Healthy Weight Loss

[PaPa]

Good Evening! I am sorry for the delay in posting from yesterday's nutritional meeting, weigh-in, and doc appointment. Today was yet another test for my lungs. No results on that, but here is what I learned yesterday. I took notes! *Smiles. In the surgical program where I go 5-10% keep the weight off. They say it is quite common for those of us with weight issues to backslide and the nutritional classes and support groups offered now before surgery are to help us practice our lifestyle changes. I will type the entire sheet I received for those who are interested in reading it.

Think before you eat! Keeping food logs will help you with this. "Before you bite it, Write it!"

Chewing food well (30-40 chews before you swallow) Food should be of the consistency of appleasauce before you swallow. Venison is a very dry meat and people who have had surgery sometimes have difficulty with it getting stuck in ducts.

Slowing down the rate of eating. Pouch can hold 1 ounce of food in 10 minutes. It takes your brain 20 minutes to let your stomach know there is food in it. Meal time should last at least 30 minutes.

Stop when you feel comfortable (not overly full). After surgery eating tot he point of fullness could cause your pouch to stretch, become damaged, and/or cause sickness.

Reducing portion sizes. After surgery a meal will consist of about a cup of food with 1/2 of that coming from protein sources. Will help with pre0surgery weight loss, also.

Eat three meals per day with 2 snack times (if needed). Eating scheduled meals and snack times will decrease the amount of "Grazing" on empty calories throughout the day now and after surgery. No skipping meals! The first meal of the day should be within 2 hours of waking up. If you skip a meal ask yourself why you really missed it.

Make healthier food choices (in general). Protein, fruits/vegetables, whole grains. Will help with weight loss but will also provide adequate nutrition.

Choosing low fat/ low sugar foods and reducing alcohol consumption. After bariatric surgery foods high in fat and sugar could cause dumping syndrome. Each food serving should have no more than 5 grams total fat and 10-15 grams total sugar. Beverages containing more than 10 calories per serving should be avoided.

Sip slowly adequate amounts of non-caffeinated/ sugar free/ non-carbonated fluids. No caffeine, no carbonation, not straws!

Separate solids and liquids. No drinking with meals and separate from meals by 30 minutes before or after a meal for gastric bypass, sleeve, BPD, 60 minutes for lap band.

Exercise should be 2 hours 30 minutes or more per week. Make it do-able. Start small. 10 minutes 3 times per day.

Now via the doc afterwards. Practice behaviors learned in nutrition class. Increase physical activity by 10 minutes per exercise day. Water intake 61-96 oz per day. 1800-2000 calories per day. No skipping meals. Begin taking metformin hcl 500 mg 1 by mouth daily for 1st 7 days, then 1 by mouth twice daily. Referral to counseling for compulsive overeating to deal with the compulsivity before surgery.

Now the weigh-in results....I lost 1 pound. He said, "it is better than gaining or even holding the same. So I will take it!" Although I was disappointed, it was positive because it is one more pound toward me goal. Right??

Hope this is a refresher for those who need it or helpful to those who have never heard this info before.

[girl_dee]

Moose I have a friend that when she goes out to dinner she asks for half to be put in a to go container and to serve the other half


Tupperware even better!!

Congrats PaPa !!!

[girl_dee]

**Moose**? i must stop posting from my iPhone!

Sorry about that Mopsie! lol

i am already a fan of meditation and as a hypnotherapist i know the power of suggestion...there are a ton of meditation YouTubes out there!

do you know that even after you fall asleep words that are spoken are recored by your brain.so even when you fall asleep on a meditation it's working for you!

i found this last night and i am not even sure of what was said but i have not snacked or wanted to snack all day...

[girl_dee]

so i've had a few days of no processed foods (i did have one piece of bread yesterday) and wow i am feeling so good!

[Mopsie]

Originally Posted by girl_dee

so i've had a few days of no processed foods (i did have one piece of bread yesterday) and wow i am feeling so good!

Wow - good for you! That has got to be hard to do.

I have not been doing so well with eating healthy. I have been eating a piece of fruit each day, but I've also been eating all sorts of no-no foods like chips and cookies.

I don't know what happened but my motivation took a vacation.

[Andrea]

I have written about the SparkPeople website before. The site offers support, articles, tracking, recipes, videos and more.

Recently, SparkPeople put out a book called Spark Solutions. About two months ago, my honey and I borrowed the book from the library and started the program. In those two months, in spite of multiple traveling and other things attempting to side track us, we have both lost weight, lost inches, and feel healthier. The majority of the recipes are delicious (once my honey added more spices) and we don’t feel like we are struggling to maintain the program.

The book offers two full weeks of detailed meals (including recipes) and exercise, with explanations and alternatives. You can even get the grocery shopping list for the meals on the website.

The book also offers directions for weeks three and four, or you can redo weeks one and two, as we have done.

I don’t know how you all are, but I am intimidated by food choices and cooking and tend to eat what I have always eaten with little thought to what is in it. Spark Solutions allows me to concentrate on learning portion sizes (my big downfall), while learning new ways to make dishes using healthy alternatives.

I am even more intimidated by working out or going to the gym and I don’t want to pay a trainer to torture me on their schedule. Spark Solutions takes the guesswork out of working out for me. I know how often to concentrate on cardio, when I should do strength training, and when I should rest.

Bottom line is we found something that works well for us and have purchased the book, now that we know it works.

Anyone else doing Spark Solutions?

[Ranger Butch Force]

I've been doing Paleo for about two months now and I've lost about 30 pounds. When I researched it I thought "I can do this because I can still have bacon and coffee", but then I saw you can't have peanut butter. That was a tough one, and still is. I do cheat every now and then and slap some peanut butter on a celery stick and some raisins, but that's about it.

I exercise on my days off because my job is physically demanding, so I need to keep moving.

The true test is when I head to Burning Man and keep on the diet, since it mostly consists of meats and veggies it will be a challenge to keep those items cold and/or frozen for two weeks (I don't do the RV thing out there). I may need to get more dry ice this time around.