Inspired Reminders Bulletin: Your Body is Fighting You!

Greetings Dear Readers!

The May LivingAfterWLS Inspired Reminders newsletter was published and delivered to your Inbox today. Be sure to check it out, it is full of useful information you need to know in your WLS journey. Here is the introduction and if you are not subscribed you can can read it here in our online archive: LivingAfterWLS May Inspired Reminders Bulletin

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It's not your imagination!

Your body is fighting against weight loss.   

 

The chills & thrills of weight loss surgery.

In 2009 I wrote, "Ten years after being gut-whacked and I'm still on a diet." That is what I wanted to title my book which was eventually published as "Day 6: Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test." In the introduction I explained, "No matter what treatment a person with the disease of morbid obesity seeks there is a tough journey to follow. There is no "easy way out." I am still on a diet. And it doesn't look to change anytime soon."

Jump forward to spring 2017: I'm 18-years removed from surgery and I'm still on a diet! I guess I'm in it for life. At one time this realization would have scared the jelly out of my doughnut. But these days it's my security blanket. I know I have a disease: obesity. I have been surgically treated for the disease. By following the prescribed lifestyle plan including diet and exercise I can work with my surgery to keep the disease in remission. That is the cold hard reality for all of us living after WLS. (See the article below Obesity Reclassified from 2013 when the AMA official categorized obesity a disease.)

Mind you, this acceptance was not easily achieved. I rebelled with vigor against the rules abandoning diet and physical activity in favor of hoping for the best. Leaving things to chance, however, did not help me control my obesity before surgery or after surgery. In our WLS community the path commonly trends to complete compliance following surgery followed by a detour along the road to chance and then, hopefully, a calm resolve of acceptance and renewed commitment to the lifestyle that supports our health and weight management goals. I've observed this trend for a decade and the anecdotal evidence predicts most patients will experience this learning curve.

Today's Bulletin features a look at why our body resists weight loss in the feature article It's not your imagination! Your body is fighting everything you do to lose weight. I found this subject revealing. I hope you enjoy it. As mentioned above you will find information about the 2013 obesity classification and also a primer Obesity Defined. Be sure to check out our Recipe: Tuna Pasta Primavera and then link through to some of the reader favorite Hot Blog Topics of the last few weeks.

I appreciate your time today, I know your Inbox is loaded with messages needing your attention. May I also take this opportunity to thank those who support our LivingAfterWLS Bookstore and other publication outlets. The LivingAfterWLS research work is self-funded and it is through your support that we are able to conduct clean research without becoming prejudiced by sponsors expecting a quid pro quo return of favorable findings in exchange for funding. Have a fabulous week and may good health be yours to enjoy!

Link to Bulletin

Kaye Bailey

Do you suffer from Sitting Disease? Try this quick fix!

Hello Dear Readers. I wish you a mindful Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I hope your reflections today celebrate the good things in life.

Do you remember back in 2013 when the American Medical Association (AMA) declared obesity a disease? Here's a link to the announcement, just a little refresher:  Obesity a disease, not a choice

That same month (June 2013) the AMA announced, with less fanfare, that sitting was the new smoking and the term "sitting disease" gained awareness and attention from the leading health organizations. The AMA bluntly declared that sitting down for too long is hazardous to your health. Numerous studies support this claim and implicate the change of workplace behavior from active and service oriented jobs to sedentary desk jobs as the leading cause of "sitting disease."  The AMA points out that excessive sitting contributes to an 18 percent increase in dying of cardiovascular disease and a 17 percent increase of dying from cancer. And here's the scary part -- 86 percent of office workers report sitting at work all day, every day.

 "The science is absolute: The more you sit, the more you get sick. And the more you get on your feet and move, the quicker you regain your health and vitality." Reader's Digest "Reverse Diabetes".

 I'm one of the 86 percent and after undergoing weight loss surgery to control my obesity it seems quite counter-intuitive to then engage most of my waking hours sitting and compromising my hard-earned good health.

My workday as a research journalist is spent sitting. Sitting for very long periods of time either reading or writing about obesity management and health management. Ironically, prolonged sitting  is about the most ineffective way to pursue a healthy life that I know of. But do not despair! We can include small but significant changes in our sedentary day that will increase our energy levels, burn extra calories, tone muscles, improve posture, increase blood flow and boost metabolism.

Excessive sitting impacts our body’s metabolic system: “Today, our bodies are breaking down from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, depression and the cascade of health ills and everyday malaise that come from what scientists have named sitting disease.” ~ James Levine, MD, PhD.

Years ago in when I was stiff, uncomfortable, and grumpy from prolonged sitting a colleague told me "Stop what you are doing, stand up, slowly do six medium knee bends, then stretch overhead, and concentrate on your breathing for 90 seconds. Just pause your day and do it, then go back to what you were doing."  Really? It sounded hokey to me. But you know what - I felt instantly energized and less hopeless about the state of my sedentary life.

How To: Knee Bends

For a medium knee bend stand with your posture straight, but relaxed, feet shoulder width apart. Elevate your arms in front of you, parallel to the ground, palms down. Slowly lower into a knee bend about half-way to sitting position. (A deep knee bend is lowering to sitting position.) Raise, pause, repeat. Six times. Then lift your arms above your head and take slow deep breaths concentrating on inhaling and exhaling for 90 seconds. That's it. Try it. I hope you are pleasantly surprised as I was to find how effective this little movement is in improving my overall wellness and reducing tension throughout the day.

Quick Reminder: Rule #4 Daily Exercise - Try Walking

Bariatric professionals are taking note to educate us one the importance of reducing sedentary time as part of our overall weight management program with surgery.  Dr. Christopher Still* suggests education about the dangers of prolonged sitting and suggestions to remedy excessive conditions should be part of our WLS toolbox. He notes, "Just as the contributors and effects of obesity are multi-faceted, so too are the approaches we take in fighting them. Educating patients on the health risks of prolonged sitting and encouraging less sedentary time is another tool in our toolbox."

An excellent website for information to reduce prolonged sitting is: JustStand.org

*Dr. Christopher Still, DO, FACN, FACP, Co-Clinical Editor, Bariatric Times; Medical Director for the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Geisinger Obesity Research Institute, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA.

Refresher: Obesity and BMI Calculator

Refresher: Definitions
 
OBESITY: noun.

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health. It is defined by body mass index (BMI) and further evaluated in terms of fat distribution via the waist-hip ratio and total cardiovascular risk factors. BMI is closely related to both percentage body fat and total body fat.

Obesity - The specifics:

~Any BMI ≥ 35 or 40 is severe obesity

~A BMI of ≥ 35 and experiencing obesity-related health conditions or ≥40-44.9 is morbid obesity

~A BMI of ≥ 45 or 50 is super obesity

Learn your BMI at the Centers for Disease Control website: Link Below.

BMI For Adults Widget

Project 2014: Spring Season Unit 2

Today in Unit 2 of the Spring Season we look at the definition of obesity, designated in 2013 by the American Medical Association as a disease rather than a condition. For many years obesity was considered a condition that contributed to other diseases, not a stand-alone disease. The change in designation makes way for improved comprehensive treatment that is ongoing in the prevention and intervention of disease relapse. This matters to us as weight loss surgery patients because we know that a comprehensive approach to weight management is the one sure way to keep our health and weight in check. Take a look at this week's PDF download to learn more. We also explore a new designation in the medical field, the Obesity Medicine Physician: an agent for the comprehensive treatment and management of obesity.

Spring Season Unit 2: Obesity is a disease
 

5DPT Bulletin: Rock your WLS like nobody's business

When we treat obesity as a disease rather than a personal moral failure or emotional weakness we can rationally take the action which brings forth favorable results.

January2014:
5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin available in our archive and delivered to your Inbox. Great inspiration for your healthy New Year!


"Here we are, a fresh new start. First, let's think back to the beginning of this journey. WLS patients recall very well the research we did prior to surgery, the questions and answers, and the learning. As a group we are above average knowledge seekers. So it stands to reason that along the way, well after surgery, we again turn to education and learning in support of our weight loss goals. Today let's look at managing our obesity from a clinical approach rather than an emotional reaction. The medical community officially recognizes obesity as a disease. So its time we start doing the same."

Featured Articles:
Treating Obesity - The Disease
Learning & Practice
Success tips from the ProfessionalsComfort Eating is Okay if....

Link Below: 5DPT Bulletin January 2014

Obesity be Damned!

LivingAfterWLS 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin - March 2010
Below is the opening article from today's 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin. Click the link above to read the Bulletin in its entirety.


Greetings Neighbors!

Can you feel it? I'm on the edge of my seat just knowing and believing that Spring must be right around the corner. Winter for most of the Northern Hemisphere has been long, dark and cold. I'm ready for the vibrant colors of spring, the warmth of the sun and the promise of new beginnings and new life that come with the season. I imagine you are as well.

Recently in a question and answer session I was asked "What is the single most important advice you give to post weight loss surgery patients?" Well, I was certainly caught off guard by this and on the spot I'm not sure I gave the best answer when I said "Make your own health a priority before taking care of anyone else so that when it is time to care for and nurture  others you have the physical and mental strength to do so." I am not original with this advice and it does sound good in a sentence, but how do we do that in the real world of family-work-friends-social-religious-networking commitments?

So, I am taking the opportunity with this 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin to amend my answer and offer something a bit different, although I do know that we do our best  when we are healthy. Knowing this, I suggest we actively pursue an internal peace treaty whereby we separate the medical condition of obesity and/or morbid obesity from our moral character and personal self-worth. In 2010 I wrote an article that explains this better:

"I Am Not Obese. Since kindergarten the word "fat" defined me and I actually thought that was who I was because "You are fat" and "I am fat" were constant phrases in my world. By about age 40 I finally figured out that I am not fat. I have obesity, a disease. Have you heard a heart attack patient say, "I am heart disease" or a leukemia patient say, "I am cancer"? We are not the disease. Heart attacks and leukemia are not a moral failure and neither is obesity. We are not the disease! We have a disease that is part of the whole person that makes us the wonderfully unique and powerful person we are."  Read the full article.

When we disjoint our moral character, our spiritual self, and our self-worth from the medical condition we are fighting with weight loss surgery we are able to pragmatically approach the control and treatment of the condition without making it personal. We are not bad people if we relapse with weight gain  and we are not bad for having this illness in the first place. It just happens to be the cards we were dealt in this life. If you have ever been the parent of a child with an illness you understand the emotional baggage that comes with the news that something is wrong.  But you also know that when you take a knowledgeable and deliberate approach in the management of the problem you are better able to function and do the right things.

So, I suggest we take a clinical approach toward our obesity. management. When we lose weight we put obesity in remission. When we gain weight obesity is in relapse. As intelligent beings we can take an active role in managing our remission by using our experience and the knowledge we glean from others. We can return to the behaviors that worked shortly after surgery to help us lose weight. Behaviors that are not supportive of our health can be considered and replaced. We have opportunities every day to improve our health and enjoy the pleasures good health brings.

Please consider this if you are using the 5 Day Pouch Test to get back on track. Take your knowledge and let it empower you because you are a good and worthy person. You are not your disease. I have met enough of you, my WLS Neighbors ,  to say this with complete conviction. You deserve to be your very best - obesity be damned for getting in the way!

For more informative and inspiring reading please visit
our 5 Day Pouch Test Articles Collection.

You Can Do This!
Kaye

"I believe in you.
You deserve to be healthy.
 You deserve to be kind to yourself.
You deserve to achieve your greatest level of success with weight loss surgery when you harness your inner resources."
--Kaye Bailey
5 Day Pouch Test Owner's Manual

Link to the Bulletin

I Am Me, Not My Disease