BariatricPal Newsletter - July 2014

[Alex Brecher 10,512]

Hey, BariatricPal Members!

It’s hard to believe, but we’ve reached the halfway point of 2014! Are you making progress towards your weight loss goals? Do you need a bit of inspiration and advice? That’s what the newsletter is for, and this is what we have for you this month!

• Member Poll: What Is (or Was) Holding You Back from Weight Loss Surgery?
• The Big Book on Bariatric Surgery – It’s Here!
• Member Spotlight: Meet Jack!
• Pregnancy and Weight Loss Surgery: Stay Nourished!

Enjoy the newsletter, and then log on to BariatricPal and talk about it and whatever else is on your mind. See you on the boards!

Sincerely,

Alex Brecher

Founder, BariatricPal

Member Poll: What Is (or Was) Holding You Back from Weight Loss Surgery?

You need to consider a lot of factors before choosing to get weight loss surgery, and many of these factors can make you hesitate to get the surgery. If you have not had weight loss surgery, which of the following is preventing you from getting weight loss surgery? If you have already had the surgery, which of these delayed your procedure?

• Your insurance does not cover it and it costs too much.
• Your primary care doctor is not supportive.
• Your friends or family are against the idea of weight loss surgery.
• You are not sure which type of weight loss surgery is best for you.
• You are afraid of complications or side effects from weight loss surgery.
• You do not know if it will help you lose weight.
• Other - please tell us in the discussion forum!

Please mark your answer and then explain it in the discussion on BariatricPal!

The Big Book on Bariatric Surgery: It’s Here!

Weight loss surgery is the beginning of a long journey, and you’re going to need a lot of help along the way. That’s why we’ve published The Big Book on Bariatric Surgery: Losing Weight and Living Well After Weight Loss Surgery! This book takes the long-term approach to weight loss and life after weight loss surgery. It is packed with advice to help you flourish in everyday life and special occasions. These are some of the features.

• meal plans for every stage of the weight loss journey.
• Simple recipes and meal ideas for all kinds of situations.
• How to win the “head games” of weight loss surgery.
• Tips for losing weight at restaurants, parties, and on vacation.

Don’t miss out on the book! It will available in hard copy and ereader form for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo through BariatricPal or on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. While you are there, check out our previous three books.

• The Big Book on the Lap-Band: Everything You Need to Know to Lose Weight and Live Well with the Adjustable Gastric Band
• The Big Book on the Gastric Sleeve: Everything You Need to Know to Lose Weight and Live Well with the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy
• The Big Book on the Gastric Bypass: Everything You Need to Know to Lose Weight and Live Well with the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery

Insure Nutrition

We are always thrilled to welcome a new newsletter sponsor into the BariatricPal family, and this month, Insure Nutrition is giving us the pleasure of doing just that. Our latest sponsor, Insure Nutrition, is an online company that specializes in getting health insurance coverage for nutritional supplements. Its Post-Bariatric Surgery Nutrition products includes Premier Protein shakes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors and OptiSource High Protein drinks in caramel and strawberry flavors. Checking if you are eligible is easy. Insure Nutrition encourages you to use its online form to find out if you qualify.

Our sponsors help make BariatricPal newsletters and other services possible. We encourage you show your thanks by considering them first for your bariatric needs.

Exciting News – We're welcoming powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury and opurity to BariatricPal!

BariatricPal is proud and excited to announce two new sponsors for our newsletters. The new sponsors are Unjury, a supplier of wonderful tasting, highest quality Protein supplements, and Opurity (from the makers of UNJURY), highest purity Vitamin supplements for bariatric surgery patients. Their support lets us keep BariatricPal newsletters coming to you each month.

Unjury was founded by a master’s degree dietitian who has been helping patients since 1974. It is committed your health. You know the importance of getting enough protein after weight loss surgery, but you also know that meeting your protein goals can be challenging. Unjury makes your task not just easier but actually enjoyable. Product flavors include chocolate Splendor, Chocolate Classic, vanilla, Strawberry Sorbet, chicken Soup Flavor, Unflavored, Protein’d cheese Sauce (seasonal, October through May). These ready-to-use protein powders come in single-serve and multi-serve containers, and contain high-quality whey protein to keep you full and nourished.

Launched in 2007, Opurity is dedicated to using the purest ingredients in its supplements. Opurity Bariatric Multivitamins have two unique big advantages:

First, each Multivitamin requires only one tablet per day*. Second, Opurity is so dedicated to quality that it is unique in using no ingredients from China.

Choose from chewable orange-berry Multivitamins for gastric bypass and gastric sleeve patients or for lap-band patients.Opurity also sells chewable Calcium, Vitamin D and folic acid/vitamin B-12 chewables. All supplements come with a 100% satisfaction guaranteed. They return policy is: “Yes you can return it.”

Support from Unjury and Opurity helps us continue to bring you the services you enjoy on BariatricPal, so please support these two brands! When looking for your bariatric surgery supplements, first visit Unjury.com and Opurity.com. Purchasing from these companies helps support BariatricPal. Thanks to Unjury and Opurity for your generous sponsorship, and thanks to BariatricPal members who support our partnership!

*You still need Calcium and sublingual B-12.

Member Spotlight: Meet Jack!

We are delighted to feature Jack this month for our Member Spotlight. Jack is a lap-band veteran, and he has been a member of our boards for nearly 10 years! Now he is a host on BariatricPal, too.

Jack hit his highest weight of 373 before losing down to 350. At the time, he says he was “going blind due to diabetic retinopathy.” He researched the then-new lap-band for two years, but was unable to find much information in face-to-face meetings because most groups back then focused on gastric bypass. His surgery was in 2004, and his biggest challenge was making the half-day trip to his surgeon’s office from his home in a rural area of Oregon.

Jack has since lost and kept off 85 pounds. He says that “the worst day post-op over the last10 years has been better than the best day pre-op in the 5 years before surgery.” One of his best moments after losing weight came when he went to a restaurant that he had not been to in a year, and found himself wondering how the restaurant staff had managed to rebuild the booths so that he fit in them! He also celebrated the moment when he was able to get into his pickup truck without his belly rubbing the steering wheel. He is off of his CPAP machine and insulin medications, too.

Jack found BariatricPal to be encouraging because he could see how others handled their problems. He could also see that his were not so bad. Jack really appreciates having the boards as a resource when he was a WLS-newbie. He says he doesn’t use the boards so much anymore, but still drops by occasionally to catch up on the chatter.

Jack suggests to other member that you take at least one step per day towards your goal. Also, remind yourself how far you have come by keeping a set of your old “fat clothes.” Finally, of course, “stop eating!”

Thank you, Jack, for being in our Member Spotlight and sharing your story. Congratulations on losing the weight and keeping it off for so long, and thank you for your support and contributions to our boards over the years.

If you want to be in our Member Spotlight or you would like to suggest to us a member to highlight, please let us know in the Spotlight Forum or by sending a private message (PM) to Alex Brecher.

Pregnancy After Weight Loss Surgery – Stay Nourished!

If you are hoping to become a parent of a healthy child, obesity can be standing in your way. Obesity can make both men and women less fertile, and if you are able to become pregnant, it makes your pregnancy higher risk. You are more likely to develop gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, and your child is more likely to become obese and develop diabetes later in life.

Weight loss surgery patients can realistically hope to become parents, and losing a significant amount of weight can make for a healthier pregnancy and baby. However, you still need to be very careful. If you have had weight loss surgery and you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, you may be at high risk for nutritional deficiencies that can harm you or your child.

An article in the February 2014 edition of the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases identified Vitamin B12 and folic acid as some of the common nutritional deficiencies among pregnant weight loss surgery patients. Low protein levels can also be problematic. Deficiencies were found among gastric bypass, vertical sleeve gastrectomy, and biliopancreatic diversion patients; lap-band patients were not included in the study.

If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, plan your nutrition carefully to be able to support a healthy baby. The rule of thumb is to delay pregnancy for at least a year after weight loss surgery while you focus on losing weight. During your pregnancy, the focus needs to be on good nutrition for you and your baby. Consult with your physician to get the best advice, and continue taking your vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent deficiencies.

That is all we have for this week’s newsletter. We hope you enjoyed it!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

@@Jack yay you made the spotlight!! You've always been one of my favorites. Good for you.

[alyce 61]

<div> <h3></h3> <p><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hey, BariatricPal Members!</b></span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s hard to believe, but we’ve reached the halfway point of 2014! Are you making progress towards your weight loss goals? Do you need a bit of inspiration and advice? That’s what the newsletter is for, and this is what we have for you this month!</span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"> </p> <ul><li><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Member Poll: What Is (or Was) Holding You Back from Weight Loss Surgery?</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Big Book on Bariatric Surgery – It’s Here!</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Member Spotlight: Meet <span style="color:#e02da4;"><b>Jack</b></span>!</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Pregnancy and Weight Loss Surgery: Stay Nourished!</span></span></li> </ul><p style="font-family:Arial;"> </p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Enjoy the newsletter, and then log on to <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.bariatr'><span style="color:rgb(4,51,255);">Spotlight Forum</span></a> or by sending a private message (PM) to Alex Brecher.</span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,133,204);"> </p> <p style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,133,204);"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Pregnancy After Weight Loss Surgery – Stay Nourished!</b></span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are hoping to become a parent of a healthy child, obesity can be standing in your way. Obesity can make both men and women less fertile, and if you are able to become pregnant, it makes your pregnancy higher risk. You are more likely to develop gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, and your child is more likely to become obese and develop diabetes later in life.</span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"> </p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Weight loss surgery patients can realistically hope to become parents, and losing a significant amount of weight can make for a healthier pregnancy and baby. However, you still need to be very careful. If you have had weight loss surgery and you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, you may be at high risk for nutritional deficiencies that can harm you or your child.</span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"> </p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">An article in the February 2014 edition of the journal <i>Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases</i> identified Vitamin B12 and folic acid as some of the common nutritional deficiencies among pregnant weight loss surgery patients. Low Protein levels can also be problematic. Deficiencies were found among gastric bypass, vertical sleeve gastrectomy, and biliopancreatic diversion patients; lap-band patients were not included in the study.</span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"> </p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, plan your nutrition carefully to be able to support a healthy baby. The rule of thumb is to delay pregnancy for at least a year after weight loss surgery while you focus on losing weight. During your pregnancy, the focus needs to be on good nutrition for you and your baby. Consult with your physician to get the best advice, and continue taking your Vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent deficiencies.</span></span></p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"> </p> <p style="font-family:Arial;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That is all we have for this week’s newsletter. We hope you enjoyed it! </span></span></p> </div>

Where can I get newsletter?

Alyce