30Mar

We Are All Winners with Bariatric Surgery

We are all winners. Don’t lose focus that the goal isn’t to be the next supermodel, but to be healthy, happy and fit. If we never get to a size 4, but end up at a slim size 12 or 14 and no longer need insulin, blood pressure medications or get out of breath moving from the house to our car; we are a success story..

Compare yourself to Real People, the people at the grocery store, not the airbrushed magazine covers. Real men and women have squish at the waistband of our jeans and jiggly thighs and at least a bit of wattle hanging from our arms. No one ever promised us perfection. Focus on how far you have come rather than how far you have to go and BE REAL!

People come in all shapes and sizes – there is no standard for beauty.  We are a success when we have learned to love the person in the mirror and we realise that happiness radiates from within.  Be Healthy, Be Happy, Be a Success.

Bariatric Options:                                                       Medical Form

• Gastric Balloon                                                        
• Lap Band
• Mini Gastric Bypass
• Full Gastric Bypass
• Gastric Sleeve
• Gastric Plication Surgery
• Conversion or Revision Surgery
• Duodenal Switch Surgery

dr. sergio verboonen
              Dr. Sergio Verboonen

Much success in your journey.

Respectfully,
International Patient Facilitators – Cancun and Tijuana, Mexico
On behalf of Dr. Sergio Verboonen
info@ipf-mail.com

1 800 210 5124 

15Mar

Relax, You’re A Staller!  After surgery we all go through the same categories. You haven’t hit a wall, you’re just a Staller.

It is normal for you to be second guessing your decision in these early weeks as you haven’t lost enough weight to justify the surgery. The benefits have not yet tipped scales in your favor but all that will change if you just hang on and give yourself the time and materials to heal. It usually all comes together and really rolls after the first 8 weeks. Here’s a helpful tip: STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF. During surgery they pumped you up full of fluids. Okay, I know you can’t stop weighing, so how about just every three days. Promise? 

The Myth

Truth is none of us jump off that operating room table able to do all of the things on our list of “things to do”. Start slowly, sip your water, get plenty of rest, and after a few days you can begin to think about eating a little egg custard or drinking more than a sip of protein drink, or maybe chewing a single vitamin tablet. It all comes in time and you don’t need to force the issue if you don’t feel good.

BOOM…  the sound of your weight loss hitting the wall! One minute you’re losing 10 pounds every forty three minutes and now you haven’t lost a single pound in a month! Relax, welcome to what everyone calls a ‘Plateau’. After dropping a large amount of weight your body is trying to preserve its comfortable blanket of fat and is doing everything it can to stop the massive loss.

Remember that you have just undergone a major surgical procedure in which 7/8th of your stomach was either removed or cut in two with your intestines bypassed then reconnected through a handful of punched holes; it makes sense that a complete recovery will take time and that it is normal that the last thing you want to do is eat, drink and be merry. Your stomach and intestines are very swollen and tender from the trauma of this surgery. This was kind of a Big Deal. Keep in mind that this surgery does not start out as a day at the beach. Focus on the long term results and soon things will fall into place for you.

Focus on how far you’ve come rather than how far you have to go.

Bariatric Options:                                                       Medical Form

• Gastric Balloon                                                        
• Lap Band
• Mini Gastric Bypass
• Full Gastric Bypass
• Gastric Sleeve
• Gastric Plication Surgery
• Conversion or Revision Surgery
• Duodenal Switch Surgery

dr. sergio verboonen
              Dr. Sergio Verboonen

Much success in your journey.

Respectfully,
International Patient Facilitators – Cancun and Tijuana, Mexico
On behalf of Dr. Sergio Verboonen
info@ipf-mail.com

1 800 210 5124 

1Mar

Have a Plan of Attack for the Restaurant

All Restaurants Have Websites.

Friday’s, Olive Garden and Outback has over 100 different things to order on their menus. The time to decide what you’ll be eating is not necessarily at the table with your Waiter standing over you describing the Pasta special and talking up the 8000 calorie bomb ‘Triple Hamburger with 2000 calorie dish of lip smacking dipping sauce. Almost all restaurants have websites and full menus online. Look at the menu in advance to get an idea of what appetizers or entrees will work for your surgery. It’s a lot easier knowing before you arrive that a small house salad comes with the meal and that you can order the Special Sirloin with broccoli instead of a special deal on fried chicken wings. If your restaurant stop is “last minute” unless you’re at a Pancake House, there will be a Shrimp Cocktail.  This is a “go to food” of proper bariatric eating.

Do I qualify ?

It’s cool to ask if you can have broccoli instead of baked potato,  the burrito served ‘naked’ without the tortilla,  your dressing on the side, to bring your shrimp appetizer with everyone’s entree, or have him take away the water glass so you don’t sip it with your food. 

Decide to be the best possible you and make the best possible decisions.

See if you qualify for Bariatric Surgery by completing this form.

Much success in your journey.

Respectfully,
International Patient Facilitators – Cancun and Tijuana, Mexico
On behalf of Dr. Sergio Verboonen 

info@ipf-mail.com
1 800 210 5124 

28Feb

My New Life… on Hold

If you have been targeting January 1 as your Official Start Date for your annual diet and beginning of your new, New Life, there’s a good chance you are doomed before even getting out of the gate. The very idea of choosing a date in the future to START means you are viewing changes as negative, difficult, and that your life with food will pretty much suck from that point forward. As in ‘I know its almost September and I didn’t get my act together to lose weight this summer but who wants to diet over the holidays; I will make a fresh start with My New Life on New Years Day.’

Cure for Stinkin Thinkin is a Checkup from the Neckup

Weight loss surgery is not a diet where you start and stop, it’s a way we have committed to live. Permanent surgical changes are meant to enforce this new way of thinking. What is stopping you from starting RIGHT NOW other than you? Get rid of the Stinkin Thinkin. Start now, no matter what the date and you’ll feel so much better that you are choosing to live in the present!

What are you going to do if you don’t start now? Eat more wings with blue cheese dip? More chips? Have another bowl of ice cream? What is it that you want to eat? There is nothing so important about the next few days that it justifies putting off change that is really in your head.

What are you Waiting For?!

Start now and you will be proud of yourself. Take a stand. Make it happen. Take the first step and get your supplies for the big change. This is the year we get to goal and learn to live there but start now, don’t wait.

Make it happen… make it about you! I can do it. You can do it! We can do it.

Bariatric Options:                                                       Medical Form

• Gastric Balloon                                                        
• Lap Band
• Mini Gastric Bypass
• Full Gastric Bypass
• Gastric Sleeve
• Gastric Plication Surgery
• Conversion or Revision Surgery
• Duodenal Switch Surgery

dr. sergio verboonen
              Dr. Sergio Verboonen

Much success in your journey.

Respectfully,
International Patient Facilitators – Cancun and Tijuana, Mexico
On behalf of Dr. Sergio Verboonen
info@ipf-mail.com

1 800 210 5124 

15Feb

Betcha Can’t Eat Just One

I am horrified by some of the stories that new post ops tell of eating foods that years ago nobody would have dreamed of putting in their mouth. What is the difference? FEAR!

What was it like in the olden days ?

Back then no one knew what the deal was. There were no outlines for meals, or guidelines, no real rules, there was barely an internet in 2001! No living breathing examples of post ops, other than Carnie Wilson, doing a TV interview.

Fifteen years ago, having bariatric surgery was like walking across a frozen lake, never being sure if the next step would crack the ice, plunging us into the icy water. We didn’t know anyone who had actually been across the lake before – we were on our own inching along tentatively, scared to death of what could or would happen.

Today, there are all kinds of people on the other side of the frozen lake rooting you on, having a party with confetti and they’re all drinking Diet Cokes. Come on – walk faster! Don’t worry! The ice is THICK! Don’t be scared!

Temptation Island

Have an Oreo, we’re all having Oreos. You deserve to eat an Oreo if you want one! We are eating Oreos and look at us! Don’t listen to those people trying to scare you! You didn’t have surgery to be on a diet for the rest of your life! Go ahead, have a sandwich, it’s whole wheat bread! OR HERE, HAVE A PIZZA MADE WITH A LOW CARB WRAP… EVERYTHING IN MODERATION! Potatoes are vegetables, have some! Would you like a Diet Mountain Dew? I drink soda and I have lost 75 pounds in four months, I must be doing something right!

If others are doing it, it cant be that bad! Can it? Isn’t this how we needed surgery to begin with; by ignoring the reality of our actions? Why, yes it is! Let’s find others who are also pushing it and not doing what they are supposed to be doing. IF they are still alive maybe I can get away with it too!

The Readers Digest Version (ask your mother)

Bariatric surgery drastically reduces the amount of food you can stuff into your mouth and ultimately your stomach – and for about SEVEN MONTHS you can effectually eat just about anything and still lose ONE HUNDRED POUNDS!

You can literally not move a single muscle and eat whatever you want (that doesn’t come back up) and because your stomach has been made so small you can actually lose ONE HUNDRED POUNDS!

Now the Hidden Truth

Please listen to me – we are not driving for the first seven months even though we may think so. It is the surgery doing the work! It’s all up to you what you do with the massive head start that bariatric surgery provides.

  • IF you take it upon yourself to learn what ‘eating right’ actually means – it takes a while to get the hang of it, even though it is simple it does take planning and effort…
  • IF you figure out a way to motivate yourself to move your butt at least a little bit on 3 of 7 days a week, even if it’s just parking further out in the parking lot at the office…
  • IF you somehow look inside yourself and figure out that you may have ANOTHER underlying issue which is actually the BIGGER issue and cause of your eating, that this is not really about food for you AND take the even bigger step to work it out with a therapist…
  • IF you put your hands over your ears and ignore the Oreo Eaters who do not realize they are following false Oreo gods and hanging with the WRONG CROWD…

You will have an amazing opportunity to overcome and even reverse the death sentence of Morbid Obesity!

The Truth about Bariatric Surgery:
Bariatric surgery gives you a window of opportunity of about SEVEN MONTHS to easily take off the first ONE HUNDRED POUNDS to lighten your load and give a boost to your self-esteem, while you get your act together regarding your Life. Drop the Mike.

Bariatric Options:                                                       Medical Form

• Gastric Balloon                                                        
• Lap Band
• Mini Gastric Bypass
• Full Gastric Bypass
• Gastric Sleeve
• Gastric Plication Surgery
• Conversion or Revision Surgery
• Duodenal Switch Surgery

dr. sergio verboonen
              Dr. Sergio Verboonen

Much success in your journey.

Respectfully,
International Patient Facilitators – Cancun and Tijuana, Mexico
On behalf of Dr. Sergio Verboonen
info@ipf-mail.com

1 800 210 5124 

1Feb

ways to get off a post surgery plateau.

Here are the basics again. Let’s chat.

When the scale isn’t moving, try these strategies to get you back on track.  While it may be frustrating, it is not uncommon to reach a plateau at any stage of eating after bariatric surgery, especially as you get closer to your target weight.  Don’t let it discourage you.  The following tips will help:

Learn more about our Bariatric Program in Mexico here.

Try This ,,,

Try Eating Different Foods. Sometimes people get into a food rut, eating the same things day in and day out. This may lead to overeating as a result of feeling bored. An easy fix? Add more variety to your diet by including some new foods and seasonings when you plan your meals and snacks. And don’t be afraid to try some new recipes as well, we have so many for each and every stage of WLS recipes.  This may be just what you need to start moving the scale again in the right direction.

Get adequate exercise. Enjoy a fitness program based on interval training, during which you alternate short bursts of high-intensity effort with slower recovery periods to catch your breath and allow your muscles to recharge. When you do intervals, you end up burning more calories and fat in less time than you would if you were working out at a steady pace. You’ll develop more lean muscle mass too, which helps to further boost metabolism and that in turn will help you get off that plateau.

Write what you bite. Without even realizing it, you may be eating too much of certain foods that are known to stall your losses. A good rule of thumb: Keep tabs on everything you eat in a journal, so you are aware of what you’re consuming each day. We recommend taking a close look at the amount of high density and calorie items like nuts and cheese you’re snacking on and cutting back on these items if you find you’re eating too much..

Consider your health, not the scale.  It’s possible that your loss has stalled because you’ve already reached your healthiest numbers – even if it’s not your desired numbers. If your cholesterol and blood-sugar levels have normalized, your desire to continue to lose more may be a matter of cosmetics. In this case, rather than focusing on the number on your scale, focus on how much better you feel and how much healthier you are.

Much success in your journey.

Respectfully,
International Patient Facilitators – Cancun and Tijuana, Mexico
On behalf of Dr. Sergio Verboonen 

info@ipf-mail.com
1 800 210 5124