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Hey BariatricPal Members! I hope you are doing well and making progress towards your goals this fall! As the holiday season gets underway, it may be time to renew your commitment, remind yourself about your motivations, and fortify yourself with a few new strategies to get you through the season. We have it all in this newsletter! Just Getting Started with WLS? Quick Checklist Tips for Staying on Track This Holiday Season BariatricPal in the Community: Updates on Our Efforts! Get what you can from the newsletter, then come talk about it and whatever else is on your mind on the BariatricPal forums! You can find all kinds of inspiration, tips, and support for your stage of the WLS journey and type of WLS. Can’t wait to see you there! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal Just Getting Started with WLS? Start Here! The beginning of the weight loss surgery journey can be a scary time. You have so many decisions to make about whether to get WLS, when to get it, who your surgery will be, and what type of WLS you want. You have a lot to learn about pre-op and post-op preparation, your pre-op and post-op diet, and changing your relationship with food. But you can do it! Here are a few items to consider as you move forward. Put Yourself in Good Hands The WLS journey is a lot easier when you start off on the right foot. That means finding a surgeon and healthcare team who are right for you. Your chances of success are higher when your surgeon has good success rates and your entire healthcare team provides the information you need to prepare for surgery and the rest of your life. Come Hang Out on BariatricPal What do you get when you join a community of hundreds of thousands of people just like you, who are interested in weight loss surgery? Answers to your questions from members who have been there, done that, and members who are going through it at the same time as you. Ideas about how you can make your journey easier, such as recipes, tips for eating out, and packing lists for the hospital. Recommendations about surgeons, bariatric vitamins, protein shakes, and pretty much anything else you could need on your WLS journey. Extra accountability if you choose to use free tools such as a weight tracker, photo gallery for before, after, and along-the-way pics, and a blog. Maybe it would be quicker to answer, “What don’t you get?!” Build Your Support System Aside from the BariatricPal community, who will be supporting you every day? You have an advantage if your family and friends are on board. They can help you by agreeing not to eat too much junk food in front of you and agreeing not to store it in the house; or by taking care of the children a couple of times a week while you hit the gym; or by lending you a shoulder to cry on if you have a down day. Neighbors and coworkers who are trying to lose weight can also be good candidates to be part of your day to day support network. Insure Nutrition We are always thrilled to welcome a new newsletter sponsor into the BariatricPal family, and this month, Insure Nutrition is giving us the pleasure of doing just that. Our latest sponsor, Insure Nutrition, is an online company that specializes in getting health insurance coverage for nutritional supplements. Its Post-Bariatric Surgery Nutrition products includes Premier Protein shakes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors and OptiSource High Protein drinks in caramel and strawberry flavors. Checking if you are eligible is easy. Insure Nutrition encourages you to use its online form to find out if you qualify. Our sponsors help make BariatricPal newsletters and other services possible. We encourage you show your thanks by considering them first for your bariatric needs. Tips for Staying on Track This Holiday Season Time flies, and never faster than during the holiday season. If you have not already seen mounds of candy from Halloween, you will soon see all kinds of extra treats pop up everywhere as even more holidays approach. You can be sure that the temptations will not go away until people make their New Year’s Resolutions, so you had better have a plan for keeping your weight in check this season. Set Realistic Goals Weight loss is harder this time of year because of holiday parties, food gifts, family dinners, and treats that mysteriously show up in the office. It is not a sign of weakness to change your weight loss and eating goals during the holiday season. It is a sign of wisdom because you are accepting the circumstances and adjusting to them. You might want to adjust your goals to give yourself a little extra slack while still moving towards WLS success. For example: Postpone WLS until January if you are unable to stick to the liquid pre-op and post-op diets during this season. Change from weight loss to weight maintenance mode temporarily, or adjust your weight loss goals to be a little slower than you have been losing weight. Adopt a “tiny-tolerance” instead of a “zero-tolerance” policy when it comes to treats. Allowing yourself to have small bite of your favorite holiday treats guilt-free can help keep you from losing control and eating the entire pie. Arm Yourself with Healthy Alternatives You know temptations will be everywhere, so you can plan ahead to fight cravings. Just keep a few healthy favorites on hand so you can grab them instead of whatever diet disaster starts tempting you. For example… Protein Hot Chocolate Protein Brownies Nacho Cheese Protein Pasta Peanut Caramel Protein Puffs Make Life Easier for Yourself You are likely to be busier than ever as extra obligations such as gift shopping and spending time with family and friends come up. Don’t let lack of time get in the way of your weight loss! You can make sure that healthy meals and snacks are just minutes away by planning ahead. Use meal helpers such as bagged salad mixes and rotisserie chicken, and cook larger batches of healthy recipes on the weekend to use during the week. Have single-serve Protein Entrees and Protein Pasta Dishes to pop in the microwave for a low-calorie, high-protein meal in minutes. Have ready-to-eat snacks around so you can grab one instantly. Examples include whole and cut fruit, washed vegetables, nuts, hummus, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, and grilled chicken breast, not to mention Protein Pretzels, Protein Bars, and Protein Chips. The BariatricPal Store can help you stock up on the the foods you need to stay happy and healthy this season. We guarantee lowest prices, and you can use coupon code BPNewsletter10 for a 10% discount off your entire first order! BariatricPal in the Community: Updates on Our Efforts! We’re always working on fighting obesity however we can, and this month started with a bang! We were at Obesity Week in New Orleans this October 31 through November 4. The event is sponsored by the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and The Obesity Society (TOS), and the list of surgeons, other healthcare providers, and industry reps we met reads like a list of “who’s who” in bariatric care! BariatricPal is working to build all kinds of partnerships to improve our ability to fight obesity through weight loss surgery! BariatricPal was also a partner in National Obesity Care Week (NOCW), October 30 through November 5. The purpose of NOCW is to improve the quality of care in medical settings. We worked to increase awareness of obesity care by spreading the word however possible and by joining the TAKE5 challenge. If you missed NOCW, you can still do your part to advocate for better obesity care! Those are the major updates from recent times, along with a few tips to start you off properly this holiday season. For tons more tips and inspiration, just stop by BariatricPal whenever you are ready. We love having you spend time in the community!

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