WLS Center E-Newsletter

A FREE publication from
http://www.wlscenter.com

 

Hosted by Barbara Thompson
Author of:
Weight Loss Surgery:
Finding the Thin Person Hiding Inside You.

Issue #73

July 15, 2005

Hello everyone,
At the end of June, Surgeons and Allied Health Professionals met in Orlando for the 22nd annual meeting of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS). This year, two themes dominated all discussions – Centers of Excellence and what to do about the difficulty in patients getting insurance approval.

This issue of the newsletter will cover Centers of Excellence and in a future issue we will announce a new surgeon patient coalition that is forming which will among other issues, tackle insurance coverage of weight loss surgery.  But more on that later.

In This Issue

 

* Calories, Calarahs
* Research Article: Centers of Excellence
* Recipe: Tex Mex Lasagna
* Food Values: Knowing What You Are Eating
* Success Story: Amy Schwartz

Calories, Calorahs
Hi Barbara,
I am 5 weeks post op and confused with the amount of calories I should be consuming. I am drinking 2 protein drinks a day which have 90 calories each AND adding 1 tablespoon of Udo’s oil in each protein drink. One tablespoon of oil (which I take to keep regular) has 125 calories.  With just those 2 drinks I am consuming 430 calories alone. I am now keeping a food journal so I can keep count of my actual food calorie intake but I am not sure if I include my drinkable calories with my food calories. Could you please clarify this for me? Thank you,

Lane Johnston

Hi Lane,
When you are in such an early stage of your journey, your object is to get in as much protein and water as possible. Protein will help with your healing and help to eliminate or minimize hair loss. It will also help to keep you away from carbohydrates so that you will not experience carb cravings. You mentioned that your protein drink has 90 calories, but not how many grams of protein it is.  Strive for 60 grams of protein. 

Also drink lots of water.  Protein will deposit toxins in your system and you will need to flush those toxins out. Water will also keep you hydrated so that your organs will function properly and will burn the maximum number of calories.

As far as how many calories you should eat, for now try 600 to 800 calories. And yes, the calories you drink count! If you stop losing weight, for more than two weeks, then increase your calories. If you eat too few calories then your body may go into hibernation mode and hold onto every calorie and slow the burning of calories to the point that you plateau.

However, please check with your surgeon and a nutritionist if there is one associated with the practice.  What I have recommended is what most practices recommend, but you want to follow the rules of your own surgeon.

Be sure that you are taking very high quality vitamins. You can see that you are not getting the nutrients you need. Plus some of what you eat isn’t absorbed.  If you are looking for a good line of vitamins, check out those on my website http://www.wlscenter.com/Vitamins.htm. Vitamins are mandatory for the rest of your life following surgery.

Best wishes,
Barbara Thompson

Research Article:  
  Centers of Excellence...
  Coming to a Practice Near You
You may have heard your surgeon or bariatric coordinator talking about your surgeon’s practice becoming a Center of Excellence. Read my article, which appeared in the Fall 2004 issue of WLS Lifestyles Magazine, on Centers of Excellence to better understand what all of this means to you and how it can help you to be safer and more successful.

http://www.barbarathompson.net/pdf/Centers%20of%20Excellence.pdf

Recipe:
  : Tex Mex Lasagna
A special thanks to Debbie Schuelke for sending in this recipe

Tex Mex Lasagna

3/4 cups salsa
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 (14.5 oz) can no salt diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) no salt tomato sauce
6 pre-cooked lasagna noodles
1 cup frozen corn|
1 (15 oz) can black beans (rinsed and drained)
2 cups Mexican cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onion

Combine first 4 ingredients. Coat an 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread 2/3 cup of mixture in the baking dish. Arrange noodles across the pan over sauce. Top with 1/2 cup corn and 1/2 of the beans. Sprinkle with cheese and sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles. Spread sauce over noodles then cheese. Bake at 350 º for 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

If you have a recipe that you would like to share in future issues of this newsletter, please send it to me at Barbara@WLScenter.com

Food Values:  
  Knowing What You Are Eating
Not all of the recipes in each issue of the newsletter have the nutritional values supplied.  If I submit the recipes, I compute the calories and grams of carbohydrate and protein. But not everyone who is kind enough to submit recipes will supply those values. Therefore, it is wise to become accustomed to figuring those values out for yourself. Packages or cans of food will list values for ingredients. But for whole foods, buy a little paperback that will supply the nutritional values of a variety of foods. Once you have those values, use a calculator to divide the totals into servings, and you will be able to track what you are consuming. 

Here are 2 titles that will supply you with everything that you need.  Both are available through Amazon.com or try your local book store:

Corinne Netzer, Complete Book of Food Counts, $7.99

Allan Borushek, Doctor’s Pocket Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter 2004: Plus 170 Fast-Food Chains and Restaurants. $6.99

Special Value Package Deal

Want to know more about what to eat, and how to prepare food?

Then order the CD of the teleseminar I did with David Fouts, the bariatric chef and author of Culinary Classics; Essentials of cooking for the gastric bypass Patient.
Both the CD and the Cookbook are available until August 1st at midnight eastern time in a package, for $38.90, a special savings of $11.00 over the cost if bought separately. 

To find out more about the cookbook and CD or to order,
 
Click Here

Success Story:
  Amy Schwartz

I want to offer a special thanks to Amy Schwartz     Here is her story:

Hi Barbara,
My name is Amy. I saw you speak in San Jose, CA at the Double Tree hotel and I loved your talk. I have to say it gave me a real pick me up, as I was at a plateau. Let me begin from the beginning.

I got pregnant 11 years ago and even though I never had any type of weight problem before, I gained a lot of weight. I went from about 120 pounds (I am 5 ft 10 in) to almost 200 pounds on the day I gave birth. Ever since that day my weight has gone up and down, but the smallest I was ever able to get down to was about 165 pounds.

I was unhealthy, had high blood pressure and was severely depressed. I started to learn about weight loss surgery in mid 2003. Research and more research later, I still was unsure. I was very nervous about surgery. What made me make the final decision was a phone call I got in mid July 2003. My sister called me very early on a Sunday morning. She had just gotten engaged and wanted to ask me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. The very first thought that entered my mind was not congratulations, or happy thoughts for her, no; it was pure dread and fear. I had to wear a dress that would undoubtedly be unflattering and stand up in front of all my family and good friends and others that I didn't know and be the ugly fat sister. How sad that I couldn't even muster up a nice saying for my sister on her happy day. It took me until after her wedding in November and the holidays to be able to make some calls.

But, I made the decision to have surgery. I was going to have a Roux en-Y gastric bypass. I started the process to find a doctor, found a great one, and started the approval process with my insurance company. Well it happened fairly quickly, and I scheduled my surgery at the first available date which was April 6, 2004. I was almost 320 pounds.

As of today, June 1, 2005 I am now 130 pounds and a size 6. I did lose a lot of my hair, but other than that, I cannot tell you how happy I am with my decision. I am happy and healthy. I work out 5 days a week. I am involved in a healthy, loving, committed relationship with a great man. We are getting married later this year. My life is 180 degrees different than my old self. And surgery gave me the tools and outcome to gain the confidence I needed. I have a good job and love my life. It’s been a long road, but well worth it.

Thanks for the inspiration and information
Amy Schwartz
amynbrad@charter.net

After

I love good news.  If you have good news, a success story to share, or inspiration, please send it to me at Barbara@WLScenter.com so that I can include it in future issues.  

Permission to Reprint

You may reprint any items from this newsletter in your own print or electronic newsletter. But please include the following paragraph:

Reprinted from Barbara Thompson’s free e-newsletter featuring helpful information and research material to help patients succeed following weight loss surgery.
Subscribe at http://www.barbarathompsonnewsletter.com/

Subscription Corner

Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Would you like to receive a personal notification  when it is ready for you to read? It's simple! Just go to http://www.barbarathompsonnewsletter.com/ and scroll down to the subscription form. After filling out the form and submitting it, watch for an email that asks you to CONFIRM your subscription. 

Your subscription is not complete until we get this confirmation back!

If you like this newsletter, please pass it on to your friends and family and have them signup for our notification service.

Do you want to unsubscribe? Go to the bottom of your newsletter notification email message and click the unsubscribe link.  You will be automatically deleted.

If you have any problems with this process,
call our office toll free at (877) 440-1518.

Support the continued FREE delivery of this Newsletter
by clicking the banner below and purchasing your vitamins.

Copyright © 2000-2013 Barbara Thompson All Rights Reserved