Do you remember being told that “you can be anybody you want to be” when you were growing up?

 

My Mom and Dad told me that I could be a doctor, a lawyer, the Prime Minister.  The world was my oyster.  I could be or do anything I wanted.

 

Fast forward to today.  I guess I could still go back to school to be a doctor, lawyer – but do I want to?  Not at all.  That doesn’t mean that I failed, it means that I chose this road that I am on. I am happy where I am today. I’ve had some speedbumps along the way, and I anticipate a few more bumps in the future.

 

As a bariatric nutritionist/ surgery coordinator, I get to see my clients lose THOUSANDS of pounds every year!  That’s right.  When you add up the number of clients I work with each month, over a year … and you tally up their weight loss … the number is BIG, very BIG. 

 

I’ve been working in this career for almost 14 years now.  I also stay connected with every client who still wants to keep in contact with me.  I see the births of their new babies. I see their teens graduate from high school.  I see them get married, divorced.  I see deaths in their families.  I see as much as they want to share with me, thanks to their emails and to social media.

 

I also get to see their continued weight loss efforts.

 

I also get to see any regains.

 

Do you know what I’ve learned?  Sometimes we need to make “lifestyle changes” very seriously, so seriously that it turns into a reinvention of ourselves. 

 

Here is a simple example:

Monica is a working Mom.  She is divorced with two teenagers.  Her teens have both started driving and she is no longer “taxi-Mom”.  She has a bit more time for herself now.  She spends that time working and worrying about her kids.

 

One day she wakes up and decides that she is tired of being overweight/ obese.  It is finally time that she takes her health into her own hands and does something about it.  She’s tried every diet on the planet and nothing has worked.

 

Monica decides to head to Mexico for weight loss surgery.  She makes her plans, does her pre-op diet, heads to Mexico, has a great experience, and heads back home. 

 

Now what?

 

This is where it gets hard.  Sure, no matter what Monica does, the weight is falling off for the first 9 months to a year. She started at 245 pounds.  She’s now down to 180.  She’s super happy at 5’4 but she really envisions a weight of 140 for herself.  Why isn’t the last 40 pounds coming off? 

 

Monica stays at the same weight for a year – 180 pounds – then she notices that the scales are creeping up.  What’s happening?  Why is it no longer going in the right direction?

 

Ladies and Gents, I have this conversation every single day.  Yes, I see my clients lose weight and be successful, but I also see my clients slowly start to regain. 

 

What’s the answer?  Here it is ….  My bariatric clients who lose weight and keep it off long term have a secret. They have reinvented themselves.  They are not the same person they were prior to having their gastric sleeve or gastric bypass.

 

They are no longer the person who sleeps in until 10 am, grab 3 cups of coffee, race off to work, pass through the drive-thru window and come home to eat, watch Netflix, and go directly to bed.

 

Their reinvention looks something more like… they get up earlier (with better energy), they have a cup of coffee, prep their lunch, make a healthy breakfast, get in a walk during their lunch hour. They pop into the supermarket on their way home from work to grab some chicken for those new recipes they saw in their weight loss support group.  They go to bed a bit earlier and make sleep a priority.

 

Sure, some of my clients go all out and start running marathons.  Others start nutrition centers in their hometowns.  I’ve seen my clients go back to school to change careers.  I’ve seen some divorces happen because when one person changes and the other person remains the same – well, it can get tricky.  We need a support system in place.

 

I think we need to look at reinventing ourselves when going into bariatric surgery.  It’s like that saying:

“What’s the definition of insanity”?

“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.

 

How do you see yourself?  Do you want to be energetic? Do you want to be athletic?  Do you want to be the best chef in town?  Who are you?  Who do you want to be?

 

Once you’ve figured this out – GO DO IT.  Sure, change can be difficult, and hard, but isn’t it easier than dealing with the pain of obesity?  You need to choose your “hard”, your “difficult”.  Stick the course and the magic will happen.  I see it happen to regular people every day. 

 

If you love who you are now, and you don’t want to change anything, you just want to lose weight, then fine.  But you really need to reinvent the way that you eat.  There is no arguing there.  If you do exactly what you did prior to surgery when it comes to the way you eat, you will get exactly the SAME results “after the honeymoon period”, which lasts approximately a year.

 

I think we can all agree with the last paragraph.  Stop the insanity. Do different to get different.  Stop with the soda, sugar, packaged foods.  I don’t care if the package says “keto”.  Stop buying fancy products, teas, pills, powders. 

 

JERF – Just Eat Real Food.

 

Eat the meat, chicken, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, red meat, tofu, fish, seafood, veggies, berries, nuts, seeds.  Rinse and Repeat.

 

Get more active.  Rinse and Repeat.

 

Who do you want to be?

 

I say this in the most loving way.  I want to see you succeed long term.  I want that for you.  I want to see you happy, healthy, and thriving.

Healthy Hugs,

 

 

 

 

Hello, all you gorgeous people.  Do you hear the happiness in my keyboard strokes?  I am not normally so cheerful.  I just got back from a VACATION!  In reality, it was a “work-cation”, but I’ll take it!!

 

I stopped traveling in February of 2020.  I live in Canada, and I was locked down. The exit rules, entrance rules, canceled flights, and all of it just stopped us from going anywhere.  It was too complicated.  Instead, we just worked long days and spent time closer to home.

 

I am so glad that I boarded the plane to Cancun on November 4th.  I had some dental work that would have cost me THOUSANDS of dollars at home in Canada.  Instead, I got my teeth fixed (a new crown, a tooth pulled that will require an implant a year from now, some new retainers to protect my hubby’s teeth from excessive grinding) and I paid $600! 

 

In reality, the money we save on dentistry paid for our Cancun/Riviera Maya AHHHMAZING Vacation.

#winning.

 

My husband and I have “free” medical (Canadian system and we pay a lot for it through taxes). What we don’t have is free dental.  We are small business owners, and we don’t have separate dental insurance because for us – it doesn’t make sense.  Do you know what makes sense for us?  We go to Mexico for ALL our dental needs.  We have our favorite place in TJ, and we have our favorite place in Cancun.

We are not just “talking about” and working in Medical Tourism, we are also clients. We are very proud clients because the care is top-notch, and the prices are affordable.

 

I got off track there.

I need you to know that if you have dental issues, do not avoid going to the dentist.  If you are afraid of the dentist, then let me set you up with an anesthesiologist.  It will cost $300 and your teeth will get fixed without any of the anxiety involved.

Fix your teeth, please.  Your mouth is a part of your overall health. 

 

If it is a money issue – allow me to show you how to get your teeth fixed and have a free vacation. I am not even joking.

 

Now, the point of this blog was to discuss “how to take a vacation and stay on track”.  I’ve veered a bit off-topic.  Look, I ate great food. I was very active.  I was way more active than I am usually at home.  I ate the tacos, the tortas.  I drank the tequila.  I also cooked for my husband and myself.

 

We never go “all-inclusive”.

We always go to Airbnb, or we always find a way to have a small kitchen.  I don’t go on vacation to cook but, I like to have some sort of control when I am 16 days abroad.  I don’t want to rely on restaurants for everything. 

 

We have our coffee, breakfast, (sometimes we intermittent fast), our lunch at our place.  We go out for early dinners.  Sometimes we create beautiful meals for dinner in our condo.

We consider vacation a chance to eat great food, but we also make great food ourselves.

 

Do I eat watermelon, papaya, kiwi, pineapple at home?  Not on the regular.  When I am on vacation I DO!!  I mean, I don’t want to travel and not eat the beautiful local food!  I don’t want you to travel and not experience the awesome local food.  Eating is a PART of the travel experience. 

 

When I travel today, I try to find a way to stay active.  For me, that means staying someplace that has a gym, a great yoga program, some hiking trails, great golf courses, places to snorkel.  I want to be active.

 

Do I like to be a slug, read my kindle, and drink Pina Coladas?  YES – that too – but not every single day. I would feel like $%^& if I did that for 16 days.  My internal organs would also be super upset.

 

What do I want to drive home with this blog?  I want to say that you CAN be on vacation.  You CAN eat great food.  You CAN have awesome drinks.  You need to strike a bit of balance though.  You need to also enjoy that balance. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed waking up at 6.20 am, working a bit, hitting an awesome yoga class, going for a jog, making some great food, working a bit more, having seafood dinner on the beach, spending time with my significant other, exploring things.

 

I am writing this from the airplane on the way home.  I want this for all of you also.  I want you to take a vacation, explore something new, save some money, enjoy your life.

 

I wish I could bottle and sell the happiness that comes from a vacation. I would be rich.

P.S. Don’t avoid the dentist.

 

Healthy Hugs,

 

 

 

 

Protein – How much is enough?

 

Are you so tired of hearing “eat more protein”?  Ya, I know – me too!  So how much should we be eating as bariatric patients?  How much is too much?  How much is not enough?  Let’s break it down.

 

We’ve got three macronutrients. Those are Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins.  Today it’s all about the protein.  A few years ago, it was all about the fat (think ketogenic).  Before that, it was all about the carbs.

 

Isn’t it all so complicated and confusing?  Let’s remember that we are all biochemical individuals and what is a perfect diet for me, may not be an ideal diet for you.  My stomach HATES beans.  My husband and kids can eat them every day with zero issues. 

 

Some of us post-surgery have issues with lettuce.  Many of us do not.  See how that works?  I think we need to be respectful of each other and our food intolerances and sensitivities.  Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk more about protein-rich food.

 

I am not going to discuss protein supplemental items like shakes/ bars/ cookies etc.  That’s an entirely different category.  That’s not food.  It is manufactured in a lab. Now, it has its place in the bariatric journey but let’s understand that these products are not whole, live, fresh, natural, good quality food.  It belongs in its own category.

 

Today high protein diets are in fashion.  They are in fashion because we are all trying to keep our blood sugars stable.  We know that eating a diet high in carbohydrates can raise blood sugar levels.  We get it.  But, until we all walk around wearing a continuous glucose monitor, we don’t actually know how every food affects us.  BTW, I would love to wear a continuous glucose monitor, and I may just get one as the ultimate experiment with how food affects my blood sugars. I may even set up something for my clients to be able to join me in this experiment (now I am getting off track lol).

 

When I eat protein, I feel good. My body feels good.  It works for me.  I feel very stable with my hunger levels. I feel good energy and I feel balanced throughout the day.

 

When I eat carbs like rice, pasta, bread (which I do adore), I feel STARVING hungry quickly after eating them.  It puts me on the carb-train and getting off that train is oh so hard to do.  Bread leads to pasta, leads to chips, leads to popcorn, leads to pizza and I walk around hungry constantly.  This diet doesn’t work for me – at all. 

 

Now, having said that, I have vegan clients who eat “all the carbs” and they TRIVE with their diet.  Let’s be aware that what works for me doesn’t work for my vegans and vice-versa.

 

What foods are high in protein?  What’s going onto my plate when I am eating “on plan”?   Here’s a simple list.

 

Eggs, chicken, red meat, turkey, seafood, fish, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, milk, almonds, quinoa, lentils, Ezekiel bread, pumpkin seeds, black beans, chickpeas, chia seeds, nut butter. 

 

You can probably add to my list above.

 

I used to be carb-o-phobic.  I am relaxing my rules a tad at the moment.  Remember, what’s right for me might not be your ideal diet. I am not actively trying to lose weight right now. When I am actively trying to lose weight, I get a bit stricter.  That doesn’t mean that you cannot lose weight while eating quinoa.  Quinoa has a higher carbohydrate load than what I used to permit myself to eat. Quinoa also has a nice amount of protein even though it contains complex carbohydrates.

 

What’s the equation for figuring out how much protein we should be eating?  The “protein pushers” – those that sell shakes/ powders/ bars/ cookies – would love you to believe that you need a gazillion grams of protein each day. I mean if some protein is good, then MORE is better!!!  Uh, No – doesn’t work that way.  How much protein can our bodies even process in one sitting?  Nobody even knows exactly!  Hello, biochemical individuality.

 

I believe my body can process about 20 grams of protein at a time x 3 times a day.  The mathematical equation goes…. Your ideal weight x .36 = grams of protein I should eat per day.  So, let’s take an average to work with…

150 pounds x .36 = 54 grams a day. 

 

If I personally eat 54 grams of protein each day, I am “good to go”.  My hair will be happy.  My nails will be happy.  My skin will be happy.  My muscles will be happy.  It’s “happy land”.  Now, I cannot guzzle a protein shake and say “got all my protein” because I don’t consider that real food.  Just like I cannot take a multivitamin and say, “I’ve got all my nutrients”.  Shakes and supplements are different from real food.  Let’s say that all together.  SHAKES AND SUPPLEMENTS ARE NOT THE SAME AS REAL FOOD.  We use them as an insurance policy while we try to get what we need from the real source.

 

Now if I eat 70 grams of protein today and 40 grams of protein tomorrow, what happens then?  Our bodies figure it out.  Don’t’ get overly consumed with the numbers.  It all balances out.  I don’t want to eat 30 grams a day for a week. I try to balance it the best that I can, but we are not computers.  Let’s ease up with that thinking. You do your best.  Focus on the grams you need and when you plan meals and snacks, think about protein first.   That’s the way I do it also.

 

So, I hope this helps you to decipher how much protein you should be consuming on the daily. 

 

Healthy Hugs,