Weight Loss Winformation

Theodore Roosevelt called comparison the theif of joy. And all along I thought it was the SCALE that was the theif of joy! Well… I guess it’s all in how you utilize either comparison or the scale that determines whether or not you allow it to steal your joy. Yes – pay attention to those words… whether or not you ALLOW ANYTHING to steal your joy is up to you! It’s that thinking thing again… what we...

We’ve all said it a thousand times when it comes to following through with difficult things and/or things we don’t really want to do… We’ve said what? We’ve said, “That’s easier said than done!” And it’s true in nearly every case… because most things in life are genuinely easier to say than they are to do! Working in the field of weight weight loss, I hear the phrase, “It’s easier said than done”...

Every single one of us is guilty of using some pretty common forms of Stinkin’ Thinkin’ at times. Psychologists use fancier word to describe Stinkin’ Thinkin’… we call them Cognitive Distortions. Thinking Traps are also words to describe negative thoughts because they often leave us feeling TRAPPED on a hamster wheel of negative thoughts that spin out and result in negative feelings and ultimately...

Did you know that we recyle something like 90% of our thoughts over and over, day after day AND that about 85% of those recycling thoughts are NEGATIVE thoughts? That’s what some research says! And I happen to believe that… even if we’re not aware of all those automatic negative thoughts on the hamster wheel of our mind. We need to change this to make room for and to create new, healthier neuropat...

In this week’s episode will teach you skills for ditching self-defeating attitudes and behaviors and for overcoming a victim mentality, which we talked about last week! Learning to be more resilient when setbacks threaten to derail your progress and learning to increase your “I think I can, I think I can” attitude, or self-efficacy, will not only help you prevent emotional eating and avoid self-sa...

Now, THAT’s a vague episode title! And it’s vague on purpose! None of us want to admit to … well, our less than healthy behaviors. Yet the truth is, we all engage in behaviors we would be mortified if others were to witness. The topic of this episode describes a type of behavior and mindset I would bet every one of us has engaged in at some points in time. For a percentage of people, this becomes...

Do you ever wonder why you do some of the things you do? And also… why you might not do other things you want to do or plan to do? If you’re human…  I’m gonna guess you have wondered those exact same things… maybe on daily basis! Our behaviors are linked to all sorts of things going on in our brains. Listen in as Dr. Joan Brugman helps us better understand the connection between our brains and our...

There are all sorts of ways people choose to lose weight… surgical weight loss procedures, GLP 1’s, Weight Watchers, Noom, and all sorts of various diets such as the Mediteranian Diet, the KETO diet, or tragically, some version of the cabbage soup diet. Here’s the deal… no matter how a person loses weight, they all experience many of the same things after losing weight… and I’m NOT just talking ab...

There’s little in life I find more inspiring than when a person takes a difficult situation and creates something amazing out of it! Rob DiMedio is one of those people! Rob, a post-op who chronicled his journey on social media, has taken his passion for health and created a business called Busy Bariatrics. Due to Rob’s passion for taking charge of his health, Busy Bariatrics has gotten VERY BUSY!...

Food… a red herring? As in… a fish? Nope!  So what does that mean… food… a red herring? You think I’m gonna tell you here, in the intro? Not a chance! But when you listen to the entire episode, you’ll learn why Dr. Anita A. Johnson, author of Eating in The Light of The Moon, wrote an entire chapter on this topic.  Also, as you listen to this episode, based almost entirely on that one chapter in Dr...

You’ve heard the Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot chance, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Turns out the founders of AA did NOT create this thinking. It originated many years BC… before the birth of Christ! The ideas used in the Serenity Prayer come from an ancient Greek Philosophy known as Stoicism. Using the tenets...

People usually have certain expectations when they begin a weight loss experience, whether that means having a surgical intervention, taking medications or participating in a structured program. For many people, some of their expectations are met; some are not. What I find particularly interesting as people lose weight are the things they learn about themselves that they hadn’t anticipated. In thi...

So many people considering bariatric surgery are confused as to the reason anyone would have to have a pre-surgical psychological evaluation? Why would they need to be cleared by a psychologist just to have weight loss surgery? As today’s guest host, Dr. Joan Brugman, a psychologist who, like myself, conducts many bariatric pre-surgical evaluations, explains to people, “Having bariatric surgery is...

What does the story of a young child participating in swim meets have to do with fear of failure… or fear of regain? Listen in and gain a different perspective on fear of failure. I’ll talk about how fear of regain can lead you right to that place you most want to avoid! And, of course, I’ll give you some tips on how to lead yourself away from fear of failure and fear of regain while empowering yo...

Today I have three guests, all members of the BariAftercare program, joining me to talk about their fears of success following significant weight loss. Each of my guests is at a different place in their post-op journey and each is experiencing unique concerns related to their weight loss success. It’s likely that each person who experiences significant weight loss has some worries about the change...

I’m introducing a funky new word to your bariatric journey tonight when I ask you to keep your DRISHTI in mind as you move through your years of creating your healthy lifestyle. You need consistent effort, ongoing preparation and a lot of patience to prevent falling back into the dreaded DIET mentality, which can suck you far, far away from your life of growth and healthy living! Let’s get started...

Boundaries can be physical… like fences, or gates at the top or bottom of stairs to keep toddlers and pets from going up or down. Boundaries can also be emotional and are established by using communication skills. Physical and emotional boundaries are often used to keep us safe. Emotional boundaries are essential in healthy relationships. Yet many people are reluctant to set boundaries with others...

If you have lost a significant amount of weight and remain preoccupied with the scale, if you allow the scale to determine your mood, if you are overly obsessed with a goal weight, or are struggling to overcome emotional eating… OR if you said you wanted to lose weight to improve your health or to prevent health problems, or because you wanted to be able to enjoy participating in activities with t...

I get all passionate in this episode and do quite a bit of self-disclosing. Why? Because I believe with everything that I am that improving your relationship with yourself is the ONLY way you will be able to follow through the behavioral changes that are necessary for keeping weight off long-term or for remaining free from any long-term unhealthy behavior a person has engaged in to the point it ha...

Relationships of all kinds can be complicated. And they change over time! Friendships change over time, your relationship with your spouse or partner may be good for years, and then flail, and then get better again! Your relationship with money or social media can change at different stages of life. Your relationship with food may also change over time – or perhaps you have always had a difficult,...

How did I get here? I’m guessing you didn’t grow up wanting to have the disease of obesity as part of your adult life! And if you have comorbid health issues associated with your obesity, I’m pretty certain you ask yourself the question, how DID I get here? Well, the chronic disease of obesity is a complicated one. Some of the things that lead to obesity you have had no control over… your genetics...

It’s always an honor and a privilege to have Laura Preston on the podcast with me because Laura IS, in many ways, BariAftercare! She is an organizer extraordinaire, has an understanding of the bariatric community that is unmatched, and has a passion for aftercare as deep as my own. In this episode, we talk about the many ways we, along with our other BariAftercare mentors, as well as members of th...

Scott Bagwill, an active member of the full online BariAftercare program, is today’s guest on BariAftercare, the Podcast! Scott had bariatric surgery almost one year ago and has lost an extraordinary amount of weight. He has also been one of this season’s new “Best Friends” on the TLC network show, 1000 Pound Best Friends. Today you’ll get to know more about Scott, his childhood, his weight ups an...

Alcohol… a substance consumed by most people, to include those who are having or have had a surgical bariatric procedure or may be on GLP-1 medications. In this episode, Dr. Susan Mitchell, a PhD educated bariatric-specific registered dietician joins me in talking about how the consumption of alcohol affects those who have had bariatric surgery. I talk about information specifically related to the...

Last week I took you for a stroll down the Memory Lane of fad diets over the past century and ended up at what is clearly NOT a fad in the world of weight loss: the GLP-1 medications. In this episode I share most of what Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the people he interviewed about the GLP-1’s said about these medications that are now, and I quote, “the biggest class of drugs in the developed world.” Dr. G...