Patients who suffer from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD, often find that their symptoms are immediately and dramatically improved after receiving the gastric band.Many of them no longer need to take daily medications like Nexium, Prilosec, and Protonix.It seems that the restriction of the band helps prevent the backflow of acidic fluid made in the stomach to aid digestion from refluxing back into the esophagus.Also, if our patients have a hiatal hernia, which most of the patients with GERD do, we can easily repair the hernia defect at the time of surgery with just a few minutes added onto the operation time. If you have questions about your reflux and potential for improvement after surgery, be sure to ask at your consultation visit, or give our physician assistant, Melissa Moyer, a call at 702-313-8446.
One of the latest potential weight loss techniques currently being evaluated in clinical trials is the TOGA System by Satiety, Inc.Recent news articles have raised awareness about the device and early results show at least some initial benefit following the procedure. The transoral gastroplasty is done by inserting a stapling device through the mouth into the stomach and creating a smaller pouch to hold food.The advantage of this technique is the avoidance of the tiny laproscopic abdominal incisions needed to perform gastric banding, bypass, and sleeve gastrectomies.However, like the other procedures, general anesthesia is still currently required with the TOGA procedure.
Whereas the durability of the weight loss from bypass, gastric band, and sleeve gastrectomy is well documented, whether this will hold true for the TOGA procedure is still very much undetermined.The TOGA procedure is most similar to the gastric stapling procedure, which was abandoned 20 years ago because the majority of patients regained their weight as the staple lines eventually reopened.This does not occur with a properly performed sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass as the stomach is completed divided, not just stapled.
It is still too soon to tell if the TOGA procedure will have long term benefits.As we have always done, Dr. Atkinson and I will continue to monitor the newest weight loss techniques to decide if they can be of benefit to our patients in Las Vegas.
Several patients were in the office today who have done very well with their weight loss using the gastric band.Losing the last 15-20lbs is usually more about food choices, exercise and avoiding high calorie snacks than it is about finding a perfect band “adjustment.”Most patients learn this by having their bands adjusted too tight and needing a little bit taken out.When I see patients undergo a series of tiny fluid adjustments and complaining of stagnant weight loss, usually they are depending too much on the band and need to depend more on their food choices.Our support groups and Mindful Eating classes, taught by our nutritionist Prudence Ticknor, are a great way to refocus for those last few pounds.To sign up for the Mindful Eating series or to find out more about our support groups, give us a call at 702-313-8446.
After several months and many, many short run/walks, group run/walks and strength training sessions, Team GBI crossed the Half Marathon finish line December 6, 2009. Excitement, accomplishment and even a little relief were felt as each GBI patient finished the 13.1 mile Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon course. Below are some photos from race day.
On Friday, December 11, 2009, Dr. Atkinson, Dr. Soong, Marathon Coach Prudence Ticknor and Team GBI gathered to celebrate and share stories about their marathon training and race experience. Food, support and friendship were shared at this congratulatory event! Below are some photos and a video from the dinner.
Congratulations team and good luck in your future trainings and races!
Congratulations on completing your half-marathon training for this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on the Las Vegas Strip! We are very proud of you, your weight loss success and your dedication to healthy lifestyle changes. That’s what Gastric Band Institute’s philosophy is all about.
Remember to have fun on race day and keep your friends and family close by for extra support. Also, be sure to share your training and marathon success stories with others.Your journey is an inspiration to us all.
As the temperature drops and the seasons change, we can sometimes be deceived into drinking less water during our training, which may lead to dehydration. Be careful that the cold weather is not masking the amount of fluid you are losing during your training.
Being dehydrated can affect your performance during training as well as on race day. Did you know that even a 1% dehydration level is a 2-lb loss for a 200lb person? Dehydration can also affect the rate at which your body metabolizes calories. With a 1% dehydration rate your body can decrease its ability of burning calories up to 5% of its efficiency. Although you may not feel the sweat while you are training your body is still losing fluids. Therefore, we need to remember to continue to stay hydrated.Below are a few hydration tips to prevent performance decline during your training:
1.Do not wait until you are thirsty to start drinking water. If you feel thirsty you are already at a 3% dehydration rate and possibly up to a 15% decline in performance activity.
2.Two hours prior to your runs/walks, hydrate yourself with an additional 16oz. of water.
3.During the cold weather training, warm your core by drinking herbal tea or hot chocolate made with no added sugar cocoa and warm milk. This works great to replenish electrolytes.
4.Know how much you sweat during your trainings and replenish accordingly. Track both pre and post work out weight naked. For every pound lost due to exercise you need 16oz. of additional fluid.
5.For trainings that will be more than 90 minutes, remember to replenish with an additional electrolyte drink, gel, beans, etc.The most important electrolytes to be concerned with are sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium.
Remember our goal is not to weigh less after our training. If you do, it only means you have dehydrated yourself which means you will more than likely perform at a slower rate and slow down the rate at which your body burns calories. Before cold weather trainings think about having a nice hot cup of herbal tea or no added sugar hot chocolate made with low fat milk.
Recently, United Healthcare has become the first major insurer to recognize the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy as a proven, not experimental, bariatric surgical procedure. I suspect that other insurers will soon likely follow suit. This will open up further choices and options for our patients. We have been performing the Sleeve Gastrectomy with great success over the last few years and as more insurance companies start covering it, I’m sure the procedure will rise in popularity.
Now that your trainings are getting more vigorous, it’s important to work on proper breathing techniques while walking/running. Proper breathing can improve your endurance and help you to enjoy your training more. Breathing incorrectly can affect your performance by causing fatigue, which in turn, shortens the distance that you are able to complete. Added stress on your body can also be a result.
There are several universal breathing techniques that can be helpful. Learning breathing techniques while walking/running may be difficult or feel unnatural at the beginning. However, like with most things, with practice it will become easier. Start off by choosing one technique at a time and practice it while seated. Work on that specific technique until it feels natural and then incorporate it into a training session.Find your favorite and most useful technique and stick with it! The following are some breathing techniques:
1.Breathe through both your nose and mouth
This practice will assist in increasing the amount of oxygen taken into your air passages.
2.Breathe from your diaphragm
Close your eyes. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Just breathe normally. Which hand is moving?The hand on the chest or the hand on the belly? Take time to focus on moving the belly while breathing instead of the chest. If you are moving the belly you are breathing from the diaphragm and your breaths will be more complete.
3.Maintain a 3:2 breathing ratio
Inhale for 3 steps, then exhale for the next two steps. This will assist in deeper controlled breaths. A 3:2 breathing ratio is suggested for people who do a light jog pace or less.
Check out this short video on breathing for additional information:
Now that our trainings are getting longer, I wanted to discuss the importance of fueling your body. Today let’s talk about the importance of carbohydrates. There are two types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. During training you want to increase your intake of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates break down at a slower rate which means they provide a slow, steady form of energy which is best for long distance training. A few complex carbohydrate food choices are pasta, rice, beans, vegetables, legumes and potatoes. Beans and legumes are great choices for bariatric patients since they include both protein and complex carbohydrates.
Where does the energy come from?
The energy we utilize during long distance training primarily comes from glycogen, which comes from carbohydrates. The more glycogen storage you have during training, the better you will feel and perform. The more you train, the more efficiently your body will store carbohydrates as glycogen. This means having a consistent exercise program will condition your body to convert more consumed carbohydrates into glycogen vs. being stored as fat. Because carbohydrates break down into glycogen, the more carbohydrates you take in, the more available glycogen becomes. However, don’t let this be an excuse to overdo your carbohydrate intake. For many, exercise is used as an excuse for an excessive intake of carbohydrates and typically poor quality food choices as well. Remember to be mindful of excessive intake that can sabotage your efforts for performance.
As a bariatric patient you are taught to eat 4 oz. of food a meal and I usually recommended that 3 of those oz. are protein. During training you may want to alternate your percentage of carbohydrate intake. For example, after trainings your post meal may consist of 2 oz. of protein and 2 oz. of a complex carbohydrate or 3 oz. of carbohydrate and 1 oz. of protein. The key is to pay attention to your body and find out what works best for you. Choose a combination of proteins and complex carbohydrates that help you feel your best.
Remember, complex carbohydrates are needed as part of a balanced meal plan for optimal performance and feeling great!
See this resource for complex carbohydrate options:
You may have noticed now that we are into the eighth week of training that you are able to walk longer or you get tired much later into your trainings.Well, that’s because marathon training builds stamina.According to Greg McMillan, marathon coach, there are 4 key training zones:
1.Endurance
2.Stamina
3.Speed
4. Sprint
Here’s a brief outline of each training zone:
Endurance is a slow easy pace.The goal is to build endurance.For beginners, you may spend 4 – 6 months in this phase being able to run or walk 5 miles easily.
Stamina training is when your training is “comfortably hard”. You are training at a pace where your heart rate beats between 83 – 92% of max.For beginners, you may start out at short intervals of incorporating 20 – 30 second intervals throughout your endurance training.Stamina training helps critical thresholds resulting in less lactate accumulation resulting in less fatigue.
During speed training, you are training with a 3 – 5k race speed. Your heart rate and oxygen levels are above the 92% of max.The effort in this training is hard.Speed training increases the enzymes that help liberate enzymes from our fuel source as well as stimulate and trains our fast twitch muscle fibers.Speed training will assist in running faster for longer periods of time.
Sprint training is where you are training with 800 – 2500m race pace.During these trainings your heart rate and Vo2 reach max.This type of training will assist with both your power and speed.
For most of us being beginners, our goal is usually to finish the half marathon.If you fall into this category, most of your training will be in the endurance and the stamina training zones.If you continue on for other marathons you may want to start incorporating some of the other zones to assist you in increasing your performance. For more info about the training zones visit check out the below link:
