And the chile rellenos win

I admit it. I fell of the wagon yesterday. Husband actually suggested we go to dinner. Not that this was his fault, it was completely in my power to say no but I choose not to. So long story short, after more bad news from the oral surgeon and the resulting depression and stress, I caved. I ended up having 2 lovely, tasty, wonderful (did I mention they were very good?) chile rellenos from Don Jose's. I couldn't eat the chips which is probably a good thing because it would have been added calories and fat. I did share an order of flan with husband. I swear I don't know if it is because I haven't drank anything in years, or if it was the surgery, or if it was the fact that I have been eating so little for so long, but I got drunk off of the flan. Okay, you can stop laughing now! But it's true. I was instantly sleepy, staggering, befuddled, drunk. I know the sugar had something to do with it but DAMN! The waitress did tell us that the sauce was made with a liquor. I think she did this because she thought we were going to share it with Lilith. I couldn't have driven home had I wanted to. Can you just imagine it, "Honestly officer I only had 1/2 an order of flan, really I swear!" (as they are handcuffing me and putting me in the back of the cop car).
That makes me wonder, can you charge a post wls person with drunk driving or driving while impaired after they have taken in too much sugar? or less alcohol than the average person because it is processed differently ?
I also did the cardinal sin of letting the wagon run over me and drag me down the hill a little after falling off it with dinner, because when I got home...I had 2 cookies. I have confessed, I feel better. Actually that isn't what is making me feel better today, it is the fact that I got up this morning packed my Optifast shakes and a new Optifast bar to try, and I got right back on track. It is now 8pm and I have had a very good day with my green salad for lunch and the right amount of shakes/bars/soup for the day.

Gateway Olives

I'm down 6 pounds in 5 days! Go ahead, tell me it's just water weight. Tell me that you can fluctuate that much in a day. I don't care cuz I am down 6 pounds!
I promised to be honest about my experience and the truth is that it has been hard. I think it has helped a lot that I have been working everyday since starting the Optifast program. I am sure if I had been at home with down time (and around easily accessible food), it would have been really hard. I talked to another nurse that is on it and she said she found herself cheating with silly foods that she didn't even like that much. I can see how that would be possible too. I was making my free food salad the other day and found myself trying to justify an olive. Yes folks, one black olive. You might say one olive is no big deal, but I assure you that for me it is. That could have been my gateway olive. That one little justification could easily have lead to a slice of cheese, "Hey it's protein", then to a 300+ calorie chai from the Coffee cart (I've missed those the most), and the next thing you know I would be telling myself how this Optifast program doesn't work because I'm not losing weight as fast as I thought I would. That is how my mind works. Maybe yours is different but that is how I can easily let one olive spoil my whole plan and get me totally off track.
I have found that I miss hot food so having the Optifast tomato soup with some frozen chopped spinach in it at the end of the day has been a godsend. I know it may sound pathetic to look forward each day to diet tomato soup but I do. It's actually pretty good and the spinach makes it creamier. I steamed some broccoli in the microwave last night and it was Divine. I don't recall the last time I ate broccoli naked. (not me the broccoli silly) I had forgotten just how good the flavor of some of these greens and veggies can be without any butter or salad dressing (I am allowed Balsamic Vinegar). Its not like I was a drown your salad in dressing type of girl but I do love my Greek and Italian dressings.
My sense of smell has become really sensitive again. I make sure that I don't go to the cafeteria unless I have recently had a shake because the one time I did go hungry, I almost dove into the tray of cooked bacon and sausage. I think this would have been easier if I had been able to get some bars but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to chew them. I have been doing pretty good with some of these veggies so I think I will get some of the bars next appointment. I found that I can chew Ice Breakers Ice Cubes gum on the non affected side of my mouth and that has really helped. I miss chewing. Sounds strange doesn't it but you take for granted the texture and feel of different foods. I have been cooking the heck out of my veggies so I could chew them otherwise this might not have even occurred to me. Granted, I wouldn't be chewing even if I wasn't on Optifast because of my ongoing dental nightmare but I miss it just the same. Again, I don't think this would be such an issue if I were eating the Optifast bars.
I have had the hot and slim chicken soup (its really like chicken bullion) a few times at night but I haven't really needed it. I've been eating it mostly because I want something hot (Like those calorie laden Chais I mentioned earlier). It has been pretty easy to eat 5 shakes a day with one to two green salads (or steamed veggies). I was pretty irritable the first 2 days but I think my pouch has shrunk a little now because I actually was really full after eating the steamed broccoli last night.
Over all I am very pleased with my progress. I have another appointment on September 2ND and I am pretty excited to see what my weight loss will be by then.
If you are in Anchorage and are interested in trying the Optifast program with me, you can set up an appointment for a free consultation by calling Alaska Premier Health at (907)561-3488 and if you tell them that I referred you (Anna Muhovich), I will get a small discount off of my next shake order. I will continue to keep you posted!

Fiber Choice Weight Management in sugar free strawberry

As the case is with many people after weight loss surgery, I too tend to run (no pun intended) a little on the (WARNING TMI) constipated side. I cannot stand the yucky wanna be tang fiber liquids. I was appalled to see the amount of sugar in the "fiber" cookies. But luckily I found Fiber Choices sugar free version of chewable fiber tablets with green tea extract. They are actually tasty and almost treat like (think Smarties). The most important thing though is that they actually WORK!!!! They not only have made things better in the bathroom they have also helped curb my appetite and scare away the snackies. I really recommend them!

Parties post op style

Last year for Lilith's 2nd birthday, I purchased a cake from Costco. Yes, I know, not smart for two post bariatric patients to bring a giant cream filled cake into their home. I am not claiming that I have super self control or anything, because I don't, but once I get ill (aka dump) on something, I'm done with it. I mean really done. As a child I once became ill on Dinty Moore beef stew and haven't been able to look at a can of it without feeling nauseous ever since. The only thing that I still attempt, (even though it is like playing Dumping roulette), is ice cream. Even though I stopped allowing 1/2 gallons in my house and only buy low carb or low sugar individually wrapped novelties, it is still bad. I know that if I stop at one (okay on a bad day 2), I will be okay. But, ice cream is my Achilles heel, my Anna crack if you will. It is also my #1 trigger food or gateway drug. This means that if I give in to the ice cream, I am more likely to give in to other naughties and then you better lock up your chocolate and SunChips! Ice cream releases my inner sugar and carb monster. It also is the first food I want when I want to stress eat. But other than ice cream, if something makes me dump, I don't even see it after that. I don't care how good it was. Maybe this is because I usually vomit when I dump and have horrible cramps. It isn't pretty folks. It isn't suppose to be, that is one of the ways this surgery works, it is suppose to deter you from eating things that will make and/or keep you fat. It always reminds me of the movie "Clock Work Orange". I am "conditioned", if you will, not to want certain foods anymore via pain aversion therapy.
Husband, not so much. Husband can get violently ill from something and after he is through being sick, go have more of it. This always makes me sit and look at him with a puzzled/disgusted look on my face.
He probably does this because his mothers cooking made him sick a lot. No seriously, I ate her cooking twice and was sick both times (this was pre op) and made excuses and justifications for it but when I found myself making husband pull over on the way home from her house so I could be sick on the side of the road after the third time I ate her cooking,I was done. I couldn't make anymore excuses. Husband would get sick too, maybe not as violently as me but sick none the less and he would act like it was no big deal. Now I know this is because it has happened to him his whole life. Sad huh. Once he went to her house for Thanksgiving dinner while I was at work (we had our own dinner after I got home) and couldn't make it to the bathroom before he vomited. Yet, he stayed for pie and even let her pack up a plate for ME! As I was throwing it away, he asked if he could have it?!? I said ,"No! Are you a glutton for punishment or what?!?", and threw it away to save him and our carpets! Again, this was pre op for both of us!
Maybe this is why he can dump on something and then continue to eat it afterwards. He did this last year with the Costco birthday cake. He continued to do this even after I cut it up and froze it. I finally ended up taking it to work and leaving it there (where it was devoured in one shift), for his own good. I had dumped on the 1st piece too and was so afraid of repeating the experience that looking at the cake made me want to cringe. But he is a sugar junkie. Probably always will be surgery or no, diabetes (with fasting blood sugars in the mid to high 300's while on meds preop)be damned, he can't (some would say won't) help himself.
So this year when Lilith's birthday came around again, I was determined not to repeat the experience. I choose to buy her an artfully decorated cupcake. I tasted a bit of the frosting, so did husband. (You can watch the video to see for yourself) I also purchased a low sugar, low calorie fruit tartlet thingy for us. Granted it isn't tasty as a "true" cake but then it didn't make us dump like a "real" cake would. It was also marginally healthier. It is just one of the "lifestyle changes" we have made post op.
Did Lilith care that she didn't have a huge cake to blow 3 candles out on?
Again, watch the video because I don't think she did. I also like the idea that she is growing up learning that celebrations aren't about gorging yourself. I think both of our mothers failed to teach us that growing up. I wonder how many post ops have a hard time to adjusting to celebrations. I know it was hard having my birthday fall just 3 weeks after my surgery and realizing for first time that the way I celebrated holidays, parties, even treating myself, was forever changed. I think that is why so many of us have a period of depression post op. Our whole way of living is forever changed. It is kind of scary and exciting at the same time.
I can only hope that because we have both had this surgery and have had to drastically change our way of eating and celebrating from what we grew up doing ourselves, that Lilith will not develop the same food, health, and weight issues that her father and I had/have. I think that is ultimately the one of the best presents we can give her.

Not the best way to lose 10 pounds in 3 days!

I had an eye opening experience this week. I was reminded the hard way that after having this surgery, we will always be different. ER Physicians, friends, coworkers, employers, relatives, even some other post ops, might not realize this but it is true. Certain things will always affect us differently and there are certain foods that might agree with us one minute and make us horribly ill the next.
I hate to vomit, as a child I would say, "ooh how gross" or as I got older, "this is disgusting", when I would find myself being sick. I have found that since my surgery, if I eat something that my pouch doesn't like, I will most prob. vomit. I have a small but ever present (cue the jaws music) fear of this happening so I eat very clean when I am at work, out with friends, and at any celebration or event. I guess this is kind of a good thing. I also had a penchant for projectile vomiting before the surgery and lets just say, it hasn't lessened any post operatively.
Usually however, once I vomit, I feel much better. Kinda disgusting but true.
Not so this week however.
I had purchased a grill for my husband for our 5th anniversary present. He decided to treat me to some grilled fish. He over cooked it. In his defense, he hasn't grilled in forever and really tried to cook it nicely, he just suffers from the cook any animal protein to death syndrome.
In my desperate attempt to make my husband feel appreciated for trying to cook me a nice dinner on his new toy, I ate the fish even though it was almost rubbery in places.
I felt sick, then I felt I was going to vomit. I did and thought I felt better and it was all over with. I went to bed only to wake up chocking on my own saliva. I had to run to the sink to vomit more. The next morning, I couldn't even keep water down. I called into work and stayed home vomiting all day while Lilith was at school and Will was at work. By the time they got home, I must have looked pretty bad because Will insisted that we go to the ER. We went. We sat in the lobby for 2 hours before being taken into the back. I vomited into the public bathroom trash a few times during that 2 hours of waiting. I am sure this looked very charming to the other patients. When we got back to an exam closet (they really are too small to be considered rooms), they started an IV and kept pushing the pain meds. I had to admit that I was still breast feeding. The male nurse asks how old my infant was, and I pointed to Lilith who said, "Hi, I'm Lilith", and who was standing there, (all 36 inches of her) almost three years old but looking like she is almost five years old! Even in as much pain as I was in, I felt embarrassed.
They dope me up, Dr. Sndyer (my surgeon from Colorado), talks with the ER Doctor and tells them to give me a cat scan. They tell me that I have a bezoar (fish that had formed an obstruction) and give me more pain meds. After 6 hours, they sent me home with instructions to call the gastroenterologist that morning (they discharged me at 5 am doped out of my ever loving mind). I went home and slept till past noon. When I called the gastroenterologist that they recommended, I was told that they were closed and that no one would be available till MONDAY(this was Friday). I tried to convince myself that I was okay, even though I remembered through a drug filled haze, throwing up the liquid pain medicine that the RN from the next shift was trying to give me as they were discharging me. Needless to say, I wasn't better, in fact I had a lovely constant burning sensation in my belly in addition to the inability to keep even a few sips of anything down. My husband looks scared at this point (he and Lilith had both had to stay home because neither of them had any sleep after being in the ER all night with me).
After much debate, a call to my gastric bypass surgeon in Colorado (Dr. Snyder)during which my husband had to tell him twice that, "Yes, they really sent her home after the cat scan showed an obstruction!" "No, I don't know what kind of medicine they are practicing here" "Yes, we wish we were there in Colorado right now also!", back to the ER we went. This time the male nurse from the night before escorted me right back. I vomited a few times and they started another IV. The ER doctor, a different one from the night before thank goodness, calls in the endo team and they scope me and break up the blockage (the male RN feels the need to tell me that it looked like a macaroon, when I get the discharge paperwork complete with photos, I have to admit, he was right. I will never look at macaroons the same way again!)and I instantly feel much better, just very weak.
We went home at 2 am and I drank a decaff chai and passed out. The next day I felt like I had been hit by a truck but I could drink and eat soft foods. I was still very weak however. When I weighed that morning, I discovered that I had lost almost 10 pounds. Nice but not much compensation for all of the pain, missed work, and co pays however!

Walden Farms Honey Dijon calorie free dressing

It was almost a year post weight loss surgery before I could have a salad. I never thought I would miss them so much but I did. I have been looking for low carb and low sugar dressings ever since. It is amazing to me how many dressings out there contain tons of sugar. I found Walden Farms Honey Dijon Calorie Free dressing at my local Fred Meyer. It is sugar free, gluten free, cholesterol free, carbohydrate free, but not flavor free, thank goodness. I will admit it isn't as creamy as its full fat counterparts but then you have to expect that. It also leans to the vinegar side on taste but I don't mind that. My family and I enjoy it very much. When there is so little else out there can give you 2 tbsp.s of calorie free flavor you have to love it. They also make a whole line of sauces and other products that I will review soon.read more about their products and order your here!

Just say, "no!", to the drive thru!

As regular readers know, when I slip, I am honest about it. Well, yesterday not only did I slip, I fell and fell hard for my old friend MC Donald's! It all goes back to the argument, If we fail to plan do we plan to fail. Well, I certainly failed to plan. I was so busy with the roof situation and the resulting repair persons that came and went all day that by the time husband got home, I hadn't eaten much at all. We had some errands to run and by the time we were done, I was rocking one heck of a low blood sugar headache. MC Donald's was there, the golden arches gleaming seemingly on almost every block as we drove. Finally I asked husband to pull in one of the drive thrus. I justified a hot fudge Sunday for myself (even though I got a fruit and yogurt parfait for Lilith and could have easily got another one for myself!). Luckily I waited till I had fed Lilith dinner and put her to bed before eating it. I was in the middle of watching Lost when all of a sudden I had to literally run for the bathroom. It was bad. It was so bad in fact that it made my husband knock on the bathroom door and ask if I was okay! It was so loud and violent that it woke Lilith up in her room across the hall (even though her door was closed)! Please spare yourself and just say no to the drive thru! It isn't worth it. I knew there was a reason I was afraid of clowns as a child.

Hot Fudge Sundae (this is without the nuts!)
Serving Size: 6.3 oz (179 g)
330 calories,10 grms fat (7 grms saturated), 54 grms of carbs,
48 grms of sugar, 8 grms of protein

Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait
Serving Size: 5.3 oz (149 g)
Refreshing blueberries and strawberries surrounded by cool, creamy low fat yogurt with crunchy granola topping
160 calories, 2 grms fat (1 grm saturated), 31 grms of carbs, 21 grms of sugar, 4 grms of protein

fat free cottage cheese and unsalted sunflower seeds

What a great snack! For 230 calories (8 grms of fat(1 grm saturated), 16 grms of carbs, 3 grms of sugar, 5 grms of fiber, and 25 grms of protein) you get 1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese and 1/4 cup of unsalted sunflower seeds! Lilith loves it. It is healthy and very filling! It is even pretty affordable. If you are like me and sick of trying to find bars and shakes that don't taste totally artifical, it's a great natural and easy to find alternative!read more about the Emerald Harmony line here!

Body image distortion

It's hard with this surgery when you still see yourself looking like this(me the night before surgery);

and this;

Sometimes, you continue to dress the same and think of yourself as the same overweight person that you have always been. It isn't until you see a photo like the one below (me 6 months post op);

Then it hits you that you actually look like this (me almost 7 months post op);


At two years post op, I still struggle with this. (me this Christmas)

out of the mouths of babes

After having a cold for 4 days, I decided that I needed to take a steamy hot bath with my favorite Therapy bath bubble bath and shower gel. I have always loved the smell of eucalyptus so this stuff is like a drug for me. Since Lilith's potty training is rapidly moving to a more independent stage, we have started leaving the bathroom gate open most of the time now to allow her to "take ownership" of her need to potty and stop relying on us taking her so much. Well, I am still not use to this. I am sitting in my lovely hot bath when Lilith bored with Daddy comes walking in and starts telling me how dirty she is (toddler speak for I want a bath too!). I sigh and tell her that I am almost done. Not to be deterred she starts removing her pants and shirt while saying, "Momma, Lilith dirty." So, I run some cold water to make my bath more toddler friendly and let her in. We have a nice bath, she playing with her boat and other bath toys while I bathe her. Then it comes time for the shower (call me a freak but I have always bathed this way; bath then finish with a shower). I stand up and drain the tub and grab the hand held shower and start washing Lilith's hair. She loves this. As I finish rinsing her hair and start drying her off she reaches out for my thigh and shakes it and laughs. "jiggly" she says and smiles up at me. Great, I think it is time to start visiting the gym more often. Another great mother/daughter bonding moment post weight loss surgery. Someday I will have to write about the time she asked me about my surgery scars!
get your Therapy Bath here!

House Foods Tofu Shirataki Noodles

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 113g / 4.0oz
Servings per Container: 2
Per Serving
Calories 20
Fat Calories 5
Per Serving %DV
Total Fat - 0.5g 14%
Sat. Fat 0g 1%
Trans Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol - 0mg 0%
Sodium - 15mg 1%
Total Carb. - 3g 1%
Fiber Less Than 2g 9%
Sugars 0g
Protein - 1g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 2%
Calcium 10%
Iron 2%
Ingredients: FILTERED WATER, TOFU (SOYBEANS, CALCIUM SULFATE, GLUCONO DELTA LACTONE), YAM FLOUR, CALCIUM HYDROXIDE
This is great for post ops like my husband and myself who cannot eat pasta post op without getting very ill. I have even tried flax pasta, whole wheat pasta, etc and all of them have made us sick. This doesn't! Finally after 2 years we can have spaghetti again with Walden Farms no carb Marinara Sauce
(12 oz. $4.99 at http://www.waldenfarms.com/products/sauce_pasta.html) I will write a review for it and their Alfredo no carb sauce soon.

Tofu Shirataki is a great pasta alternative made from blending the root of the Konnyaku - a member of the yam family and tofu.
It is a healthy, uniquely textured noodle - that pleases people of all ages! VARIETY OF SHAPES:
Spaghetti
Fettuccine
Angel-Hair
LOW CARB - only 3g of carbs per serving
LOW CALORIE - 20 calories per 4 oz serving
NO CHOLESTEROL
NO SUGAR
GLUTEN-FREE
DAIRY-FREE
CONTAINS 10% CALCIUM
VEGAN

Shirataki noodles come "wet" - packed in liquid. They are ready to eat out of the package. I usually just rinse them under hot water, cut them up a few times with kitchen shears, and add them to the dish I'm cooking. Unfortunately, they cannot be frozen.
Shirataki noodles don't have a real taste of their own. Although in some cases the liquid they come in does have a (hard to describe) flavor, I find this can be easily washed off, though some people like to use a short period of boiling.
read more and order some here!

Celebrities that have had weight loss surgery

1. Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr had gastric bypass surgery in 1998, and eventually lost over 80 pounds. She also underwent breast reduction surgery to help her deal with back pain, which also contributed to her slimmer profile.

2. Randy Jackson
American Idol judge Randy Jackson underwent gastric bypass in 2003 and has lost 110 pounds since. A type 2 diabetes diagnosis was the impetus for his decision to undergo the surgery. At his height Jackson weighed 355 pounds.

3. Star Jones
Star Jones denied for years that she had underwent gastric bypass surgery, pointedly denying the rumors whenever asked. However, she changed her tune in a Glamour magazine interview in 2007, revealing that she had used the surgery to lose 160 pounds.

4. Diego Maradona
Despite being a former professional soccer player, Diego Maradona had a tendency towards putting on weight. In 2005 he underwent gastric bypass, and subsequently slimmed down very rapidly.

5. Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne had gastric bypass surgery in 1999 and lost over 100 pounds. Osbourne told People magazine last year that she was planning on reversing the surgery, and wanted to rely on psychotherapy to control her eating issues.

6. John Popper
John Popper is best known for his role in the band Blues Traveler. They had some hits in the 90’s (loved the Wizard of Oz inspired video for Run Around) before kind of falling off the map. Popper was always a pretty big guy, and he had surgery to alleviate that after having a severe heart attack brought on by years of overeating. He lost over 200 pounds, about half of his old body weight.

7. Anne Rice
Famous author Anne Rice had gastric bypass back in 2003 as a result of severe sleep apnea and other weight related problems. She lost 125 pounds following the surgery.

8. Al Roker
Al Roker was always a famous big man, but he managed to lose over 100 pounds after having gastric bypass surgery in 2002. His waist size quickly dropped from a 54 to a 40.

9. Charlie Weis
Charlie Weis, head football coach at Notre Dame, underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2002 due to fears that his weight would keep him from being considered for big name coaching positions. The surgery was a failure (Weis bled internally for 30 hours, undiagnosed), and Weis has sued his doctors. It worked out however, as Weis got the Notre Dame job despite still being quite obese.

10. Carnie Wilson
Carnie Wilson is one of the bigger gastric bypass success stories that you will find. The former Wilson Phillips singer had always been big, but after undergoing surgery in 1999 she proceeded to lose over 150 pounds.


Quick Look at Weight Loss Surgery in the United States
The popularity of weight loss surgery has grown steadily over the years. There was a 755 percent increase in the number of weight loss surgeries performed in the United States between 1995 (20,000) and 2005 (171,000).

Most of these bariatric surgeries fall into one of two categories: gastric bypass surgery and restrictive banding surgery. Variations on gastric bypass surgery, including the roux-en-y gastric bypass procedure , are currently the most popular weight loss surgeries in the United States. Restrictive banding surgeries, specifically LAP-BAND® System surgery , are more popular overseas, but are gaining popularity in the United States.

Which Celebrity Had Which Weight Loss Surgery?
Many people are interested in knowing which celebrities have undergone which bariatric surgery procedures. Here’s DocShop’s breakdown

Gastric Bypass Surgery
Today, many types of gastric bypass surgeries, like the popular roux-en-y procedure, involve the combination of surgically bypassing a section of the intestines with the creation of a pouch (essentially, a smaller stomach). This type of bariatric surgery is associated with faster weight loss, but can be more expensive and harder to reverse than a gastric banding procedure.

Celebrities who have had traditional gastric bypass weight loss surgery include :

Star Jones (TV personality)
Carnie Wilson (singer in Wilson Phillips, TV personality)
Al Roker (weatherman on Today Show, author)
John Popper (lead singer of Blues Traveler, songwriter)
Michael Genadry (actor)
The Fobi Pouch method is a variation of the roux-en-y gastric bypass procedure, which uses a band to divide the stomach, creating a smaller pouch.

Celebrities who underwent the Fobi Pouch method of gastric bypass surgery include :

Randy Jackson (American Idol judge, musician, record producer)
Roseanne Barr (actress, comedienne)
Etta James (singer)
Jo Marie Payton (actress)
Jennifer Holliday (singer, actress)
LAP-BAND® System Surgery
Unlike gastric bypass surgery, the LAP-BAND® System does not reroute the intestines. Instead, a silicone band is used to create a small pouch at the top of the stomach. Although not as popular in the United States as gastric bypass surgery, LAP-BAND® System surgery is typically less expensive and is both adjustable and reversible.

Celebrities who have had LAP-BAND® surgery include :

Sharon Osbourne (TV personality, music manager/promoter, wife of Ozzy Osbourne)
Ann Wilson (lead singer of the rock band Heart)
Khaliah Ali (fashion designer, author, daughter of Muhammad Ali)
Joe Gannascoli (actor)
Brian Dennehy (actor)
Anne Diamond (British TV personality)
Mikey Robbins (Australian media personality)
Full Disclosure, Acknowledgement, or Denial
When celebrities radically transform their appearance, the public usually wants to know how they did it. Did the celebrity have surgery? Use diet pills? Work out with a trainer for hours at a time?

Almost Too Much Information
Numerous celebrities are willing to disclose that they had surgery. Some announce the surgery through a media outlet or even place the weight loss surgery at center stage. For example, Carnie Wilson had a live Internet broadcast of her gastric bypass surgery in 1999. After going from a size 28 to a size 6, Wilson showed off her new physique by posing for Playboy.

Willing to Share
Not quite as upfront as Carnie Wilson, after initially hiding the fact that he was going to have the surgery, Al Roker allowed a video segment surrounding his gastric bypass surgery to be aired on Dateline. By the time the segment aired, the Today Show weatherman had already lost about 100 pounds.

Other celebrities will acknowledge they underwent surgery if asked, but won't go out of their way to talk about it. Many times, once the weight loss surgery is made public knowledge, a celebrity will be featured in a magazine article or on the website of the surgeon who performed the procedure. Roseanne Barr, America Idol's Randy Jackson, Etta James, and Jo Marie Payton have all been featured in weight loss articles and on the websites of the bariatric surgeons who performed their surgeries.

Deny, Deny, Deny
Some celebrities and public figures will outright deny that they have undergone weight loss surgery. Star Jones, a former member of The View and current host of Star Jones, underwent gastric bypass surgery in the summer of 2003. For the next several years, when asked in interviews if she had undergone weight loss surgery, she said that she had not. Finally, in September 2007, she admitted in Glamour magazine that she had had gastric bypass surgery.

Currently, there is speculation that former Arkansas governor and current hopeful for the Republican presidential nomination Mike Huckabee has undergone some form of bariatric surgery. Huckabee's 100-plus-pound weight loss in less than two years has led many to believe that he must have turned to weight loss surgery. The presidential hopeful denies that he has had surgery and attributes his weight loss to healthy eating habits and exercise.

Is Keeping the Weight Off Easier for Celebrities?
Although weight loss surgery helps take weight off, many people have difficulty keeping that weight off. Some estimates state that about 5 percent of weight loss surgery patients gain back the weight.

How do celebrities fair in this equation? Is it easier for them to keep the weight off because they have the money for trainers, nutritionists, and private chefs? Not necessarily.

Keeping It Off
In many cases, celebrities who have undergone bariatric surgery are able to maintain their weight loss. In the three years since her gastric bypass surgery, Star Jones has lost and kept off 160 pounds. Music legend Etta James loss 200 pounds after her surgery a few years ago and seems to have kept it off.

Struggling with Weight Again
Sharon Osbourne lost over 100 pounds after her LAP-BAND® surgery in 1999; however, in 2006 she announced on the Howard Stern Show that she gained 15 pounds back in the previous year and was having the band removed.

After losing at least 100 pounds, it appears that a back surgery in 2005 has sparked a gradual weight gain for Al Roker.

Still Fighting
Although she is still an avid weight-loss advocate, Carnie Wilson regained some of the 150 pounds that she had lost after giving birth to her daughter in 2005. In 2006, she became a contestant on Celebrity Fit Club and lost 22 pounds during the show.

Carnie Wilson and many other celebrities know that they will constantly need to maintain a healthy diet and exercise program in order to keep off the weight they lost through surgery.

can having weight loss surgery add years to your life not just life to your years?

Weight loss surgery extends lifespan
8/23/07 BATON ROUGE – Gastric bypass and other abdominal surgeries – means of helping severely obese individuals lose large amounts of weight – have gained in popularity as more people see their relatively immediate success in individuals wanting to lose 50, 60 or more pounds. Now, new evidence shows these surgeries may be extending or saving lives.Lars Sjöström, M.D., Ph.D., and Claude Bouchard, Ph.D., of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, were members of an international research team that tracked more than 4,000 obese individuals for upwards of ten years. About half of the individuals underwent bariatric surgery (the general term for various forms of weight loss surgery), the other half received conventional treatments. The researchers have concluded that, “bariatric surgery for severe obesity appears to be associated with long-term weight loss and decreased overall mortality.”Those results are published in the August 23rd issue of The New England Journal of Medicine and, according to the researchers, is the first major report to confirm that weight loss of this magnitude decreases mortality. To the contrary, according to the researchers, some studies had reported in the past that weight loss was associated with increased mortality.“This was an interventional study,” said Bouchard, “meaning we enrolled obese patients into the study who had sought surgery and compared them to a similar group who were undergoing conventional treatment during the same time frame. Previous studies were based on much smaller sample sizes, with shorter follow-up periods and did not have the proper control group for comparison. What we learned is that an often controversial method - surgery - presents clear clinical evidence of being beneficial.”Bouchard said one scientific limitation is that ethically, it is not possible to randomly assign subjects into a surgery group or a non-surgery group. The study compared individuals who had made their treatment decisions individually, so the study examined self-selected groups rather than randomized groups, a situation that is not likely to change in studies of this type. Led by Lars Sjöström, professor at the University of Gothenburg Medical Center and an adjunct and visiting professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the researchers examined 4,047 obese subjects in a long-term study called the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. 2,010 underwent bariatric surgery in one of three forms: gastric bypass, vertical-banded gastroplasty or banding while 2,037 subjects received conventional weight loss treatments. The researchers then tracked the weight, behavior and health indicators of the subjects for an average of 11 years.The average 11-year weight loss of the non-surgery group was less than 2-percent, while the average weight loss among the three surgical groups ranged from 14 to 25-percent.During the study, researchers recorded 129 deaths in the non-surgery group and 101 in the surgery group, most commonly caused by myocardial infarction and cancer. This result indicates a 23-percent reduction in total mortality within the surgical groups. “We count these results as a milestone in our understanding of the benefits of bariatric surgery for obesity,” Bouchard said. “We are confident in the results and believe this will lead to an acceptance that bariatric surgery is a viable, life-saving option for severely obese patients.”

Earth Garden Crunchies (mixed vegetable chips)

I found these at the Natural Pantry in Anchorage. I was looking for something to put in Lilith's lunchbox that had vegetables in it but would travel well and not be too messy for her to feed herself. These chips are great but (She still likes the Just Corn and Just Peas from http://www.justtomatoes.com/ best but they are hard to find here in Alaska)they have added sea salt to make them taste more chip like (it works very well, unfortunately too well). They also have 6 grms of fat from being baked or fried in canola oil.
Each serving (1/3 cup) has 120 calories, 18 grms of carbs, 2 grms of sugar,and 1 grm protein. These puppies can be addictive (especially the sweet potato chips!) but it is still much better to be snacking on these than regular chips. I purchased these for Lilith but ended up loving them myself! I still pack them in her lunch and separate out single serving zip locks for myself when I am having a carb or chip craving.Visit the online Natural pantry store here!