Lose Belly Fat Permanently: My Epiphany Moment
September 15, 2009 by Traci
Filed under Post-Op: Staying on Track
For those who may not follow me on Twitter, you might not know that I have been doing Scott Tousignant’s Fat Loss Quickie Home Office Workout program for the past couple of months or so. I love Scott’s program because it’s just two 10 minute workouts per day: one cardio video and one workout video. I can handle 10 minutes of working out (even though I do not enjoy working out at all) and better yet – I can fit two 10 minute videos into my very busy day. This is a very doable program for me.
Ok – so today I had an epiphany on the why we (and that’s the collective we, that includes me, and anyone else who has struggled with their weight) struggle with losing belly fat and body fat in general. We have tried exercise, diets and nothing really works. It’s a ton of work, often a ton of money – and the results are, at best, slow to see results and usually short term. Once we go back to eating normal portions and we aren’t exercising every day for an hour – the weight piles back on. Frustrating!… and confusing.
So today I found some excellent information about why we struggle with our weight and why dieting and aerobics will not fix the problem.
Watch the video to learn what I found out. I bet you already know this information; yet were not actually doing it.
So, were you like me and shocked that you knew this and really hadn’t been doing this simple thing? Comment below and let me know.
Learning that your focus and efforts were going in the wrong direction is a huge light bulb moment for me.
To YOUR Health,
Traci Knoppe
P.S. Seriously, check out Fat Loss Quickie Home Office Workout, as Scott’s workouts are designed around doing the key thing we need to permanently lose weight! So my finding this information today, only confirmed that Scott’s program is exactly what I need to be doing!!
P.P.S. Here’s a link to the audio when Scott Tousignant interviewed me about my weight loss surgery experience.
Life After Gastric Bypass Surgery
September 7, 2009 by Traci
Filed under Post-Op: Staying on Track
On July 27, 2009 I celebrated my 5 year gastric bypass surgery anniversary. It has been an interesting journey up to this point. The euphoria of newly post-op life and weight loss success has waned and I’m now living in a new phase: the struggle to maintain health.
Not the answer you were expecting?
Hate to tell you, but weight loss surgery is definitely not an easy way out, nor a quick fix for all that ails you. Quite the contrary, I see more and more folks like myself who have essentially traded type II diabetes, hypertension and all the other ailments of pre-op life; for a now a post-op life of osteoporosis, low energy levels, iron infusions and battles to stay well nourished!
If it were only as simple as taking a few vitamins and that’s it – the struggle would not be there. But unfortunately, finding supplements in the proper forms that we can absorb, and equally as important, in the correct amounts to keep our blood work where it needs to be to keep us healthy, is practically a full-time job! I posted on the topic of gastric bypass post-op supplementation two years ago.
Helping Others
Recently I was interviewed by Scott Tousignant, also known as ‘The Fat Loss Quickie’, about my life after weight loss surgery. He asks me if, knowing what I know now – based on the issues I’ve had, would I have the surgery again. My answer is no, I wouldn’t.
My mission is to give an honest post-op life view as I am living it, and how I’m seeing other longer term post-ops are doing overall. If someone has not had the surgery, I’m not going to recommend weight loss surgery as an option, until I give them the honest truth on what life is like. I also want to help those who have already had gastric bypass surgery and are finding they need answers and help. Someone who understands their struggles.
I realize that not every single post-op struggles with post-op nutrition like I do, but a good majority of them do. I’m not referring to those that didn’t follow their surgeon’s post-op supplementation schedule, because to be honest – if we all did that, we’d be in worse shape!
Surgeons are trained to do surgery – they are not trained nutritionists, and even nutritionists are basing their information on a normal digestive system. The gastric bypass digestive system is far from normal – malabsorption is not easily dealt with to keep us healthy. The fact that every person is unique in how their body responds after weight loss surgery is what makes getting help and keeping YOU healthy so difficult.
There are some awesome online support groups with very knowledgeable folks willing to help. Michelle Curran, aka: The VitaLady, is one such person. Michelle and her husband Don both had weight loss surgery; Michelle in October 1994 and Don in October 1995. Michelle is brutally honest about the supplements we need to take, and does not gloss over the importance of taking all that we need and that it is a struggle that can only be won by regular blood work to monitor how you’re doing and adjusting your supplementation schedule based on your labs.
Staying Positive & Staying Focused
Believe it or not, getting your guts rearranged is not a permanent solution to keeping the weight off, if you do not change your eating and exercise habits. The further post-op you get, the more you are able to eat foods that you weren’t immediately post-op. The fact that you’re willing to try to eat foods you know you shouldn’t is clue #1 that you’re veering off track. If this is you, and perhaps a few pounds have crept back on: STOP! Right this very second stop the destructive behavior. There is no more lifelines. No more excuses as to why you’re gaining weight again.YOU are responsible for the food that you eat, and the supplements you take.
If you have not been exercising, then I’ve got a program that will help. I’ve 
been doing Scott’s awesome Home Office Workout, which is broken down into two 10 minute workout sessions per day. Because I have been struggling with low energy, my stamina and ability to do long workouts is not possible; but 10 minutes I can do (and you can too!) and I love Scott’s workout videos!
Exercise as a post-op should be part of our new lifestyle changes. It helps keep you focused on health. So instead of slipping back into bouts of depression and a sedentary lifestyle, we need to stay focused good, healthy habits and a positive attitude.
To YOUR Health,
Traci Knoppe
P.S. If you are a post-op, how is your health? If you’re considering weight loss surgery, do you have any questions? I’m here to help.
Post-Ops: Are You Receiving Gastric Bypass Support?
January 20, 2009 by Traci
Filed under Post-Op: Staying on Track
So you are a year or two (or more) post-op from your gastric bypass surgery: how are you doing? I mean, how are you really doing? Are you still following the plan: good food choices, exercise, supplements (including protein!) and involved in a support group? If not, you may not be doing as well as you think.
I recently addressed the topic of post-op gastric bypass diet on my Squidoo lens, but wanted to go into more detail here on the gastric bypass support aspect of post-op life.
Gastric Bypass Support
If you frequent online support forums, you will notice a majority of the active participants are pre-op through new post-ops. It seems that one year post-op is usually a common time-frame when post-ops’ visits to support forums start to dwindle down to eventually very infrequent to not at all.
Having gone through this phenomenon myself, I know that for me, it was due to getting my ‘life’ back and feeling good enough to get out of the house and go and do things! On one hand, this is a very good thing; but on the other hand, the lack of accountability from those who know and understand this post-op life and body can lead to our downfall into old habits.
I’ve seen it happen over and over again: a post-op, 18 -24 months (or more) out from surgery comes back onto an online support forum devastated because they have gained back 10, 20 or even 50 or more pounds! How could this be? Well, it didn’t happen overnight: it happened one pound at a time just like how we became obese before we had our surgeries. It’s the little, small choices we make that add up and before you know it, they catch up with you and you find yourself dealing with a weight gain issue, or malnourishment issue with labs all out of whack, you feeling like you’ve been hit by a truck, losing hair again, or worse, such as neurological damage or osteoporosis, all because you haven’t been taking your supplements.
How Support Groups Help
They help in two primary ways:
- Accountability. If you have others who are going to hold you accountable in your post-op journey, you are more likely to stick with the gastric bypass diet, nutrition supplementation and exercise to keep you healthy.
- Education. Even though you know a lot about being a post-op, bariatric surgery is still an evolving medical field. What surgeon’s recommended for post-op care and nutritional supplementation 5 years ago, is not the same as today. These changes effect you, even if your surgeon did not tell you these same things at that time. Surgeons are learning too!
Offline or Online Support
I personally feel that both is best. There will be times you can’t make an offline/in-person support group due to weather, other committments or whatever. So having an online support group that’s always there is ideal.
But, offline support, where you are looking folks in the eyeball, can not be matched with online support. If folks are going to actually see you, it’s hard to hide the truth in how you’re really doing and how well you’re staying on track. 
That said, I love online support groups too. There are many fine forums where you can connect with long-term post-ops who have given their time to helping those new to this life. They are paying it forward and helping, just as someone else helped them. You may very well find a wider variety of help online than offline, depending on where you live and what offline support is available to you.
Whether you can obtain the ideal gastric bypass support situation with both offline and online support; it is essential that you do seek out and participate in a gastric bypass support group. It will help your long-term success, and health, as a gastric bypass post-op.
Online Support Resources
A few of my favorites.
ObesityHelp.com Graduates Forum
Gastric Bypass Info Central (yahoo group)
Graduate OSSG (Obesity Surgery Support Group – yahoo group)
Christian WLS Friends (yahoo group)
Gastric Bypass Nutrition Resources
Veriuni Advanced Liquid Nutrition – 98% absorbability liquid multi-vitamins
Supreme Whey Protein – uses hydrolyzed whey peptides for highest bioavailability
Floradix Iron & Herbs – natural liquid iron
Call to Action: get connected with a gastric bypass support group today.
Are you currently part of a gastric bypass support group? Is it online or offline – or do you belong to both? I’d love to hear your weight loss story and why you are, or are not, part of a support group. Post your comments below.
