Diet
Does a Low-Carb Help Burn More Fat & Drop Weight?
As you have undoubtedly seen over the years of dieting and weight loss efforts, there is a tremendous amount of conflicting information on the Internet and elsewhere discussing how best to lose weight. We have hundreds of diets, many using gimmicks to sell a “new” narrative. However, some make more sense than others and have withstood the test of time. One classification of diets that remains popular with questionable results is the low carbohydrate kind. Low-carb has spawned hundreds of diets, some of which virtually eliminate carbs.
Let’s dive into carbohydrates and understand why the low-carb diet has been so popular.
How to Stick To Your Bariatric Diet if You’re Traveling This Summer
Planning is one of the most crucial components of success after bariatric surgery. Setting expectations, planning meals, and ultimately being deliberate about what you do and when you do, it is often the difference between good and excellent results. However, virtually every bariatric patient will attest to being thrown for a loop when their routine changes. Staying on track is far more complex when removed from a familiar environment. So, what do we do when we are away from home, especially on vacation? With so many of us traveling this summer, we must also apply our routines and good habits to our travels.
Fats: To Eat or Not to Eat
We get a lot of mixed messages when it comes to fat consumption. Eat it, don’t eat it. We overeat; we don’t eat enough. Eat the excellent fat but pass on the bad fat…well, what is it? Should we eat fat, and if so, what kind is ok to eat and what fat should be avoided?
There are essentially two kinds of fat that you’ll find in most foods these days: Known as unsaturated and saturated fat. Trans fats have largely been eliminated from foods in the US.
You want to eat unsaturated fats –good fats – because they can help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. You’ll want to avoid the bad fats because they do just the opposite. Easier said than done? Yes, but not if you know what foods to avoid and what foods to consume – in moderation.
Do You Have “Responsibilities” after Weight Loss Surgery
Many potential bariatric patients erroneously think that bariatric surgery is a magic bullet and that the procedure alone will correct their excess weight and obesity-related health problems. Patients who go into the surgical process thinking that all their issues will be handled in one fall swoop are unknowingly perpetuating the stigma that we try to fight – that bariatric surgery is the easy way out. Let’s talk about why patients may believe that surgery will resolve all their issues. The reason for this is simple:
About 90% of obese patients who try to lose weight through diet and exercise alone fail to do so. They may lose 50 or even 100 pounds, but in time that weight often returns, and they can sometimes gain even more. On the other hand, patients who have bariatric surgery see the flip side of those results. About 90% of patients can maintain significant weight loss over the long term. It must be the surgery, therefore, right? Not exactly.
Forever Chemicals and Their Effect on Our Weight
As we become more conscious of our environments and what we put into our bodies, the concept of forever chemicals has come into full view. Forever chemicals are just as they sound: they accumulate in our bodies throughout our lives and are not excreted or expelled through our normal bodily functions. These chemicals can range from relatively benign to carcinogenic and should not be in our bodies in the first place.
Before we learn how to avoid these chemicals, it’s worth noting that preventing exposure to some chemicals is either impractical or downright impossible. The packaging that even the healthiest foods come in is often laced with these chemicals, and even the most vigilant of us cannot avoid them entirely. However, this article aims to understand more about what chemicals are in our environments, where we find them daily, and practical tips on avoiding them.
Is It Better to Skip Meals or Eat Fast Food After Bariatric Surgery?
The unfortunate reality of modern-day society is that we have less time than ever. Whether it is self-imposed obligations or those expected of us from others, we seemingly have less and less time to devote to ourselves and to our health. The result is an increase in stress that has caused not only the mental health issues that we see every day but also physical ailments, not least of which are excess weight and obesity.
Often, the stress revolves around work and the expectation that we work longer and harder. The drive toward productivity seems never to end, and the result is that fewer Americans take their deserved time off, instead opting to be more productive and a “better employee.” For many, this means skipping meals to allow themselves a little extra sleep, working through their lunch break, or even coming home too late to have a proper dinner.
This often leads to a reliance on fast food to get through the day. But is this truly helpful, or does simply skipping a meal make more sense for someone trying to lose weight or even a bariatric patient heading toward their weight loss goals?
Why Dieting Alone Simply Doesn’t Work
Have you found that what seems like endless days of dieting slowly yield fewer and fewer incremental pounds lost? Today, we will discuss why obese patients who try to embark on dietary restriction alone have difficulty maintaining their weight loss progress and often end up regaining their weight.
Restricting your caloric intake is the fastest way to lose weight, certainly at the beginning of your dietary program. Avoiding ingesting calories in the first place is far easier than burning them off later, either through exercise or resting metabolic activity. However, the human body is incredibly adaptable and will make changes to compensate for this reduced caloric intake. The body, which has considered your higher weight as normal for years, will work hard to maintain what it wrongly believes to be an equilibrium. We now know that the body develops a sort of set point. It will adjust the metabolism and how it stores fat to maintain that setpoint. Dieting alone is often insufficient to break through and continue losing weight long-term.
Will I Be Able to Eat My Favorite Foods After Bariatric Surgery?
The decision to have bariatric surgery has so many facets. For someone who hasn’t yet considered the surgical route, it’s hard to understand the considerations and fears that a person has about postoperative life. One such concern very legitimately revolves around the concept of what can and can’t be eaten after surgery. Why is this such a big deal for those considering bariatric surgery? The answer lies in our relationship with food.
For many of us, food has become a crutch – a comfort during times of emotional extremes, whether sadness or happiness. Our society has created a situation where celebrations and commiserations all revolve around food and drink. The result is that we rely on food far more than we think. When the prospect of not having that food in our future becomes a reality – when we begin to consider something like weight loss surgery – the idea of losing that crutch is daunting.
Habit Stacking Helps Hit Weight Loss Goals Both Before & After Bariatric Surgery
Most of us are looking for ways to improve our lives or make them more manageable. Self-help books, classes, gurus, and products are trendy, generating billions in sales every year. Who wouldn’t want to improve their life? Everyone wants to make their life better somehow, and of course, they can! One method for achieving this is gaining popularity, known as habit stacking. You can use habit stacking to improve almost any aspect of your life and particularly your health.
Another Reason to Lose Weight and Get Healthier – Your Kids
One of the most common reasons our patients consider bariatric surgery is that they want to be around for their kids or grandkids. This is a great reason to get healthy and a noble goal for getting started on a weight loss program. However, a more profound and arguably even more important reason revolves around those same kids. Kids tend to mimic and follow the behaviors and habits that they see from their parents and grandparents.
So yes, while you may get to enjoy your kids more than you do now, you may also be saving them from severe metabolic disease later in life.
