Hey, BariatricPal Members!

Another month has gone by, and we’re deep into summer. We hope you have been taking advantage of the season to drink plenty of Water, try a few new fruits and vegetables, and enjoy some time outdoors with your family. We’ve been working hard over at BariatricPal, and we’ll give you a taste of what we’ve been up to in this newsletter. Here is what you will find in the newsletter.

• Member Poll: What Do You Do When a Craving Hits?
• Member Spotlight: Meet Carolinagirl!
• BariatricPal Updates: Stay in the Loop!

Enjoy the newsletter, then head on over to the boards for some inspiration and fun. Thanks as always for your support!

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder, BariatricPal

Member Poll: What Do You Do When a Craving Hits?

Everyone has a craving sometime. It might be for pizza, ice cream, tacos, Pasta, or any of the other foods that you used to eat – or overeat – before weight loss surgery. What do you do when a craving hits?

• Wait until it passes, even if it’s a few days.
• Wait a day, and then give in if the craving is still there.
• Make a healthy substitute, such as sugar-free hot chocolate instead of brownies or light popcorn as a salty, crunchy substitute for potato chips.
• Have a bit or two of the real thing, since that is the only thing that will satisfy you.
• Give in. Enjoy your treat, and worry about the consequences tomorrow.

Choose your answer, and explain it in the conversation on BariatricPal. Share your tips for dealing with cravings, and include any recipe swaps that you use to deal with your cravings in a healthy way!

Member Spotlight: Meet Carolinagirl!

We are very glad to feature Carolinagirl in this month’s newsletter! She is from Raleigh, North Carolina. With a height of 5’2”, her highest weight was 335 pounds. At the time, she was classified as super morbid obese. She could barely walk and had trouble taking care of herself. Her wakeup call came when her son told her that she was going to be a grandmother and she realized that she couldn’t even push a baby stroller around the block.

Her surgeon suggested the gastric bypass, but she chose the sleeve plication with the lap-band. She told him she would prove him wrong. Her surgeon made sure that she knew that it was up to her, not the surgery, to change her eating and exercise habits. She did. She has lost 170 pounds – more than half of her body weight! – and weighs 165 pounds now. She is almost at her goal weight of 155 pounds and a BMI of 30.

So much of her life has changed since getting her surgery and losing the weight. She can keep herself clean, put on socks, and feel alive! Being able to walk has let her get her freedom back, and she loves it. One of her great moments, after hitting a high of size 30 pants, was fitting into a size 12.

It hasn’t all been easy. Carolinagirl needed to face her inner doubts head on to find the strength to make the right choices. She points out that she needed to take responsibility for her choices and actions. Also, she knows that it is not about being thin, but about being healthy.

She first came to BariatricPal to meet others like her. Few had as high of a starting BMI as Carolinagirl, whose highest BMI was 61.4. She now considers the members who welcomed her to be good friends. She tries to offer support on the boards, and is constantly receiving PMs (private messages) from other weight loss surgery patients with questions. Carolinagirl gives good advice and honest answers without sugar coating them. She says that the forum keeps her going forward in her own journey.

Carolinagirl has some advice for members who are struggling with their weight loss.

• Be honest with yourself. You know if you are eating right and exercising.
• Measure inches lost in addition to weighing yourself. Don’t get on the scale too often.
• If you eat or drink more than you burn off, you will gain weight.

Thank you, Carolinagirl, for being in the spotlight and for being a being a great community member. You are very much appreciated on the boards. Congratulations on your phenomenal and hard-earned weight loss!

Do you want to be in the member spotlight? Is there a BariatricPal that you would like to see in the newsletter? Let us know in the Member Spotlight forum! We love getting nominations!

BariatricPal Updates: Stay in the Loop!

It has been a busy few months at BariatricPal. Here’s what’s been going on.

The Big Book!

In early July, we published The BIG Book on Bariatric Surgery: Living Your Best Life After Weight Loss Surgery. It’s a guidebook for losing weight and keeping it off in the months and years after weight loss surgery. You’re in this for the long haul! You can see chapter summaries and get more information here.

If the title sounds familiar, it’s because this Big Book is the fourth in our series. The first three were on the different kinds of weight loss surgery. They are great for weight loss surgery beginners and anyone losing weight after weight loss surgery.

• The Big Book on the Gastric Sleeve: Everything You Need To Know To Lose Weight and Live Well with the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy
• The Big Book on the Gastric Bypass: Everything You Need to Lose Weight and Live Well with the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery
• The Big Book on the Lap-Band: Everything You Need To Know To Lose Weight and Live Well with the Adjustable Gastric Band

BariatricPal Local Chapters

We’ve been rolling out a new program called BariatricPal Local Chapters. It’s in-person support group meetings in your local area run by BariatricPal members for BariatricPal members. So far, we have seen a lot of interest, and are excited about continuing to grow the program. These local meetings are a great chance to meet BariatricPal members in person and to get tips for losing weight.

Check the Local Chapters forum to see whether there is already a group in your area or to start a new group.

Happy Surgiversary to Alex!

On July 18, Alex Brecher officially celebrated his 11-year anniversary of the lap-band surgery. 11 years ago, Alex came home from the hospital after getting the lap-band. He started LapBandTalk.com to support other patients, and then VerticalSleeveTalk.com, SleevePlicationTalk.com, and RNYTalk.com. The rest is history. 11 years later, Alex is down 100 pounds. The four original boards joined together and are now BariatricPal, with hundreds of thousands of members. Congratulations, Alex, and thanks for giving us BariatricPal!

Come on over to BariatricPal and join the action! Ask your own questions, browse the conversations that are already going on, or weigh in on the hot conversations on topics such as weight gain after sleeve surgery, finding a bypass buddy to motivate you, recipes for the liquid stage after surgery, or getting over a stall.

See you on the boards!

Carolinagirl is such an inspiration to me. Thanks for all your support!

Carolinagirl is the bomb. Great choice Alex for a fine example of the journey....Love that girl! Excited that you are so long in the success part too. Keeps me thinking that I have a good chance of making it too.

Just knowing that there are those that have several years under their belt in this journey, gives me hope that I too may be one of them as well.....

Thank you.

the link to the poll doesn't work

the link to the poll doesn't work

Thanks! It's been corrected.

Nice personal story of carolinagirls journey. I enjoy her posts and she tells like it is.

Congratulations to our mediator guru Alex.

11 years gives us all hope on our long term life.