Weight Loss Surgery

Just as obesity has rocketed over the past 30 years, weight loss surgeries have made the same incredible surge.  Regardless of the "type" of weight loss surgery choosen, the results are similar:  An immediate and sharp decrease in body weight due to an immediate and sharp decrease in food intake.  The good news is that this decrease in body weight lowers many risk factors for heart disease, cancer and depression. The bad news is that if the work has not been done prior to the surgery to put into place a lifetime behavior modification plan, the weight begins to creep back on leaving the surgery recipient exactly in the same shape they were prior to surgery - overweight, unhealthy and unhappy.
Most surgery centers require patients to attend classes and counseling prior to surgery as well as "getting back on track" classes. Yet for many, attending these classes is only a "going through the motions" activity. Clearly, for a large percentage of surgery candidates, the pre and post surgery counseling and education does not meet their needs.
Weight loss surgery is only successful if it results in lifetime weight management.  Dropping 100 pounds for fifteen minutes followed by weight gain is not success - it is sad and very dangerous.  Attending a class to "get back on track" after the surgery may be too late.
If you are considering weight loss surgery, don't fall into the trap of feeling as though you are the one who "won't put the weight back on".  Understand that once the novelty of the surgery wears off and your appetite comes back, you will be faced with the same challenges that led you into obesity.  Understand that weight loss is a very small aspect of weight management, and without serious behavior modification tools to help you through the rest of your life, success will be only a dream.
Stay tuned to my column for behavior modification tools that will help you today and tomorrow - with or without weight loss surgery.

My published article on "Examiner.com"

I am proud to say this article was published recently on "Examiner.com" for which I am a "Local Examiner"... Log on and take a look at this very cool on-line newspaper...

Men and women alike seek to achieve the “Six Pack” - those chiseled abs that symbolize sex appeal, self-control, and hours in the gym.  Yet recent research indicates that more than 50% of US adults have abdominal obesity or “belly fat” and millions of dollars are spent on diets and potions that promise results with little to no avail.  So, the question remains, is there a well-researched, scientific way to “target” and burn belly fat with the foods we eat?   The good news is that the answer is YES!  Visceral fat, the kind tucked deep inside your waistline, is more metabolically active and easier to lose than subcutaneous fat under the skin, especially if you have plenty of it.  Eating a diet rich in whole grains while reducing refined carbohydrates changes the glucose and insulin responses and makes it easier to mobilize those belly fat stores.

In a nutshell, try adding foods to your diet that contain the whole grain kernel such as brown rice, oatmeal and popcorn (without butter of course) and reducing foods from your diet that have been processed by machinery that strips the bran and germ from the whole grain such as white rice and pasta made with white flour.  Along with your regular exercise program and a focused mindset, this diet modification promises to produce true results and a healthier you.