Quick and long-lasting results

This morning, on skynews.com and bbc.co.uk/news/health there is coverage of the first economic analysis of weight-loss surgery which shows that the controversial operation pays for itself in just one year. Impressive fast results!

I also heard today from Valerie a bariatric buddy who is 7 years post-op. We don’t often hear from those who are long-term, I think they are too busy having a wonderful new life! So I asked her for some tips on her long-lasting success, since she has been able to keep within 5 lbs of her goal weight for the last 7 years.

Valerie says:
* she mainly eats wholefoods cooked from scratch with just the occasional treat.
* she follows the plan from Barix (the surgery company) which means she eats 5-6 times a day.
* this involves eating 175g lean protein (meat, fish, poultry etc) divided up over the day and adds 3-4 servings of dairy, 2-3+ portions of veggies and 2 fruits. She always makes one of them a banana just because she loves them.
* in addition she has 3-4 high fibre carb portions a day.
* Valerie exercises regularly doing cardio, weights, yoga and bike-riding.
* She doesn’t drink protein but prefers to eat it but does religiously take her multi-vitamins and calcium supplement.
* She also opts to take fish oil and extra vitamin D.
* Most importantly, I think, is that she doesn’t obssess about eating, does have a treat every now and then, and doesn’t make a big deal about her surgery (lots of her friends don’t even know she has had surgery). Impressive long term results Valerie!

Since writing the first part of this blog Valerie has come back to me. She wanted to add that she knew before surgery that she had some problems with food (and these led to her serious weight gain). She has therefore worked with a therapist who is very experienced in eating disorders. She very much appreciated that the therapist was strong in her belief that these eating disorders can be overcome and that a wls patient can have a normal relationship with food, which Valerie now has. She also was strongly helped by the book “How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? Diet-free solutions to your Food, Weight and Body Worries” by Dorie McCubbrey.
I have ordered the book from Amazon (it is available here in the UK) and will tell you what I think in a later blog. Many thanks for your help Valerie!