West Virginia Weight Loss


	Weight loss surgery (WLS) is simply a tool that our surgeons give us... Life after WLS is not a diet! It is a lifestyle that we must adapt to. Each person must learn to properly use their tool in order to maximize their weight loss potential and be able to successfully maintain their loss. Some of this learning will take place during the workshop sessions that most surgeons require a new patient attend before their surgery. Some will occur during post-op workshops and during sessions with your dietician and/or nutritionist. And, some will happen only if the person takes it upon themself to research, read, and learn. There are many ways to do this. You can search out other post-op WLS patients and discuss the surgery and your new lifestyle with them--in person or via message boards. You can do research on the internet and find resources that talk about post-op living after WLS. There are many websites that will help you better develop your understanding of life after WLS. BUT, a very big part of the change necessary is to change our eating and cooking habits and learn good portion control! We learn about foods we should avoid for the rest of our life (simple carbs for example) and foods that are good options for us. We learn new ways to get in the needed protein. We learn ways to reduce fat and cholesterol in our new diet. And then we learn to take old recipes and give them a new spin so that they are healthy choices for our new tummies! Some Common Substitutions: sugar can be replaced with Splenda or other artificial sweeteners raw eggs can be replaced with Egg Beaters egg substitute whole milk can be replaced with 1%, 2% or skim milk or even a non-dairy milk product unhealthy oils such as lard and shortening can be replaced with olive oil, flax seed oil, canola oil, etc. when baking, some fats can be replaced with unsweetened applesauce regular pasta can be replaced with a whole wheat or soy pasta white flour (all purpose flour) can be partially replaced with another flour (almond, whole wheat, bran, oat, etc) to help reduce the refined/simple carbs in a recipe leaner cuts of meat can be used in place of cheaper cuts that often tend to have more fat A lot of this is common sense stuff once you learn what foods to avoid and what to aim for in a daily diet. And, as constant dieters in our lives before surgery, much of this has already been learned in our previous efforts to reduce our weight or lower our cholesterol. Due to our high protein needs, many of us eat a LOT of meat, poultry and fish. All of these are great protein sources! We eat a lot of dairy products--cheese, milk, yogurt, etc. We need to find good sources of dietary fiber to help us fight off the constipation monster! And it is very, very important that we get in 64 ounces or more of water/fluids each and every day. With all that said, what we actually eat (once our surgeon removes any restrictions and we are allowed to eat whatever we can tolerate) is up to us. We are the one who has to make the healthy choice and not fall back into old habits. We are the ones who must recognize trigger foods that may lead us back to old habits and always choose to eat protein first while limiting carbohydrates. We must remember that if we fail at this, we have no one but ourselves to blame as we were given the tool. The rest is up to us! We will collect recipes from other WLS patients and will share these via the "Find Your Inner Chef" page. If you have a recipe you'd like to share, please email it to us at webmaster@wvweightloss.com and we'll add it to our site! Some other recipe sites are listed below. Please remember that these are NOT necessarily WLS-friendly recipes and that YOU will have to choose wisely and make any necessary substitutions to make the meal a good choice for you as a WLS post-op! These recipe links are merely provided as starting points. While our tastes can change after surgery, many post-ops crave flavor and variety by the time they reach about 3 months post-op. At that point in time, we go looking for new recipes to try! WLS Recipe Links: http://hometown.aol.com/vbowen1067/myhomepage/collection.html http://store.bariatriceating.com/ourhomeandre.html http://www.bariatricbytes.com/recipes.html http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/recipe/ General Recipe Links: http://www.tastycrockpotrecipes.net/ http://www.atkins.com/recipes http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes/index.htm (has WW, diabetic, and sugar-free listings) http://www.cooksrecipes.com/ http://www.recipezaar.com/ http://www.recipecircus.com/recipes/LC_4_ME/ (Low Carb Area) http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/healthy/
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