Weight Loss Surgery Newsletter Nov 1 2007

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 #128

November 1, 2007

Barbara Thompson
The Voice of Obesity

Hello Everyone,
“I dread success. To have succeeded is to have finished one's business on earth, like the male spider, who is killed by the female the moment he has succeeded in courtship. I like a state of continual becoming, with a goal in front and not behind.”

~George Bernard Shaw, 28 August 1896

I deal with the subject of success in an article below. We all want to succeed, for the struggle to be over and life to be grand. But it is a journey through a life that is not perfect. And while we travel, we need to pat ourselves on the back step by step.

In This Issue
* Are You a Success? * Back on Track * New Interactive Website * New Resource List * Research Article: Suicide Rate High After Gastric Bypass Surgery * Recipe: Barbequed Pork Chops * Success Story: Kim Weinberger * Spreading the Word in Savannah, GA

Are You a Success?

“Bryan, do you see her? That’s the woman I was telling you about.” My friend, Shelly, had been going to the gym faithfully for months since she had her surgery. She would arrive before 6:00 AM and get in at least an hour of hard aerobics, shower and then she was off to her job in telecommunications sales. On most days she would see this same woman who looked so good. That was who Shelly wanted to look like. She was slim and toned. She was beautiful. Everyday Shelly would tell Bryan about her. She was Shelly’s inspiration and Shelly was working hard to look like her.

So there she was and Bryan could see what Shelly was working toward. But Bryan looked at this woman and turned to Shelly and said, “Shelly, you are already there. You are thinner than she is.” But Shelly couldn’t see it. In her mind she was still the overweight person that she always was. She just couldn’t recognize her success.

It is a good thing to strive to be better than you are. We should have goals that inspire us to move forward. But when we can’t recognize our current success, then that can be dangerous. And that was where Shelly was.

Not recognizing your success can lead to feelings of failure and depression. Instead of celebrating how far we have come, we wallow in how far we have to go. For most of us, we will never look like a model. But we will be healthier and live a fuller and happier life. That is reason to celebrate. Those feelings of failure and depression can lead to feeding our disappointment with foods that are inappropriate and unhealthy.

Here are some tips for avoiding that trap:

· Take a picture of yourself now and compare it to your before picture just to see what an amazing job you have done.

· Remember all of the diets that you have been on. Compare that to the weight you have now lost and how long you have kept that weight off.

· Write down in a list how your life has changed such as how much more you can do, how fewer medications you are taking and how much better you feel.

· Revisit you goal weight. Have you reached it? Is it your goal or your doctor’s goal? Should it be revised to a more realistic goal?

Don’t be your own worst enemy. Sometimes we are so accustomed to failure that we don’t know what success feels like. Learn to recognize your success.

Back on Track with Barbara

The Back on Track Internet Mentoring Program has a yahoo group where we share our struggles and successes. No one on this program feels alone. This was written recently by one of the members after she had a bad week:

“Thank you so much , actually I know it will be better I just really need to vent and it helps that I have this wonderful group I can say anything to and not be judged . You guys have been where I am or are where I am and understand the frustrations and roadblocks we all have even if they are of our on making! I can not tell you how much I appreciate each of you.”

Pat

Don't struggle alone. Join us.

If you’re not happy with your weight loss, then join the
Back on Track with Barbara Internet Mentoring Program.

Back On Track with Barbara is a 6-month or a 12-month membership program that provides an internet mentorship for those who are struggling with weight regain after weight loss surgery. It also benefits those who have never reached their goal weight after surgery

For more information or to join the Program, go to

http://www.BackOnTrackWithBarbara.com

	New Resource List
I have added a Resource List on my website http://www.wlscenter.com/resource.htm. It is a list of books, DVD’s and products that I have found helpful over the years. I put this list together after receiving not only lots of questions, but also to help those in my Back on Track members. You might want to take a look.

Research Article:

Suicide Rate High After

Gastric Bypass Surgery

A new study by the University of Pittsburgh shows that the suicide rate among weight loss surgery patients within one year after surgery is higher than normal. The study was conducted by a team led by Dr. Omalu over a 10-year period and appeared in the October issue of the Annuals of Surgery.

The researchers examined data from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost and Containment Council. Of the 16,684 Pennsylvania residents who had gastric bypass surgery between Jan. 1, 1995 thru Dec. 31^st, 2004, there were 440 deaths. Of those deaths there were 16 deaths as a result of suicide. Only 2 deaths would have been expected in that number of patients.

It is difficult to speculate about something like this, but many of us have unrealistic expectations about what our life will be like following surgery. Many of us fall victim to the “If only” syndrome. If only I were thin then I would be happy. If only I were thin, then he would love me. If only I were thin, then I could …Unfortunately we often find that thin doesn’t solve all of our problems.

Counseling and support groups need to play a more important role in the lives of post-op patients. We need to have someone to reach out to as we find our way through this sometimes confusing and even disappointing journey.

Recipe:
	Barbequed Pork Chops

Here is a flavorful recipe that has lots of protein.

Barbequed Pork Chops

1/3 cup no sugar (or low carb) ketchup
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. chili powder
4 lean loin pork chops, trimmed of fat

Combine ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and chili powder. Place pork chops in a large resealable plastic bag. Pour barbeque sauce into the bag and cover chops with it. Marinate for 4 – 6 hours.

Preheat grill or broiler. Place marinated chops on the grill or broiler and cook until done, about 5 minutes per side. Serves 4.

Per Serving:
Calories 241, Carbohydrates 11.5 g., Protein 31.7 g.

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

Success Story:

Kim Weinberger

I want to offer a special thanks to Kim Weinberger. Here is her story:

Like so many other stories that I have read, most of my childhood was spent being overweight. I did, however, go on the Nutri-System diet when I was in the 8th grade. I lost 70 pounds on the program and entered high school a confident and thin young woman. I loved the way I looked and kept the weight under control until I married in October of 1992 at the age of 23.

Shortly after I married, I became pregnant and gained 80 pounds with my first child. If that wasn’t enough, I had my second child two and a half years later adding another 75 pounds. I was doomed because the amount of weight I needed to lose was so great that the hurdle seemed unbearable. For the next 10 years I spent my life looking in the mirror not accepting or liking the person I was seeing. Depression was running high and ruining my life. I went up and down from 240 pounds to 280 pounds. Even though I had no real health issues, other than a sore ankle occasionally, I knew that in order to be happy with myself and my life I needed to get control of who I was and “find myself” once again. Thus, I researched gastric bypass surgery and decided on August 9, 2004 to embark on my next adventure.

Dr. Chiang performed my surgery at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital in Waukesha, Wisconsin, with my weight at 275 pounds. When I left the hospital three days later, I felt great. I had all my energy, had already lost 15 pounds due to the pre-op schedule and was ready to put all of my effort into making this work. And work it has!!!

At my one year anniversary I had already reached my goal and lost a total of 130 pounds according to my scale. I was wearing a size 6 and sometimes even a 4. In the two years since my anniversary I have regained some weight until I found my “perfect weight” as they call it, wearing a size 10. My after pictures are me after I regained that weight. This weight is the same as when I graduated from High School. I can finally accept myself for who and what I am. I love the energy I have and choose to exercise several times a week instead of once or twice a week.

The one item I would like to stress to anyone contemplating the surgery is the emotional roller coaster that I experienced that I didn’t read much about. Not only do you see yourself differently, so do most people around you. Men started to look at me for the first time in years. Friends treated me differently and some relationships have ended. Family has been a staple because they know I haven’t changed internally, only externally. All these changes can create feelings of anxiety, anger and even guilt. I do understand the reason for counseling in many of the weight loss surgery patients. And thank God for my strong faith to pull me through. Everyone should have a rock to support them.

When I recently had a birthday, I not only celebrated the 38 years of my life but the last three years of me re-gaining my life as a thinner, more confident woman! God Bless all of you who chose to have this surgery, and God grant you the same success I have experienced in losing weight.

Kim Weinberger
Mayville, WI
theweinbergers@charter.net


*Congratulations Kim*

Spreading the Word in Savannah, GA

On Saturday November 10^th I will be speaking in Savannah, GA for Memorial Hospital in the Mercer Auditorium of their Hoskins Research Center, 4700 Waters Ave. I will be speaking from 10:30 AM to noon on this whole sometimes crazy journey of weight loss surgery. The event is free and open to the public. Call Jodi Hannah, 912-412-2115 for additional details.

Would you like me to speak for your support group? If your support group has 75 people or more who attend and you would like me to speak, have your support group leader contact me for details. Have them email me at Barbara@WLScenter.com.

It you are a bariatric co-coordinator and need obesity sensitivity training for your hospital staff, I have another sponsor for that. Contact me at 877-440-1518 or Barbara@BarbaraThompson.net.


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