All-in and All Aboard in Preparation for Weight Loss Surgery
The most important and general predictor of success leading up to any bariatric surgical procedure is engagement and commitment to the preoperative program. Most bariatric surgical programs involve multiple steps to assess suitability for surgery and diagnose potential pre-operative issues. Among these general processes are engagement in weight loss surgery support groups, accessing nutrition materials and resources, and intentional weight loss regimens leading up to the day of surgery.
Surgical weight loss support group meetings may not benefit everyone in the same way. These forums may be excellent for those who open their minds to these sharing opportunities. Other patients may dismissively refer to them as ‘group gropes’ where stories and feelings may be excessively displayed. However, the benefit of these visits exists irrespective of the quality of speakers, words spoken, or production value of visual aids. The advantage is the individual patient’s dedicated investment of time, thought, and effort in their weight loss process. Committing that time to any activity, whether the content is seemingly productive or not, tends to reinforce the commitment to one’s imminent change.
Alana Thompson, AKA ‘Honey Boo Boo’ Is Considering Weight Loss Surgery
You may have read the recent news about Alana Thompson, famous as ‘Honey Boo Boo,’ in the hit TV show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, thinking about weight loss surgery. While she would not be the first celebrity to take the surgical route, a few thoughts surrounding her next step in improving her weight and overall health are interesting and should be discussed.
Before we do that, it is important to congratulate her on considering a very important step toward taking control of her life and health. It’s never easy to decide to undergo significant weight loss, so she should be commended for exploring this opportunity and all it entails. There is also a larger conversation to be had about Miss Thompson’s age, and this is certainly to be discussed in another blog. But for now, the current conversation touches on some important factors, including what this “newer” procedure is, and the expectations/myths of weight loss surgery in general.
Is All Protein the Same?
We all know how important protein is. But while we speak generically about the term protein, is all protein the same, or are there any differences we should keep in mind?
First, let’s start by differentiating between protein and food sources of protein.
Make The Most of Your Outdoor Plans This Spring & Summer
As we hit full Spring swing, so comes the opportunity to spend time outdoors. It’s usually a time to eat, too. For many bariatric surgery patients, however, the temptation to eat certain foods – and the struggle to resist them brings feelings of loss, emptiness, and guilt.
Here are some tips to eat well and manage the temptations around you:
Fighting Hunger After Weight Loss Surgery
Some post-bariatric surgery patients constantly feel like they are fighting hunger. It can be very frustrating for the patient who has chosen to embark on this journey to accept that surgery was not a magic bullet. However, patients are reminded pre-surgery that the procedure they’ve chosen is only one component – albeit a key one – that must be utilized in concert with diet, exercise, and support group attendance. These together will yield the most significant long-term result. We get that, you might say. But now we’ve had surgery; in the case for example of restrictive bariatric surgery our stomachs are smaller, and in some cases our previous appetite is…still there!
Robotic Surgery Versus Traditional Laparoscopy
In the late 80s and early 90s, a revolution in surgical technique blossomed. The advent of laparoscopic or keyhole surgery allowed surgeons to perform complex bariatric procedures using tiny incisions rather than a single large incision. This made recovery more comfortable for patients, but it also reduced many of the risks associated with an open procedure, including infection, significant bleeding, pain, and the possibility of an incisional hernia. Laparoscopy in its traditional form has been the dominant modality for performing surgery for decades. However, another massive leap in surgical technology came to market more recently. This was known as the surgical robot. Unlike how it sounds, the robot does not perform surgery autonomously. Instead, the bariatric surgeon controls every part of the procedure from a console inside the operating room, near the patient. The robot takes the surgeon’s inputs, scales them, and translates them to the robotic arms inside the patient.
Managing Relationship Changes Due to Bariatric Surgery
Many patients are under the incorrect impression that bariatric surgery is simply a catalyst for a physical transformation. To be sure, your body will change dramatically after surgery. Not only will you lose weight, but you will experience an improvement or resolution of many of the diseases associated with morbid obesity… if you follow your postoperative plan. However, what’s often overlooked is the psychological component of weight loss. Think of the newfound psychological, emotional, and physical freedom that patients experience as they lose weight or can perform activities they may not have in years. What about the confidence to reignite their social lives and relationships?
Nutritional Deficiencies After Bariatric Surgery
Vitamin deficiencies are a possible side effect of bariatric surgery, and as such, every patient will be started on a daily multi-vitamin. The degree to which a patient may experience nutritional deficiencies largely depends on several factors. First is the person themself – many people have difficulty absorbing one vitamin or another. Some have chronic Vitamin B12 deficiencies, while others will have trouble retaining Vitamin D. Over time, with proper testing, your surgeon will understand the root of these deficiencies and address them appropriately. The second is the procedure performed. The malabsorptive components (where part of the small intestine is bypassed) of a gastric bypass or duodenal switch lend themselves to a greater chance for nutritional deficiencies than purely restrictive procedures such as the gastric band or gastric sleeve. Finally, your lifestyle will play a key role. Remember, after surgery, you will likely not get all your vitamins and minerals from food alone – even from those foods that are nutrient-dense. Common nutritional deficiencies are:
Choosing the Right Recipes After Bariatric Surgery
There’s no shortage of recipes or cookbooks out there, and as a bariatric surgery patient looking to expand your culinary horizons, you may be tempted to try quite a few of them. Many recipes tout their unique “tastes great and healthy for you!” qualities, while others guarantee weight loss using exotic “proven” techniques. We must dig a little deeper to understand exactly what we’re eating, how we’re eating it, and how it will ultimately affect our bodies.
Smoking After Weight Loss Surgery
At least six to eight weeks before weight loss surgery, your doctor will tell you to quit smoking. This is because it takes time for your lungs to heal, and non-smokers have fewer complications during surgery and recover faster after surgery. If you have already had the surgery and contemplating smoking again, the best advice is don’t!
The most important reason is rooted in common sense. You just had a life-changing procedure with the eventual purpose of improving your health and resolving your obesity-related disease. Returning to smoking would run counter to that goal. But how does smoking affect you?
Ghrelin, the Hunger Hormone
One often overlooked benefit of gastric sleeve surgery is reducing a hunger-producing hormone called ghrelin. The ghrelin produced in the stomach sends signals to the brain, telling us that we are hungry. According to a study from the University Hospital of Navarra in Spain, ghrelin can also cause additional body fat to accumulate in the abdominal area. This visceral fat is the most dangerous kind and is a leading contributor to heart disease and type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol in obese patients.
When the outer portion of the stomach is separated and removed from the abdomen during a gastric sleeve, our body’s main production center of ghrelin is eliminated. For most patients, this leads to fewer hunger pangs between meals and can, in many cases, decrease the amount of food they eat. This, combined with the gastric sleeve’s mechanical restriction, offers patients excellent disease improvement potential and long-term weight loss.
New Year’s Resolution Update
By now, you’ve had a few weeks to think about, develop and begin to implement your New Year’s Resolution. How is it going? If you’re like most of us, New Year’s Resolutions can fall by the wayside shortly after setting our goals. The reasons are many and varied. For some, the stress of everyday life or negative events becomes overwhelming, and the diet is out the window. For others, our goals were too lofty, and they just seem impossible to reach. Still others never believed they could hit their goals in the first place and forgot about their resolution on January second.
No matter what the reason for letting your resolutions drop, now is the time to pick up the pieces, redouble your efforts and make a real change in your life. You may be asking how exactly you’ll do that and the answer, while simple, is not easy. Go back to basics.
Raw Diet for Weight Loss
Many of us looking to lose weight fast tend to consider extreme dietary changes to jumpstart the process. One of those diets is a regimen consisting of only raw foods. For some, raw foods are a way of life and, as such, not a dramatic change in their eating habits. However, for most of us who consume a variety of cooked and raw foods, the switch is nothing short of extreme.
For those of us used to a varied diet, moving to raw foods only can come as a shock. And while our bodies may get used to the change in dietary pattern rather quickly, there are two major considerations to understand before embarking on such a change – maintaining the diet and making sure we don’t get sick.
The Connection Between Sodium and Obesity
There has been a great deal of debate over the connection between sodium consumption and excess weight. The conclusion, as with most controversial nutritional research these days, is that the jury is still out. However, to consider the effects of sodium on the body, we must investigate how much sodium the average American is consuming and secondly what the effects of sodium are on the body.
Empower Yourself and Lose Weight
