Irma Duncan

As a weight loss surgery patient from 1995, I often wonder how I would be doing if I were not involved in the bariatric community each day. Would I still be in the ‘successful group’ or would I be struggling. Would I want to go to support groups to ‘stay on track’ or reach out to a support group to help me get back on track? I don’t know but the one thing I do know for sure is that my bariatric connections provide me not only a network of supporters, but a point of accountability as well.
Support groups can be fun, informational, educational and motivational. Support Groups are designed for patients and our voice about helpful elements, topics and structure is both needed and welcomed.
To that end we have re-launched our unprecedented survey on bariatric support groups. Please take a moment to tell us about your experience in support groups. Why do you go when you go? Why don’t you when you don’t? What are the most important elements a quality support group should include? Who should lead the group?
Those who take the survey will receive our “Top 5 Things Every Bariatric Patient Should Know About Support Groups.” Take the Survey here and watch for the results soon.

A



Attitude



“
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

– Winston Churchill
A stands for Attitude. Your attitude will determine how you see the world, whether you see your glass as half-empty or half-full. Focus on having only a positive attitude towards your weight loss surgery. Realize that everything in your life needed to happen in order for you to have the life you have today, even the events that might have contributed to your obesity. Rather than viewing your life as “jinxed” or “cursed,” consider past events as lessons that had to be learned at the University of Life or at the “school of hard knocks”.
Your attitude will also affect your aspirations. If your attitude is poor, then your aspirations will likely be small, when the truth is there are no limits to your aspirations. Most people have aspirations, but their aspirations are usually so small and uninspiring. Stop setting “realistic goals.” Instead, why not see how high you can fly? Like the renowned motivational speaker Les Brown said, “Shoot for the stars, so if you fail, you might hit the moon!” Stop staring into the bottom of that half-empty glass, and start drinking from the half-full glass of life.
*The previous was an excerpt from Dr. Vuong's new book, Weight Loss Surgery Success: Dr. V's A-Z Tips for Losing Weight and Gaining Enlightenment, now available on Amazon.com.

Milk that has no fat is also called skimmed, fat-free, non-fat or 0 percent fat. The USDA National Nutrient Database uses the terms nonfat, fat-free and skim as descriptors for milk with no fat. The fat content of the milk refers to the percentage of weight that the fat contributes to the serving size. It does not refer to the percent of calories the fat contributes. Each 8-ounce cup of milk, no matter how much fat, will have 12 grams of carbohydrate as milk sugar.
Milk sugar is also called lactose. Each 8-ounce cup of milk will also have 8 grams of protein. An 8-ounce cup of skim milk has 80 calories. Milk with 1 percent fat is also referred to as low-fat milk and has 100 calories and 2 grams fat. Milk with 2 percent fat is also referred to reduce- fat milk and has 120 calories and 5 grams fat. Whole milk is also called vitamin D milk and has 150 calories and 8 grams fat.
Most of the fat in milk is saturated, which can contribute to elevated cholesterol. Increased fat also means increased calories and a potential for dumping issues. Along with protein, milk also packs in calcium, potassium and water. There are several lactose free milks on the market if you are lactose intolerant. For those that enjoy milk, you are getting a nutrition-packed fluid. Next week’s tip will be an overview of the other milks on the market like almond and cashew milks. Stay tuned!

Chew your food to applesauce consistency. Eat smaller meals. Stop chewing gum and drinking out of straws to prevent air from getting into your stomach. Stop using tobacco. Avoid high fat foods. Fat takes longer to move through the digestive system so food stays in your stomach longer. High-fat foods include using lots of cooking oil when cooking, whole milk instead of skim or 1 percent milk, regular fat cheese, deep fried foods and the fatty meats used in fast food hamburgers.
Other strategies include avoiding foods that can irritate the esophagus. Irritants can include hot peppers, spicy foods, carbonated beverages and acidic foods like citrus or tomato juice. Avoid peppermint and spearmint, because these will relax the opening between the stomach and the esophagus.This allows stomach contents to be pushed up into the esophagus.Sit or stand for several hours after the last meal before bedtime to allow food to pass into the small intestine can also help. Invest the time to have healthier eating habits. The payoff is feeling better right now!

Why Does It Matter?
Support during your Weight Loss Surgery journey can help you succeed. It is motivating to know that the people who love you are on your side. Through the long days of diet restrictions and dramatic lifestyle changes, your journey will be easier if your family members and friends pitch in however they can, whether with verbal encouragement or concrete changes such as avoiding eating off-limits foods in front of you.
Still, it is important to remember that you CAN succeed, whether or not you get the support you hope for.
Get to the Heart of the Matter
First, make sure you know why they are against your weight loss surgery. It is often because they are afraid for your safety. They may know people – or know people who know people who know people – who had complications from Weight Loss Surgery. You can talk to them about the real risks of surgery – using statistics rather than hearsay – compared to the risks of remaining overweight.
Still, do not assume that your safety is why they are negative about your decision. It is important to let them express their concerns and to address them directly. These are some other common reasons why your family and friends might have a negative gut reaction to your exciting news.

They may be worried that you won’t be able to stick to the Weight Loss Surgery diet, and that you’ll be disappointed with the results.
They may think you don’t need it. A lot of family members have trouble seeing how overweight you are, and understanding how much it interferes with your life and health.
They may feel insulted. Parents especially may feel as though they have failed if they see you, their child, opt for surgery.
They may feel threatened. Your significant other, for example, may be comfortable in the relationship you have had for years, and may worry that the way you feel about him/her will change as you lose weight.
They may not know what it means for them. Friends may worry that you won’t want to hang out with them anymore, especially if your time together tends to revolve around food or if they think of you as their dependable “fat friend.”

Whatever the true concern is, address it directly. Reassure your friends and family that you are doing this for you, and that you will not become a different person.
Offer Them a Role
Some friends and family members may feel overwhelmed by your news of Weight Loss Surgery, and that can lead to their negative response. Surprisingly, offering them ways to be more involved in the experience can actually help change their minds. They may feel better about your WLS once you tell them the details about the prep, procedure, and diet, and may even be grateful if you let them know specifically what they can do to help.
Address Meal Times Directly
Food is central to relationships at home and in social settings, so it is understandable if your loved ones are worried about how your upcoming Weight Loss Surgery will affect the time you spend together. If you think this may be a concern, discuss meals at home and in restaurants with your friends and family. Let them know that you will still be present at the table and interested in being good company, even if you are not eating as much as them or ordering the exact foods that they are. If you are comfortable with the situation, they are more likely to be.
Agree to Disagree
In most cases, family members mean well. It may be hard to remember or see in the heat of the moment, but they often do genuinely want the very best for you. If you have already tried your hardest to convince them to support your Weight Loss Surgery decision and they are not ready to do so, your next hope is to keep them as an ally in other aspects of your life.
Hopefully, you and they can agree to disagree about your Weight Loss Surgery. You can let them know that you respect their opinion and will not be pressuring them to support your WLS. In exchange, you can ask them to continue to be your friend regardless of whether you are a bariatric surgery patient.
Be Patient
Sometimes, it just takes time. Your own Weight Loss Surgery success may be the best argument for why your loved ones should support you. It may take weeks, months, or a year, but they may come around as they see how happy you are, and as they realize how much they miss you.
Bariatric surgery is a lot easier when everyone you love supports your decision, but that’s not always the case. Don’t let resistance from family members and friends get you down, though. They’re probably trying to act in your best interest, and in most cases, you can still get Weight Loss Surgery while keeping strong relationships with them.

Turns out, we aren’t that good at self-control.
The good news? Who needs it??
Researchers are discovering that teaching people to resist temptation provides either short-term gains or is just an outright failure.
“Effortful restraint, where you are fighting yourself—the benefits are overhyped,” according to Kentaro Fujita, a psychologist studying self-control at Ohio State University.
Brian Resnick from Vox.com says the implications of this are huge.
“If we accept that brute willpower doesn’t work, we can feel less bad about ourselves when we succumb to temptation. And, we might be able to refocus our efforts on solving problems like obesity.”
So what does work? Because clearly some people are managing their relationship with frosting better than me!
Fujita explains, “We tend to think of people with strong willpower as people who are able to fight this battle effectively. Actually, the people who are really good at self-control never have to fight these battles in the first place.”
Say what??
A landmark study from 2011 revealed that people who rocked self-control, those who described themselves as ‘good at resisting temptation’ reported fewer temptations throughout the course of the study.
And funnily enough, those who reported using willpower admitted they were not meeting their goals AND they were exhausted from trying!
This, I understand.
“People who are good at self-control seem to be structuring their lives in a way to avoid having to make self-control decisions in the first place, “says researcher and psychologist Brian Galla.
Galla says creating a schedule or lifestyle that makes exercise and eating healthy the easiest most routine thing to do, are the ones most likely to consistently do it.
“A trick to wake up more quickly in the morning is to set the alarm on the other side of the room. That’s not in-the-moment willpower at play, it’s planning.”
Fujita suggests ‘the really good dieter’ wouldn’t buy a cupcake because they wouldn’t have passed by the bakery in the first place. Or, they would create a negative reaction to the cupcake instead of a positive one—i.e., ‘Ick! A cupcake. What an artery-clogging, life-shortening sugar bomb.’ (I’ll let you know if this works!)
“Self-control isn’t a special moral muscle, it’s like any decision. And to improve the decision, we need to improve the environment and give people the skills needed to avoid cake in the first place,” Galla says.
Neuroscientist Elliot Berkman from the University of Oregon believes the term ‘self-control’ needs to be abolished.
“It’s really no different than any other decision making.”
Berkman is testing out a theory in his lab called ‘temptation bundling’ where people make activities more enjoyable by adding a fun component to them.
The research is still young but one study has already showed people were more likely to work out when they could listen to an audio copy The Hunger Games.
I’m personally eager to try out some of these ideas. I’d like to create an index of strategies and habits you guys use to make the ‘healthy’ thing to do, the easiest thing to do.
Please email me your ideas and I’ll compile the tips to share!

If you’ve made a commitment to change your diet, learn a new exercise routine, start or complete a project, be more assertive, or maybe connect with your intuition on a daily basis, know that you DO have the POWER to follow through with this. Set an intention to connect with and magnify your inner strength and focus. Often when we set out to make changes in our life we start obsessing about it and think way too far into the future which can overwhelm us: then we just say “Oh the heck with this: I’ll never be able to do that huge project or maintain that habit forever, why even bother?” If you notice your thoughts going in that direction slow down, take a deep breath, and get out of your head and into your body. Come back to the present moment. Take another breath. Ask “Is there one simple thing I can do in this moment to honor my commitment?” That might mean just not putting a piece of chocolate in your mouth in this moment: That’s it you did it! And I know you can do that again in the next moment!! Perhaps you will be guided to make a phone call. Pick up the phone and make that call. Or, there might not be anything you need to do in this very moment so relax into the not doing.
It is important that you keep yourself surrounded by upbeat positive people and that you raise the vibrations of your surroundings as much as possible. Burn sage, put a crystal on your night stand or desk at work, keep plants and flowers in your environment, listen to uplifting music. Shield yourself from negative energies. Many of you who are drawn to read this are highly intuitive empaths: your are like psychic sponges who absorb the energies of the people near you and your environment. As part of your morning routine surround yourself with a beautiful white light ( or whatever color feels most safe and loving for you). The only thing that can penetrate this light is love and healing energies, no negative energy can pass through this. If you believe in angels, spirit guides, or any other sort of deity invite them to be with you throughout the day guiding you and keeping your thoughts and feelings uplifted and positive. Whenever possible remove yourself from negative situations, decline to engage in gossip or fear based conversations. Anger, negatively, jealousy and fear will only cause you pain. Clear your energy field daily: meditate, spend time in nature barefoot, take baths in epsom sales, move your body, drink plenty of water, etc.
Law of Attraction/Source Energy is rooting for you and right by your side giving extra added energy to your thoughts. So keep your thoughts and focus on what you DO want to manifest. See yourself as happy fulfilled and loved….and know that is is so…..
Feel gratitude knowing that your life is moving in the direction of your dreams gaining more and more momentum as your willingness to believe and receive all that is being offered to you opens and increases. BELIEVE and RECEIVE!! I'm sending you so much love! Go have an awesome day!!
❤️ Louisa!!