The holiday season is here. A great time filled with Christmas parties and lots of food. The month of December is like a person with two personalities. One personality is full of love and joy. The other is stressed out with all the things that need done and all the things you want to do. We are often pulled in many directions and the result is that nasty thing called stress.

It is like the perfect storm, great food everywhere mixed with various levels of stress. And much like when warm winds mix with cold winds we get a storm. So how do we ride the storm? How do we not over indulge with food?

A few concepts will help. First set the intention or thought at night before sleep what that next day is going to look like. Visualize the parties and the food and visualize yourself eating several really tasty foods and desserts. And visualize yourself only eating a few bites. Remember the get comfortable wasting food rule. Visualize eating a few bites of pumpkin pie and then pushing it away.  Then remember how good you will feel physically by not overeating and how good it feels to accomplish your intention. Visualize yourself having energy to socialize and be active. This should take a few seconds before dosing off to sleep.

Thorough the next day remember awareness is the key to all change. Pay attention to what you are eating. Have an ongoing conversation between your brain and your stomach.  Think eat a few bites, enjoy, waste the rest, and feel good afterwards. If you are feeling stressed and wanting to show love to your self by overindulging in food, then recognize it. Remember that stressed out love is dysfunctional or harmful love. Think of a way to show love to your self that is healthy. Remember your love language. Is your love language gifts and buy your self a gift, words of affirmation like “ I really look good”, touch, or some service like maybe I will pay someone to clean my house tomorrow. Whatever it is shift from dysfunctional love to healthy love.

Now if you happen to overindulge don’t beat your self up. Think of this process and think of how you might do better tomorrow and chip away at it.

Happy holidays!

Julie shares her own experience of having a Sleeve Gastrectomy. She explains the process of first time coming in the office, the day of surgery and the weeks following the surgery.

 

Caroline, a former patient sits down with me to talk about her own experience with having Gastric Bypass done.

Lets talk about those amazing “hunger hormones” that keep us feeling hungry.

From a science point of view we are learning a lot, but as I mention in my book these few hormones I will discuss are only the tip of the iceberg. Many, many more lie under the surface of what we know and are yet to be discovered. And that is the essence of why there isn’t a magic pill. So let me describe some of what we know.

This is the way it should work….. We eat food that we chew and get full. That “fullnes” sends signals to our brain to turn off the hunger pangs and they should stay off for four hours.

The “hunger hormone” is called ghrelin(pronounced: GREL – in). And when levels of this hormone get too high, you feel hungry ALL THE TIME. The trick is to keep your levels low. ( the sleeve gastrectomy magically does this)

Lower ghrelin levels translates into feeling full and satisfied without the need or urge to snack continually throughout the day. Most of us think this urge is a character weakness….but it is a chemical in our bodies working against our will.

When ghrelin is not active sending signals to your brain, the brain rest and recovers. Then a chemical called leptin goes to work sending signals to stop the hunger IMPULSE.

But if ghrelin levels are too high ( and they are in most obese individuals), then leptin does not work or trigger the brain to not have an impulse to eat. If you lower ghrelin, then you allow leptin to go to work as well.

I believe that our body systems were made for a time when food was scarce and not abundant as it is today. I believe that we were built to have a natural balance between the hormones that regulate your appetite and your ability to burn fat. I think our food is laced with too many chemicals and that throws off our body’s hormones.

The only proven way to balance these hormones is with surgery. I am talking about the Sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass. Both lower ghrelin ( and most likely affects many other hormones) and allow leptin to work. Think of surgery as a tool to help you balance these hormones and then with the right brain signals at work….learn to eat right.

Good Luck!

 

You must eat something within 30 minutes of waking to have a metabolism that burns calories

Early morning can be a busy time. There are many priorities to prepare for the day. Your health is one of your top priorities. You accomplish more when you feel good and healthy. So slow down and eat breakfast. Take time for it. Its important.

The good news is you do not have to eat a lot. Even 150 calories works. Breakfast is a good time for fruit. Fruit contains fructose, which is much like corn syrup. It goes to fat faster than most calories if eaten at the wrong time. However, fruit contains many nutrients that we need. So when to eat fruit?

After 6 to 8 hours of sleep the stored calories (glycogen) in our bodies have been depleted. If you eat fruit in the morning, preferably within 30 minutes of waking, your body will burn those calories and give you the energy and nutrition you need. Another good time to eat fruit is within 30 minutes of exercise. The exercise will burn those calories.

Eggs are good food. Ignore the concerns about egg yolk and cholesterol. The egg yolk contains healthy nutrients. It provides better nutrition if not over cooked, that is its best nutrition comes as an egg cooked where the yellow is a little runny. Boiled eggs are OK for those in a big hurry every morning. For example a boiled egg and a banana.

Other good choices would be fruit with a high quality protein bar. Oatmeal is OK, but I believe 40% of the population is gluten sensitive and become sick in some way by eating gluten foods. And oatmeal is high in gluten.

Also drink a glass of water within 15 minutes of waking.

Good luck changing your morning habit and enjoy your day!

To get a copy of my new book, Skinny Jeans…at Last! in pdf or audio format, click here.