SleevePlicationTalk Newsletter 12/15/2012

SleevePlicationTalk Newsletter

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.

• 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 SleevePlicationTalk.com! Our members are what make the forums so encouraging and valuable. While you’re there, feel free to contact us about anything. We love hearing from members! Enjoy the newsletter.

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder

SleevePlicationTalk.com

Member Spotlight: Still Searching!

Please post in the Member Spotlight forum if you want to be featured in the newsletter’s member spotlight section or if you want to nominate another member. If you prefer, you can also send Alex Brecher a private message telling us that you want to be featured. Everyone has a great story to share. Thanks!

Tips for the Season: Thriving at Holiday Parties!

The holiday season is challenging for all people who’re trying to control their weight, and it’s even tougher for weight loss surgery patients. You’re not just concerned about weight loss. You’re changing your lifestyle, and staying on track takes a lot of effort. If your surgery was recent, you’re still getting used to your new eating patterns and 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 surgery-related complications, such as feeling overly full or 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 SleevePlicationTalk.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 SleevePlicationTalk.com’s many features, or whether you log in infrequently to read just a few posts. You, the members, are essential to SleevePlicationTalk.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