LapBandTalk Newsletter 10/05/2012

Summer’s over and we’re into the beautiful days of early autumn. No matter where you live, we hope you’re getting a chance to get out and enjoy the weather! Any activity you do counts toward your weight loss, health and pleasure, so make an effort to get outside and get moving. Don’t forget to take your LapBandTalk.com app with you so you can read the newsletter and keep up with the boards! Here’s what you’ll find in October’s newsletter.

• Member Spotlight: Meet CocoaBean!

• Bander Challenge: Lend a Hand!

• Having a Healthy Autumn: A Few Tips for Parents – and Other Busy LapBandTalk.com Members!

• Weight Loss Surgery: Not the Easy Way Out!

Can’t wait to get started? Neither can we! Enjoy the newsletter and please feel free to let us know what you think! Thanks for your support.

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder

LapBandTalk.com

Member Spotlight: Meet CocoaBean!

This month, we’re pleased to put the spotlight on Denise, known as CocoaBean on LapBandTalk.com! She’s a 48-year-old Californian who had struggled with her weight for most of her life. Her dieting included a few rounds of Weight Watchers, as well as some attempts with Atkins and South Beach. Her weight went right back up after each diet. She and her husband set the limit at 200 pounds – but then she hit 217 pounds and couldn’t face another try at Weight Watchers.

That’s when Denise learned about the gastric bypass from a coworker who had lost weight. Denise did the research and decided that the lap-band was a better choice for her because it wasn’t as invasive and she didn’t feel that she needed the malabsorption from gastric bypass. She waited a year until her insurance covered the lap-band and got her surgery in 2008.

Since then, Denise never looked back. She lost 71 pounds and has maintained a BMI of 24 – all without the help of a dietitian. Instead, she was able to use her own experience and knowledge from a college nutrition course to make her own meal plans. She can walk up stairs without getting winded and is a size 8 to 10 – down from an 18W!

She has had a few struggles, mainly with people who look down on weight loss surgery as an “easy way out” rather than a treatment for a likely fatal health condition – obesity. She’s gotten food stuck a few times in public. One time she slimed up while serving as a juror in a trial, and once she snuck a doughnut at work – and paid the price as it got stuck!

Overall, Denise’s husband has been as supportive as possible considering that he’s never had a weight issue. Denise is on LapBandTalk.com daily for her main source of support; she loves the positive attitude here.

We asked Denise for some advice with the lap-band since she’s been so successful. Here are a few of her pointers.

Take a long-term view; the lap-band is a lifelong journey, not a quick weight loss diet!

When you’re not losing weight, look at your other health measures, such as your blood pressure, sleep apnea or size. Are they improving?

“Relax and go with the flow.” What a great reminder that you can’t control everything, but you can do the best you can by adapting to whatever happens!

Thanks, Denise! Obviously your advice has worked for you, and we’re so glad that you shared your story and tips with us! Thanks for being in the Member Spotlight.

If you want to be in the spotlight or you want to nominate someone else, let us know in the Spotlight Forum or send Alex a private message. We’re always looking for outstanding members to highlight!

Bander Challenge: Lend a Hand!

We like to challenge you to try something new or unusual in each newsletter. The Bander Challenge is a non-competitive way to push yourself a little further and experience something new while gaining confidence. Why do we ask you to post what you did? It helps motivate others and give them ideas for their challenges!

This week’s challenge is pretty simple. Before the next newsletter, we’re just asking you to help someone. It can be any kind of help, from helping an elderly neighbor take the newspaper in to volunteering to give a motivational talk at your local weight loss surgery support group meeting to making dinner for your spouse even when it’s not your turn. This challenge does more than make someone else’s life easier. It makes you value yourself more when you see how powerful you can be just by being kind to others.

Don’t forget to let us know how you helped someone! What did you do? How did it make you feel? Let us know how it goes in the Bander Challenge forum! You can always check out any of the previous Newsletter Challenges and give us updates on those. You can always see the old challenges in the archived newsletters. You’ll see challenges on food, fitness and more! It’s never too late to try something new and exciting!

Make It a Healthy Autumn: A Few Tips for Parents – and Other Busy LapBandTalk.com Members!

Okay, we know that the autumn is a busy time of year. If you’re a parent, your children are back in school and their activities are in full swing. You may be juggling work with your chauffeuring, catering and cleaning business – aka, taking care of your family! Most of us are pretty busy even if we’re not parents.

It’s easy to use not having enough time as an excuse for getting off track with your weight loss. You might eat foods that you know you shouldn’t because you feel you just can’t squeeze in the time to prepare a healthy snack. We’ve all done it. You rush out the door in the morning and are busy all day. Some of these happen along the way.

• You are starving by lunchtime and grab a few truffles that get stuck in your lap-band

• You go by the vending machine for a soft drink that’ll make you feel sick within minutes.

• You realize at the end of the day that you haven’t stopped to drink for hours, and you have a headache and your stomach hurts.

• You know you should be eating lean Protein, but the closest thing you can find is pepperoni from the company’s pepperoni pizza – so to be polite, you eat the entire slice and it causes an obstruction.

• You start to depend on Protein shakes because those are the closest thing to a healthy meal that you can find at the company cafeteria.

You don’t have to let a hectic schedule get in the way of your health! What can you do about it? Here are a few tips to make the most out of every day

• Prepare some of your meals and Snacks at the beginning of the week.

  • Wash your fruits and vegetables so they’re easy to prepare when you need them.

  • Cook some your Proteins - chicken breast, fish, seafood, lean beef and/or veggie burgers – and freeze them in single-serving baggies or containers.

  • Cook up bigger batches, put them in single-serving containers and freeze them so you can defrost them when you’re ready to eat them. This is a great option for healthy side dishes, such as whole wheat Pasta, carrots or Beans. (You don’t have to make too much, since your single portions post-surgery are pretty small).

  • Place snacks in single-serving bags if you buy a multi-serving package

  • Plan your Breakfast the night before so you don’t have to think about it in the morning.

• Take the time to make a grocery list. It’ll save you time in the end.

  • Using a list will keep you from forgetting foods and needing to go back to the store during the week.

  • You’ll be faster in the store because you won’t get distracted.

  • Sticking to a list will keep you from buying foods you shouldn’t.

  • Buy ingredients for breakfast

  • Buy snack foods

• Make sure you drink enough.

  • Stash Water bottles in your car and at work and keep them filled. It’ll encourage you to drink throughout the day and you won’t have to take the time to run to the kitchen each time you need to drink.

  • Stick a pitcher of water in the fridge so you see it several times a day.

• Keep healthy snacks at work so you never find yourself starving with nothing healthy to eat.

  • Beef Jerky and canned tuna, chicken, beans, vegetables keep for months.

  • Frozen foods to consider keeping around include grilled chicken and fish, veggie burgers and vegetables.

  • Yogurt, low-fat cheese, cottage cheese and deli meats are high-protein snacks to keep in the fridge for a week or more.

The more you plan, the better off you’ll be. You’ll save time and be more likely to eat well. And remember – you’re worth it! We suggest picking one or two strategies and working on them until you master them, then moving on to a new tip. Let us know how helpful the tips are!

That’s a lot to chew on for this newsletter, so we’re going to end it here. There’s no end to the news, tips and conversations over at LapBandTalk.com, so come on over via your computer, smartphone or Kindle! You can always check out the old newsletters, too, in the Newsletter Forum.

Thanks for coming along in this newsletter and for being part of our fantastic community! We couldn’t do it without you.

Have a great month and take care of yourself and each other,

Alex.