Our Bariatric & General Surgery Blog
Surviving Setbacks After Bariatric Surgery
By Barbara Brathwaite, RN, MSN
All or nothing thinking: “I am a total success in my meal plan or a total failure.”
Black or white thinking: “I ate those cookies so I may as well forget healthy eating.”
Do it perfectly or not at all thinking: “I am either perfect or a total failure.”
All or nothing thinking, and black and white thinking, and perfectionist thinking can get us into trouble. They will sabotage any plan for change. There are gray areas! If we slip up, we can forgive ourselves and get back up.
Food Safety Facts
By Elizabeth Schledorn RN, MSN, CNOR, CBN, CHHC
After weight loss surgery, making conscious decisions about what types of foods you ingest is very important. The best way to accomplish this is to cook your own meals at home. Home-cooking allows you to control exactly what ingredients are going into the meals you ingest. This enables you to meet your post-WLS nutritional requirements while keeping questionable, and even harmful, additives and chemicals out of your body. The process of home-cooking is not without its own risks, though. If you are a novice home cook, or even a more experienced cook, it is vital to keep food safety practices in mind to keep your nutritious, bariatric-friendly meals from making you sick to your (smaller) stomach.
Eating What You Want Within Reason
By Michele Lubin, MS, RD, CDN
Think back to the time you were preparing for your weight loss surgery. What were your expectations? You must have heard from your doctor, nurse, dietitian, therapist or other patients that “this is only a tool…..you need to follow the healthy lifestyle guidelines to be successful.” Although patients may hear this, that concept may be interpreted to mean: “I can eat the same foods I was eating before surgery, but in much smaller amounts and still be successful; I can eat what I want within reason and in moderation.”
Slow Thyroid – Separating Truth from Myth
by Patricia D. Cherasard PA-C, MBA
Chief Bariatric Surgical Physician Assistant
Winthrop Surgical Associates, PC
You’ve been diagnosed with a Slow or Underactive Thyroid (aka hypothyroidism). What does that mean? It means your thyroid gland is not making enough thyroid hormones. Low Thyroid hormone levels can make you feel tired and weak. Untreated it can cause lasting effects to your whole body. Slow thyroid comes with many generalized symptoms that are often mistaken for other conditions such as aging and menopause. It typically affects middle-aged more than younger adults and women more than men.
Exercise Outside of the Gym
By Elizabeth Schledorn RN, MSN, CNOR, CBN, CHHC
While some of us have visions of walking into the gym in perfectly coordinated athletic gear, killing it in cardio class and weight training like a boss, others of us don’t remember how to drive to our gyms, forgot the membership card is on our keychain, and only recall a gym interior of a gym from Jersey Shore. And the truth is, that’s all fair.
Working out in the gym is not for everyone. Fortunately, getting great exercise does not rely on formal gym attendance, expensive personal trainers, or any expensive group trend in exercise. Let’s explore some options as to how you can get the exercise you need by taking the “G” our of “GTL.”
5 Reasons Women Should Train with Weights
Many women come to the office with frustrations of not accomplishing successful weight loss goals through their daily exercise regimen. They understand that the key to achieve and maintain a healthy weight is by maintaining a lifestyle of healthy food choices and exercise. In reviewing their diet and exercise regimen often times a lack of proper resistance training workout is usually the root cause of disappointment. The main excuse given is the lack of time after completing a cardiovascular/areobic session to focus on weights. The truth is that there are two factors attributing to the disinterest in weight training. The first is intimidation of the weights and the second is the lack of benefits behind a weight training routine.
Here are the five reasons why women should train with weights :
The Bariatric Kitchen Makeover
Smart Substitutions that Satisfy!!
by Antonia Pinckney, RD, CDE, RN
The New Year is a time for many new beginnings. Why not start the season anew by “making over” your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer ?
You’ve heard the guidelines before – protein, calorie free beverages, lots of fruits and veggies, and whole grains. Now it’s time to apply these principles to your home environment, and do an honest assessment of your “local” food supply.
The Quick Guide To Love Your Body
by Barbara Brathwaite, RN, MSN
You’ve taken the big step and had weight loss surgery. Now is the time to focus on the new “you” and the lifestyle changes required to support the new “you”.
Three important steps in this process include prioritizing your need, seeing the positive and adopting an attitude of gratitude
Ways to Avoid Last Minute Choices
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
Every weight loss sutrgery patient should adopt this statement as a mantra. Making choices on the run as you dash from work projects to afterschool soccer games to dinner reservations and special social events is akin to putting your life in the hands of someone else. You cannot rely on being able to just “pick something up” on the way or “fitting in” a workout without having these non-decisions effect your WLS success in the long run.
Unfortunately, because of the hectic pace in which we live our lives, many of us do just that…and then wonder why we fail to attain our weight loss goals or why the weight is slowly creeping back on.
When Zero Calories Does Not Equal Zero Calories
“I can eat as much of that candy as I want…it’s sugar-free and fat-free!” If this sounds too good to be true, then of course it is! Eating too much of anything, especially at one time can potentially cause a myriad of problems. This can include immediate regrets such as a stomach ache, dumping syndrome, bloating and diarrhea to longer term effects like weight gain. So, don’t be fooled into thinking a packaged food is good for you just because it makes specific “health” claims. Be wary of phrases such as sugar-free, fat-free and even calorie-free. These foods may technically be all of those things, but never are they calorie free (or even healthy), especially when consumed in amounts larger than a serving size.
