RNYTalk Newsletter

By
Hey, RNYTalk members!

Thanksgiving is behind us and the holiday season is officially underway! Filled with holiday shopping, festivities at work and spending time with friends and family, this time of year is can be the most rewarding. It can be hectic, too, so paying extra attention to your diet and health is even more important than usual. Use this newsletter as a reminder and some motivation to be extra cautious with your choices so that you can keep seeing the results you want from your weight loss journey. Here’s what’s coming up in this newsletter.

• Member Spotlight: Meet kristy3k!

• Tips for the Season: Thriving at Holiday Parties!

• Member Challenge: Activate Your Party Action Plan!

• A Big Thank-You to Our Members as 2012 Ends

We know the hustle and bustle of this season make your life busy, but we hope you spend part of your holiday season with us at Alex Brecher

Founder

RNYTalk.com

Member Spotlight: Meet kristy3k!

Our Member Spotlight this month is on kristy3k from Oklahoma. Kristy3k has a family that many people only dream of: she has been married for 21 years and she has a 19-year-old daughter, a 15-year-old son and a 12-year-old son. She works as a USPS worker. As she says, she played the “constant blame game” for years as she blamed her weight gain first on her pregnancies and then on her night-shift job. Her wake-up call came when her father passed away last July. Finally, kristy3k realized that she needed to take control of what she could – her weight. Her high weight was 340 pounds.

After a lot of research – including many hours lurking on RNYTalk.com! - kristy3k got the gastric bypass done in February of this year. Since then, she’s lost 149 pounds and is well on her way to her goal weight of 165 pounds. She tells us that she’s had so many highlights in her life since the surgery! Just a few include not having to use the handicapped stall in public restrooms because she couldn’t fit in regular stalls; not being out of breath all the time; and not being the “fat mom.” She gets a kick out of her kids telling her she’s skinny, and one of her greatest moments was when her husband was able to wrap his arms around her again.

Throughout the process, kristy3k has gained a lot of self-esteem and general happiness. She still wonders how she let herself get so big in the first place, but she’s determined to continue her weight loss journey. She loves RNYTalk.com because she can get information and inspiration from it anytime. Everyone on the boards is “so upbeat.” Kristy3k is modest enough to say that she is hesitant to offer weight loss tips, but she suggests eating your Protein, drinking your Water, exercising and above all, being patient! We know you’re doing all of those things, kristy3k, and thanks for sharing them and your story with us!

Please post in the food choices.

Holiday parties can interfere with your best intentions to stay on track. From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, parties can be regular events at work and the homes of family and friends. Frequently overeating can not only derail your weight loss, but also lead to bypass-related complications, such as dumping syndrome. Whether you’re a weight loss surgery veteran or this is your first holiday after getting the surgery, these tips can help you enjoy the holiday parties without doing damage to your diet.

• Eat before you go. You don’t want to go into the party on an empty stomach. If you’re starving when you get to the party, you might be tempted to grab whatever’s available – which probably won’t be that healthy.

• Enjoy the party. The holidays should be about appreciating people. Use parties as opportunities to spend time with coworkers and other people who mean a lot to you. Focus on enjoying the party, not on hiding yourself in the food.

• Take care of yourself. Make sure there’s something at the party that you can eat. One option is to pack a high-protein snack or two for yourself and eat it when it’s time for your regular meal or snack. You can also take a healthy dish for the host to serve at the party.

• Sip water. Carrying a glass of water around gives you something to do without adding any calories to your day. Another benefit of drinking water is that you know you shouldn’t eat solid foods when you’re drinking fluids.

• Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is a source of calories that you just don’t need. Worse yet is that it lowers your inhibition. That means that you’re less likely to resist unhealthy holiday foods.

Member Challenge: Activate Your Holiday Action Plan!

This newsletter’s challenge is related to our advice on holiday parties. The challenge is to choose a specific strategy designed to get you through the holidays without interfering with your weight loss goals. You can take one of the suggestions listed above, or choose your own. Some other ideas are to keep healthy Snacks at work so you’re not tempted by unhealthy snacks and to record each treat that you eat in your food record instead of pretending that it doesn’t count.

Tell us in the Member Challenge Forum how you complete the challenge! Was it easy or difficult? What tips do you have for other RNYTalk.com members? We also want to know anytime you go back and complete an old Newsletter Challenge, which you can find in the archived Newsletter Forum. It’s never too late to try a Newsletter Challenge!

A Big Thank-You to Our Members as 2012 Ends

As we close out 2012, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank each member. We truly appreciate your support. We value each member, whether you post many times a day and use all of RNYTalk.com’s many features, or whether you log in infrequently to read just a few posts. You, the members, are essential to RNYTalk.com’s success, so a heartfelt thank-you to each of you!

2012 has seen rapid increases in the number of members, the beginning of regular newsletters and the launch of mobile apps to access all of the forum’s features. Big plans are in the works for the coming year, and it promises to be an exciting ride. We’re glad to have you on board! Of course, we’re always open to member suggestions, so please feel free to contact any board administrator.

That’s it for this month’s newsletter. We hope it was inspirational and helpful. Have a safe and peaceful holiday season, and take care of yourself and each other,

Alex

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Ahem.... 154 lbs... Lol! Thanks for the spotlight!