SequoiaHealth

Welcome All: We have started a post surgical support program designed to help patients with a Lap-Band live a healthier lifestyle. This program is designed to help you get the most from your Lap-Band. We will be offering fun activities, seminars, email support and coaching. If you feel you are not getting the most from your band, please stay tuned because there is more to come. For more information you can reach us directly at info@sequoiahealth.com. SequoiaHealth

Hi All: I would like to get some healthy discussions going and then eventually some activities. That is why I started the group back in 2007. Please submit some topics or activity ideas. Thanks, Woody

Hi All: I will try to post a helpful tip at least once a month. Come visit us at Heavyweights on FitLink as well. Woody

Hi All: We have been doing some organizing behind the scenes and are setting up a super info site called FitLink.com. They are going to host a Bariatric section specifically designed to help people who are 50 plus pounds overweight. Stay tuned. They should have an online journal soon as well. Also check out the lecture series I am doing in Herndon, VA called Big fat Mistakes! You can read more about it www.Sequoiahealth.com. It is going to offer solutions to the most common mistakes people make in their weight loss quest. It is also going to introduce The Healthy Weight Loss Wheel; an easy way to manage all the important aspects of a healthy weight loss program. Take care, Woody

Got it, Thanks, Woody

OK crazycat. You will have to participate form a distance. I will wait to hear from everone else. Woody

Hi All: I am a personal trainer and currently do the Activity Assessments for Dr. Eric Pinnar. Before they split, I had a chance to work with the dad. They are both good surgeons; it really comes down to a matter of comfort level. Anyway, I have started a post called Herndon/ Reston Maximize Your Band Group. Come join us when you can. Good luck to all of you no matter who you choose. Woody

Hello everyone: Please let me know your physical location. We are organizimg our first group meeting in Herndon. Woody

Welcome Jordan. Woody

Welcome to the group. We should have some good info posted very soon. Take care, Woody

This is what I call weight loss myth #1. If you workout enough you can lose weight. Exercise is NOT about losing weight. Exercise is about improving your health. You say. “What the heck is he talking about? Everybody tells me to exercise to lose weight.” Let me explain. Let’s say you and I decide to have lunch together. We overeat by say 500 calories. Now if we both decide to “work it off” with exercise, how long do you think we need to go? Generally speaking, 2 hours of exercise would take care of those 500 calories. But what about the next 500 calories at dinner? Hopefully you can see my point. Controlling excess weight is about learning to eat healthier portions. Exercise is about giving your body and mind what they need for continued good health. A recent study supports this concept 100%. The researchers found that it was better to be overweight and active than overweight and sedentary (worst) or normal weight and sedentary. I tell all my clients to find activities they like and people they like to do them with. That is the perfect combination. More to come....

Hi Kim: Like all things in life, there is always cause and effect. If you are not getting the results you seek first make sure they are reasonable and then secondly, make sure you are following the rules. I have worked with over a hundred Lap-Band patients and see both the "successes" and the "failures." Every single time someone is losing weight very slowly or not at all; one of the pieces of their weight loss puzzle is either missing or out of balance. My suggestion would be to spend time looking for answers and solutions and not banding together with like minded people. Remember the success rule... find successful people and emulate them in any personal or professional venture you undertake. More to come...

The unhealthy desire to eat more than you need for nutrition is a mental challenge that must be met either with or without a Lap-Band. The advice I offer to Lap-Band and non-lap-band clients is to first re-establish control over your food habits and then explore healthier thoughts about yourself. Stress seems to be one of the major causes of most overeating. Stress also comes in many forms; present day stress and stress associated with unresolved past experiences. The good news is just like with alcoholism or drug addiction, excessive food urges can also be tamed with a little time and shifting your approach to the problem. After working with many overweight clients over the years, the success stories are the ones that accept excessive eating as a mental and physical problem. They also embark on a different approach to solving their weight problem by realizing that excess weight is just a symptom. If you can view your weight as a symptom of other imbalances in your life and not the problem itself, you are well on your way to a lasting solution. More to come...