The understanding of the serving size of a food, and the number of calories present in it is referred to as portion control. Exercising portion control is extremely important for weight management. It involves eating the balanced amounts of all the nutrients and types of foods. Food pyramids are important aids that are used to guide people to help control their portions and eat a variety of foods. Objects can be used as a point of reference to estimate portion sizes. One method of measuring portion size is to use the size of a person?s hand as reference. For instance, one healthy portion of protein is equal to the palm size of meat or any other protein source. Similarly, carbohydrate servings are measured using fist. For instance, a healthy portion of pasta is one fistful. Various emotional factors such as depression and anxiety may lead to lack of portion control in individuals. Using small plates, sharing meals and planning meals ahead of time are some tips that can be used to follow portion control.

Childhood Obesity

Childhood Obesity and its Related Pressures and Prejudice

Childhood obesity can be damaging to physical well-being and also carries negative emotional and social consequences. Overweight and obese children are frequently stereotyped within the media and subjected to teasing and discrimination across a range of different environments.

First Thoughts

Making the decision

Every magazine and news show has headlines on how to lose weight and get ready for a particular season or special event. There are so many different weight loss plans that it can be confusing and overwhelming. The truth is all these diets work if you are consistent.

Pre-op Bariatric Diet

Phase I – Pre-Surgery Clear Liquid Diet

The first phase of clear liquids will actually start five days prior to surgery. You will be advised to drink only clear liquids and be expected to adhere to this for the five days prior to surgery regardless of which operation you will be undergoing. We allow two protein supplements per day for the first two days of this five day period.

Support

Weight loss support groups and bariatric surgery

A group can be defined as a number of individuals or things considered together because of similarities. All of our patients that come to our practice are struggling with obesity. The commonality amongst the patients is the challenges related to weight loss and frustration with diets and numerous attempts at weight loss.

Challenges After Bariatric Surgery

Bariatric surgery does not change your life in terms of job, family and other psychosocial aspects. If some areas of your life are causing you to eat you might want to take a step back and evaluate the situation. You must try very hard not to use food as an outlet. Set consistent meal times and follow that routine. People tend to bury their feelings in food. Food is often used as a comfort source for many emotions. It’s like our best friend. Bariatric surgery provides a tool to control your portion sizes and combined with our program, can teach you to choose your foods wisely.

Revisional Bariatric Surgery

Current thinking is that revisional operations do not work very well and for that reason they are reserved for unique cases. As with many things in surgery, much depends on the circumstances and the available options, some of which we’ll describe below. In any case, I strongly suggest that patients return to their original surgeon who performed their first operation, as every surgeon individualizes the digestive arrangements in a particular manner. The only revisional operation I regularly perform is for patients who have a failed laparoscopic gastric banding. Those patients may benefit from having the band removed and then converting to a gastric bypass or a gastric sleeve.

Depression

Our understanding of depressive disorders has evolved with time. Hippocrates referred to the condition as melancholia. Freud considered the condition a consequence of guilt and conflicting emotions. The 1950s saw the condition being divided into endogenous and neurotic depression.Today there is consensus that depression is a syndrome often characterized by more than one symptom. Intense sadness and irritability for either short or long durations manifest during episodes of the condition. Physical signs include lethargy, body aches, mood swings, lack of appetite, overeating, and poor sleep patterns.

What Digestive Changes Occur After Gastric Bypass Surgery

There are major changes to the digestive system, changes that make this approach to bariatric surgery very effective in significant weight loss. Post-operation, the diet is typically all-liquid for several weeks and then only soft or mashed foods until the post-surgical swelling in the digestive system heals. At the same time, a gastric bypass is more than a surgical procedure; it is also part of a lifestyle change.

Pregnancy After Bariatric Surgery

There are various recommendations regarding the timing of planned pregnancy after weight loss surgery which are based on a theoretical understanding of what occurs after the operation. A truly controlled scientific study evaluating the risk and benefit of pregnancy after surgical weight loss is difficult to design. We employ a common sense approach based on surgical literature as well as an understanding of the changes that occur after surgical operations for weight loss.