VerticalSleeveTalk Contest & Newsletter 06/24/2012

[Alex Brecher 10,515]

Hey, Sleevers!

It’s time for another VerticalSleeveTalk newsletter. This is your source for what’s going on at VerticalSleeveTalk.com. Today we have the first newsletter after the official start to summer, and it’s a hot one! Here’s what you’ll find in this newsletter.

• We have a winner! Keep reading to find out who won the iPod Touch giveaway!

• Member Spotlight: Meet PdxMan – although maybe you already have!

• Sleever Challenge: Take a photo!

• Write a review of your surgeon for our database.

Keep reading to get the scoop on these stories. Of course, you get so much more when you log onto VerticalSleeveTalk.com and participate, so come join us! As always, stay in touch and contact us if you have any questions or comments. Take care of yourselves and each other!

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder

VerticalSleeveTalk.com

And the Winner is…

A few weeks ago, we announced the launch of our apps for Android and Apple iPhone, iPod and iPad. To Celebrate, we held a contest to give away a free iPod Touch. Everyone who filled out a complete patient profile was entered into the drawing, and you could increase your chances of winning by participating more on VerticalSleeveTalk.com with things like forum posts, joining a group and referring a friend to VerticalSleeveTalk.com. Now, we have a winner! Congratulations to our winner Lissa! We hope you enjoy your new iPod Touch!

The contest may be over, but you can still get your Apple iPhone, iPod and iPad app, your Android app and now the new Kindle app. They’re all fully functional so you never have to be without VerticalSleeveTalk.com. Posting to the forums, updating your patient profile and photo gallery and blogging are just a few of the features that the apps offer.

Member Spotlight: Meet PdxMan!

This week’s member spotlight is on PdxMan from Portland, Oregon! PdxMan’s story is a familiar one to a lot of us. He yo-yo dieted for years, letting him lose a few pounds and gain them back with a bonus. He got a wake-up call when he saw that his weight was approaching 300 pounds. Soon his home scale wouldn’t even be able to weigh him because its capacity was 300 pounds! That, a few shocking photos and the fear for his future convinced him that he needed the vertical sleeve gastrectomy – even though he had to pay for it himself. At the time of surgery, PdxMan was pre-diabetic, hypertensive, on a CPAP machine for sleep apnea and experiencing pain in his daily life.

Since his surgery in July of 2011, PdxMan has dropped more than 100 pounds. The health problems have disappeared, and the athlete in him has come out. He’s a runner who places highly in his age group at local road races. In fact, he won his age group in a recent 5k (3.1-mile) race by over two minutes! He’s shooting for his first half-marathon (13.1 miles) in July and his first full marathon (the big 26.2!) in the fall. Throughout his weight loss journey, people have increasingly been kinder to PdxMan instead of treating him like “the obese one.”

PdxMan uses VerticalSleeveTalk to stay motivated and above all to offer advice for VSG patients. He gives back to the community by providing the truth instead of sugar-coating it. His main advice is to follow the rules exactly and have patience with plateaus. They’ll pass if you’re keeping up a calorie deficit – just keep moving and watching your diet. Thanks, PdxMan, for being in the spotlight! Good luck on your first half-marathon and let us know how it goes!

We feature a different VerticalSleeveTalk.com member each week in our Member Spotlight section. Is there someone you’d like to see highlighted? Maybe you would like to be our highlighted member! Let us know in the member spotlight forum. Don’t worry: it’s not bragging to nominate yourself. You’re helping others by sharing your own stories. If you’re shy, though, just PM Alex if you want to be in the spotlight. Use the messaging system by clicking on the icon of an envelope toward the top-right corner of the forum. Nobody will ever know that you nominated yourself, and you’ll get to be in the newsletter. Thanks!

Sleever Challenge: Take a Photo!

Each newsletter has a different Sleever challenge. It’s an opportunity to push yourself a little outside of your comfort zone to make you stronger and give you more confidence in your weight loss journey. It can help you do things you never thought you could, or maybe that you never thought of before! The challenge is absolutely non-competitive. We encourage you to post your results in the Sleever challenge forum.

This week, the challenge is to take a photo of yourself and describe it. Are you at your goal weight? Is it a “before” photo? How do you feel about it? What will you do to change it if you’re not happy about it? How will you keep yourself looking good if you’re happy with your photo? We’d love to have you post your photo in the photo gallery and describe your photo in the Sleever Challenge forum. Be an inspiration to others! I n the Challenge forum, you can always look back at the previous challenges and post your results. It’s never too late to try something new.

Post a Surgeon Review

Of course you know that VerticalSleeveTalk.com is an invaluable resource for peer support and information. It’s also a great place to find a surgeon for your bariatric procedure. We have a surgeon directory that helps you choose a surgeon based on location and reviews – and that’s where we need your help. If you’ve already gotten your surgery done, please take a few minutes to write and post a surgeon review. You can get to it from the front page by clicking on “Surgeon” and then “Select My Surgeon” from the drop-down menu. Your opinions will help other individuals who are looking for a vertical sleeve surgeon make the best decision for their surgery. Thanks!

That’s about it for this week’s newsletter. Thanks for reading and making the VerticalSleeveTalk community as strong as it is. We and the other Sleevers couldn’t do it without you!

Take care!

Sincerely,

Alex

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[Lissa 2,631]

Wow! Thanks!! I guess that, for once, my long-windedness is paying off! The iPod touch will be great for those gym workouts!

[Lissa 2,631]

BTW, GREAT choice for the member spotlight! PDXMan is one of my inspirations here!