Your surgery is only the BEGINNING!

I’m so saddened when I see people who have had bariatric surgery, lost a lot of weight, and then put most of it back on.  When I talk to them they tell me nobody told them how to eat after surgery.  Don’t you dare let me hear you say that.  Because what I think is more the truth is you’re simply not listening.  So I’m going to repeat the article I wrote in last month’s newsletter.  Because it is TRUTH! 

TRUTH is that you can NOT go back to eating the way you are before surgery and expect to not gain the weight back after surgery.  Your surgery is a wonderful tool.  But that is all it is -- a tool.  It’s not the great white pill you take that allows you to eat whatever you want in whatever quantity and maintain your weight loss! 

Want to know the “secret” to keeping your weight off?  Eating small balanced meals 4-5 times a day.  I said SMALL and BALANCED. 

Calories do count.  Take in fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight.  Right?  Well…not always.  If you aren’t eating all day and take in all your 1,000 calories at one time, your body will go into starvation mode during the day to conserve energy and then horde all the calories you feed it during that one feeding because it doesn’t know when it’s going to get fed again.  Studies have shown that people lose more weight and keep it off easier by eating 4 -5 times a day than they do eating 2 -3 times a day.  But these need to be “mini meals”.  This is especially important for bariatric patients.  You know not to ever eat a lot at one time or you’ll know it!  You have a built-in volume meter.  Just eat really slowly to allow it to work to its best capacity!

Now let’s talk about Balance.  I’m talking about the balance each meal has between the grams of protein and the grams of carbohydrates.  The closer you can come to a 50/50 balance, the better you’ll find your blood sugar control is.  In other words, if you can keep your protein grams to around 18 and the same with your low-glycemic carbs (with just a little fat) the better off you’ll be. 

What does that look like?  Let’s use the hand method to make it as easy as possible.  Your lean protein should be about the size and thickness of your palm (3 - 4 oz).  Green veggies (non-starchy) should be two large fist-fulls, add a side salad (if you can eat any more volume) with a little bit of olive oil dressing (fork-prong it).  That should do it. 

If you’d like more information about how to combine food to get the best balance, I’d suggest going to www.zonediet.com.  There are lots of great recipes and ideas on how to balance your foods and still keep your calories  to a minimum.

Also, I just saw that www.bariatriceating.com has gotten a complete overhaul.  It looks terrific, and they’ve added some new products.  Check it out!