Dear BariatricPal Members,

Happy Easter! If you Celebrate Passover, Happy Passover! And, if you do not celebrate either of these holidays, our warmest spring greetings. We hope you are enjoying the beginning of spring. We suggest letting the fresh air inspire you to get outside and get moving on Easter and every other day…but first, take a look at the BariatricPal newsletter. It has plenty of tips to help you stick to your weight loss surgery diet whether or not the Easter bunny visits your house. Here’s what you will find in this newsletter.

• eggs – Get More of Nature’s Perfect Protein
• Be a Kid again with This Year’s Easter Egg Hunt
• Tips for the Easter Table

Read through the newsletter, go outside for a walk, and then enjoy a happy and healthy holiday meal with friends and family. Don’t forget to log in to BariatricPal to tell us about it and anything else on your mind! Happy Easter!

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder, BariatricPal

Be a Kid again with This Year’s Easter Egg Hunt

If you are lucky enough to be celebrating Easter with children this year, an Easter egg hunt is sure to be one of the day’s highlights. The event can be disastrous for your diet if you simply stash candy all over your backyard as you might have done in previous years. The result is that within minutes, you and the children end up with piles of jelly Beans, chocolate Easter eggs, and all sorts of sugary treats that will make you sick and add hundreds or more calories to your day.

Instead of filling the eggs with candy, make a healthy Easter egg hunt. Cut construction paper or light posterboard into small rectangles. Write instructions for physical activity on each one, and place each slip of paper into an egg. When children find the eggs, they get to come to you and do the exercises with you. These are some ideas for activities to write on the papers.

• Bunnies love to play with their friends…grab a buddy and do 10 jumping jacks together.
• Act like a bunny…hop to the end of the driveway and back.
• Carrots grow in the ground…crawl around the room three times pretending that you are a bunny looking for carrots.
• Pretend you’re the grown-up rabbit and the grown-ups are bunnies…go find a grown-up and teach him or her a new dance move. Then do the move together 10 times.

If the children are permitted to eat candy, you can include some Easter eggs with candy inside. Or, make the children “earn” their candy by performing the exercises with you. When all of you have completed the activities on a particular card, you can pass out a piece of candy to each child.

Feel free to add your own twists to the game! Let the children swap eggs – and activities – to make the game more fun for them. Don’t you get lazy, though! As much as you can, do all of the different activities. It’ll burn calories and distract you from wanting to eat candy.

The Easter egg hunt only comes around once a year, so enjoy it and let it help your weight loss as you strengthen relationships with the children in your life.

Eggs – Get More of Nature’s Perfect Protein

You already know the importance of Protein in your weight loss surgery diet. It helps keep you full so you can stick to your diet, and it is an essential nutrient for a healthy immune system, beautiful hair and skin, and maintaining your muscle mass as you lose fat.

Nature’s Perfect Protein

Since we’re talking about protein, what better food to focus on near Easter – and during Passover, since it is on the Seder plate – than eggs? Each egg provides 6 grams of protein, which is a big chunk of the recommended 60 or more grams of protein you should get after weight loss surgery. The protein in eggs is the highest-quality protein known to humans. Stick to egg whites for a fat-free, cholesterol-free source of protein, or include the occasional yolk for essential nutrients such as Vitamin A, vitamin B-12, and potassium.

How to Eat More Eggs

Hard-boiled eggs are convenient and versatile. You can boil a dozen eggs at a time and keep them in the fridge for days so that you can eat or use them whenever you want. Eat them on their own for a quick snack, or consider the following ideas.

• Egg salad with egg whites, fat-free yogurt, deli mustard, and onion powder.
• Sliced egg whites in salads with lettuce or spinach, grape tomatoes or raspberries, and grilled chicken breast or tuna.
• Egg whites stuffed with a mixture of chopped turkey breast and pureed cooked zucchini.

Eggs are so easy to cook that you don’t have to limit yourself to hard-boiled eggs.

• Scramble egg whites with any mixture of vegetables for Breakfast. Add fat-free cheese or lean ham for extra protein.
• Make breakfast muffins by placing slices of ham in muffin tins and adding an egg to each cup. Bake until the eggs are cooked.
• Make a Greek omelet with spinach, oregano, and feta cheese.
• Serve eggs with Canadian bacon and cut cantaloupe for a high-protein start to your day.

When you keep eggs in the house, you never have to worry about not having enough protein around. There’s no excuse not to meet your needs!

Tips for the Easter Table

Holidays can be tough for weight loss surgery patients. The celebration is bound to involve a big meal, and you might be faced with relatives that you haven’t seen in a while. You can get through this day without going off your diet or letting your relatives get you down about your weight loss surgery if you plan ahead.

At the table, look for the foods you can eat. Just like you do at all of your meals, focus on Proteins, vegetables and fruits.

• Ham, turkey, or another lean protein
• Roasted vegetables, such as asparagus, carrots, or green beans
• Fresh fruit salad
• sugar-free Gelatin

Skip the fatty, sugary, and starchy offerings.

• Mashed potatoes
• dinner rolls with butter
• Mayonnaise-based salads
• Candy, cupcakes, and other Desserts

Here are a few more tips to get you through the day.

• In the morning, remind yourself about how far you have come and how proud you are of yourself. Nobody can take away your accomplishments.
• Be ready to smile and change the topic if your friends or relatives seem negative about weight loss surgery.
• Only eat at the table. If there is candy or other food away from the table, just carry around a glass of ice Water. After weight loss surgery, you can’t eat solid foods when you’re drinking.
• If you’re not sure if the host will be serving food that you can eat, bring a diet-friendly dish to share. Something like roasted green beans with ham pieces is a seasonal dish that has the protein you need.
• Chew slowly and take small portions. Focus on the company and the special meaning of the day, not on the food.
• Go for a walk in the morning. It will remind you to eat healthier later in the day.

Above all, enjoy yourself! Go into the day with confidence and determination, and you will come out on top. Just like you do every day of your weight loss journey, you will do your best and strive to make improvements.

We hope this newsletter helps you through a healthy, happy Easter, or gives you tips that you can use in the future. If you have any other ideas, share them at BariatricPal! Thanks, as always, for your support.

Same to you!!! Thanks

Thanks, Alex, I hope that you had a great Passover/Easter, too!

Edited April 21, 201412 yr by kll724