This simply works as a guide and helps you to connect with doctors of your choice. Please confirm the doctor’s availability before leaving your premises.
Emergency bariatric care may be needed if you experience severe abdominal pain, complications from weight loss surgery, or symptoms of nutritional deficiencies.
When thinking of a breast reduction, generally you are wanting to get smaller breasts but the breast reduction can be so much more.To start with, breast reduction enables women to get a better, more comfortable size but there are additional perks and added benefits.
To start with when a breast reduction is performed, it involves removing excess tissue – This mens that the skin is removed as well as your breasts are repositioned to a higher, better position on the wall of your chest.As a final result, breasts are firmer more youthful and in a better proportion with the rest of your body.
Most women have a bit of breast asymmetry.Some women have this more pronounced than others.If you have this sort of situation you can discuss it with your plastic surgeon and he can make corrections during the breast reduction to have both breasts looking more symmetrical.
Generally when a woman has very large breasts, they also have very large areolas.During a breast reduction, the areoles can be made smaller to give a more balanced look to the new sized breasts.
Commonly large breasts cause severe discomfort in the back, neck and shoulders.Some women have such severe pain that they are no longer able to participate in sports such as biking or running.A reduction in the size of the breasts can enable women to get back to participating in the sports they like.
A perk of having a breast reduction is the bonus of being able to update your wardrobe to clothes that you were unable to wear due to the plunging necklines and sheer see through tops.Regular sized breasts means being able to shop with the masses and follow the styles of today.
About the Author: Sheri Burkeis a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
Well it has been 3 weeks and the scale hasn’t budged.You know how it feels.You feel discouraged and frustrated and upset and you don’t know what you are doing wrong.
First things first – Relax!
Having the scale stall and sit at the same weight for a few weeks is completely normal.
Next – let’s place the focus on the long journey and not just the short destination.
Of course we have surgery to lose weight but wasn’t the real reason your health ?Didn’t you see your health improving and having higher energy levels and feeling more comfortable in your skin and seeing a big decrease in the medications that you take.Those need to be the primary goals and the weight loss then follows.It takes time.
Everybody loses weight at different rates.
You need to remember that you are not going to lose weight at the exact same time as your surgery buddies.We need to consider levels of exercise and gender and age and different hormones and different starting points.Focus on you – on your journey – on your health.This is your time to shine and don’t ruin it by looking over your shoulder.
Overnight success doesn’t exist.
Remember how long it took to gain the weight? Well that is exactly how long it will take to lose the weight also.This is not a race to the finish line – it is a journey to long term health.
Now here are some things you can do to stay on track:
Take your measurements so that when the scale gets stuck, you can see how your measurements are still changing.
Are you keeping a food log?This is very helpful to see if there is an over consumption of macros or calories.
Are you eating insufficient calories ?
Are you eating up to 60 grams of protein each day ?
Are you eating too many crappy carbohydrates like crackers or sugar or rice or flour?
Are you into the habit of grazing ?Where you eat non stop small little portions ?
Are you preparing your own meals at home so that you know what goes into your food?
Are you getting a bit of exercise each day?
Are you taking your bariatric vitamins and supplements ?
How are your stress levels ?
How is your sleep quality?
It is important to make an honest evaluation of where you are today and what areas require improvement. Focus on how far you have come and on what changes you will make going forward.
If you need additional support please do reach out to me.I am here for you throughout your entire journey and we can work though this stall together.
Reach out with any questions you have and if you want any of our bariatric nutritional plan, you can grab them HEREBariatric Food Expert
About the Author: Sheri Burkeis a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
Let’s chat a bit about what happens after we lose 100 lbs. The goal in the beginning may be to lose weight and get healthy again and many bariatric clients achieve this goal and they are extremely happy with their appearance and then there are others who feel that their skin elasticity has changed a bit and things could be improved with cosmetic surgery.
Sometimes we have loose skin and sometimes we do not.This is going to depend a lot on our skin, and our age and our genetics.For those who have terrific skin and youth on their side, a lot of the times there is not any hanging skin and things take on a new shape very easily.
There are patients who have undergone gastric sleeve, or similar procedures, and are left with loose skin around the stomach, buttocks, back, arms, or thighs. Rashes and sores can develop on loose skin that folds onto itself. In addition, the hanging skin creates an awkward shape that makes it hard for these patients to find clothes that fit properly. And then there’s the dangling arm skin. For all these reasons, bariatric patients often go on to have further, corrective surgeries.
For those who feel that they have the need or desire to have excess skin removed after major weight loss, we have a program that is set up just for them.
Allow us to provide you with all the information you require. We are dedicated to helping you feel confident in your skin.We understand your goals and vision.We are here for you every step of the way.Reach outto us to request a complete price-list and detailed information for your cosmetic surgery journey.
About the Author: Sheri Burkeis a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
You may call it something else but the bottom line is that it is a bunch of symptoms that make you feel awful after a big holiday meal.Some call it bloating, nausea, stomach upset, and a feeling of Meh.It comes from overindulging on food that is too salty, sugary, fatty, spicy and too much of it.
What do we do when we overindulge and just want to feel better quickly? Overeating during the holidays is almost inevitable so here are a few things we can do after we spend a night of feasting!
Stay hydrated – drink water.It may be hard when you are feeling so full but wait an hour after eating and start to hydrate before bedtime.This will help your body cycle through toxins and rid itself of waste.You will also be happy to wake up not being a complete bloated disaster.
Get some exercise – go for a walk, outside or on a treadmill.Get your heart rate up to start burning up those high caloric foods.The workout will also release feel good endorphins and you will feel happier about all the junk you ate last night.
Eat clean today.A big part of the thanksgiving cure is to eat clean the next few days.Eat protein and healthy fats and low carb vegetables.Stay away from sugar and refined carbs for a few days to get back on track again.
No starving yourself please.A lot of people think that starving themselves after a feast will make up for it but doing this will increase your desire to do it all over again.Eat small, healthy meals.Drink plenty of water, and go for a nice walk.
Accept it and move on.It’s not the end of the world !It’s Thanksgiving and having one big meal will not make or break you.Accept it and just move on by taking healthy steps the next few days.Try to focus on the good time that you had and the memories that you made with loved ones.
Get rid of the leftovers and give them away.Don’t let them sit in your fridge speaking to you in the middle of the night.
Let’s be accountable and reach out when we need a bit of help.We all go overboard sometimes but let’s not allow one meal to turn into two, three, or four meals.
You’ve got this~!what’s your best recommendations for moving past a holiday binge?
About the Author: Sheri Burkeis a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
What’s the deal with the low carb/ high fat rage going on today and is it for bariatric clients?Let’s explore this topic and I will give you my thoughts on this super popular keto diet.I get asked about the ketogenic diet all the time from our bariatric clients so let’s dive into it.
I think that a proper ketogenic diet fits so well into a bariatric lifestyle and that is why I often encourage it but we need to learn and understand the fundamentals of a good ketogenic diet before we jump on the keto bandwagon.This is just my personal testimony of what works for me and what I have seen work for other bariatric clients over the years.I am an RHN nutritionist and surgery coordinator – and not a doctor so I encourage you to have an open discussion with your doctor before trying Keto.
Remember that feeling right after you had your bariatric surgery and how fast you were losing the weight.It was falling off!One of the reasons why your scale moved so quickly was because you were in ketosis.Did you know that there are many post bariatric surgery patients who are using a ketogenic lifestyle to get to their goal weight and maintain afterwards?
Just regular keto isn’t what bariatric clients need due to different caloric, fat and nutritional requirements due to decreased gastric capacity.The anatomy is now different so the ketogenic goals need to be a bit different also.
So can I eat the Ketogenic diet post bariatric surgery?No matter which procedure I have had?vertical sleeve, gastric bypass, mini bypass, revision surgery?What are the rules?
Lucky for you, I am an RHN nutritionist and I specialize in bariatrics so I can help you take the best of keto and help you reach your goals and leave all that other stuff behind.
Hundreds of thousands of people have undergone bariatric procedures to lose weight. If you or somebody you know has had Bariatric surgery and has gained weight back, please share this blog with them.Let’s understand that all bariatric patients can also benefit from the ketogenic way of eating.So many people who have had bariatric surgery have been told “you can’t do keto”.You will be happy to know that you can.
Yes, Yes you can eat Keto!
But you need to come at it a little differently than the average person.More than likely you are able to eat only small portions of food.If you eat too much fat or too much food at one time, you are going to have “bathroom issues” pretty quickly.This prevents a lot of bariatric patients thinking that they are able to follow a ketogenic lifestyle.Here are the steps that you are going to take if you have had bariatric surgery and want to follow a ketogenic lifestyle.You are going to slowly reduce your carbohydrate load and slowly increase your healthy fats.Don’t jump into it over a day – ease into it over a two week period if you find you have trouble consuming healthy fats.
What does Keto look like compared to a regular diet.
Bariatric Keto in a nutshell looks like this, the standard american diet (or SAD for short), flipped on its head.Nuts and seeds are at the top of the pyramid, dairy is below that, veggies come below that, meat and fish and eggs under that and then healthy fats and oils are directly beside the meat section.
As a bariatric client, you don’t want to be eating these foods in excess:
Heavy Cream
Unlimited Bacon
Huge amounts of cheese
Huge amounts of butter
I need to really push this fact because most of you feel like you need to be eating a diet that consists of 75% fat to be real keto – not true.You can still get all the benefits of a keto diet by just omitting the unhealthy types of carbs and by getting your carbs through vegetables and low sugar berries.
Now for some more good news – you don’t need to be eating GOBS of fat to follow a ketogenic lifestyle but you need to restrict your refined carbohydrates.If you are able to eat fat moderately, then keto may be perfect for you.Ketosis is triggered by carb restriction so if you are able to add a bit of healthy fat and drop the unhealthy types of carbs then you are able to follow a ketogenic diet.
Now for even more good news …
We are going to eat some of the really good stuff that the keto community thrives on such as:
Seafood, Meats and Poultry
Lots of low carb veggies
Avocados
Eggs
Plain Greek Yogurt
Cottage Cheese and Ricotta
Nuts and Seeds
Berries
Olives
Coffee and Tea
Dark Chocolate
This diet works well for bariatric clients because:
1/ we stop eating refined and processed foods
2/ it is not hard to maintain and sugar free is easier for us
3/ bariatric clients want to maximize weight loss
4/ keto makes you feel better and more satiated for a longer period of time.
So you can be a bariatric client and still follow a healthy ketogenic diet and I created the “Bariatric Keto Program” to help you along the way and to teach you about macronutrients and what you should be aiming for.I think it’s an easy plan and can work very well with a bariatric lifestyle.
Reach out with any questions you have and if you want the bariatric keto plan, you can grab it HERE.
About the Author: Sheri Burkeis a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
I really like this topic as I think it’s important to discuss the difference between “what is a snack” and “what is grazing”.
When talking about the first year post weight loss surgery, all of the bariatric protocols and post op guidelines have some things in common – there is a time for drinking liquids, a time for eating, a time to take supplements and a time to eat snacks.Clients are easily satisfied with small meals and snacks and with this in mind, we want to have them adapt to a an organized meal plan and away from any disorganized habits.
Snacking is something we do with a purpose, to provide ourselves with healthy nutrition to keep us satisfied between meals.Grazing is very similar to mindless eating.A lot of the time grazing choices lack any real nutritious value.If you nibble, this can be equated with erratic eating habits.
When comparing snacking and grazing, we can say that a snack is something that we plan as a part of a nutritious dietary plan.Snacking is a positive thing and we need to eat smaller, frequent meals to keep up energy levels and not allow long periods of time between meals.Grazing lacks any real structure and is constant eating without any plans in place.Grazing is what we do when we choose things that are only convenient.We also have a hard time counting calories and nutrients when we graze because they are unplanned and not counted in our daily food plans.
Processed snack foods are so readily available today and this could be a big factor when discussing the obesity problems we are faced with today.Labels are full of slogans such as gluten free, sugar free, fat free, high in protein, low in carbs, etc. etc.These types of snack foods are mostly empty in nutrition and fill us with unsatisfying, and empty calories.When we eat these foods, we are seldom satiated and we tend to reach for the next snack to help fill the void.This is when snacking can turn into grazing.We plan a snack but the snack is lacking nutrients and it just ends up making us feel more hungry than we were prior to that snack.
A habit that many bariatric clients have is the action of taking a few bites of something and feeling like it is fine to go back to that meal over and over again until it is finished.This is exactly what sets the stage for grazing. It is better to set a time where you sit down and eat your meal very slowly.Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes and concentrate on the action of chewing and enjoying your food.If you do not finish the meal and you decide to eat it later on, put it away and eat in again but at your next meal time.Do not leave it out and just continue to pick and pick and pick at it as the day continues.
Grazing can result in weight gain and it can affect goals in the long run. If we focus on filling the pouch with nutritious food we set ourselves up for success.Stay away from grazing.If we do not fill the pouch with good choices and sufficient food, we will feel very hungry again after a very short amount of time.When we graze we never fill the pouch and it begins a bad cycle of eating constantly.Try to have structure when it comes to eating and designate time and energy into planning your meals and taking the correct amount of time to eat them.
If you are concerned about your grazing, reach out to me. I can offer more suggestions and solutions to break the habit and also to create new healthier habits.
I salute you on your journey to wellness!
About the Author: Sheri Burkeis a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
