Ready for #OH2013

Getting ready for more education, friends, and fun at the ObesityHelp 2013 National Conference in Anaheim, CA, October 4th & 5th.

Looking forward to hearing Dr. Ayra Sharma speak, and spending more time with my pal Eggface!

I’m also hoping to have time to visit with my college mentor who now lives and works in California, the man truly changed and saved my life!

There is still time to join me in Anaheim! This will be my 8th ObesityHelp Event!

I like to stay active with ObesityHelp and the weight loss surgery community because I’ve met many fellow Lipedema and Lymphedema patients who have had or are considering weight loss surgery and it is great to meet others with similar experiences.

Our special meeting has arrived.  Dr. John Feng will join East Bay Bariatric for a conversation about revision surgery, regain, and anything else on our mind.  If you can arrive early, please help me set up the room by 1:45 p.m.  If you were with us when he spoke a few years before, you know how informative and inspiring this meeting will be.  Please make every effort to join us.  Meeting is free and open to the public.  We are an independent peer support group.

For more information about Dr. Feng, here's his profile: www.pamf.org/dr-john-j-feng.html.

Meeting Time:

Date: Saturday, September 21, 2013
Time: 2 - 3:30 p.m.*
Location: Alameda Hospital, Conf. Room C
2070 Clinton Ave., Alameda

*= We are skipping skip the pre-op/newbie meeting to jump right into his conversation.  Please arrive by 2 p.m.  We will resume to our regular format next month.

If you need bariatric supplements or supplies, always use our special Referral Code, 6214285, when you buy at www.DietDirect.com.   You'll receive a $10 Credit on your first order and we receive credit for samples.  You no longer need to use our website's banner first, just use the referral code.

Hello I am wondering if anyone here has had success with the insurance groups Arta, Monarch, or Family Choice to have their lap-band removed and then have gastric by-pass surgery after, or just to have the lap-band removed. I am switching to one of these groups ASAP, just wondering who I have a better chance at approval with.

If you have any PCP's or Surgeons that you personally used, please let me know too!!

I am thinking or going with Dr. Peter Leport, have you had surgery with him???

World-renown Dr. Arya Sharma is the keynote speaker at our 2013 ObesityHelp National Conference on October 4-5, 2013.  Below is a post from Dr. Sharma. 

Just a couple of our own takeaways from the post below:
1.  Don't graze!!
2.  ObesityHelp provides us, as OH members, the ".....support patients towards a long-term goal of healthy and appropriate dietary choices with active monitoring (journaling) - via OH's Health Tracker. 
3.  Stay on track!  If you find yourself off track, jump right back on!

Thanks to ObesityHelp for our OH community and to Dr. Sharma for sharing his expertise online and at our Conference.

Post-Surgery Weight Regain: Nutritional Factors

Posted: 12 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT

One of the key reasons why bariatric surgery is so much more effective for treating severe obesity than non-surgical approaches, is because of its profound effect on food intake.

Thus, bariatric surgery significantly affects hunger and satiety and may even have important effects on “wanting” and “liking” of high-caloric foods.

However, this effect on ingestive behaviour is neither “guaranteed” not are these effects consistent between individuals.

As I tell my patients, “The surgeons operate on your gut, not your brain”.

Thus, it can only be expected that a certain proportion of patients will struggle to control their food intake despite surgery, thereby either losing less weight than expected or putting the weight back on.

In an article, published in Obesity Surgery, we systematically reviewed the published evidence on the role of dietary factors in this issue.

As may be expected, patients reporting “loss of control” of eating behaviour post-surgery lost less weight or had a higher risk of gaining back any weight they may have initially lost. Thus, individuals with self-reported “high-adherence” scores tended to lose and sustain greater weight loss than those who did not.

Given that bariatric surgery may limit the amount of food that can be eaten at a single meal, some patients resorted to grazing behaviours (defined as consumption of smaller amounts of foods over extended periods of time) leading to subsequent weight regain. In addition, it was reported that poor diet quality, characterized by an excessive intake of calories, snacks and sweets, as well as oils and fatty foods, was statistically higher in patients experiencing weight regain.

Interestingly, even short-term dietary “indiscretion” (or falling off) can result in very rapid weight regain. This is not surprising as, in this regard there is little difference between someone who has lost weight through surgery or simply through diet and exercise. Irrespective of how the weight is lost, the body appears to retain its ability to rapidly regain lost weight if allowed to do so.

Thus, as we discuss in our article,

“The existing literature strongly suggests that nutritional and lifestyle compliance is crucial to weight management post- bariatric surgery.”

“Comprehensive weight management programs must therefore provide improved patient education and promote adherence to post-bariatric surgery diets in order to ensure success. These programs must take action to support patients towards a long-term goal of healthy and appropriate dietary choices with active monitoring (journaling) and reinforcement (review of food records) strategies provided by a multidisciplinary health care team.”

As I have discussed previously, although bariatric surgery increases the chances of success, it is no magic bullet or easy way out – all patients have to work hard at learning to use their surgery as a tool to help them better control their food intake and will likely do better, the more they understand and comply with the post-surgical nutrition recommendations.

On the other hand, there may be very good reasons why certain individuals, despite best efforts, struggle to meet these recommendations.

I will discuss how neurohormanal and metabolic factors can make dietary compliance difficult in my next post.

@DrSharma
Edmonton, Alberta

Karmali S, Brar B, Shi X, Sharma AM, de Gara C, & Birch DW (2013). Weight Recidivism Post-Bariatric Surgery: A Systematic Review. Obesity surgery PMID: 23996349

We are very excited for this year's ObesityHelp Annual Conference on October 4th and 5th, 2013 in beautiful Anaheim, California.  

This year's event is unlike any other due to the amazing line-up of speakers, sponsors, vendors with free stuff!  Many of our speakers were requested directly by our ObesityHelp community, and are leaders in the WLS community and healthy living experts.  

We hope you will join us at our OH Annual Conference!  It is an investment in yourself and your healthy lifestyle that will last you a lifetime.