New Year's Resolved: Five Strategies for Success

 Happy New Year Dear Readers!

Are you resolved to make this year -- 2017 -- your healthiest year ever using your weight loss surgery tool? If so, then join me! I am ready for this fresh new start and I'm eager to go the distance to take advantage of my WLS and make this my healthiest year ever. I know it takes work to maintain a healthy weight and healthy attitude after bariatric surgery -- after all, I've been at this since my gastric bypass in 1999! So with your interest and mine at heart I'm pulling out some great advice I've accumulated over the years and adding some new nuggets of wisdom to this knowledge base so we can all be inspired and motivated to do our best in 2017.

Let's begin today, January 1, with 5 strategies for success. They work. I know they do. Give them a try and find out how attainable success can be for you.

Thanks for joining me today! I look forward to spending a meaningful year with you on this crazy journey we call LivingAfterWLS!

CHEERS!
Kaye

Five Strategies for Success

1. Preparation
The 5 Day Pouch Test is most successful when there is considerable preparation done in advance of Day 1. First, learn the plan completely. Next, plan your meals and do your grocery shopping to avoid a stop at the store during the 5 days. Finally, create a storm of enthusiasm as you embark on this experiment. Get excited about being in control of your health and nutritional wellness. Anticipate that you will succeed with the 5DPT, that you will emerge on Day 6 with renewed confidence in your pouch and the excitement that comes from taking control over the Carb Monster.

Review the Plan: 5 Day Pouch Test

2. Find a Friend
Do not travel alone. The power of friendship and bonding breathes life into our heart and soul. In the Day 6 book  I wrote, "Ask for help. Often I receive letters from Neighbors who have gone missing from our online community. They start, "Sorry I haven't been around the Neighborhood, I've been struggling lately." It is an odd thing that at times when me most need help we retreat. Let me assure you, there is always someone doing well in the Neighborhood who has strength to spare. When you are struggling don't retreat, come to the safe haven circle of friends and let the collective strength buoy you in your time of need. Ask for help. In the karma of life your turn will come around to give back in a friend's time of need."

Official 5 Day Pouch Test Facebook Group

3. Pot of Soup
Never underestimate the comforting power of a healthy well-made soup: it is your best weapon in the battle against the Carb Monster. Use any fresh vegetables that you like. Saute them in a scant amount of olive oil which will help your body absorb the nutrients and then simmer in reduced sodium chicken, beef, or vegetable broth until nice and tender Serve yourself some delicious goodness one cup at a time and feel the love.

Try These: Carb Monster Soup Recipes

4. Practice Kindness
It simply breaks my heart when I read the self-loathing talk so many of us express when we feel we have failed at weight loss surgery. I think because we are encouraged to set goals we think there is a finish line. But in this effort we are in the race for life; there is no finish line. Sometimes during the race we are full speed ahead and other times we are one foot in front of the other trudging along. I believe on most days we are doing the best we can to make it work in a world where it is much easier to be fat. So please, be kind to yourself. Treat yourself with the compassion and respect you show your dearest friend. Stop the self-loathing dialog and replace it with the generosity in your heart that you so willingly give to others. Be kind to yourself. Please?

More about the role of self kindness: Day 6: Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test by Kaye Bailey

5. Focus
Practice mental presence during the 5 Day Pouch Test. Be mindful of all you eat, how you move your body and observe your energy levels and patterns. Be completely aware of yourself and identify the things that are working and helping you to feel refreshed and alive. Use the 5 Day Pouch Test journal to record your experience and focus on learning about yourself. Awareness is not selfish, it is part of the process of understanding so that we may improve our health and wellness. Carry this focus forward to Day 6 and continue to treat your body in a kind and healthy manner and avoid stepping back into the the self-loathing and unhealthy behavior that brought you here.
Download 5 Day Pouch Test Journal

Project 2014: Season III Begins!

LivingAfterWLS Project 2014 

Season III Unit 1 Newsletter 

 

Season III: Summer
Living well and empowered

 
Welcome to Season III - Summer of our LivingAfterWLS Project 2014. I am so pleased you have joined me for this exciting and meaningful approach to health and weight management using our weight loss surgery tool empowered by our collective knowledge and strength. We continued to pursue our goal in Season II - Spring to unite like-minded people through education, support, and lasting health sustainability using our surgical tool for weight loss and weight management. Our Facebook group grew to over 1200 members and we enjoy lively and supportive conversation daily.  We listened to feedback from our membership and have revamped our units and worksheets for Season III to feel less like homework and more like engaging fun. You will notice these changes beginning in Unit II. Like our other seasons, Unit 1 of Summer is the activity of completing the Personal Self-Assessment and making daily entries in our Today Inspired micro-diary. The worksheets are attached in this convenient PDF download.

We hope you love the new worksheets and find them useful tools in the ongoing pursuit of good health and weight management with weight loss surgery. As always we remain committed to our goal of uniting like-minded people through education, support, and community, while promoting health sustainability and weight management with weight loss surgery.

Season III: Unit 1:
Personal Empowerment - You are in control.

Download Season III Unit 1

Personal Responsibility: Our best weapon against biology and environment WLS patients have a tremendous sense of personal responsibility in controlling their health through weight management with surgery. In summarizing the research on biology and environment in relation to obesity expert George Bray said, "Genes load the gun, the environment pulls the trigger." No wonder we struggle, even with surgical intervention, in the fight against obesity. Dr. Brownell attaches great hope to personal responsibility saying, "Calling on people to make better decisions and providing them with the skills to do so should always be the first step, always the default. This is consistent with our country's character and also with psychological principles; people who change through their own efforts have enhanced self-esteem and maintain the changes longer."

Link to Newsletter

What the *HAIL* Happened?

Season II: Spring Unit 4
Life is Abloom and Inspired

Visit the Project 2014 newsletter here: Spring Season: Unit 4

Are you down in the dumps after WLS?

Welcome to Season II - Spring of our LivingAfterWLS Project 2014. I am so pleased you have joined me for this exciting and meaningful approach to health and weight management using our weight loss surgery tool empowered by our collective knowledge and strength. I hope Spring abounds in your area - here in Wyoming we were pounded with hail on May 7 doing damage to plants, vehicles, and structures. And of course there was the day-long mandatory post-storm power outage just to increase the frustration factor. I suppose a mid-spring hail storm from out of nowhere is quite like a dumping episode. After it hits you wonder what the "HAIL" happened.

In this unit we take a good detailed look at dumping syndrome.

Dumping syndrome is a phenomenon, primarily reserved for Gastric Bypass Roux-en-Y patients which is characterized by unpleasant symptoms when the patient's blood sugar is adversely affected by simple sugars, simple carbohydrates, and fatty foods. When these foods are rapidly absorbed by the small intestine dumping syndrome may occur. Some Roux-en-Y patients never seem to experience dumping, others are surprised when some foods trigger an episode and others do not, and still there is always the surprise dumping event that occurs on food that has previously been enjoyed without incident. Learn more - link to the download:

Spring Season 2: Unit 4 Download

Have a terrific week, stay safe and prepared. Thank you for joining me!
Kaye

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Diet Drugs & WLS - What you MUST know!

Let's talk a little bit more about prescription appetite suppressants! 

This topic has come up a few times in the Project 2014 Facebook Group during Season 1 . To recap the question:

"What is the role of prescription appetite suppressants in the patient's long term weight management with bariatric surgery?"

In the Group Files I shared a white paper from 2013 that reads,

"Appetite suppressants can play a significant role when patients experience a slow down of weight loss or begin to regain lost weight. Sympathomimetic medications act to both decrease appetite and increase basal metabolic rate (BMR). The use of appetite suppressants, such as sympathomimetic medications, can offset the effects of the neuropeptides that tend to favor weight gain. Because there is no time at which the risk of regain resolves, long-term use of medications may be required. Long-term use of appetite suppressants is becoming more widely accepted among obesity medicine specialists."

You can read more of this paper under the Files tab or link to our website below for the PDF file: http://www.livingafterwls.com/Project2014/Pharmeceuticals_post_WLS.pdf

MOST IMPORTANT: The reason I feel knowing the current professional thinking is so critical to each of us personally is that at some point a doctor may tell us, "How about we prescribe XYZ medicine to help control your appetite and obesity?" For many of us personal experience and highly publicized controversy over the years has cultivated passionate feelings about prescription diet drugs. If we are not informed on what the current professional thinking is, we will respond emotionally, not intellectually, to the doctor who suggests this treatment. This is not to say I'm in favor or against prescription dietary support - I am absolutely certain this is a case-by-case situation and I am not qualified to tell anyone what they should do. But I can point you to the current information to support your intellectual response should the need arise.

Qualified information rather than passionate emotions or internet hearsay is a critical tool in thoughtfully and intelligently managing our health.

Project 2014 - Spring Season Starts Sunday 4/6/2014

Hello Group and who else is thinking "TGIF"?
Link: LivingAfterWLS Project 2014 Facebook Group

Project 2014 Update
 
Be prepared and watch for our all new Spring Season of Project 2014 - your Unit 1 will be delivered via email Sunday and we are on schedule for a full 13-week season of lessons, learning, and LIVING! We will also post Season 2 Unit 1 here and on the LivingAfterWLS website.

Season 1 Review:
In the meantime how about pulling out your Project 2014 binder and reviewing the Season 1 Units 1-7.

In review of your Quarterly Self-Assessment (Unit 2) how are you doing? You know we have the new quarter self-assessment to do this month, have you given thought to this exercise?

One reason I encourage all of us to do our journal exercises and self-assessments is that when it comes down to the hard cold truth - each of us is personally the guardian of our own health and progress. We can get all kinds of advice from professionals, family and friends, support group peers, and even the random stranger or late night infomercial host. But when it comes down to it, only we are 100% invested in our personal health and well being. Keeping records and marking progress is a priceless tool in our quest for improved health management, weight management, and better living.

Okay - got my nagging done! Get those binders out today and tomorrow and make sure you've completed the exercise best you can. Our Spring schedule is rigorous, be ready for it! You are going to enjoy it.

All of the Season 1 - Winter files are located under the FILES tab located just below the group logo on this page (Facebook group). You can also find them on the LivingAfterWLS website on this page: Project 2014  

We have many silent participants who prefer not use Facebook - no problem. Sign-up for the emails & get the downloads on our website page: Project 2014

Download Tech Support: Also - we get many emails asking us to help individuals learn how to download files. We do not offer tech support for the end users' computer or device. Our job is to provide great content in free files presented in the most commonly accepted format. If you do not know how to access and print these please talk to your device manufacturer or the smarty-pants-computer-genius you know. We simply do not have the resources to offer computer and device tech support.

Review these units from Season 1 - Winter:
Unit 1 - Program Structure
Unit 2 - Self-Assessment
Unit 3 - Today Inspired
Unit 4 - The Four Rules
Unit 5 - Vitamins & Supplements & WLS
Unit 6 - Recipes - the Sensational Power of Soups
Unit 7 - Slider Foods

We will build on the ideas and concepts from Season 1 and we boogie our way through Season 2. Are you ready?

LAWLS Project 2014: Living Inspired After WLS

Check out the first issue of our Project 2014 Newsletter

I am so happy to invite your participation in LivingAfterWLS Project 2014: a program dedicated to life-long weight management and healthy living made possible by optimizing our weight loss surgery tool and harnessing our internal strengths so that we may thrive. This project has been long in the making, starting in 1999 when I underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass (RNY) to treat my condition of morbid obesity. 2014 launches my tenth year of blogging about weight loss surgery and the eighth year I've worked for LivingAfterWLS in support of the greater weight loss surgery community.  In that time I have learned with complete certainty that weight loss surgery is not, as the public may perceive, an easy means to weight loss. In fact, this is a challenging and difficult path we travel in the name of weight management and the pursuit of improved health, wellness, and longevity. I invite you to join this project because you understand that. As diverse individuals, unique and beautiful in our own right, we come together united in the common cause of managing metabolic disease (obesity) and through improved health we enjoy an enhanced quality of living.

In this newsletter we outline the structure of Project 2014 and release Units 1, 2, and 3 for your use as a participant in the project. The structure of the project is supported with weekly newsletters, free printable PDF files that include informative articles and practical worksheets, and numerous links to sources of further reading and empowering information. Additionally, Project 2014 is supported by community in a Facebook group dedicated to serving the membership as a support satellite to Project 2014. 

Project Mission:

Empowering individuals to harness their inner strengths for life-long weight management with weight loss surgery. Personal empowerment through education, thought, community support, and validation. We are LivingAfterWLS.

Last week we opened the group inviting members to join and share introductions. For convenience all PDF files issued in association with this project are located under the FILES tab within the group. I wish to say Welcome and Thanks to everyone who has already joined our LAWLS Project 2014 on Facebook. The group is off and running pursuing our collective goals: please join us follow the link below:

LAWLS Project 2014 Facebook Group

 
If you are eager to join us please click the link above through your Facebook account and request membership in this group. Once your membership is accepted please take these steps to begin your engagement in this supportive and empowering group:

1. Read the Code of Conduct (under Files) and initial your agreement.

2. Open the file Winter_Units1_2_3.pdf and learn the project structure. Print the .pdf file for your personal use. (Hint - print on 3-hole paper if available!)

3. Dedicate a 3-Ring binder to the documents and worksheets (suggested binder tabs are listed on page 6). Do the tasks assigned in Units 2 and 3. Share your thoughts, experience, and encouragement with the group.

Let's get this project started! I look forward to sharing 2014 with you!

CHEERS!
Kaye

7 Quick & Easy 5DPT Tactics to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

5DPT Bonus Bulletin:

7 Quick & Easy 5DPT Tactics to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

Link to Bulletin in Archive

The feasting season is a challenging time of year to do the 5 Day Pouch Test - I know this as well as you. But over the years I've found that a few reminders of what we learn (and re-learn) during the 5 days go a long way in helping us stay on track in the midst of countless obstacles. I've gathered 7 of my go-to tactics from the 5DPT and invite you to implement them this season. None of us wants to wake up to the harsh reality of holiday weight gain come New Year's Day. But we don't want to miss out on the spectacle we call life either. I think we can each find our own happy middle and this year let's truly enjoy LivingAfterWLS during the holidays. Also featured today is the short article "Hot Stove: Avoid the Burn" and be sure to put our Delicious Turkey Salad on your leftovers menu this week, you will love this fresh light salad with loads of flavor and health promoting nutrients.


 Featured Article
5DPT tactics to make the season bright

Have fun, enjoy living, and stay on track with these helpful hints 

 
by Kaye Bailey

When I hear from someone doing the 5 Day Pouch Test during the holiday season I admire their courage and true grit. It seems that doing the 5DPT during the feasting season is about as easy and going upstream without a paddle. Yet over the years I've heard from many WLS Neighbors use this time to get cozy with their pouch and fixed on following the WLS rules in hopes of avoiding the dreaded holiday weight gain. While this time of year isn't particularly conducive to the 5DPT there are many opportunities to polish our skills using strategies we learn from doing the 5 Day Pouch Test.  I've pulled some of my favorite nuggets of empowerment from the 5DPT Owner's Manual - 2nd Edition to share with you here.  Use these tactics in a manner suited to your lifestyle and traditions: work that surgical tool like nobody's business.  Find yourself on January first having done the holidays right without forfeiting joyous fun or forsaking your healthy weight management goals.

Continue Reading

Neighborhood - Do you want it back?

Hello all you FRIENDS of LivingAfterWLS. I need some help here.

My company, LivingAfterWLS, needs to decide by Tuesday if we bring the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood back or say goodbye our Safe Haven Circle of Friends online community forever.  Please respond to this post "Like" if you would like to see it back and if you would participate in the community. 


Just a point of history - the Neighborhood was started in 2006 and thrived for many years. The Neighborhood is an Invision Power Board powered online support community for weight loss surgery support and empowerment and membership requires registration.  The Neighborhood was a safe place to separate WLS discussions from the "Full Monty" of our life so often displayed on bigger social sites. Lasting friendships were established in the Neighborhood. In fact - many of you who connect here on FB met and made friendships in the Neighborhood. We enjoyed an active and supportive 5 Day Pouch Test forum as well as forums for all procedures, surgeries, and a multitude of interests. Membership exceeded 10,000 from around the world.

However we lost participation during the early wave of bigger social media destinations like FB and Twitter. We also noticed a remarkable trend that people tend to move on from WLS networking at about 3 years post-op, weary of the topic or frustrated with the hard work of losing weight "the easy way". I am fully aware some people left the Neighborhood as they took exception to me personally or my administrative decisions. I also know there were clicks forming and negativity festered in many threads. Please don't post or message me on these issues: I will not respond. 

Our community has been offline for myriad technical difficulties including spammer registrations and hostile attacks by hackers earlier this year. I have struggled with my own indecision. It is personally exhausting to manage an online community from a tech standpoint, an interpersonal communication management standpoint, and weariness of the WLS topic. Job burnout, don't ya know?  But I also know the valid and vital role it played in so many lives and I know it was a good and worthy online meeting place for like-minded people wanting healthier lives empowered by WLS and the strength and support of one another.

So what do you think? Bring back the Neighborhood or say goodbye forever?

Don't throw away all the eggs

Featured article from today's 5 Day Pouch Test Bonus Bulletin!

Continuing our LivingAfterWLS August theme of "Back to Basics" - We are pleased to say our 5DPT BONUS Bulletin was delivered to your Inbox today and live in our Archive right now. Click Here to the archive and enjoy all the great content this bonus publication has to offer. Something to inspire everyone!

What if I mess up?

Dropped Eggs Happen!

As a lifelong person struggling with the disease of obesity the all-or-nothing mentality of falling off the wagon is something that continues to perplex me. Do you know what I'm talking about? I will have good intentions to have an omelet and tomato slices for breakfast but for some reason I chose instead to have a toasted bagel slathered with cream cheese. Naturally the high carbohydrate and high fat breakfast makes me feel sluggish and miserable so I think, "To hell with it" and continue to make poor dietary choices the rest of the day. Now you know what I'm talking about, I see you nodding your head. (This still happens to me once in a while, I'll be honest with you.)

Years ago in one of the many diet programs I was following, and I am not sure which it was, a counselor talked about dropped eggs as the theory applies to the scenario above. She asked if any of us, while in the kitchen baking, had accidentally dropped an egg on the floor. We all nodded yes. She then asked if we said, "To hell with it" and proceeded to drop the remaining eggs on the floor. We all nodded no, of course not! "Then why, when you drop the metaphorical diet egg do you say to hell with it and break the diet for the rest of the day?" Great allegory!

Dropped eggs happen. We are human. We live in a difficult world. So the next time you drop the diet egg visualize getting a paper towel, wiping up the spill and moving forward. Dropped eggs happen and a great deal of life and living is all about cleaning up messes.

Shared with permission from "Day 6: Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test" by Kaye Bailey. Copyright 2012 - LivingAfterWLS ~ All Rights Reserved. Pages 26-27.

 

 

5 Day Pouch Test Bonus Bulletin

Cheers 2013 Free Gift!

Cheers 2013 Free Gift

Hey Everyone! The LivingAfterWLS General Store has a cool Freebie to celebrate good health in 2013! The Cheers 2013 free gift (with purchase) includes 5 servings of health promoting beverages and a Four Rules refrigerator magnet. Be sure to click "Add to Cart" to enjoy this gift, $3.25 Value! And you can use your MERRY2012 to save an additional $3 off purchases of $29 or more. Shop now for your 5 Day Pouch Test support, Cooking with Kaye, Carb Monster Soups and Hair Loss Recovery.

LivingAfterWLS General Store

Happy New Year!

Back to School Refresher Course

Greetings Neighbors!

Where has the summer gone? Already the kids are headed back to school and the carefree days of summer will soon be replaced with routine schedules and a focus on learning. When

I was in school I always enjoyed the first week of school where lessons focused on reviewing what we learned during the last school year; things we may have forgotten over the summer. I loved that feeling of "EUREKA" when knowledge came back and it felt so basic, so fundamental I couldn't believe I had forgotten it in the first place.

Now I'm a few decades past the good old back to school days. But that EUREKA! feeling returns when I take a new look at the rules of healthy weight management with surgery. Just today I re-learned that starting my day with protein feels really good. I wonder, "How in the world did I forget that fundamental?" So I am capturing the spirit of back to school in this special edition 5 Day Pouch Test Bulletin and reviewing the EUREKA! fundamentals that keeps this WLS working for me. I hope you'll join me in this review and take some time to go back to school - the University of LivingAfterWLS - right this way - I saved you a seat!

Link to Full 5DPT Bonus Bulletin

Featured Articles:
Weight Loss Surgery Maintenance Secrets
Make Right Your Nutritional Wellness
How do I get empowered when I feel so hopeless?
Recipe: Chicken Satay Skewers with Peanut Sauce
Autumn Exercise Tips

Go to Bulletin

Deadline Extended: 2012 Neighborhood Postcard Swap

Welcome to the 2012 Neighborhood Postcard Swap
A Neighborhood Tradition since 2008!


Full Post: 2012 Postcard Swap
 
This is the least expensive most fun *Vacation* you will enjoy all year. Please take a minute to learn how it works and then join us! The Postcard Swaps -- as you can see below with KeepHerKitty in 2008 -- Have been tremendously successful. So let the fun begin!

Check out the 2011 Neighborhood Postcard Swap Here

What it is: Neighbors mail 6 unaddressed, but stamped postcards to one central location in a regular mailing envelope. Include in that envelope a note with your Neighborhood Display Name, Your Name and Postal Address. (All information is kept private and used for the single purpose of this Swap.) The postcards are collected here at LivingAfterWLS and everyone who sends in 6 postcards will receive 6 postcards mailed randomly throughout July & August. Just when you need a little pick-me-up you will find a cheerful and fun postcard in the mail -- real live touchable mail - - from one of your Neighbors! A chance to see the world and enjoy the beauty and diversity of our close-knit global Neighborhood! Follow the detailed instructions below and get ready to vacation right from your very own spot in this Safe Haven Circle of Friends!

Postcard Swap: Opens June 8, 2012 and Closes July 8, 2012  
New Deadline: July 22, 2012.


Link to Learn More

New! Day 6 Bargain Bundles

LivingAfterWLS General Store
Introduces New Day 6 Bargain Bundles!
The 5 Day Pouch Test Bargain Bundle has been a customer favorite for over a year now and many of you have requested a "Day 6" bundle that would include Kaye Bailey's "Day 6: Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test" and support products such as soup, Emergen-C and our new herbal teas. Today we are pleased to introduce two new bundles to meet your needs:

Day 6 Bargain Bundle: Kaye Bailey's popular "Day 6-Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test" bundled with your favorite general store products including Emergen-C Bundle; 12-Serving Tea Sampler & Free Goody Bag. We have packaged these items together to ship USPS Priority Mail so you can continue to pursue your goals and stay on track. Enjoy the "Day 6" Bargain Bundle if you have just completed the 5 Day Pouch Test or if you desire to stay on track making the most of your weight loss surgery tool. Purchased separately the bundle items cost $45.95. Bundled you save 15% and pay only $39.95!! A $6 Savings!

Quick Buy! Day 6 Bargain Bundle: $39.95

Day 6 *Souper* Bargain Bundle:  Customers love our 5 Day Pouch Test Bargain Bundle & asked for a Day 6 Bundle. Here it is! Read Kaye Bailey's popular "Day 6-Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test" and learn to support your healthy lifestyle after weight loss surgery with some of your favorite general store products including Emergen-C Bundle; 12-Serving Tea Sampler, 16-Serving Feed Carb Monster Soup Mixes (1pkg. Hearty Vegetable; 1pkg. Tomato-Basil) & Free Goody Bag. $61.95 Value. Shipped via USPS Priority Mail so you can enjoy it right away. Excellent value - Save 15% when you purchase the Day 6 *Souper* Bargain Bundle! This terrific package is just $52.95 - Save $9 off list price.

Quick Buy! Day 6 *Souper* Bargain Bundle: $52.95 

LivingAfterWLS General Store

Day 6: Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test
Testimonial: The Nurse Warned Me, But I Gained Weight Back Anyway

"Dear Kaye,
Thank you for the Day 6 book. I guess I am one of "those people" - had the surgery and lost and then it came back, the weight. My WLS nurse warned me I could regain the weight and I didn't take her serious or maybe I thought I was more determined than everybody else or smarter or something. I wish I had asked her what would cause me to gain the weight back. I'm not sure that back in 2007 I ever heard of slider foods or liquid rules or anything like that. I just knew WLS was the answer for me. So now I'm up 48 pounds and want to stop it before it gets to 50 pounds and all of the sudden another 50 and I'll be back where I started. Thanks for explaining so many things in the Day 6 book. I wish I read this book before I even had the surgery, maybe I wouldn't be one of "those people" or at least not a 48-pound-regain one of those people.

This is the first time I have hope since the re-gain started.
Kelly Marca
Northern Ohio"
(Printed with permission of the author)

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We at LivingAfterWLS have been honored to serve you as one of our preferred customers and Neighbors in the quest for healthy LivingAfterWLS. Please take advantage of these bargain bundles for great savings on customer favorite products. 

Thank You for being a loyal Neighbor and we wish you the best of health and wellness. We hope these new bundles meet your needs as you pursue healthy weight management with LivingAfterWLS as one of your empowerment partners.

We wish good health and grand LivingAfterWLS!!

Kaye Bailey & LivingAfterWLS Team

July Sale - Save $3 off Purchase at LivingAfterWLS General Store

Coupon Code: GRILL2011
SAVE $3 off $20+ Order
Free Recipe Booklet & Seasoning Blend Sample with Purchase
Expires 7/31/2011

SHOP NOW

We Like You - Will You Like Us?

Drop by our new LivingAfterWLS Facebook page and give us a LIKE!

LivingAfterWLS Official Facebook Page

We are feeding great content to this open destination and hope you will join us for conversation and friendship. LivingAfterWLS is your premier destination for life-long support in the battle against obesity using the power of weight loss surgery. Do not travel alone: join us!

LivingAfterWLS General Store - Coupon GRILL2011

LivingAfterWLS General Store - Save $3 with Coupon GRILL2011


SHOP NOW

10,000 Neighbors! Time for Celebration

Our newest Neighbor, Lorri is our official 10,000th member of the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood -- Welcome to the Neighborhood Lorri - You Have Arrived!!
Celebrate with Us

This is a wonderful milestone for the Neighborhood and a true reflection of the community we have here that is now 5 years old with a strong population of people from around the world doing our best with weight loss surgery! From the beginning we have stayed true to our community mission of providing and sustaining a safe and supportive environment where we actively promote and celebrate one another. The Neighborhood is truly a Safe Haven Circle of Friends!

Be sure to take a minute to celebrate what the Neighborhood means to you and share your thoughts here in how it has made a difference to your weight loss surgery experience and your life as a whole and truly unique person. And let's keep the gates open and welcome 10,000 more to our community!


Thanks everyone, I wish you all the very best!
Kaye



PS -- We have one day left for accepting entries in the Neighborhood Haiku Contest -- Go Here -- Enter for the chance to win fabulous prizes & Neighborhood Noteriety! Today is last day for entries....

Weekly Digest: Summer Living-Having a Post-WLS Blast!

LivingAfterWLS Digest

Summer Living-Having a Post-WLS Blast!

Play Fair, Play Smart, Have Fun! 

May 24,  2011

LivingAfterWLS, LLC - All Rights Reserved

Link to Online Archive

The "official" start of summer is just around the corner with Memorial Day on May 30. For many of us that marks a change in weather and a welcome change in daily routine. Summer brings more time out-of-doors and more gatherings with family and friends. For me summer brings the illusive pursuit of voluptuous overflowing gardens as my mind conjures magazine-worthy flower borders and vegetable beds while my high-elevation climate yields humbling mediocre results. But each year with grit determination I pursue the gardener's dream and make the most of our short season.

I have been gardening for about the same amount of time as I have been living with my weight loss surgery. As a morbidly obese person I read about gardening and admired the gardens of others but my overweight body kept me from actually gardening. I know you can relate because most of us go into surgery looking forward to doing things that our weight has made impossible to do. Since surgery in 1999 I've enjoyed many seasons of gardening and learning. The first year I didn't understand that being in the sunshine and being poorly hydrated would result in dumping syndrome -- the first symptom was dizziness. I didn't know that the sugar in barbecue sauce would make me sick and even cause dumping. And eating healthy all natural grapes one-after-another was a sure way to sugar overdose (see Grapes & Glycemic Index article below). Like a gardener working against the climate to cultivate plants that don't belong I was cultivating practices that didn't work with my WLS. This made my first summer or two after surgery frustrating and sometimes miserable. For me the learning curve - in the garden and with WLS - has been steep.

In today's Weekly Digest we share several articles full of information to improve your summer as you are LIVING after weight loss surgery. I hope your learning curve is shortened as you benefit from my mistakes! So please, take a look and refresh your skills so you can enjoy the summer and thrive!

And if anyone has advice for growing hydrangea or hibiscus at 7,000 feet elevation drop me a note!  

Come Rain or Shine - We are all in this together!

Kaye

KayeBailey@LivingAfterWLS.com

Read the Full Newsletter - Good Stuff!

Warm Wishes for Mother's Day

As we honor Mothers and Motherhood today please accept my heartfelt wishes for a day of joy and memory making as you celebrate the special relationships in your life. Thank you for being a treasured part of my life through our LivingAfterWLS connection. "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." -Marcel Proust

For You I am Grateful, Have a Blessed Day. Kaye Bailey LivingAfterWLS, LLC

LivingAfterWLS.com 

5 Day Pouch Test.com 

The Neighborhood

You Have Arrived General Store

The Neighborhood

Your Safe Haven Circle of Friends
9,800 Neighbors - 161,540 Posts  

 

The LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood: an online compassion driven social space evoking feelings of comfort, understanding, knowledge, warmth, acceptance, trust and happiness for those who have undergone gastric bypass, lap-band or any type of weight loss surgery or those struggling with weight control.

LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood:

Advertising-Free ~  Spam-Free  ~  Privacy Protected

Don't trust your weight loss surgery life to anyplace else.

Introductions 

Come in and tell us about yourself! We love meeting new Neighbors and everyone is welcome here in our little community.

Introduce Yourself! 

Want to join the Neighborhood, but not sure where to start? Tell us in this Volume 4: What brought YOU to the Neighborhood? Everyone is welcome - Can't wait to meet you!

Start Here 

Weight Loss Surgery Chat 

All things weight loss surgery. Find your procedure peer in our gastric banding, gastric sleeve forums. Or talk to veterans of weight loss surgery. Learn about diet, nutrition, exercise and more after weight loss surgery.

Spring Sunshine Accountability Challenge 

Spring sunshine... is there anything better? Granted, the old saying goes "April showers bring May flowers". What to we most look forward to though? Sunshine. Warmer temperatures. Flowers and fresh vegetables growing in our gardens. The thought of it makes me smile. If we emulate the spring, the season of rebirth and growth, then we will indeed glow like the sun. Let's all eat, breathe, and live like the spring sunshine; let the warmth and happiness that we have shine through. Let's cast off the cares of winter, those dark, cold and gloomy days that weighed us down and embrace the light. Join Us for this Challenge! You set your goals and participate at your pace in your way - empowered by the Neighborhood. 

5 Day Pouch Test Forum 

Always a popular destination the 5 Day Pouch Test Forum is your place to connect with others who are using this popular plan to get back on track with their weight loss surgery tool.

Day 6: Beyond the 5 Day Pouch Test 

Harness the momentum of your 5 Day Pouch Test and continue forward with a positive effort at Day 6 Living. Great support from others, like you, who are trying their best to live healthy happy lives with weight loss surgery.

The You Have Arrived Alumni Club 

Connect with others who had weight loss surgery the same year you did and share the journey! From the Pioneers of the 1980s to our newbies of 2010, everyone has a place in the Alumni Club to call home.

The Picket Fence 

A place to stop and share the things in our daily lives beyond weight loss surgery. A neighborly place of support and friendship.

Need more fun in your week? After a summer recess Fun Friday is back! Learn about our fun Neighborhood game and the chance to win fabulous prizes!
Meet our Fun Friday Hostess!

Fun Friday
Community Kitchen
Neighborhood Cookbook