Do you have clothes sitting in your closet that don’t fit anymore?Are you tired of buying new clothes to keep up with your changing body as you reach your goal weight?
The Gastric Band Institute is excited to announce that for three days in August we will be hosting another, popular Clothing Exchange event in our seminar room.On Friday, August 20, Saturday August 21, and Monday, August 23, from 11:00am – 3:00pm, you can bring in your non-fitting clothes and leave with some new ones!If you’re not interested in the clothes, feel free to just come and visit with your fellow weight loss surgery patients.The seminar room is at the Gastric Band Institute offices at 3810 Meadows Lane on the southeast corner of the Meadows Mall.
Bringing fun, color and health together is the perfect cooking combination! Adding natural herbs and spices into your recipes to add flavor, color and health benefits is truly something to celebrate. Try the recipe below this 4th of July weekend to create your food fireworks! Also check out the fun cooking health facts below.
Festive Fruit Sauce
This delicious dessert sauce is perfect for any summer event or occasion, and it’s so easy to make!
Ingredients:
½ can (15 ounces) peach slices in natural juice
¾ cup fresh blueberries
¼ cup Just Like Sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon almond flavoring
4 to 6 large fresh strawberries, sliced
Preparation:
Drain juice from peaches into a saucepan. Combine Just Like Sugar and cornstarch; stir in to juice. Cook over medium-low heat until thick. Add almond flavoring and cinnamon, reserved peach slices, sliced strawberries and blueberries; heat throughout.
Serve over angel food cake for guest or add to cottage cheese, Greek yogurt or ricotta cheese for bariatric patients for a high protein and tasty treat! Gastric bypass patients, please note that a 1oz serving will keep you below 15g of carbohydrates and help prevent dumping.
Serves approximately 4
Fun Cooking Health Facts
·Adding color to your meal can increase the production of feel good hormones increasing your over all sense of meal satisfaction
·Just Like Sugar has 0 calories, scores a 0 on the glycemic index, is made from all natural food derivatives and contains fiber. It is a perfect alternative to regular sugar or sugar substitutes that can actually decrease hunger as you eat it.
·Blueberries are a good source of antioxidants and fiber that assists with healthy skin, a healthy body, and the feeling of hunger satisfaction?
·Cinnamon can reduce nausea and can increase insulin sensitivity to help focus burning of fat.
The rising rate of obesity in the U.S. adult population creates a need for more attention to be given to sexuality and sexual function.There are many myths and misconceptions concerning women and higher body mass indexes.It appears there is a notion of a negative relationship between hip and waist size and sexual frequency and that women with larger body sizes have a more difficult time finding partners than leaner women do.Several studies have looked into these notions and found they are NOT true.
The conclusions of a study reviewed* are as follows:
1. Overweight and obese women do not report a decrease in the frequency of sexual encounters as compared with their leaner counterparts.
2. Overweight or obese women are not shunned more by their sexual partners.
3. If you are one of those women who feel that your weight is interfering with your sexual activity, according to the studies, it has less to do with your weight than you might think.The numbers in almost all sexually based categories studied between women with BMI’s less than 25, between 25 and 30 and higher than 30 are the same.There is little to no statistical difference in the age range under 45 years of age that was studied.In one category, “Lifetime history of sexual intercourse with a male,” the women with a BMI of 25-30 and higher had a significantly higher percentage than women under a 25 BMI.
*Kaneshiro B, et al. Obstst and Gynecol. 2008
The point I take from this is that a woman is, or can be sexual, according to her own attitude and self-confidence.If you are having difficulty with how sexually attractive you feel, consider whether it could have more to do with your own perception of yourself as reinforced by society, Hollywood and advertising, than it is with fact. Feel free to share your thoughts or questions here.
A new law tucked into the U.S. health reform bill requires that restaurants with 20 locations or more display calorie counts on menus, menu boards and drive-throughs.Although many restaurants already display calorie counts on a wall, or their website, the new law makes this information more visible.The purpose is to make sure customers see calorie information as they are ordering to help them make the most informed decisions.
I am very excited about this new requirement and I think it will be a huge eye- opener for most people when they see calorie counts start popping up on menus. I believe it will make people stop and think about the choice they are making and hopefully reconsider opting for the unhealthy items.Oftentimes we don’t understand why we weigh as much as we do.We may think that we are making healthy choices, but then learn that the cappuccino we regularly pick up from Starbucks or the salad we ate for lunch at Wendy’s could be hindering us from having a healthy, low-calorie, diet. My hope is that this new law will also force restaurants to provide more low-calorie, healthy menu items for their patrons because of customer demand and a reduction in the sale of the unhealthiest items.
Fighting our nation’s obesity epidemic requires health education.I see this as a great step in leading our country to become better educated about the food they are placing in their bodies. Of course, unhealthy food options will still be available in restaurants, but we will be more enlightened to make the best decision possible if we seek to make healthy choices.
In support group meetings the experienced band patients frequently tell the newer patients to drink more water and that water is their new “best friend.”Here are some interesting facts about water that I recently came across:
About 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated and don’t drink enough water.
Even mild dehydration will slow down a person’s metabolism by about 3%.
About 37% of Americans have a weak thirst mechanism and mistake thirst for hunger pangs.Interestingly, this is also about the percentage of obesity.
A University of Washington study found that on dieters, one full glass of water shut down night hunger pangs on nearly 100% of study participants.
The average person should be drinking at least 8 glasses (8 oz.) of water each day.Of course this amount should be increased with physical activity, hot weather, illness or pregnancy, or any other factor that can increase dehydration.An extra 1 ½ to 2 ½ cups of water should be enough for short bouts of exercise, but intense exercise lasting more than an hour requires more water intake.
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.
