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Author admin Categories Bariatric Surgery, Bariatrics, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss, Weight Loss Surgery, WLS Posted on

Eating Out After Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery

 

Eating Out After Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery

 

Are you fearful of eating out after bariatric weight loss surgery?  You are not alone.  The thought of It can fill you with anxiety and dread. The good news is that with a few new strategies you can eat out and do it with confidence.  Whether you are attending a social function such as a wedding or going to a restaurant, you can master the art of eating out and enjoy the experience.

Helpful Tips for Eating Out after WLS

 

  1. With so many people having special dietary requirements, social functions are much easier to attend after bariatric weight loss surgery. You can now use this option to stay on track without feeling different.
  2. Several days prior to the attending a Restaurant, I always view the menu online. This allows you to plan your meal ahead of time so you can order with confidence.  Sometimes there may be nothing suitable, in this case I would generally ask if we could move the venue, or I would eat at home before hand and arrive a little later for coffee and maybe a little dessert.
  3. Some functions will offer only finger foods. I find that if you always have a plate in your hand with a couple of nibblies on it then people don’t keep pressuring you to eat more. It works!
  4. Remember to hydrate at least 30 minutes before your meal to avoid any confusion between thirst and hunger
  5. Eat slowly, chew your food, really saviour the flavour of what you are eating, enjoy every mouthful. There is no rush to finish your meal.
  6. Stop eating when you feel that first sign of satiety. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to get the message from your stomach that you have had enough to eat.
  7. Enjoy the company you are with. Talking and interacting will help slow down your eating process.
  8. If there is food left on your plate, ask the waiter for a take-out container, and take it home for later.
  9. Avoid Alcohol. Apart from the hidden calories, alcohol is metabolised differently after bariatric weight loss surgery.  You can get quite tipsy very quickly and lose control of your eating and alcohol consumption.

Planning prior to your social engagement

will diminish stress and worry of eating out allowing you to enjoy a normal social life after weight loss surgery.  You just won’t eat as much as you used to and you will be surprised how easy it is to maintain a social life after weight loss surgery.

 

Bon Appetit!

Julia-Lorent-black-high-res

 

 

Author admin Categories Bariatrics, Emotional Eating, Weight Loss, WLS Posted on

Emotional Eating

The number one reason a weight loss program fails is Emotional Eating.  Emotional eating is the act of eating in response to an emotion. That emotion can be deemed positive or negative.

 

People with this condition are eating in response to a negative action or as a coping mechanism for a negative emotion.  It’s a strategy which soothes and pacifies you when you feel stressed, angry, bored, overwhelmed, stuck, sad or lonely.  It is a Habit.  Eliminate Emotional Eating for good.  You learned it and so, as you learned it, you can most definitely unlearn it.  Yep that’s right.  You can stop the cycle of emotional eating for good and take back control of your relationship with food forever.

How many times have you thought that if you could control that never ending cycle of emotional eating you would control your weight issues?  Yeh I know too many to count right?  You can lose weight, you stick to a diet, maybe even one of those 12 weeks intensive food and exercise programs and you lose the weight.  You feel great and empowered.  But what happens when the support and the program ends?  Most oftentimes people will put the weight back on and then some.

For too long now we have ignored the missing link in the weight loss equation and that is the power of Mindset Transformation.

As a leading expert in this field I have been helping people transform their Mindset around food and emotional eating for over 20 years with outstanding success.  I have witnessed the elation of clients when they take control of food, some for the first time in their lives.  We can eliminate these destructive behaviours with techniques and strategies that you can use anytime and anywhere. Time to let go of the blockages, emotional or otherwise, that keep you from getting where you want to be.  It motivates you to get moving and to let go of all those excuses.  Isn’t it time YOU took control of food, instead of food controlling you?   What if you could learn the skills to lose weight and keep it off forever.

We all know what to eat to be healthy.  Yet when there is the slightest hint of stress we feel this uncontrollable urge to eat those sugary, sweet comfort foods.  Then we feel comfort and pleasure which is short lived and quickly replaced with feelings of regret, shame, guilt and overwhelm that is all encompassing and leads to another bout of mindless eating.  It’s a vicious cycle and one which you do not need to suffer any longer.  You can learn healthier strategies to avoid triggers, eliminate cravings and deal with those emotions to put a stop to emotional eating. Visit www.savvybariatrics.com and see how we can help you.

Basically we use food to stuff down our emotions to tranquillise ourselves from feelings and emotions that just seem too overwhelming to address.

 The problem with this is that while you are stuffing these emotional feelings down you are just compounding the issue by not actually addressing it.

It actually takes more energy to do this than it does to address the issue and let it go.  I know it can feel too hard sometimes, but please believe me when I tell you it isn’t.

If you do not change your relationship and mindset about Food, Dieting and Weight Loss, you are always going to struggle with your weight.  I cannot stress enough just how important it is to lasting and successful weight reduction, that you change the way you think. We use food as a reward and for celebrations, sometimes not necessarily a bad thing.

However, when your main mechanism for coping emotionally is eating, then you are out of control.

How many times have you opened the refrigerator when you are stressed, angry, lonely or bored?

I can still remember my parents yelling at us to get out of the fridge.  It was like a treasure chest of amazingly magical things that would make you feel better. But alas, it never did.

 

Ready to Eliminate the Cycle of Emotional Eating forever without deprivation, guilt or shame?   Then contact me for a free 30 minute strategy call.

www.savvybariatrics.com

Author admin Categories Bariatrics, Weight Loss Posted on

Mindset Change – Key to Weight Loss Success

Mindset Change – Key to Weight Loss Success.  For too long now we have ignored the power of our brain in the weight loss equation.  Our brain drives our behaviours, habits, feelings and emotions.  

In order for Weight Loss Success to occur you must have a Mindset Change. When we are stressed, bored etc our brain seeks pleasure, comfort and familiarity.  This makes us feel safe, comfortable. It’s the power of the Brain not the power of the Will that is the key to regaining a healthy weight and maintaining it easily. We are all too aware that diets don’t work due to the restrictive nature and the internal battle that therefore ensues.

 

Mindset Change - Key to Weight Loss Success

 

Anyone can do a 12 week program and lose weight.  But what happens when its finished.

Generally, the weight will creep back on and before you know it you are back where you started and maybe even a little heavier.  Not great for your self esteem and confidence is it?   But what if you retrained your brain, your mindset about food whilst you undertook a program to achieve a healthy weight?

There is no good or bad food.  There is just food.  You know what to eat to be healthy and maintain a comfortable weight.  Yet when there is the slightest hint of stress we feel this uncontrollable urge to eat those sugary, sweet comfort foods.  Then we feel comfort and pleasure which is short lived and of course, you have to feed the urge again to get your hit.

 

Mindset Change - Key to Weight Loss Success

 

When we experience pleasure, our body gets a rush of dopamine, serotonin and endorphins, the pleasure hormones.

These hormones then attach to receptors in the brain reducing the effect of stress hormones.   Consumption of sugar changes the brain which in turn leads to the cycle of needing/craving more.    In order to get that same experience of pleasure.  So you feel hopeless and helpless, addicted to food and it all gets just so overwhelming.

Awareness of how the Amygdala brain initiates your impulses and behaviours is imperative to being able to control these triggers.  Learn how to manage these impulses and have permanent mindset changes that lead to permanent weight loss that is maintained.  Remember Mindset Change is Key to Weight Loss Success.

 

And you can do it all without dieting while controlling portion sizes and eliminating emotional eating.

For more information please visit https://www.savvybariatrics.com/service/emotional-eating

If you would like help achieving your weight loss goals head over to our website for more details.

www.savvybariatrics.com

www.savvybariatrics.com

Author admin Categories Bariatrics, Health, Weight Loss Posted on

BMI – Don’t let it Define You.

BMI – Don’t let it Define You.

 

Sam walked into my office and before he even sat down, blurted out that he was too fat to get insurance.  What? Like, What??  Sam was by appearances NOT overweight at all.  He was tall sculptured and looked vibrantly healthy.

 

Visibly concerned and upset. Sam was told that his BMI was too high.  He was very overweight bordering on obese and should do something about it if he wanted to get insurance coverage.   Still in absolute disbelief, I really wanted to swear at this stage, and I wanted to swear a LOT.  I knew where he was going.  It’s that damn BMI calculation again.   BMI don’t let it define you.

Without going into the semantics of the BMI calculator it was created some 200 years by Belgian Academic called Quetelet. Being flawed it is outdated and still unfortunately used by medical professions, insurance companies and governments.  I believe there was some form of update in America around 1985 but whichever way you cut it, BMI does not actually measure how fat you are. There is no differentiation between muscle, bone or distribution of fat throughout the body. Muscle as we know is very much denser than fat.

Hence this is the reason athletes, body builders, football players and boxers to name a few, may end up with a BMI reading that allocates them into the overweight and obese category.  This in itself shows the inaccuracy of BMI, yet we continue to be defined by it.

 

BMI – Don’t let it Define You.

 

As I listened to Sam unleash with vitriol that a flawed and outdated chart had in some way sealed his fate, I couldn’t help wonder if the physician actually looked at him at all.  Clearly, he is not overweight, he works out, he has muscles and a lot of them, but not overweight.  He questioned the result, he questioned they physician for his opinion of whether He thought he was overweight or not. – the answer was – This is the range you are in given the factors that determine your BMI from the Chart.  Where do you go from there? Sam asked.

Lucy recited how her walk of shame through the waiting room. The guilt the physician made her feel was a defining moment for her.  But could quite easily have destroyed her.

Lucy, who had lost some 23kg was told in no uncertain terms that she must be doing something wrong because her BMI has not reduced.  When she questioned the result, she was dismissed.  She was right to question the result it’s definitely wrong if it hasn’t changed after a 23kg loss.  I see clients getting a BMI reading and becoming obsessive about it because they are confused and overwhelmed.

 

BMI – Don’t let it Define You.

 

While Shaming people with a high BMI may not necessarily be the intention it certainly is the outcome for a large number of those who find themselves overweight or obese.  With an already fragile body image, shaming intentional or otherwise, actually has the opposite effect and can send some into a deeper state of overwhelm than they were before their BMI result.  Unfortunately, this is not uncommon.

Far more accurate means to measure fat, muscle and bone are available to us now.  It should be used instead of too much emphasis being placed on the BMI result.

Some fat is ok but too much fat in the wrong places is definitely a health risk.  Researchers note that the best measure for excess body fat involves the circumference of your waist.

BMI is also used as a  marker for those wanting or needing Weight Loss Surgery.  A lot of emphasis is placed on BMI in this instance by Surgeons.  Initially one needed a high BMI to qualify for Weight Loss Surgery.  Over the years the parameters have shifted with a lowering of BMI qualifiers allowing more people to participate in these programs.

Excess body fat around the middle has been linked to serious health issues including diabetes, stroke, certain cancers and heart disease.

 

BMI – Don’t let it Define You.

 

If you really want to know your body composition find a gym or health practitioner that has modern equipment giving you a detailed map of your body and body fat.   There are also mobile practitioners who will come to you with their equipment and perform the assessment in the privacy of your home or office.  No Shame, No Guilt, No Judgement.

My personal advice to Clients and others is to ditch the BMI.  Focus on what you can do to reduce your weight and regain health.   Seek out help from someone who gets you.  Someone who will guide and support you.

We clearly know if we are overweight or obese, its generally obvious.  Understanding and solution  would go a long way to encouraging weight loss and dealing with our obesity health crisis. Numbers from outdated charts are no longer relevant.

If you find yourself needing help with specific weight issues or want a free 30 minute strategy call please contact us at www.savvybariatrics.com.

www.savvybariatrics.com

You Deserve Great Friends – Regardless of Your Weight
Author admin Categories Bariatrics, Weight Loss Posted on

You Deserve Great Friends – Regardless of Your Weight.

You Deserve Great Friends Regardless of your Weight.

What COVID-19 has reinforced this year is our need for human contact and relationships.  It is so important to our psychological health and wellbeing-  an area we quite often overlook. You deserve great friends regardless of your weight.

This can be particularly true if you are overweight or those lacking confidence and self-esteem.  Being larger can indeed be isolating whether its self-imposed or implied by others.  Either way it re-inforces how bad we feel about our current situation.  I’ve been there, I understand it.  I could fill a novel with excuses mine and others, it just seemed to go hand in hand with being overweight.

I wonder how many times you have declined invitations to socialise ie: coffee catch up/weddings etc.. because you felt ashamed of your weight and size.  Granted years ago Fashion did not cater for the larger child or adult which added injury to insult. A legitimate excuse at that time I thought.  Now thankfully there is a myriad of beautiful Fashion available to the larger person alleviating the issue of nothing to wear and eliminating that excuse.

Relationships are a two-way engagement.  It’s important to nourish any good relationships you have and re-think those that do not serve you.

A well-meaning person in my life when I was in my early teens commented..”When you are thin, you look good in anything, when you are fat, no-one wants to chat”!!   So started my journey of non-acceptance of self unless I was a “certain size”.  You can imagine how devasting it was to hear that which was meant to shock me into action but actually had the opposite effect.

 

You Deserve Great Friends – Regardless of Your Weight

 

Quite often when we feel inferior or not worthy, we may attract and attach ourselves unconsciously to others, who, let’s be blunt here, are not good enough for US.  We accept second best in order to feel a sense of belonging and less lonely.  A legitimate psychological reason at the time.  So often I see clients actually defining themselves because of their weight or size.

A major contributor to this definition is the media and publishing houses.  We are bombarded with the bikini clad 50 year old and near naked Kardashians of all ages through all forms of media.  Did you know that when they publish magazines of stars without make-up, those are the most purchased issues of any magazine in the world?  TRUE.

 

You Deserve Great Friends – Regardless of Your Weight

 

We all want to see that these air-brushed people are really just like you and me without make-up and unwashed hair.  We want to know that they too are just like us and I can tell you from experience they are.  Just because someone is slimmer does not guarantee a wonderful life.  They too have relationship issues, eating issues, non-acceptance, confidence &self esteem issues.  I know, these people are my clients too.

The Most Important Relationship you have, is the Relationship you have with Yourself.

I want you to know that your weight or size does not define you.  You deserve wonderful relationships regardless of size, weight or anything else.

Sit down with pen and paper and look to where you may be judging yourself, defining yourself as not good enough because of your size or weight.  How many times is it actually you and not the other person?  It can be quite enlightening to do this exercise.  AND do not judge yourself, just be mindful, be aware of where you may be initiating those feelings of inadequacy and not good enough.

You Deserve Great Friends – Regardless of Your Weight

How many times might you have rejected a relationship/friendship with someone who was slimmer because of a pre-emptive thought of how could they possibly be friends with a person like me?  Have you felt like the token “fat friend” in a relationship?  Yes, interesting subject isn’t it?  One we will delve into more deeply at a later date.

Cherish your real relationships those ones that serve you, that nourish you.  Let the others go as they only serve to bring you down.  You deserve good friends regardless of your weight. If you need help in this or any other area or would like to comment, please contact us through our website.   https://www.savvybariatrics.com

 

You are Enough

 

https://www.savvybariatrics.com

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