Essay contest entry

This is the essay I submitted to Quick & Simple Magazine that won me the beautiful sapphire-and-diamond bracelet you see here:

"I'm less than half the woman I used to be, yet in so many ways, I'm twice the woman, wife, friend and employee I ever was.

"I've lost close to 190 pounds in the last 18 months with the help of gastric-bypass surgery. Though many consider it to be a coward's method of weight loss, I've never worked so hard in my life. Surgery has required me to focus on myself and my health for the first time in my life.

"I used to consider exercise a luxury I couldn't afford and used that excuse to remain sedentary. I convinced myself that my job was too demanding to allow for planning and cooking my meals, and I often ate fast food daily. I spent many years hiding behind my job, saying that if only it were less stressful, I would have the time needed to lose weight. Then I was diagnosed with obesity-related infertility after a year of trying to conceive. My weight problem was no longer something I could put off to deal with later when life was less hectic.

"It was then that I realized something had to change. I knew bariatric surgery would force me to rethink my priorities. Rerouting one's innards leads to an altered perspective. Suddenly, exercise was a necessity instead of a luxury. Planning my meals was as important as breathing, because protein deficiency would lead to serious complications. Rest became something upon which I depended. Before surgery, I would sleep two to four hours a night, figuring the time most people spent in bed was better spent at the office or trying to catch up around the house.

"Surprisingly, focusing on me and my needs didn't make me lazy or put my job in jeopardy (my biggest fear). These changes have made me more productive. It's amazing how much you can accomplish in a standard day when you're operating on eight hours of sleep and are appropriately nourished and hydrated. I've gone from working 18-hour days to 10-hour days, and my husband loves the fact that he finally has a wife who comes home at night and has energy left over to devote to him. And most importantly, my weight loss and change in perspective have prepared me for the challenges of motherhood -- something I hope to experience in the near future.

"Almost" Famous

I won an essay contest from Quick & Simple Magazine last fall by submitting a piece on how bariatric surgery changed my life. A brief article quoting from my essay (see above) is in this week's issue of the magazine, available at most grocery store and Wal-Mart check stands (in Tracy, you can find it at Wal-Mart and Albertsons). The Jan. 2 issue, which costs $1.59, will be available for sale at least through Saturday.

I'll post the essay I entered in its entirety later today.

Obesity in the news

Check out the following news stories:
Obesity harder for women
Lap-Band, a safer, less-invasive procedure
Farming 'rethink' needed to solve obesity problem
Obesity pandemic a global worry

Does being fat make kids stupid?

A recent study out of the University of Florida links extreme obesity in children with low IQ scores.
According to an article on WebMD, the study found children who were 150% above their ideal body weight by age 4 tended to have lower IQ scores and mysterious spots on their brains later in life.
Click here to read the full article.

Recipe: Caramel-Hazelnut Shake

Caramel-Hazelnut shake
2 scoops vanilla Zero-Carb Isopure
1 c. ff Lactaid Milk
3 T. Coffee Mate sf Hazelnut non-dairy creamer
1 oz. sf Torani Caramel syrup
Ice (I use an entire tray)

Add everything in blender but ice and blend together to combine. Add ice cubes one by one to create consistency you desire.

Calories: 335
Protein: 59
Carbs: 16
Fat: 3

Notes: I like using the sugar-free and fat-free Coffee Mate creamers, but I often have a problem in which the amount needed to solicit the flavor I want is too rich for my tummy.

Overweight? Asthmatic? Australia's army wants you

Click here to read an interesting story on Australia's army lowering its standards to bolster recruitment numbers.
What do you think about this idea? Post your thoughts in the comments section.

Recipe: Chocolate-caramel-brownie shake

Chocolate-caramel-brownie shake
2 scoops PD Alpine Chocolate
1 cup ff Lactaid milk
1 shot Torani sf caramel syrup
4 Joseph's sf brownie bites
Ice cubes

Blend liquid ingredients until smooth, add brownies with ice cubes and pulse until same thickness as a Dairy Queen Blizzard (I use an entire tray of ice cubes).

It's important to note that this is not a low-calorie meal. This was yummy, but I would not add the brownie bites in the future -- they add 100 calories and 14g of carbs, which isn't worth it for the minimal flavor boost. Also, I typically use ff Lactaid milk, but dh brought home reduced fat and I didn't realize it. So, the reduced fat milk has 130 calories per cup, versus only 80 for the ff version. The caramel syrup has no nutritional value for a 1-oz. serving.

So, here's the stats for what I actually drank this morning, though you could easily cut 150 calories by making the substitutions mentioned above:

Calories: 420
Protein: 49
Carbs: 38
Fat: 10

Great finds at Cost Plus World Market

I took an impromptu trip into Cost Plus World Market today, because I had heard the store carried a variety of Torani syrups sweetened with Splenda. I've discovered that such flavored syrups are a great way to add variety to my protein shakes without having to invest in myriad flavored powders. It's amazing how much you can do with basic chocolate and vanilla when you have various flavorings to add to them.

However, World Market had more to offer me than just the Torani syrups. En route to the flavoring aisle, I stumbled upon the store's sugar-free section. Tucked away at the end of an aisle by the candy, I found various sugar-free treats that I had thought were only available on the Internet.

Just about every flavor of Joseph's sugar-free cookies were there. The crunchy, bite-size cookies aren't only great for snacking but also make an incredible low-carb crust for sugar-free pies and cheesecakes. I like snacking on the pecan shortbread, which I also use for my cheesecake crusts. The chocolate-walnut cookies are great as a crust for chocolate pies, and I use the lemon cookies in the crust for my sugar-free key lime pies. The only variety I found today that I hadn't previously tried was the soft brownie bites. I can wait to try them and tell you what I think of them.

Enchantments soft-baked cookies were also available. The store had frosted lemon, chocolate-walnut chunk and snickerdoodle varieties in stock. I picked up the snickerdoodles and will report on them later.

Also available was sugar-free black licorice (no red), gummi bears, Jelly Belly jelly beans and Guylian belgian chocolate. I've heard from other bariatric gourmets that Guylian is the best brand of sugar-free chocolate on the market so I picked up a bar in each flavor to try and use in cooking.

I was so excited by these finds that I almost forgot my Torani syrups. Good thing my husband was there to keep me on track. Though the full-size bottles of Torani are on sale right now for $5 each (regular $5.99), I decided to buy the smaller 5-ounce bottles to try out. Sadly, there was not as much variety in the smaller bottles but I managed to pick up raspberry and caramel. I can't wait to make a chocolate-caramel protein shake. I already know it'll be tasty. For those braver than me, the store had full-size bottles in Irish cream, toffee, vanilla, caramel, raspberry, peach and others -- all sugar-free. There was even sugar-free white chocolate and chocolate syrup.

It was an exciting trip, to say the least. I've spent so much time over the past two years investing time and money buying these types of products on the Internet. Not only is it risky to buy stuff sight unseen for the most part, but it gets expensive to ship glass bottles and heavy packaging.

Knowing I can buy such stuff in Tracy makes life so much easier for me. And it guarantees I'll make numerous stops at World Market in the future.

Product Review: Better Balance Pretzel Snacks

Kay's Naturals Better Balance Cinnamon Toast Pretzel Snacks
• $2 for a single-serving bag

These thin soy-based snack sticks resemble cereal twigs, but they don't taste nearly as good. According to the package, a bag of these snack sticks offers 120 calories, 9 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat and 10 grams of soy protein.

At first taste, the crunchy sticks offer a good cinnamon-sugar flavor but the heavy soy aftertaste and sandy texture ensure they won't be something I eat again.

Hit or miss? Definitely a miss.

Product Review: Water Sensations Liqui-Packs

Water Sensations Clear Liquid Flavor Enhancer for Water
• About $4 for a box of 16 Liqui-Packs
• Comes in the following flavors: Mixed Berry, Natural Peach, Natural Kiwi-Strawberry, Natural Grape, Natural Lemon and Natural Orange

Each Liqui-Pack is meant to flavor a standard 16.9-oz. bottle of water. The flavoring packets have no calories and are sweetened with Splenda. In fact, the ingredient list is pretty minimal: filtered water, natural flavor, citric acid, ptassium citrate and sucralose (the official name for Splenda). The idea behind the enhancers is that you can take them with you to use anywhere. Instead of hunting down a vending machine with Propel or Fruit2O, you can just order a glass of water or buy a bottle somewhere and flavor it yourself.

I've tried the mixed berry and natural peach Water Sensations, both in about 20 oz. of water, because I'm not one for super-sweet drinks. The natural peach flavor tasted as if I had sliced a peach into my water. I didn't find it overly sweet, and I will admit that I slurped down my 20 oz. of water faster than usual.

I didn't like the mixed berry nearly as much, but I've never been one to enjoy berry-flavored water. I don't know why, but berry seems like an odd flavor for water to me. I actually ended up dumping it out because it was just too weird for my liking.

If you check out the Water Sensations Web site, www.watersensations.com, you'll find that the flavor packets aren't just for water. There are suggestions for using Water Sensations to flavor iced tea, yogurt, warm beverages and sparkling water. And I'm sure as these little packets gain popularity, the site will offer even more ideas.

Hit or miss? Definitely a hit. I've already bought a box of the peach flavor and look forward to trying the lemon and orange ones as well.

Fat Clock's ticking

Diet Detective, a Web site devoted to fitness a nutrition, has now posted the Fat Clock. The clock, in the upper right corner of the site's home page, shows the escalating weight off all Americans combined.

"It's tied to population and changes about 8 pounds a second," says Charles Stuart Platkin, founder of Diet Detective and a syndicated health-fitness-nutrition columnist, in a recent Sacramento Bee article.

Here's the full story.
Fat Clock says it's time to watch our weight
By DAN VIERRA
Sacramento Bee
Actress Kirstie Alley, one-time star of the Showtime comedy series "Fat Actress," may have lost 65 pounds thanks to Jenny Craig, but thanks to the rest of America, the Fat Clock is piling up poundage.
Diet Detective's Web site has posted the Fat Clock, real-time calculations of the aggregate amount of weight gained by American adults ages 20 and older.
"It's tied to population and changes about 8 pounds a second," says Charles Stuart Platkin, founder of Diet Detective and a syndicated health-fitness-nutrition columnist.
Remember the National Debt Clock that was in New York's Times Square? The Fat Clock is similar. Putting on pounds in a blur of numbers, the Fat Clock had a starting weight of more than 39 billion pounds _ impressive but not enough adipose deposits to alter Earth's orbit.
Crunching numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Platkin hatched a formula to confound Einstein. He spent six weeks perfecting his formulation to determine escalating weight gain.
"There's a lot of research behind it," he says. "It can be seen as a public health awareness tool to see how rapidly we're gaining weight."
But do we really want to know?
"I do," says Delores Bartella, sipping coffee at a Starbucks in Carmichael, Calif. "I truly think American children and adults are eating too much junk food and not getting enough exercise. It's a good thing to remind people."
Peggy Howell, spokeswoman for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, vehemently disagrees.
"It's utterly absurd," she says by telephone from her Las Vegas home. "There was a recent study that said focusing on diets and weight loss is actually counter-productive."
Howell said she believes people shouldn't focus on "how much weight they're gaining every second of the day," but on a healthy diet and allowing the body to "take care of itself."
Statistically speaking, two out of three adults in the United States now are considered overweight, according to the CDC. The number of overweight people ages 6 to 19 has tripled since 1980.
"I hope people won't feel overwhelmed by the numbers," says Platkin. "But policymakers, politicians and health-awareness campaigns out there should take note."
The news that the world is populated by 1 billion overweight people _ more fat folks than the 850 million undernourished people _ certainly is food for thought.
"Obesity is the norm globally, and undernutrition, while still important in a few countries and in targeted populations in many others, is no longer the dominant disease," professor Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina told a conference in Australia recently.
Fat Clock founder Platkin knows obesity firsthand. He once carried 220 pounds on his 5-foot-9 frame and says he was obese all his life until he took charge. Twelve years ago he lost 50 pounds and has kept it off.
"I'm tipping the scales at 165 pounds now," he says. "The quality of life can be horrific when you're obese."
(Dan Vierria can be reached at dvierria(at)sacbee.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

Poll: Widespread delusion among parents about kids' health

A poll of Canadian parents show they drastically discount the size of their children, a Scripps Howard News Service story reports.

"Parents seem to be looking at the health of their own children through rose-colored glasses," said Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai, president of the Canadian Medical Association, which commissioned the survey.

The poll found that only 9 percent of parents believe their children are overweight. Researchers found that 26 percent of the children of the parents polled were actually overweight or obese.

Here is the full article:
Poll: Widespread delusion among parents about kids' health
By ANDRE PICARD
Toronto Globe and Mail
21-AUG-06

A new poll shows that only 9 percent of Canadian parents believe their children are overweight or obese. That is markedly less than the 26 percent who are, in fact, overweight or obese, according to data collected by a federal agency, Statistics Canada.
"Parents seem to be looking at the health of their own children through rose-colored glasses," said Dr. Ruth Collins-Nakai, president of the Canadian Medical Association, which commissioned the survey.
Over all, Canadian children rated poorly in the eyes of adults, with only 6 percent garnering an "A" for overall health among respondents.
But, again, those surveyed had a much higher opinion about the behavior of their offspring, with 40 percent of them earning top marks.
Collins-Nakai, a pediatric cardiologist, said she worries that the self-delusion of parents is cushioning kids from reality and will lead to poor health outcomes.
"I have a very real fear we are killing our children with kindness by setting them up for a lifetime of inactivity and poor health," she said.
The CMA, which represents the country's 62,000 physicians, releases an annual report card to measure public feelings about the health system.
The overall grades vary little from year to year, with two-thirds of Canadians giving the system high marks (A or B).
What is new this year is the report card's focus on child health, a central issue at the CMA's policy convention this week in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
The group is expected, among other things, to call on Ottawa and the provinces to adopt specific targets for improving child health, and to support the adoption of a Charter of Children's Health.
The survey asked what immediate initiatives should be taken to improve the health of children.
Respondents showed broad support for mandatory physical education from kindergarten to grade 12 (92 percent), a mandatory school curriculum on the benefits of physical activity and healthy diet (87 percent), and removing all junk foods from schools (81 percent).
In the poll, parents showed a desire for better nutritional information and warning labels on food, tax breaks on health foods and tax deductions for the fees paid by children participating in sports. The survey also found lukewarm support for a ban on junk-food advertising and opposition to junk-food taxes.
Guido Van Rosendaal, chair of the council on health care and promotion of the CMA, told the conference that Canada has to begin by setting specific and aggressive public-health goals related to child health.
Delegates were also presented with sobering statistics showing that Canada has an infant mortality rate of 5.3 per 1,000 live births, a perinatal mortality rate of 6.3 per 1,000, and a maternal mortality rate of 4.6 per 100,000 live births. These data place Canada in the middle of the pack among developed countries.
Landon Pearson, a former senator and longtime activist now associated with The Landon Pearson Center for the Study of Childhood and Children's Rights at Carleton University in Ottawa, told delegates that Canada has to move beyond the "vague splendid goal of healthy, happy children" and set real targets to improve childhood health.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

Product Review: Herbalife Products

At the recent ObesityHelp conference in Visalia, I received a sampler pack of numerous Herbalife products from one of the convention attendees.

For those unfamiliar with Herbalife, it's a line of nutrition products available for purchase through independent distributors. The company offers various lines, from weight management to general wellness products.

I haven't yet had the opportunity to try all of the products I received in my sampler pack, but I've tried enough to offer an opinion on them.

Protein Bars ($16.95 for a box of 14 bars)
These bars are fairly standard as far as protein bars go. They have a clay-like texture and are coated in either a chocolate or white candy-like coating. Though calorie count varies according to flavor, each bar offers 12 grams of protein, about 6 grams of fat and about 15 grams of carbohydrate. The bars are sweetened with sugar alcohols, so they are safe for sugar-sensitive post-ops.

I've tried each flavor -- peanut butter, chocolate fudge, lemon and chocolate coconut -- and consider them to be decent. Peanut butter was my favorite. Of all the flavors, I think it had the least protein aftertaste. Lemon was my least favorite. The other two flavors were middle of the road to me.

Personally, I wouldn't consider buying these for myself. They are so dense that I can't eat more than half of a bar, which only gives me about 6 grams of protein -- not nearly enough to make it pouch worthy.

Roasted Soynuts ($10.95 for a box of 14 packets)
These are no different than the average roasted soynut, except they are seasoned with Cardia salt, a low-sodium seasoning. I thought the Cardia salt had a strange taste so I emptied about half a packet of Splenda into my packet and shook it up to give the nuts a salty-sweet taste similar to kettle korn.

I don't think these soynuts are any different or better than the varieties available at the grocery story, but the single-serving packets are handy -- especially if you have a tough time regulating your portions when it comes to snack foods. Each packet provides about 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 5 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein -- a very nutritious snack for anybody but especially good for a post-op. And they definitely satisfy any craving for crunch.

Peach Mango Beverage Mix ($10.95 for 7 packets)
This is an instant beverage mix that offers about 70 calories, less than a gram of fat, 2 grams of carbs and 15 grams of protein. I was really excited to try this, and it seemed like it would be good. the powder mixed well in water with a few stirs of a spoon. The finished product was a little cloudy, but it didn't seem too bad. Then I took a sip, which I promptly spit out into the sink. I can't offer any specifics on what I didn't like, apart from everything. The initial taste wasn't good, and the aftertaste was terrible. There was an overbearing protein taste to the beverage, and I couldn't think of anything to improve it. In hindsight, mixing it in a blender with ice and fruit may have made it drinkable, but that would have defeated the purpose of having a convenient drink mix that can be made anywhere.

Herbalife herbal concentrate ($19.95 for 1.8 ounces)
I first tried this product, a thermogenic drink mix that contains green tea, about seven years ago. To this day, it's still my favorite product and it makes a tasty sugar-free drink. I favor the original flavor. The single serving packets are great when you're on the go. Just dump it into a standard bottle of water with a few packets of Splenda mixed in.

Product Review: Tropical Oasis Liquid B-Complex

Tropical Oasis Liquid B-Complex Supplement-$23 for about 32 ounces

I was excited to try this vitamin b-complex supplement. I use Tropical Oasis' liquid calcium supplement, and I love it. It's tasty and provides a large amount of calcium in a small dose.
I wish I had similar praise for the B-Complex supplement. Unfortunately, the liquid vitamin B supplement is icky. It contains all B vitamins, so I hold each dose under my tongue for a minute to allow my body to absorb the B-12 before swallowing it. That may be why I think it tastes so terrible. Most liquid vitamins are only in your mouth for a moment, but when you're letting a dose sit in your mouth for a minute, the nasty flavors are more noticeable.

In talking with some fellow post-ops, I've discovered that all liquid B-complex supplements are gross. The consensus among my friends is that one of the B vitamins (everyone's assumption was that it's B1, or thiamine.) has a disgusting flavor that cannot be masked.

Most gastric-bypass patients don't need a B-complex supplement. Those who are diligent will get all needed vitamins and minerals by taking a specialized multivitamin, about 2,000 mg of calcium, iron and a weekly B-12 supplement (monthly if injected). However, there are increasing numbers of post-ops who have become deficient in thiamine. And supplements such as this one are an unfortunate necessity for those people.

The smartest thing any post-op can do is take all required vitamins daily to avoid ever getting deficient so yucky supplemetns are a requirement.

Hit or Miss? Miss this one, unless you truly are deficient in one of the B vitamins.

Something for almost nothing

I've already blogged about how the small turnout at the OH conference in Visalia was a boon for its attendees, but I didn't realize how much of a perk it was until returning home and unpacking.
As I unpacked all the samples and full-size products I received at the conference, I realized what I walked away with was worth a pretty penny. And I'm not the only one who went home with loads of stuff; just about every other participant did as well.

Here's what I received at the conference -- and each product's estimated sales price -- in giveaway prizes, as part of the registration packet and as snacks throughout the conference weekend:

Nectar Fuzzy Navel protein powder (2lb. canister) — $24.95
Profect Protein Beverage (five 2.7-oz vials)– $15
Tropical Oasis Liquid B-Complex Supplement — $23
PowerCrunch protein bars (4)— $8
AchievOne coffee-flavored protein drinks (4) - $8
Bariatric Advantage Vitamins (three days' worth)-$3
Herbalife Protein Bars (2) — $2.50
Herbalife Roasted Soynuts (1 packet)- 75 cents
Herbalife protein drink1 packet)- $1.50Herbalife protein shake (1 packet)- $2
Herbalife take control (2 days) - $2
Herbalife herbal concentrate (2 packets) — 50 cents
Water Sensations Liqui-Packs (1 box) -$4
Better Balance Pretzel Snacks (1 full serving) -$2

I'm not the queen of math, but by my quick survey, these products have a market value of about $95. This happens to be exactly how much a three-day pass to the conference cost those who registered early. Talk about breaking even. Not only does this help make attending the conference financially worthwhile, it also helps bariatric patients by allowing them sample a variety of products geared toward them without shelling out a wad of cash on an uncertainty.
Keep reading over the next few days as I post reviews of each of these products as I try them. I imagine some will be good, while others will leave much to be desired. But at least I can say I will have tried them.

Learning to think thin

Presented by Dr. Monica Ganz,director of events and support groups for OH

The difference between thinking as a thin person vs. a fat person is when you need to get somewhere, a thin person will give you street names when they deliver directions. An overweight person gives you eateries as landmarks.

Portion sizes
Eating off standard American dinner plates can lead you to feeling deprived. Using small plates and utensils teach us to relearn to eat – to eat smaller bites and smaller amounts. Monica used a timer to limit herself to one bite every three minutes to teach herself to take a full 30 minutes to eat her meals. She even used miniature pots and pans to cook her meals. Buy smaller leftover containers to portion out your meals.

Taking pictures
You may not want to look at them right away, but you need to have photos to document your pre-op size and your loss along the way. Many post-ops suffer from body dysmorphia, which means that they do not see themselves as the size they truly are. Pictures will help train yourself to see your true size.The amount of time body dysmorphia lasts depends on how long you were obese and how long it’s been since you’ve lost weight. Remember, it takes time for the mind to catch up to the body. And for some, it takes five years to get their brain in line with their appearance.

Taking measurements
Measurements are important because you will lose inches even when you’re not losing weight on the scale. And the record of your measurements will also help drive home the impact of your weight loss.

Drinking water
Be prepared to make sure you get enough fluid. Line up eight 8 oz. bottles in the fridge and make sure you drink all of them before going to bed each night. Or take two 1 liter bottles of water to work with you and drink them before going home. Do whatever it takes to ensure you reach your water goals.

Learn to stop eating
You need to convert to controlling your food instead of letting it control you. Change the way you think about eating. Eat to live; don’t live to eat. Learn to walk away from your plate when you’re satisfied. You don’t have to clean your plate.

Figure out what works for you
If vegetables or beans give you gas, take Beano. Gas is no fun after gastric bypass. Passing it is difficult; it’s best to help your body not make it. Carry Lactaid with you if you’re going to eat dairy products because many post-ops become lactose-intolerance. Keep other condiments with you such as Splenda, Molly McButter, low-carb dressings and even sugar-free mints so that you’re never caught unprepared.

Support
Support groups are so important because the success rate for post-ops is higher among those who attend such groups. It helps keep you accountable. Having trouble staying motivated? Start your own group. Nothing will motivate you more than having to set an example for others.

Fat clothes
Get rid of your clothes as you shrink out of them. You’ll never need them again. Accept that. If they are in your closet, regaining your weight will be an option in the back of your mind. That’s not an option.

Get a full-length mirror
Obese people only look from the neck up. Look at your entire body. Get in touch with how you look. You need to keep looking in the mirror to see yourself as you really look.
Surgery is a toolThis is not a magic pill. America is still looking for that. This is merely a tool, but it’s an amazing tool that will help you reach your ultimate goal.

Dare to dream
Set goals and achieve them and reward yourself for that. Each of us is capable of incredible things if we allow ourselves to do so. Give yourself permission to dream, believe your ability to achieve those dreams and allow yourself to accomplish them.

Getting on the ball

Presented by Karen Donaldson of Excel Weight Loss Solutions

Karen Donaldson is a fitness and nutrition professional who lives in Idaho. She has presented numerous sessions this weekend on fitness, massage and aromatherapy. I had the opportunity today to sit in one of her fitness sessions using exercise balls.

Inflated exercise balls – also called Balance Balls – are commonly used in Pilates and yoga classes, but their usefulness doesn’t end there. I’ve exercised with them regularly for about five years, but mainly just to work my ab muscles. That’s the greatest thing about the balls – because they provide an unbalanced exercise surface, everything you do on them works out your core muscles. A word of warning, though: Sometimes you don’t realize how good of a workout you got until you try to get out of bed the next morning.

Today’s class was popular, with a few participants taking it for a second time. We started by getting a feel for the ball by doing hip rotations and figure-eights. This enabled everyone to get their balance and learn how they moved. Then we walked our feet our in front of us until our lower backs rested on the ball to do sit-ups. We laid across the ball to do push-ups. We laid on the ground and rested our legs on the ball to do pelvic raises. We even did leg raises and played catch using the ball – only we had to catch the ball with our legs.

The class was the fastest hour of my life. Everyone had a great time. The versatility of the ball meant that everyone – regardless of size or fitness level – was able to exercise with it. One man marveled that it was the first time in decades that he was able to do push-ups. Another woman was surprised that she could exercise her abs without having to lie on the floor and struggle with getting up. Others couldn’t believe how much fun it made exercise. As a testament to that, more time was spent laughing than talking, but we each broke a sweat and left feeling the effects of the exercises.

Emotional Eating

Presented by Dr. Monica Ganz, director of events and support groups for OH

I decided to sit in on today’s emotional eating workshop, because it’s heavy on audience participation and I thought it would be useful to see if any new information would be presented today. If you want to read about the full, prepared presentation, check out Saturday’s post.

This is more of a compilation of notes and tidbits extrapolated from today’s session.

The basic theme of the session is that everyone struggles with emotional eating in some form or another, but the key is how you handle it that determines whether it will derail your success.
Monica is big proponent of finding out your emotional eating triggers and using that knowledge to substitute other behaviors for eating. If you eat because you’re stressed out, find ways to relax yourself (bubble baths, aromatherapy, exercise, etc.). Monica uses a sound machine that lets her feel like she’s near the ocean to have alone time, because she believes we each need time for solace. One participant said she finds crafting (scrapbooking, needlecrafts, etc.) to be relaxing. An added bonus is that it keeps her hands busy, and that means she doesn’t graze or snack. Other ways participants mentioned they relax included drinking a cup of tea, doing crossword puzzles, online chatting, swimming and sunbathing and playing cards.

Another woman brought up a recent “A-ha Moment”: She’s 18 months post-op and has found herself grazing at night. One evening, she got involved cleaning her bedroom and found that it was 11 p.m. and she hadn’t eaten since dinner. It was at that point that she realized that she needed to keep herself busy in the evening to stave off her urge to snack. She said it’s frustrating to have these thinks pop up just when she thinks she has everything figured out, but Monica points out that this is a lifelong process. We’ll always learn new things about ourselves, our triggers and our needs.

For me, I’ve recently discovered that working at home has triggered me to graze at night. I’ve always been the type of person to eat at my desk, and I’m a workaholic – the two habits don’t mesh. What I didn’t realize is that when I started working from home in the evenings a few months ago, my couch became my desk. And when that happened, the urge to snack went from being something that only happened at the office to something that I had almost around the clock – because I no longer felt like I was leaving the office. Monica, who has worked from home for the last 20-plus years, said setting boundaries is the key. She’s had similar issues, which is why she has a dedicated workspace in her home and sets specific work hours so that she officially leaves the office each day. Not a bad idea.

The lone man in the group is considering surgery. He said he has a habit of unwinding in front of the computer and often eats while chatting or playing games. After asking him a few questions, Monica drew from him a big picture of his basic day. He works 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. He said he typically eats breakfast at 10 a.m., lunch at noon, a snack (like a full sandwich) at 5 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and then grazes until 3 a.m. some nights.

Monica explained to him that by grouping some meals so close together and then having a huge gap between others leads him to severe highs and lows in his blood sugar. Planning his eating episodes to be equally spaced apart will enable him to keep his blood sugar level and also control his portions.

The subject then turned to cravings. One woman from the group talked about how sometimes her cravings for cake or sweets are so overpowering that she goes ahead and buys the cake, eats one bite and throws it away. She knows she’s spending hundreds of dollars on food that she tosses in the garbage, but it helps her stay on track. She also talked about occasionally getting something that she takes a bite of and then spits out without swallowing it. She enjoys the taste but doesn’t worry about the calories or after-effects of eating off-program foods.

Changing the Paradigm

Presented by Seth Margolies of Weigh2Win

Seth had surgery in 2003 and lost 188 pounds. From the beginning, he said, he understood that there was a high failure rate because people fall into old habits. For him, failure was not an option.

His belief is that unless you create a partnership, you will not have long-term success. You have to change the way you look at your lifestyle. Surgery alone will not keep you thin or in shape, but most surgical facilities don’t offer a fitness component so it falls to the post-op to become accountable for their own success.

Find ways to add activity to your life beyond your structured exercise time:
-Throw away the remote and get up to change the TV
-Get up and walk during commercials
-Take the stairs
-Walk the dog

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes of cardio per day and two days a week of strength-training. Yet only 15% of the U.S. population follows this guideline. The health benefits of three 10-minute spurts is just as effective as one 30-minute session.Seth is a firm believer in strength training because it improves the overall appearance post-ops and can reduce the need for cosmetic surgery. Women who do an hour twice a week of resistance training have less abdominal fat. Strength-training also increases your metabolism and keeps it elevated for longer periods of time.

If you’re inactive after surgery, your ability to eat more food kicks in. And if you fall in that, then you’ll start gaining weight back and be right where you started.

“Surgery is not the end of your battle with obesity," he said. "It’s the beginning of you starting to deal with it. And if you’re lucky, you’ll go into remission.”

Exercise improves mental health.
A Duke study took two groups of clinically depressed patients, gave one batch antidepressants and the other exercised 30 minutes a day. At the end of the study, both groups had 60% of its participants no longer depressed.

Workout tips:
-Start slowly
-Slowly increase the time spent and the intensity
-Set realistic goals that are measurable
-Visualize what you’re going to do
Track your progress
-Wear comfortable clothes

Don’t forget to mix up your routine to curb boredom and also to help your body break through its natural instinct to plateau. Think about variety. Think outside of the box when it comes to exercise. It doesn’t have to be just about going to the gym or following a fitness tape. Some like going to the gym because it’s a social experience. Others hate it because they are embarrassed or overwhelmed. Most people hate exercise because it’s boring, but it doesn’t have to be. You can make a fitness program out of cleaning house, if you do it to music and don’t take breaks. You can walk to run your errands instead of driving.

Losing weight and maintaining weight loss is as simple as calories in vs. calories out. Each of us burns calories at a different rate. Seth says it takes him three hours of exercise to maintain his weight when eating 2,000 calories. Start looking at food in relation to the amount of time required to burn it off.

It’s important to find something you love doing and do that as your exercise. If you like bike riding, make that your routine. If you like skating, then make time to skate regularly. Take dance classes. If you’re having fun, you’re more apt to keep it up.

We’re never going to be perfect, but we each have to do the best that we can and accept that’s our version of success. Changing the paradigm is amount loving yourself enough to put yourself first. Love yourself enough to give your body a break when you need one. Eat nutritious foods, because the better the food is going in, the better your body will run. Love yourself to invest in high-quality food.

Support is important. Surround yourself with loving, supportive people. Don’t waste your time with those who are negative.

Emotional Eating

Presented by Dr. Monica Ganz

Normal eating consists of eating when you’re hungry, eating until you’re satisfied, eating a wide variety of foods, not avoiding foods out of fear and being flexible and varied.

Emotional eating consists of eating in response to feelings instead of hunger, such as:
Stress
Anxiety
Loneliness
Boredom
Anger
Sadness
Depression
PMS

Rewarding yourself
Other ways to deal with emotions and food cravings:
Scrapbooking
Take a walk
Listen to music
Take a bath
Read
Shop
Call a friend
Drink water (dehydration causes hunger rather than thirst)

Avoid high-sugar, high-carb foods
Keep a journal of what you eat and when so you can figure out your triggers. This helps you to break the cycle of unconscious eating. Making a decision to eat also ensures you don’t feel guilty about what you eat.

Change is difficult, but it’s the only thing in life that is consistent. Adapting to change is necessary for success. Before surgery, we were eating ourselves into our graves. We have to change our behavior if we want to be successful. Monica says she still wants to eat everything in front of, but she chooses not to eat it. Surgery is a tool that enables her to stick with that commitment.

Cross-addiction
A lot of post-ops who don’t learn to cope with their emotions will turn to alcohol, sex or other destructive behaviors to replace their food addiction.

Emotional eating issues from attendees:
“Last Supper Syndrome”: Gorging as a pre-op in preparation for surgery. -This is common among pre-ops who fear they are never going to be able to eat their favorite foods again. The important thing is to recognize that it’s normal and just try to make the healthiest choices possible.

Fast food is taboo-Stay away from fast food. That’s a behavior that got us to a point that we’re morbidly obese. Surgery requires an entire lifestyle change, and part of that change requires staying away from the triggers from our pre-op life.

Anger associated with food intolerance-“Nobody warned me that I couldn’t have pasta or tolerate meat.”-“Nobody told me I’d have to eat tofu, but it’s all I can tolerate.”-It’ll take a period of mourning, but eventually you will accept your limitations

Interest from the opposite sex
“I’m the same person I was before but now that I’ve lost weight, everyone has a brother for me to meet. I’d rather just not date.”-You’ll start meeting people who didn’t know you when you were obese, and you’ll start off on different footing with them. Monica said she also doesn’t waste any time with people who didn’t have time for her when she was overweight.-Everyone has emotional baggage, but it’s up to us as individuals to decide whether we hang onto it.

Desire for food hasn’t gone away“I just wish I didn’t still want the food.”-Surgery is a tool that helps us walk away from the table without overeating.