19Mar

This is a topic that is near and dear to me.  I spend my days working one-on-one with clients discussing pre-op diets and postoperative guidelines.  That’s how I spend half of my day.  The other half of my day is spent working with clients who have had surgery and they are have either stalled, plateaued or they are in the midst of a bariatric re-gain.  

These problems are real.  These clients are real. It is my job to provide them with the nutritional education and information they require and to assist them to reach their goals and then to maintain them.

This is why I am always staying on top of the latest and greatest nutritional science.  I need to know what works, and what does not work when it comes to helping our clients get to their weight loss goals and then maintain them long-term.  I need to read the studies and understand what works and why it works.

Nutritional science is changing constantly.  One day eggs are bad for us and the next they are good for us.  One day we are to eat whole grains and the next day we need to stay away from them.  What gives and why does the information change?

It is not possible to isolate a single nutrient’s effect in our body

Nutrition research, until very recently,  focused on studying the role of single nutrients.  They looked to single nutrients as acting like a “magic pill” for us to prevent disease.  The newest researching is looking today at a different concept.

This new concept is food synergy.   This means that nutritional researchers are looking at multiple nutrients working together.  How do foods work together to build health and prevent disease.  They no longer focus on separating nutrients and the newest studies focus on a person’s overall diet.  Diet patterns have been shown to reduce chronic diseases.  For example, eating fish, fruits and vegetables can lead to a reduction in blood clots.

So now that the research is changing, so are the food trends.  What dominates 2019 as the most popular diet trends for bariatric clients?

What is the first trendsetter – this is gut health.  Gut health research will also continue to gain momentum in the years to come.  We are also seeing the trend of probiotics getting replaced by foods which can help to balance the gut and microbiome.  

More of us will search for our probiotic-fix in the form of fermented foods and drinks.  Foods which fall into this category are fermented foods such as, kombucha, sauerkraut, and yogurt.  When our microbiome is balanced, we have a stronger immune system, digestion and detoxification.  An imbalance of the microbiome may lead to a variety of diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Important changes occur in our microbiome when we use antibiotics.  We take antibiotics to kill bad bacteria but at the same time we also kill off good bacteria that resides in our guts.  It’s always a good idea to follow up a course of antibiotics with a course of probiotics to help increase good bacteria in our microbiome.

The second trendsetter is Intermittent Fasting and Ketogenic Diet.  We saw this trend in 2018 and it is progressing into 2019 with full steam ahead.  Low carbohydrate diets work.  When you add Intermittent Fasting to your ketogenic diet, weight loss increases.  The combination of Keto and IF is a powerful tool. 

You don’t need to do both together and you can separate the two.  You can also choose to intermittent fast only 3 times a week or to intermittent fast without following a ketogenic diet.  This depends on the client and their biochemical individuality.  What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work the same for the next person.

The third trendsetter is, Intuitive Eating.  This goes together with the “un-diet” and the “lifestyle” approach.   This is an anecdote to dietary trends and all the diet fads.  Instead of focusing on weight loss, we are going to shift our focus to awareness and the entire eating experience.  Intuitive eating focuses also on what makes us feel good and healthy.  It’s having a certain respect for our bodies and coming to peace with food.

As a bariatric nutritionist, I want to combine these three trends to see if we can find a good balance.  

What I would like to see clients follow is a low refined and processed carbohydrate diet, while incorporating probiotics foods and this lifestyle into their day to day eating patterns.  

This is about having respect for our bodies while feeding it whole, live, fresh, natural, good quality food.

Now if you add a bit of intermittent fasting into this thinking, imagine how wonderful and powerful this can be with regards to reaching ideal weights, maintaining weight, and preventing illness and disease. 

If we can learn to respect our bodies and make peace with food, we can ditch the diet mentality and focus on what makes us feel great.

I salute you on your amazing journey to health and wellness.

 FaceeBook LIVE 3pm EST on Friday, March 22 th.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is 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.

For high quality specialized plant protein for bariatric patients Bariatric Expert Protein Powders

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin ?  Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon:  Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Stay motivated with Bariatric Wristbands – post your results online !

 

 

 

11Mar

There is so much information out there about weight loss and what’s the next best thing.  We are obsessed with the latest and greatest diets and we all want to know how to get the weight off and keep it off.  This also applies to bariatric clients.  Sure, there is a tool intact to help get the weight off but that tool is not doing the work.  That tool works only as long as we work it and our results depend entirely on us and how we choose to use that tool.

Am I saying that weight loss surgery is not the answer to weight loss? Of course not.  I am saying that weight loss surgery is an amazing tool and it works but we need to continue to put in the effort once we reach our goals.  If we choose to turn back to bad habits, the weight will slowly creep back on again.  It’s up to us to make those important changes during the first year post surgery and to work hard to ensure that we maintain our results long term.

I want to address a few “falsities” that I continue to hear and read about.  I think that they need to be discussed and we need to form our own opinions.  The more we research and learn about this process, the stronger we are to fight against obesity and obesity-related illnesses.  Let’s dig in.

Dieting is the way to lose weight.  WRONG.  How many of us have been on a diet?  I bet you that all of us have been on a diet more than one time.  I think that most of us are on a diet all of the time. If we are constantly on a diet, then why are we gaining weight or why is the scale in a permanent stall?  

Dieting means restricting ourselves or eliminating food groups or suffering in some way to try to get results.  I think that this “dieting mentality” needs to change to a “lifestyle mentality”.  Instead of beating ourselves up through restriction and deprivation, why don’t we be encouraging and kind to ourselves?  Why don’t we congratulate ourselves for making good decisions instead of being mean to ourselves when we eat something, not on our plan?

Let’s try for the rest of this month to change our thought-process and just relax and be gentle and choose to see the positive strides we are making instead of focusing on the negatives.  We can check in and compare notes at the end of this month.

Exercising a lot is the way to lose weight.  WRONG.  How many of us feel like by hitting the gym or a spin class, that we can burn off the calories that we ate today?  Weight loss occurs in the kitchen and health and fitness occurs in the gym.  We cannot exercise our way out of a bad diet.  The first thing we need to do is to get our diet in check.  From there we add exercise but we add exercise because we enjoy it and because we want to improve our health, strength, and flexibility. If we hit the gym just to burn calories, we are setting ourselves up for failure.

I remember the good old days when I used to teach aerobics and spinning classes.  I could eat whatever I wanted and get away with it.  But then I remember how I taught 5 hours of lessons each day.  Is this truly realistic today?  I mean, I am almost 50 and could my body even keep up with that kind of torture on a daily basis? Is that much exercise even good for you? Of course not!  If I wanted to deal with permanent injuries and inflammation, I would go back to that lifestyle.  No thanks. I have been there, done that and I have the t-shirt to prove it.

Besides, who has the time to work a full time job, raise two teenagers and spend time with their husband and two dogs?  I have social activities and friends and extended family to think about also.  It’s not that I am lazy.  It’s that I exercise a few times each week and I seriously enjoy that time. I don’t try to kill myself to burn off calories.  Besides, even if I can burn off 400 calories in an exercise session, how quickly can I turn around and eat those 400 calories lol ?  Give me 10 minutes.  

I exercise today for me. I exercise to keep my muscles, tendons and bones strong. We need to change our mindset and eat to lose weight and exercise to improve our health.  And why does exercise have to mean beating ourselves up?  Why can’t we go for a nice, outdoor walk?  Let’s do some body weight exercises and have a stretch.  Let’s try to change our mind-set about weight loss.  Let’s think “lifestyle” and how lucky we are to have a beautiful body and a fabulous mind.  Let’s feed ourselves with real food and exercise in a realistic, healthy way.

Don’t let life get in the way.  Make it your life desire to take care of yourself and to love yourself each day.  I salute you on your amazing and continued journey to good health.

 FB LIVE 3pm EST on Friday, March 15 th.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is 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.

For high quality specialized plant protein for bariatric patients Bariatric Expert Protein Powders

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin ?  Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon:  Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Stay motivated with Bariatric Wristbands – post your results online !

 

 

 

4Mar

Let’s work and build a menu together.  Let’s put our ideas into a 4-day bariatric keto menu which we will use for next week from Monday to Thursday.  Let’s lay it all out in front of us so we have no questions and we are able to see exactly what we should be consuming in order to get the scale moving in the right direction.

Sometimes we get off track because we fail to plan our meals.  This is the key to eating the correct foods to break a stall or lose weight.  Failing to plan is planning to fail and I always feel that we need to take sufficient time for ourselves when it comes to meal planning.

Let’s understand exactly what food items we need to purchase at the supermarket on Saturday in order to food prep on Sunday.  We will have almost a weeks worth of good quality food to make easy meals, save money and break our stall.

We need to do a little food prepping on Sunday but isn’t it better to spend an hour in the kitchen on Sunday and not have to worry about the week ahead?  Isn’t it nice to not have to constantly be worried about meals?  Believe me.  Give it a try this coming weekend and you will be happy that you did.

Below I have created a four-day menu with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I did not include snacks because we are not going to snack this week.  I also want you to think about pushing your breakfast a bit later in the day and trying to have your dinner a bit earlier.  This way we can incorporate some intermittent fasting into this week.  Just by closing our eating window to 8 hours, we can really help jump-start weight loss again.

For more information on intermittent fasting, you can visit this link:
https://bariatricfoodexpert.com/uncomplicated-intermittent-fasting-bariatric-style/

Also, instead of making your life complicated, I have made two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners which are to be repeated.  This is just easier than making new meals 3 times per day for a total of 16 recipes.  You are going to repeat two days to give you a total of 4 days.   This gives you only 8 recipes to prep for. 

So let’s dig in and discuss the upcoming week and the menu that we will be following.  If you don’t like a specific item, then swap it out for something similar.

4 BREAKFASTS:

Monday and Tuesday:  

Low-Carb Chia Pudding
2 tablespoons chia seeds, 4 large chopped up strawberries, 1 cup coconut or almond milk (no sugar added), 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, stevia for sweetness if desired: 

Mix all ingredients together in the evening and put in the fridge – mix with a spoon and eat in the morning.

Wednesday and Thursday:

Keto Turkey Plate
3 slices rolled up turkey breast, 1/2 to 1 avocado, lettuce, and 1 tablespoon cream cheese.

You can roll this up into a “lettuce breakfast sandwich” or eat the pieces individually.

4 LUNCHES:

Monday and Tuesday:

Loaded Chicken Salad
Add chicken to your salad bowl and use your imagination / anything from lettuce to spinach to asparagus to avocado chunks and creamy mozzarella.  Add produce and protein and make an expression out of your salad.  For the dressing/ mix avocado oil or olive oil add some dijon mustard and some balsamic vinegar with Himalayan salt and black pepper.

Wednesday and Thursday:

Shrimp Avocado Salad
It takes 10 to 15 minutes to prepare this salad.  You can cook your shrimp or purchase pre.cooked shrimp.  Dice up your favorite veggies including avocado and tomatoes.  Add some feta cheese and lemon juice. 

4 DINNERS:

Monday and Tuesday

Baked Salmon with Cauliflower
Bake 3 to 4 ounces of salmon on 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.  Serve with buttery cauliflower and a side salad

Wednesday and Thursday

Grilled Chicken and Broccoli
Grill 3 to 4 ounces of chicken legs or thighs and serve with broccoli and a cheese sauce with a side salad.

GROCERY LIST:

Our grocery list will consist of the following items:

Produce:

strawberries, green leafy veg, cucumber, cauliflower, broccoli, avocados, tomatoes and add the different vegetables which you wish to add to your chicken salad and your shrimp salad,

Dairy:

cream cheese, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar for a cheese sauce, almond or coconut milk

Meat:

sliced turkey breast, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, shrimp, salmon, 

Additional:

chia seeds

So how can we prep on Sunday to make our week easier?  

  • I suggest that you chop all your vegetables so that they are ready to go for your salads and meals.  It is also a good idea to prepare your chia seed pudding for Monday and Tuesday morning.  Put a cover on each one and this is a fast easy way to start your day.
  • I also like to cut up and cook the chicken and shrimp I will be using for my salads.  This way I can just add the chicken and the veggies the night before and my salad can be put together in 5 minutes.  
  • That’s how easy food prep can be.  A little bit of preparation goes a far way when it comes to having handy, easy, healthy meals prepped for the week.

Now go make this week a fabulous food week!  

 FB LIVE 3pm EST on Friday, March 08 th.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is 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.

For high quality specialized plant protein for bariatric patients Bariatric Expert Protein Powders

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin ?  Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon:  Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Stay motivated with Bariatric Wristbands – post your results online !

 

25Feb

Why are we overweight and obese today?
Why are we gaining weight at an alarming rate?
After bariatric surgery, and once you have lost all the weight, how can you ensure that you will keep it off?

I think that the most important thing that we need to understand is how we gained the weight in the first place.

If we can learn through our errors, we can ensure that we never go back to that place again.

So what was it in the first place that made us gain too much weight?

Since 1970, obesity has tripled in adults and almost tripled in children.  The answer lies in our food statistics.  We cannot ignore the numbers that so obviously contain our answers.

Check out this data.  It is based in America from 2014.  It is what an average American consumes per day.  Here is the link for your own research. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-consumption-and-nutrient-intakes/

Let’s see if we can figure this out together.

  • Vegetables.  An average American consumes 1.6 cups of vegetables per day.
  • Protein.  An average American consumes 200 grams or 7.1 ounces per day.
  • Fat.  An average American consumes 63 grams or 2.2 ounces per day.
  • Grains.  An average American consumes 1/2 a pound per day or 175 lbs per year.
  • Sugar.  An average American consumes 23 teaspoons per day or 131 lbs per year.

What do you think about these numbers?

Here are some things that I thought right away after reading the data. It makes so much sense why obesity is so high and on the rise.  It is what we are eating.

  • Vegetables – it’s pretty obvious that when we talk about vegetables, we need to be consuming a lot more.  The recommended amount is 7 to 10 cups per day.
  • Fat – The amount we are consuming is not unreasonable but we are consuming too much vegetable oils.  These are oils such as soy, canola, corn – GMO.  This is the problem.  We need to be eating more healthy fat and less of these unhealthy oils.
  • Grains – 1/2 a pound per day of grains is way too much.  A lot of the grains we are consuming are refined grains. This raises sugar and insulin levels and makes it very difficult to lose weight.
  • Sugar – 23 teaspoons of added sugar per day is very excessive.  Less than one teaspoon per day is what is considered acceptable. 

It is obvious to me what is causing rising rates of obesity.

We need to increase the vegetables in our diet, decrease vegetable oil and drastically reduce grains and sugar.  If we did this the obesity epidemic would take care of itself.

Sugar and grains are the issues today.  Let’s ensure ourselves long term bariatric success and try to make the changes that we need to make to protect ourselves from obesity and obesity-related illnesses.

 FB LIVE 3pm EST on Friday, March 01.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is 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.

For high quality specialized plant protein for bariatric patients Bariatric Expert Protein Powders

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin ?  Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon:  Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Stay motivated with Bariatric Wristbands – post your results online !

 

18Feb

What does a proper portion look like after bariatric surgery?

This is not a cookie cutter answer because it will depend on what kind of bariatric surgery was performed and how far along our client is.  It also depends a lot on the kinds of foods that the person is consuming after their weight loss surgery.  
 
If you are recently post op, you will experience a lot of post surgery inflammation which takes a few weeks to come down.  When your new tummy is healed, you will be able to eat a larger amount of food even though you will still feel a lot of restriction with a small amount of food.
 
If you find yourself being able to consume more food after a few months, does this mean that you have stretched out your stomach?
 
The size of the bariatric pouch will vary from person to person but it is important to limit your meals and snacks to about three to six ounces for each meal or snack.  If you set this boundary, you will still be able to consume sufficient protein while getting a caloric restriction.
 
You may find that you can eat more than three to six ounces of food and this sometimes depends on the types of foods that you are choosing to consume.  You see, soft foods  are always going to feel better on the stomach over hard foods and real textures.  
 
Let’s compare cottage cheese to chicken breast.  You may be able to eat an entire six ounces of cottage cheese but you will have a hard time to eat more than three ounces of chicken breast.  This is because the texture of the chicken breast is more dense and it will fill up the bariatric pouch more quickly, making you feel full and satisfied.
 
I believe that portion control is something all bariatric patients need to practice with each meal and snack.  Portion out the amount of food on a plate or in a bowl and pay attention when you eat the portion.  Think about how it makes you feel and understand how your restriction is working.  
 
Portion control becomes very important when you choose to consume foods such as refined, processed and easy to digest carbohydrates.  An example of a processed carb would be things like chips, cookies, crackers, pretzels, popcorn.
 
To make portion control easier and more friendly, eat off of smaller plates and use smaller utensils.  You can measure out your foods instead of eating them directly from the box or bags.   You can measure your food with a measuring cup or with measuring spoons.
 
Here are some general guidelines to follow after your bariatric surgery:
 
  • Always speak to your bariatric nutritionist in order to ensure you are meeting your macronutrient requirements.
  • Each meal or snack should not exceed three to six ounces at one sitting.
  • You should aim to have 1/2 of your meal consisting of protein such as chicken, fish, eggs.
  • Almost half of your meal should consist of vegetables such as green salad, broccoli, cauliflower.
  • You can take an optional bite or two of carbohydrate which are high in fiber such as quinoa, legumes or other such vegetables like turnips.
How should my breakdown of my macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrates) look like after my bariatric surgery?
 
There is no perfect way to answer because there are times when our macronutrients are going to be based on our medical conditions or our current health status.  There are times when we need to consider your activity level or age and gender.  
 
It is best to seek assistance with your specialized bariatric nutritionist but here are a few general guidelines that post bariatric clients can follow:
 
  • Aim for 800 to 1200 calories each day while you are actively losing weight.
  • Aim for 60 to 80 grams a day of protein.
  • Aim for a lower carbohydrate intake but eat your high fiber vegetables. Eat less than half of the number of grams of carbohydrates than you do for your protein. For example, if you eat 60 grams of protein, aim to eat less than 60 grams of carbohydrates.  
  • Aim for 20 grams of fat per day, preferably unsaturated fat.
Here is an example of a post surgery bariatric breakfast, lunch and dinner menu with snacks included.  This is not for the first month after surgery but it is building up over time.
 
  • Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg with 2 tbsp of onions and pepper with a small slice of avocado.
  • Lunch: 3 ounces of salmon with 4 brussel sprouts and 1 tbs of olive oil for veggie roasting.
  • Dinner: 2 meatballs with 1/3 cup zucchini noodles and marinara sauce with 1 tbsp parmesan cheese.
  • Optional Snacks: 6 ounces greek yogurt, raw veggies for dipping, 1/4 apple, 1 tbsp peanut butter.
Is it a good idea to eat bariatric snacks?
 
If you are able to eat six ounces of food at one sitting, you are not going to have to eat snacks.  Once you are able to reach your protein target, you do not need to consume snacks to increase that number.  However, if you find yourself truly hungry and you have water first to ensure that you are not just thirsty, then go ahead and have a high protein snack to satisfy you until your next meal.
 
Overall, always practice portion control.  Don’t forget to consume protein first before eating carbohydrates.  You can eat carbs but ensure that your carbs are always the kind that are high in fiber.  These are your complex carbohydrates.  Be aware of the types of foods you are eating and try not to be distracted when you are eating.  Focus on your food and try to stick to foods that are whole, live, fresh and good quality.
 
Join me this last week in the IF challenge / the last week in Fasting February is to Intermittent Fast for 19 hours and our eating window is for 5 hours.
 
Let’s discuss “proper bariatric portion control” on my FB LIVE 3pm EST on Friday, February 22nd. Why do we want to control our portions and do we need to?

About the Author: Sheri Burke is 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.

For high quality specialized plant protein for bariatric patients Bariatric Expert Protein Powders

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin ?  Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon:  Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Stay motivated with Bariatric Wristbands – post your results online !

 

12Feb

I don’t need to follow a ketogenic lifestyle.  I am not overweight.
How much truth is there to this statement?

I often hear that a ketogenic lifestyle is for the overweight person.  
I do not agree with this.  Keto is for everyone.

Keto, if done correctly, is not really a diet.  It is just a healthy way of eating.  We remove the refined and processed foods from our diet and this keeps insulin levels low.  We also focus on removing sugar from our lives.  This is hard in the beginning but with time it becomes easier and more manageable.

Let’s be pro-active by keeping our insulin levels low.

Let’s talk about “skinny fat”.  Lots of people are thin on the outside and fat on the inside.  Many thin people have visceral fat around the liver, and the internal organs and these thin people have no idea about what is happening on their insides.

This is the cascade of events…
If a person’s genetics are such that they can eat pretty much whatever they want and they never gain weight, they may not ever exercise and they don’t get  big and they tend to eat whatever they want.

In fact, I was this person earlier in my life.  In high school and in college I had no physical symptoms.  I had no weight problems.  I ate whatever I wanted and I ate really low quality food.  It caught up to me with time.  Eventually I started feeling fatigued with low energy and my weight slowly started creeping up. 

These symptoms didn’t happen over night.  It took years.  I tried to exercise my way out of a bad diet and that worked for a while but eventually I was the losing the battle.  I found myself constantly hungry and reaching for the next snack.  When I couldn’t eat every two hours, I found myself hungry, angry, and upset.  I thought I had low blood sugars – even though my yearly physicals and labs showed that my numbers were fine.  

I didn’t understand what was happening to me until I started studying nutrition and had a deep dive into nutritional science and cellular biology. I had my ah-ha moment sitting in a classroom.

Now I believe that it’s important to increase our awareness.  Just because you don’t have a weight problem, you may still want to follow a ketogenic lifestyle.

Don’t wait for a motivation to change your diet to start eating healthy.  Even if you have good genetics, there are other things that go on deeper inside of us.  If you were to get an ultrasound of your liver, you may find there are fatty deposits on your liver even if everything else looks fine health-wise.   

The point of following a ketogenic lifestyle is to lower insulin.  

High levels of insulin are behind so many health problems including chronic inflammation, eye diseases and fatty liver disease.  

The arteries are also affected by high levels of insulin.  Sure, it takes time for this cascade to happen.  One of the first symptoms of a heart attack, over 50% of the time, is death – there are NO symptoms.

What we want to be is pro-active when it comes to our health.  

High levels of insulin start to destroy the inside of the artery. You get inflammation.  You start to get plaque and calcium buildup.  This is a very dangerous situation and one that we cannot see from just looking in a mirror.

We should clean up our diets now, instead of waiting to gain an excessive amount of weight.  Do something pro-active for yourself by starting to follow a healthy ketogenic lifestyle to keep your insulin levels in check.  The external AND internal you will thank you for making the switch to good, natural, high quality, REAL food.

Join me this week in the IF challenge / week 3 in Fasting February is to Intermittent Fast for 18 hours and our eating window is for 6 hours.

Let’s discuss “skinny fat” on my FB LIVE 3pm EST on Friday, February 8th.  Why is a low carb, ketogenic lifestyle for everyone!

 

About the Author: Sheri Burke is 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.

For high quality specialized plant protein for bariatric patients Bariatric Expert Protein Powders

Time for a “bariatric expert” multivitamin ?  Here is a perfect way for bariatric patients to get it now on Amazon:  Bariatric Expert MultiVitamins.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Stay motivated with Bariatric Wristbands – post your results online !