Protein and Bariatric Surgery.....

It is important for everyone to have high quality protein and nutrition every single day. It is even more important for a Lap-Band patient since the amount of protein that can be consumed at one time is decreased. We cannot live without protein, it is the main cell building-block. It builds and maintains muscle and is responsible for the repair of many parts of our body, including organs, skin and hair. Studies have also shown that low levels of protein in the body can create a situation where a body will decrease its Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). This is the rate that our bodies burn food for energy. We want to increase this rate, to help burn fat more effectively and faster! Increasing exercise will also accomplish this same goal, but combining with adequate protein in the diet will bump it up even more. I know very successful Lap-Band patients who faithfully get 60 or more grams of protein daily and that combined with other Success Habits have helped them watch the scale go down consistently.

So what is adequate protein and how can we get it? Most dieticians I know recommend a minimum of 60 grams of protein a day and even more. Some recommend 90 grams per day or approximately 30 grams per meal. As a Lap-Band patient, I know that it is difficult to get that much in the form of food, although I do try. I recommend getting a small calorie-counter type book that also lists protein amounts in foods just to carry with you. It's difficult to know how many grams of protein you are getting in food without something like that. Online resources are very valuable as well.

Next post: Discussing High Protein Meal Replacements

Help to Stop Constant Food Cravings

Why is it so hard to stop eating the overly high-processed foods? I am talking about fast-foods, like burgers and cheese fries and chicken strips as well as refined carbohydrates such as most breads,(we love our bread products), pastries (think freshly baked cinammon rolls you can smell in the malls), sugary treats (almost everything Starbucks sells!) and chips...like nachos (excessively salty foods). To continue with Dr. David Kessler's explanations, here are some real scientific reasons for this. All these flavors hit full force. Health-sapping sugar, salt and fat, -plus additives such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein, ratchet up taste far beyond what you'd find in nature. Texture can also tantalize. Processed foods are engineered for optimal "MOUTH FEEL", whether crunchy, creamy or gooey. These fun-to-eat qualities can quickly override your better judgment. Plus.....these foods are super easy to eat! No bones, no pits, no peels, just instant gratification. Do we stand a chance? Can we fight back? I think we can.

Here is one idea to try: preparing food in advance. We live in a fast-forward world. We prepare for work. We prepare our kids for school. These are not optional....we MUST be prepared with clean presentable clothes, homework done, cell phones charged, gas in car. The list goes on. We go grocery shopping, but are we just buying more fast foods? Preparing foods in advance takes time, but the payoff can be huge. Buying fresh chicken, fish, eggs and other lean proteins and cooking them ahead of time will mean that on busy week nights there are healthy options for quick 'heat and eat' meals. Buying fresh vegetables and cutting them up ahead of time makes having salads or steamed veggies or soups quickly available. I really don't like cutting up salad ingredients, but I do like eating salad and I would rather spend the time to cut everything up at once than doing it every night before dinner. Bake a whole chicken (or two). Grill fish. Cook hard-boiled eggs. Make meatloaf. Spaghetti. Lasagne.

Good luck. I know you can do it.

Super-Stimulating Foods

How to get your brain out of the binge mode. That's my question. Dr. David Kessler, former FDA commissioner says the real problem is that certain commercially made foods-the ones with tons of added sugar, salt, and fat-are so tasty and so stimulating that they actually overwhelm the brain's circuitry. When we eat them, the brain cranks out dopamine, a neurochemical associated with a reward that drives us to eat that food again....and again....and again. Eventually, just looking at the food can trigger a dopamine release. "We get stuck in a cycle," Dr. Kessler says. "We're constantly chasing that satisfaction." When we're eating a highly processed diet we might find it tough to stop. This helps explain why, when we know that eating healthy foods are better for us, we continue eating the crap that leads to increasing obesity and the health problems associated with it. It's somewhat reassuring to know there is a physiological reason behind the sometimes unexplainable binges.

He has some suggestions to thwart the constant cravings and I'll cover those in my next blog. Stay tuned.

Lap Band for Positive Change

Here we are; another year beginning. This can be the year where changes take place that can impact the rest of your life. The changes can be positive; such as weight loss that can reverse or reduce certain health issues like high blood pressure or diabetes. Positive changes that can enable you to interact more with family and friends. Positive changes that can make you feel much more active and vibrant and allow you to be the very best you can be. Or, the changes can be negative; such as weight gain and less activity due to that excess weight and the resultant increase in risk of health problems or possibly even worsening of existing conditions. Negative changes like more avoidance of social situations (that's not how you really want to live, is it?) as well as not achieving your full potential in life.

I believe there is something that can "tip the scales" (pun intended) in your favor in the weight loss battle and that is Lap-Band Surgery. There is no doubt that excess weight leads to health-related issues; (you may already have some of these conditions), but it is possible by losing weight, to make the positive changes happen this year. Once and for all, the medical conditions can resolve. We all want to be as healthy as possible, right? Once and for all, you can be active and keep up with your children (or grandchildren!). You owe it to yourself and your family to seek information about Lap-Band Surgery this year. It might be the positive change you have been waiting for.

Lap-Band Weekend Eating - A Solution

So now that I have a Lap-Band, how has my weekend eating changed? Well, I have to admit I still relate relaxation with eating, but the overwhelming desire for non-stop eating has all but been eliminated. What changed? I can honestly say it was the "Band". My Lap-Band has allowed me to lose 60+ lbs. and keep it off for 2 years! I feel it is the best thing that has happened to me in a long, long time.

My typical weekend day begins with coffee (of course!). I like to relax with a cup of coffee and about mid-morning I will have some breakfast. I might have some soft scrambled eggs and turkey bacon or maybe just a piece of string cheese if I need to get moving and don't have alot of time.

By noon or so, if I am getting hungry again, I try to have a salad with chicken or tuna or low-fat cheese or even a hard boiled egg. See a pattern here? Yes, I try to include some form of lean protein with every meal and most snacks. This type of eating is easy when you are at home, but it also works well when you are out shopping, running errands or hanging out with friends.

Later in the day, I try to grab a quick snack and for me the best option is again (yes) protein. I might splurge and have a couple handfuls of peanuts or even some fat-free cottage cheese with sliced pears (also a good option for breakfast!).

Dinner on the weekends can be anything from whatever we are fixing at home, to eating out and because I have the Lap-Band, I find I can eat most anything that my family and friends are eating, just in smaller quantities (and I am talking about SOLID healthy food, not junk or fast food). I have found that it is very important for me to not get OVER HUNGRY! If I wait too long to eat, I have a harder time feeling satisfied with small snacks and tend to want to fall back in my old eating pattern (hard with the Lap-Band, but not impossible) Hey! I like to eat, so I need to allow myself to have all the meals and snacks I mentioned above, NOT skip meals like I used to do, thinking I could starve myself into good health.

Lap-Band Weekend Eating....The Problem

Well, it's the weekend so meals and eating are different for me than during the week. This might be true for alot of people, but since I work during the week, I find that my meals are more structured and it's easier to stick to healthier eating patterns. On the weekend, I like to relax and I equate relaxation with eating....(hmmm, wonder how I got to be overweight?). Before I was a Lap-Band patient, I would eat pretty much all weekend and the reward for making it through another hard work week would be to overeat the foods I really loved. Oh sure, I would wake up each morning not only resolving, but planning to NOT overeat. By mid-morning, or at the very best, mid-afternoon, my resolve was out the window and I was hungry, hungry, hungry!