Fish Tacos Tonight!

Fish tacos can be purchased from vending carts in busy marketplaces. When fresh fish is seasoned and grilled it is a good source of protein that most weight loss surgery patients find easy to tolerate. However, when the fish is battered and fried, as often found on vending carts, it becomes unappealing, fattening and consumption may cause dumping syndrome due to the grease. It is easy to avoid unpleasant pitfalls and prepare delicious and affordable fish tacos at home. Try this classic recipe and serve up an unforgettable fish feast for family & friends!

Fish Tacos  

Ingredients
1 pound fresh/frozen firm fish fillets (cod, orange roughy or halibut)
2 teaspoons Mexican seasoning blend
cooking spray
1 medium lime
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
8 romaine lettuce leaves or four 8-inch low-carb whole wheat tortillas

Directions
Thaw fish if frozen. Preheat grill or broiler. In cold running water rinse fish and pat dry with paper toweling. Evenly sprinkle each fish fillet with Mexican seasoning. Place fish on broiler pan coated with cooking spray or on a sheet of foil sprayed with cooking spray if grilling.

For broiling cook 4 inches from heat watching closely. Fish is done when it flakes easily when tested with a fork. Do not overcook. Broiling should take from 4 to 8 minutes depending upon thickness of the fish.

For grilling keep fish in one even layer on foil. Fold foil to seal making a package. Grill on each side over high flame for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest 3-5 minutes. Fish is done when it flakes easily when tested with a fork. Return to heat if you find the fish undercooked.

While fish cooks wash and dry the lime. Zest 1/2 teaspoon lime peel from the lime into a small bowl. Cut lime in half; squeeze enough juice to make 1 tablespoon. Add to lime zest. To lime zest and juice add 1/2 cup sour cream. Stir to combine.

On a serving plate place the 8 romaine lettuce leafs or low-carb tortillas. Using a fork, flake fish into bite- size pieces. Divide fish among romaine leaves or tortillas; roll-up and secure with a toothpick. Serve with the sour cream lime mixture.

Per serving (2 tacos with romaine leaves): 154 calories; 22 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrate and 6 grams fat (3g saturated).

More recipes: Cooking with Kaye Classic Recipes

Cooking with Kaye: Salads After WLS

The Tricky Salad Plate

Summer is here and now is the perfect time to serve-up some delicious fresh salads that support our weight management with WLS. Check out this recent issue of "Cooking with Kaye" for excellent recipes and tips for eating salad after WLS. Online in our archives. Link below:

Featured Recipes:
Tomato Mozzarella Salad Insalata Caprese
Zucchini Carrot Slaw
Chile-Rubbed Grilled Scallop Salad
Tuna-Spinach-Strawberry Salad
Butterhead Lettuce with Egg Salad & Shrimp

Link to Newsletter

5 Day Pouch Test Q&As - Special Bulletin

5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin

If you follow the 5DPT you know I always say don't do the plan for quick weight loss. Do the plan to get back on track with our WLS basics and refresh your memory about the Four Rules, slider foods, and liquid restrictions. Any weight loss during the plan is a bonus. I stand by this.

In this special edition of our monthly 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin we share the top most frequently asked questions we have received in the first half of 2013. While there are visible immediate rewards to doing the 5DPT such as increased energy and notable weight loss, the thing that matters after Day 5 is what we learned along the way.

The 5DPT as it is written and presented online and in print is an organized approach to getting back to the WLS basics both mentally and metabolically. When followed with attention to details we hear great success stories that include restored feelings of pouch tightness and satiation, lost weight, increased energy and overall improved confidence and mental well-being. 

If you are going to invest five days into getting back on track then do it all the way. Take the program as a whole and immerse yourself in doing it right. Build that storm of enthusiasm and recreate the excitement you felt leading into surgery and the days and weeks that followed. Learn about yourself. Take notes and use the 5DPT 2-page journal. Learn your strengths and weaknesses and harness that knowledge to do better on Day 6 and Beyond.

 

Link to the Bulletin

AMA Obesity Classification & Insurance Coverage

Hello Everyone!

 We have received several emails asking about the new AMA reclassification of obesity as a disease and how this will affect health insurance coverage for obesity treatment. We expect it to have a favorable impact on health care coverage, but it will vary by plan and insurance provider as well as by state. An Associated Press article in our Special Edition Weekly Digest (June 21, 2013) goes into more depth on this topic. Here is the direct link:

AMA: Obesity is a disease, not a choice

Did you miss one of our newsletters?

Premier Weight Loss Surgery content supporting your healthy weight management with surgery. We are all in this together!

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Our LivingAfterWLS Newsletters are available 24/7 online in our archive. Here's a short catalog of some of the great supportive newsletters our readers are talking about:

Weekly Digest: June 10, 2103
Summer Living After WLS: The Heat is ON!
Please take a moment to review the articles in this week's Digest and take appropriate action to protect your body from heat related illness with proper hydration and other temperature-lowering actions. And be mindful of those around you for symptoms that suggest a heat related illness, sometimes we do not recognize the symptoms in ourselves. Let's take care and avoid being one of the statistics during this season of celebrating our new healthy life. You deserve to take extra-steps to be healthy and enjoy your new life of LivingAfterWLS!  Check it out HERE

Weekly Digest: June 1, 2013
Summer LivingAfterWLS: Make this Your Best Year Ever
This week Americans marked the unofficial start of summer with the Memorial Day holiday.  As the pattern goes for those of us recovering from morbid obesity with surgery, many of us will be spending more time out-of-doors in pursuit of health and activity that obesity had made difficult. With that in mind this week's LivingAfterWLS Digest takes a look at ways to make sure our summer activities are health promoting. We certainly didn't come this far in our weight loss to be sidelined with a food-borne illness or a heat related health crisis. So please, take a few moments to review these common sense articles full of great tips and advice for making our summer living fun!  Be sure to check out the recipe for Greek Chicken Salad with Feta - it is delicious!    Link to this Digest HERE

5 Day Pouch Test June Bulletin:
Don't Blame the Equipment
Are you as happy to feel the warm sunshine and good vibrations of the season  as I am?  Long days, cool nights, slower pace (I hope!), fresh vegetables, fruits, and berries; no more heavy coats, and good times all around. On top of my list for summer fun is major league baseball. And let me tell you, I am a sucker for the baseball metaphor. I don't think any other sport produces better metaphors that speak to life than baseball.  So it comes as no surprise that a commentator caught my attention when he said, speaking of a frustrated outfielder who had just tossed his mitt, "Don't blame the equipment: just make the play." How easy it is to take that and apply it our WLS afterlife. I've expanded on that theme in this month's featured article Don't blame the equipment.  (And in case you are curious, Go New York Yankees!)
Go HERE to read the June Bulletin


5DPT Bulletin: May 2013
Day 4: Your New Normal - Now you are managing your health well
If you started the 5 Day Pouch Test on Monday then today is your Day 4! I like to think of Day 4 as the magical breakthrough day when the difficulties of busting the carb cycle or getting back to the liquid restrictions are over. Many report feeling a new sense of empowerment on Day 4. This is your New Normal.  I hope that is how you are feeling today! To help you along our bulletin this month is loaded with Day 4 inspiration and helpful hints. Even if you aren't doing the 5DPT this week you are sure to find a little hint or nugget of information that could make your day a little healthier and your commitment to the WLS a little stronger.   And be sure to check out the Day 4 approved recipe: Baked Mahi-mahi with Macadamia Nut Crust. I think you will love it! Don't wait - check it out HERE

Cooking with Kaye June 18, 2013
The Tricky Salad Plate
 Hello Neighbors! Thank you for joining me in this issue of Cooking with Kaye. Today we are talking salads. Salads can be tricky after WLS, sometimes the raw vegetables can irritate our little pouches. It is so important that we re-think salads and prepare dishes that are light, nutritious using fresh in-season ingredients. When we do this our cravings for other things are diminished because our taste, texture and nutrional needs have been met. Fresh salads of fruits and vegetables tend to sit lighter in our tiny tummies and do not result in the food coma we often experience after eating a starch-heavy pasta or potato salad.  Let's get cooking - Go HERE

Cooking with Kaye: April 29, 2013
Sweet Spring Lamb - Delicious Protein
Hello Neighbors! Thank you for joining me in this issue of Cooking with Kaye. Today I'm sharing some of my favorite lamb recipes. Did you know that lamb is the most widely consumed animal protein in the world? And the United States is a leading producer of open range grazed lamb with lamb being produced for consumption in nearly every state. For many years I only enjoyed lamb in restaurants fearing it too difficult to prepare correctly. A move to Wyoming where is lamb is abundant gave me the opportunity to cook lamb (and mutton) and in so doing I learned to appreciate it prepared simply with fresh ingredients, while keeping a watchful eye on cooking temperature. Overcooked lamb, sometimes called gray lamb for its unappealing color, can be chewy and dry. Cooked just right pink lamb is succulent and tender reflecting the flavors of garlic, olive oil, and fresh herbs. I hope you give these recipes a try and add variety to your high protein menu rotation by including lamb once in a while. Go HERE for great lamb recipes.

From AMA: Obesity Reclassified

As published in today's LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest
Link to the Digest in our Archive: Weekly Digest 06212013

AMA: Obesity a disease, not a choice:
Reclassification will change treatment options

WASHINGTON (AP)  The American Medical Association (AMA) now considers obesity a disease that requires medical intervention, treatments and preventative measures.

The resolution to consider obesity a disease was passed on Tuesday at the association's annual meeting.

"The suggestion that obesity is not a disease but rather a consequence of a chosen lifestyle exemplified by overeating and/or inactivity is equivalent to suggesting that lung cancer is not a disease because it was brought about by individual choice to smoke cigarettes," reads one of the final paragraphs of the resolution (courtesy NPR's posting of the full document).

The AMA hopes the reclassification will change how doctors treat patients; that they will treat obesity as a disease rather than a lifestyle choice or condition.

"Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans," said AMA board member Patrice Harris, M.D. "The AMA is committed to improving health outcomes and is working to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, which are often linked to obesity."

Continue Reading

Obesity Reclassified

 Obesity is a medical condition, not a moral failure

Special Edition LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest
June 21, 2013

Breaking News! A special edition of the LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest is hot off the press and delivered to your inbox. This special issue: "Obesity Reclassified. Obesity is a medical condition, not a moral failure" is in response to this weeks decision by the American Medical Association to call obesity a disease. You can also view the newsletter in our archive by clicking the link below. Don't miss it!

From the opening greeting, "In the world of obesity treatment and weight management the news was big this week. The American Medical Association (AMA) declared that Obesity is a disease that requires medical intervention, treatments and preventative measures (link to article). People who have undergone a bariatric procedure to treat their obesity have known this all along. If obesity were not a medical condition why-oh-why would we undergo major gastric surgery to treat it?

"This is good for society. But the best benefit from this reclassification is that it allows us, as individuals, to realize that we indeed have a medical disease, a metabolic disorder, that causes us to store excess fat and become overweight or obese. Knowing this we can work at releasing ourselves from the blame and self-loathing that come with being overweight. Obesity is not a moral failure, it is a disease. Being overweight is not a sign of weakness or lack of willpower; it is the manifestation of the metabolic disorder. Once we accept that we can intelligently and systematically work with our medical experts, mental health professionals, friends and family members in a deliberate effort to put the disease in remission.

"In today's special edition of the Weekly Digest I invite you to reclassify your personal definition of obesity. Consider the 5Ls (Look, Listen, Learn, Live, Love). I know that my weight management efforts are more successful when I approach my obesity as a medical condition requiring daily effort to manage. It serves me well to remember that I am me, I am not my disease (link to article).

"I hope you find this special edition useful in your ongoing efforts for improved health with weight loss surgery. Today marks the start of summer and I wish you the very best of health and wellness. You have the power to make this your healthiest year ever - Let's do it together!"

Free Printable because We Are All in this Together!

Greeting everyone and happy Summer-Eve! Longest day of the year don't ya know? I love

Click image to open PDF File for download.

it. Hey - we have had such great feedback on our June 5DPT Bulletin "Don't Blame the Equipment, Just Make the Play" that we have created a complimentary printable with two 6x4-inch images for you to print. The file is a PDF format, just follow the link, download, print, and post where you can enjoy these gentle reminders throughout your day. And Thank You Pat R. in Ohio for the suggestion!

Open the PDF file for download

Follow that link or go to www.5daypouchtest.com and click Tools.

Let us know what you think and if you would enjoy more printables.


If you missed it, here is the June 5DPT Bulletin in our archives: 
"Don't Blame the Equipment, Just Make the Play"  

Salads are Tricky After WLS: Make a Better Plate

This week's Cooking with Kaye newsletter is now in your Inbox and live in our email archive. This week's Topic: Summer Salads! Don't miss it.







Link to Newsletter: Salads are Tricky
 

"Hello Neighbors! Thank you for joining me in this issue of Cooking with Kaye. Today we are talking salads. Salads can be tricky after WLS, sometimes the raw vegetables can irritate our little pouches. It is so important that we re-think salads and prepare dishes that are light, nutritious using fresh in-season ingredients. When we do this our cravings for other things are diminished because our taste, texture and nutrional needs have been met. Fresh salads of fruits and vegetables tend to sit lighter in our tiny tummies and do not result in the food coma we often experience after eating a starch-heavy pasta or potato salad."


Salads are Tricky: Make a Better Plate

Featured Recipes:

Tomato Mozzarella Salad
Zucchini Carrot Slaw
Chile-Rubbed Grilled Scallop Salad
Butterhead Lettuce with Egg Salad & Shrimp
Tuna Spinach Strawberry Salad

Featured Article: 2B/1B Rhythm

Open the Newsletter

Recipe: Tuna-Spinach-Strawberry Salad

This salad is perfect this time of year. You can build it at the salad bar in your supermarket and simply add one pouch of water pack tuna for a tasty and filling lunch that makes your little weight loss surgery pouch oh-so-happy. Give it a try!

Ingredients 1-2 cups baby spinach or baby spring greens blend
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 Tablespoon cheese of choice (feta is very good!)
1 Tablespoon vinaigrette dressing
1 hard-cooked egg, crumbled
1 (2.6-ounce) Starkist Low Sodium Chunk Light Tuna

Toss all ingredients and enjoy immediately!

Serves 1. Nutrition: 315 Calories; 29 grams Protein; 17 grams Fat; 17 grams Carbohydrate.

Image sourced from The Savory Notebook

Interested in more salads that are delicious and comfortable to eat after WLS? Check out Cooking with Kaye - Kaye Bailey's new cookbook that dedicates an entire chapter to eating salad after WLS. It's harder than you may think!

"A trip to the salad bar after weight loss surgery sometimes feels more like a trek through a minefield than a healthy meal solution. Weight loss surgery procedures cause a decreased production of digestive enzymes: the result is a compromised ability to digest certain raw fruits and vegetables. Some people report extreme gas, bloating, and digestive discomfort after eating salad greens and other raw vegetables. For the first three years after my gastric bypass I could not eat any greens or raw vegetables because of the digestive upset they caused. Now, more than a decade later, there are days salad sits well and other days salad makes my pouch very grumpy. I know that many of my WLS Neighbors experience the same Moody Pouch Syndrome (MPS). From our collective experience I’ve learned if we compose our salads with a purposeful protein-fat-carbohydrate ratio we are more likely to enjoy them without suffering MPS. "

Shared with permission:
Page 29, Cooking with Kaye - Methods to Meals
Protein First Recipes You will Love

Cooking with Kaye: Methods to Meals
Protein First Recipes You Will Love

Kaye Bailey's highly anticipated cookbook.
134 Irresistible Recipes - Tips & Hints - Nutritional Wisdom
Introducing Kaye's "Pace of Preparation"
Available Now!

Kaye Bailey's all-new highly anticipated cookbook Published Nov. 20, 2012. "Methods to Meals: Protein First Recipes You will Love" features 134 all new recipes and detailed techniques to take you beyond the meal to create recipes you and your family will love. Hard-back, comb binding, 196 pages. Must have for any WLS household. Introducing Kaye's new "Pace of Preparation" to identify recipes that meet your time schedule and serve your dietary needs. Meals for the blended household (WLS & non-WLS eaters), couples, singles, all of us. Introductory price guaranteed through December 31, 2012. Order your copy today!

Supporting your weight loss surgery health management goals one delicious meal at a time.

Introductory Price: $23.95
Complimentary "Four Rules" magnet with each order ($1.95 value)
Low Introductory Price Guaranteed through 12/31/2012
(Publishers Price: $27.95 - Save $4)
SKU #LAWLS-CWKM2M

A Well-Reasoned Approach for WLS Basics

5 Day Pouch Test:
A Well-Reasoned Approach for WLS Basics

"Take the basic tenets of weight loss surgery, curate knowledge that supports your chosen dietary path, collaborate with others sharing your dietary circumstances, apply personal experience, and build a dietary health-management way-of-life that enables you to thrive.

This is the responsibility of every person who desires to live a healthy balanced well-managed life with WLS."
~ Kaye Bailey


Shared with permission from the January 2013 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin.

I wish you the very best of health this New Year! You have the power to make this your healthiest year ever - Let's do it together!

View complete bulletin to find answers to common FAQ's about the 5 Day Pouch Test.

5DPT June Bulletin: Make the Play

Greetings!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Coming soon to a yard near you: SUMMER!

Are you as happy to feel the warm sunshine and good vibrations of the season  as I am?  Long days, cool nights, slower pace (I hope!), fresh vegetables, fruits, and berries; no more heavy coats, and good times all around. On top of my list for summer fun is major league baseball. And let me tell you, I am a sucker for the baseball metaphor. I don't think any other sport produces better metaphors that speak to life than baseball.  So it comes as no surprise that a commentator caught my attention when he said, speaking of a frustrated outfielder who had just tossed his mitt, "Don't blame the equipment: just make the play." How easy it is to take that and apply it our WLS afterlife. I've expanded on that theme in this month's featured article Don't blame the equipment.  (And in case you are curious, Go New York Yankees!)

Liquids Days 1&2: In today's issue I've also covered in detail Days 1 and 2 of the 5DPT - the liquid days. There is ongoing confusion about how liquids are defined and what the options are for days 1 and 2. Most frustrating is that many people go hungry on days 1 and 2 for lack of understanding about the liquids. I hope you find this information helpful and supportive. And of course, don't miss our featured recipe this month - soup of course. Check it out: Lemony Chicken Soup.
   

5 Day Pouch Test Support
Sending a big shout-out this week to Marie and Lori who host a terrific Facebook group for our Neighbors interested in connecting over the 5 Day Pouch Test. Drop in and say hello and enjoy the empowering support of this blossoming group. Find them here.

CHEERS!
Kaye

View Bulletin in our archives: June 5DPT Bulletin

5 Day Pouch Test Support

The Soup is Fresh, the drinks refreshing, the 5 Days empowering! Now is a great time to stock-up on your 5 Day Pouch Test supplies at the LivingAfterWLS General Store. Less than $4/day for all you need to succeed (27 servings in all). Order now and have your supplies by the weekend! Coupon Code BLOOM2013 takes $3 off orders of $29 or more. Go ahead - what are you waiting for?

Shop Now

5DPT Support Bundle

Shop the General Store

Heat Related Injury After WLS: Are you at risk?

Weekly Digest June 10 - WLS & Heat Dangers! What you must know
Our LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest has been delivered to your Inbox and is also available online in our archive. Very important topic this week! Don't miss it. Link below.

"Those of us with weight loss surgery may be at increased risk of heat related illness if we struggle with the all-important Rule #2 of the Four Rules: Drink Lots of Water. As bariatric patients we are instructed to sip-sip-sip water during waking hours to keep our body hydrated and facilitate weight loss. In situations of extreme heat even a slight case of dehydration can become serious and may include symptoms very similar to dumping syndrome such as dizziness and disorientation.

Please take a moment to review the articles in this week's Digest and take appropriate action to protect your body from heat related illness with proper hydration and other temperature-lowering actions. And be mindful of those around you for symptoms that suggest a heat related illness, sometimes we do not recognize the symptoms in ourselves. Let's take care and avoid being one of the statistics during this season of celebrating our new healthy life. You deserve to take extra-steps to be healthy and enjoy your new life of LivingAfterWLS! Make sure to review our Four Rules and don't miss this week's featured recipe: Smoked Turkey & Melon Salad.

Go to the newsletter in the archive: Digest June 10, 2013

Summer Living with WLS

LivingAfterWLS Weekly Digest June 1, 2013
Summer Living After WLS: Make this your best year ever!

Greetings!

This week Americans marked the unofficial start of summer with the Memorial Day holiday.  As the pattern goes for those of us recovering from morbid obesity with surgery, many of us will be spending more time out-of-doors in pursuit of health and activity that obesity had made difficult. With that in mind this week's LivingAfterWLS Digest takes a look at ways to make sure our summer activities are health promoting. We certainly didn't come this far in our weight loss to be sidelined with a food-borne illness or a heat related health crisis. So please, take a few moments to review these common sense articles full of great tips and advice for making our summer living fun!  Be sure to check out the recipe for Greek Chicken Salad with Feta - it is delicious!

I wish you the very best of health this summer! You have the power to make this your healthiest year ever - Let's do it together! 

Link to Digest