Nurturing and Limits

If you choose to care for yourself with nurturing and limits you can overtime aquire the skills to ease stress and bring so much joy into your life that the drive to overeat fades. What on earth am I talking about? By nurturing I am referring to asking yourself, "How do I feel and what do I need?" and then finding a way to meet those needs. By limit setting I am referring to having reasonable expectations of yourself, not being too easy on yourself or too harsh with yourself.

The feeling brain, which is the clearinghouse of stress in our lives, is in one of two states at any given time. It is either in balance or it is stressed. When we are in a state of stress appetites for sugary, fatty food ramps up. So the goal is to stay in balance most of the time. How do we do that? By learning to identify how we are feeling and what we need to do to take care of ourselves, we can stay balanced and watch our drive to overeat fade away.

Try these things daily and see how you start to find balance:

• Ask yourself every hour, "How do I feel" and "What do I need"
• Ask for support to get those needs met
• Have quiet time with yourself for at least 10 minutes every day
• Connect with another person daily on an emotional and honest level
• Eat a well balanced diet that will not wreak havoc on your neurotransmitters
• Exercise.....one of the most powerful ways to get a neurotransmitter surge!!!

I highly reccomend reading the Solution by Dr. Laurel Mellin. Dr. Mellin developed the Solution our of California and it considered to be one of the top ten medical advances of our time. Dr. Mellin describes in great detail what I have written about today! It is life-changing stuff.....nurturing and setting limits! Wow!

Sleeve gastrectomy a unique option in weight-loss surgery

Some patients seeking a surgical solution to weight loss have another alternative to consider now offered at the St. Francis Weight Loss Center.

It’s called the sleeve gastrectomy, an operation that removes part of the stomach and resizes it roughly to the shape and size of a banana. The smaller stomach helps patients become full faster when eating and decreases the appetite sensation.

The sleeve gastrectomy does not involve any "rerouting" or reconnecting of the intestines and is a simpler operation than the gastric bypass or the duodenal switch. Unlike the Lap-Band, the sleeve gastrectomy does not require the implantation of an artificial device inside the abdomen. It can be done laporascopically, and discharge from the hospital occurs within one day.

Sleeve gastretcomies are recognized as a first and single procedure for weight loss because it can achieve more than 50 percent excess weight loss in as little as 18 months.

For certain patients, in particular those with a body mass index greater than 60, the sleeve gastrectomy may be the first part of a two-stage operation. Patients may safely lose up to 100 to 150 pounds in a six to 12 month period, at which point the weight loss may plateau and other procedures such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery become less risky.

Both stages of the surgery can be performed laparoscopically and offers the advantages of shorter recovery time, shorter incisions, fewer incision-related problems and less pain.
Learn more about the sleeve gastrectomy.

How Do I Know If I Am Ready for Bariatric Surgery?

Think of the activities you do on a daily basis and add up the ways that excess weight impacts your life. Can you tie your shoes without feeling as if you ran a mile? Can you easily sit in any chair that you come in contact with, or do you choose to stand rather than draw attention to yourself in a crowded room. Shopping becomes an unwelcome activity as it forces you to acknowledge that your size is creeping higher each year. How many fun family adventures are you just a spectator in, because your joints and flexibility won't allow you to get on your knees or sit on the floor, hike a trail or climb on a horse? If the quality of your life has suffered from any of these, you have some thinking to do.

These alone are not indicators for surgery, but when added to medical conditions like Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Sleep Apnea and High Cholesterol that are often the consequences of excess weight, you may want to consider Bariatric Surgery as an option. A recent study, reported in JAMA (Journal of American Medical Association), shows a 73% remission rate of type 2 Diabetes in patients undergoing Adjustable Gastric Banding. Similar results can be obtained with other Bariatric procedures as well.

It's not for everyone and should not be pursued unless you've made every effort to lose weight by other means. But if you have, then you owe it to yourself to research this option. There are healthcare professionals at St. Francis Weight Loss Center who can offer education, at no cost, to help you make an informed choice. Surgery or Non-surgery, it's your choice, but medical intervention can help in ways that commercial programs can't. If you need help you can call toll-free, 888-887-5553 to find it.