Note: Some of you may have received a duplicate of our previous newsletter and we apologize for the inconvenience, please find the current newsletter below.

Hey, Sleevers!

Now that Memorial Day has passed and we’re well into June, it’s summer time! Why not use the warm weather and casual dress code for motivation to stick to your diet? Of course, the newsletter’s a great way to remind you to be good, too! We keep you updated on what’s going on at VerticalSleeveTalk.com, and we’ll jump right into this newsletter with:

• Gastric Sleeve Support Groups: Are you taking full advantage of special forum groups on VerticalSleeveTalk.com?

• To Tell or Not to Tell – Do you tell others about your vertical sleeve surgery?

• Member Spotlight – None other than Alex Brecher, founder of VerticalSleeveTalk.com!

• Sleever Challenge – This is a great one to kick off the summer.

We encourage you to stay involved with VerticalSleeveTalk.com. Ask your questions, answer your peers and keep your profile current. All of your participation keeps you on track and helps everyone else! Always let us know when you have suggestions, comments and questions. Enjoy the newsletter.

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder

VerticalSleeveTalk.com

Sleever Support Groups: What are They, and How Do They Help You?

VerticalSleeveTalk.com can be a huge part of your life. Many of us check the boards every day or more, and depend on the site for support, information and encouragement. Joining one or more VerticalSleeveTalk.com support groups is a great way to get even more out of VerticalSleeveTalk.com. These support groups are like private clubs, but all you have to do to join is to participate! Just look at the different types groups we have.

• Monthly groups based on when you got the sleeve

• Groups based on your hometown, age and weight goals.

• The sleeve buddies and mentors forum in case you need a little extra help or want to help someone in their weight loss journey.

• And more…for African-American sleevers, diabetes patients, Christian sleevers…and way more.

These groups are smaller discussion forums for sleevers who have a lot of things in common with you even beyond your gastric sleeve. They may have great solutions to problems that you’re having, and they can be super sympathetic to your situation. You can make close friends on these boards because you already have so much in common, and because you can spend a lot more “one-on-one” time with them. Come on over to the VerticalSleeveTalk.com support group page and see which groups you want to join!

Hot Topic: Coming out of the WLS Closet

To tell or not to tell? That’s a pretty sensitive question for a lot of weight loss surgery patients. It’s normal to feel embarrassed about the sleeve, especially when you’re dealing with people who look down on you. Always remember that you don’t have to let others make you feel bad. As long as you’re healthy and happy, you should feel proud of your accomplishments. Anyone who truly loves you will also be proud.

It’s a personal decision about telling people about the surgery. You might tell your closest friends and family first, and let others in on the secret when they start to ask you how you lost so much weight. You don’t ever have to tell if you’re shy or just don’t want to. Or, if you prefer, you can tell everyone as soon as you set the date for your surgery. Maybe that’ll make you feel more accountable and inspire you to success.

What are your thoughts? Do you tell people that you’ve gotten the sleeve? How do you choose when to tell, how much to say and whom to tell? Do you have any tips for other gastric sleeve patients? Tell us about it!

First Member Spotlight – It’s Alex!

We promised, and now we’ve delivered! It’s time for the first true Member Spotlight, and who better to be honored than…Alex! He’s the founder of VerticalSleeveTalk.com and the other communities belonging to WLSBoards.com. He manages and promotes the boards to make sure that they’re here for everyone. He is truly passionate about helping others reach the same weight loss success that he did. Here’s his story.

He’s the handsome, friendly face you see hanging out on the forums, but he took the same journey as many of you to achieve those looks. Alex struggled with obesity and diets for years without finding permanent weight loss success. He finally realized that he needed to lose the weight if he wanted to be around for his children for years to come. Alex got the lap-band, lost more than 100 pounds and never looked back. Thrilled with his new energy and health, Alex had the motivation and confidence to stop smoking. Today he is an active, lean family man who loves to run, bike and spend time with his children.

In 2003, Alex founded LapBandTalk.com, which quickly became the largest weight loss surgery community in the world. He started VerticalSleeveTalk.com in February of 2009, and the other WLSBoards, RNYTalk.com and SleevePlicationTalk.com, followed in 2011. Alex works hard to make sure that all members to have positive experiences and benefit from being part of the communities.

Do you have someone you’d like to see featured in the Member Spotlight? Would you like to be our spotlighted member? Come tell us in the Member Spotlight forum! It’s a regular feature of the newsletters to let you learn a little more about someone in our community with an inspirational story or who helps out our members. Thanks for your nominations so far!

Sleever Challenge! Challenge Yourself and Achieve Something New!

We give you a challenge in each Sleever Newsletter. It’s not a challenge for you to compete against anyone else. It’s just a way to set a new goal for yourself to try something new or push yourself a little harder. Nobody’s keeping score, so try it! You can always find the old challenges in the Challenge Forum. So far, the two challenges have been:

• Try a new food or recipe. It’s pretty simple. Come up with a new recipe or try a new food that fits on your diet. Tell us about it!

• Recognize your non-scale victory (NSV): An NSV is something that is an accomplishment during your weight loss journey, but it isn’t based on the number on the scale. It might be something like fitting into a dress you like or being able to keep up with your grandchildren without getting tired.

• Congratulations to LBM! Her NSV is that she can cross her legs! What a great feeling – and thanks for sharing.

It’s never too late to try the old challenges and write about them. Share what you come up with to brag a little and help out others.

The New Challenge: Be an Exercise Buddy!

This challenge is great for your health and the health of a lucky new or old friend. Why? Over the next two weeks, your challenge is to do a workout with a new person. Some ideas for the challenge are to:

• Ask your neighbor to take a walk with you

• Ask someone at your gym to be your partner while you both lift weights

• Go for a bike ride with your kids or spouse

• Take a new exercise class

Be creative! The goal is to do something fun and healthy, and maybe make a new friend or two along the way. Don’t forget to post your challenge results in the Challenge Forum. The forum’s also great place to go if you need ideas or have advice for other Sleevers. Good luck!

And Finally: Please Support Us!

Just as a reminder, we’d like to ask you to support us when you can. Hopefully you value VerticalSleeveTalk.com and all of its free services. We’d like to remind you to please ask your surgeon and other healthcare providers to post VerticalSleeveTalk.com fliers in their offices. We’re always growing, and you can help. Thank you.

That does it for this newsletter. Thanks for reading and for your continued participation on the boards. Take care!

Sincerely,

Alex

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This is great!! I know I haven't been around too much lately but it's nice to see things like this as I come back. Great job Alex and team!

Nice member spotlight too! Though I already knew all that, but lots here didn't. Yes folks, Alex is a real guy! Genuine too.

Quite obviously, I don't write or select the member spotlights!!!