see if you may need to focus more on bone nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. Compared to some other scales, this scale is more practical because of its capacity of up to 400 lbs. You can track your numbers with a smartphone app that connects via Bluetooth.
Food Journal
Logging your food increases your chances of losing weight and keeping it off. There are a million smartphone apps that you can use, but not everyone is cut out to use them. You are not alone if you prefer pencil and paper to keep track of your food. The very act of writing makes you connect more to what you write, so you can think harder about the choices you make. A food journal can be the perfect gift for diligent WLS patients who are not tied to their smartphones.
A Do-It-Yourself Gift Basket
You can order a gift basket online, but it probably will not be very weight loss surgery-friendly. Likely items include sugary jams, crackers, fatty sausages, and chocolate-covered pretzels. Skipping a gift is better than delivering that kind of fat and sugar load!
Instead, make it healthier and more personal by gathering the goods yourself. You could include all kinds of non-perishable protein foods and shakes. You can even make a themed basket. For example:
A protein snack basket with bars, cookies, granola, and chips.
A post-op care package with protein powdered shakes and smoothies, gelatin, and pudding for the post-op liquid diet.
A wintery mix assortment with protein soup, cocoa, and chili.
A chocolate lover’s basket with protein brownies, triple chocolate cookies, chocolate cereal, chocolate pudding, and hot chocolate.

A Scrapbook or Album
The weight loss surgery journey is exciting, and you want to remember every moment of it! There are all kinds of ways you can make a gift of a scrapbook or album. The simplest is a blank book with space to paste in photos and write notes about milestones and victories. You could go a step further and include dedicated spaces to add in specific milestones or photos, such as losing your first 50 pounds, fitting back into your high school jeans, or a pre-op photo to remind you how far you have come.
A Book
The internet is such a good resource that a book does not always seem necessary, but it can have its advantages. When you buy an informative weight loss surgery book, you can trust the information more than the information you may get from an anonymous online source. Plus, the information is at your fingertips so you do not have to search all over the web for answers to your questions.
A Care Package
This one may be especially appropriate for a pre-op or post-op patient to show love and support during and after surgery. Include items to help the patient feel better.
A “cough pillow,” or hard pillow to push against your abdomen to provide support when you cough or sneeze.
An adult coloring book and crayons or colored pencils to distract the patient from the pain.
Herbal (caffeine-free) tea to sip and promote calmness.
Water flavoring drops and electrolyte drops to encourage hydration.
Protein powders in various flavors.
An IOU or coupon for them to use to call for your help, such as for grocery shopping, cooking, or cleaning the house.
Liquid bariatric vitamins so they can get started with their post-op nourishment.

Gift Card
Not sure what to get? You can never go wrong with a gift card. A gift card to The BariatricPal Store can be used to by all kinds of protein bars and shakes, protein snacks, and protein entrees. The store also has bariatric vitamins, books, and bariatric dinnerware. The gift will be a hit!
A Fitness Tracker
Wearable activity monitors are all the rage, and for good reason. If you love to “get credit” for every step you take, these monitors will let you know, down to the nearest calories. They can motivate you to move a little more throughout the day, and to follow through on your planned workouts. Most fitness trackers now connect to your smartphone so you can see your progress over time and, if you want, share your workouts with your network.
A good gift list can take the stress out of buying gifts, and put the fun into it. This holiday season, get the gifts that will help you reach your goals by using our gift list as a starting point!

Ever since switching to more of a plant based diet, I've noticed some positive changes. For one, its been easier to stay hydrated. I eat quite a few vegetables daily that have the highest Water content of any food. Below is an interesting article that lists such foods. Cucumbers just happen to be number 1 since they are about 98% water. I actually find that I crave cucumbers and apple cider vinegar during the day. Apple cider vinegar is wonderful for vitality and overall health. I've already written a long post about it a few months back, but I do recommend it for decreasing hunger and increasing energy.
Ever since hitting goal, I've grown respect for fresh fruits and vegetables. The surgery has perhaps made them more appealing? Anyone else notice this?
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/list-fruits-vegetable-high-water-content-8958.html