Oats get a lot of great press for lowering cholesterol and having lots of fiber.  But these benefits really only come from oats that are not super-processed, i.e., not instant oats in a packet.  “Real” oats are called steel cut or Irish oats and can be found in any health food store, and maybe even some groceries.  But they take 20-30 minutes to cook, otherwise it feels like you’re grinding down your teeth with little pebbles.

So here’s the trick: the night before, combine your oats and water and bring to a boil (you can do this while you’re cooking dinner).  As soon as the water boils, cover the pot and take it off the heat.  Now leave it on the stovetop overnight.  In the morning, put the pot back over heat and bring it to a boil.  As soon as it boils (about two minutes), take it off the heat, add some protein powder, Splenda or stevia or whatever other flavorings float your boat and voila! Nearly instant oatmeal with all the benefits of whole oats.

Which reminds me: another trick I’ve learned is that protein powder tends to gum up into little balls if you add it immediately to something super hot (like coffee).  Wait until the oats are a little cooled off, then add the protein about a 1/3 of a scoop at a time instead of all at once, stirring after each addition.  That way, the protein melts into the food instead of glomming up into unattractive, unappetizing blobs.

While I don’t mind doing this a lot of the time, I would much rather teach everyone how to fish instead of just giving them a fish (as it were).  My favorite method of diet education is not, “make this smoothie in the morning, eat this salad at lunch, then finish the day with….” but more, “these kinds of food are good for you, these methods of preparation are calorie dense and therefore poor choices….” etc.  I write these blog posts to help guide people’s eating choices by using solid, healthy nuritional tips.  But I can’t account for differences in taste or particular challenges faced with eating some foods like amount of restriction, lack of access to a variety at the grocery store or lack of cooking skills.

Here’s one example: porcini mushrooms (you know those big, umbrella sized mushrooms?) make great substitutions for steak – you can grill’em, you can lightly brown them in a pan – and they have a  lot fewer calories and shouldn’t present as much of a challenge as steak would to a bandster.  But you know what? I hate, HATE mushrooms.  Can’t stand’em, don’t like the look/smell/texture/taste of them.  So a diet where you had to eat lots of mushrooms all the time would be a terrible fit for me.

All of you have specific likes and dis-likes, foods that go down easily and things that cause a PB as soon as you swallow them.  So I want to help you learn to navigate the supermarket, the restaurant menu and your own pantry, not dictate precisely what you can and can’t eat.  My bandsters that navigate by general principles lose weight without trying too hard.  They just make good choices (sometimes without even counting the calories) and by following the general rules, the pounds melt away.

So what are some of the biggest rules?

Don’t drink your calories (they run right through the band, won’t fill you up and will cause an insulin spike leaving you hungry an hour later)

Avoid anything and everything fried

Eat protein at every meal

Avoid empty carbohydrate-dense calories like white breads, chips, crackers, white rice and stuffing.  Substitute nutrient dense carbs like fruits and veggies

Don’t graze! Eat three meals per day and a protein snack if needed in the afternoon.

Don’t skip breakfast!

NO SWEET TEA!!!!!!

Learn to read nutrition labels so you can start to figure out where some diet saboteurs reside in your food choices

Peanut butter is not a good protein source (but is a great treat)

Avoid dessert in the form of cookies/cakes/candies.  Do start making a piece of super-ripe fruit your go-to dessert choice.

And biggest of all for banded patients: don’t drink with your meals or for at least 30 minutes after your meals. You’ll defeat the whole purpose of the band and it won’t help you with staying satisfied with small portions.

Write a comment and tell me some of YOUR basic rules.  I’m always looking to pass on good suggestions

#1   EAT!!!!  You are not going to lose fat by eating only 450 calories a day.  Your body needs fuel so it’s going to get it one way or another… by you feeding it regularly….or by saving every little morsel you give it…..or by stealing it from your muscles.  I had someone come to me and tell me they had hit a plateau.  So we started going through what she had eaten over the last few days….400 calories one day and 450 calories the next.  Get real…..a 2 year old needs more than that!!!  If you continue to do that you not only stay hungry, maybe not physically hungry but nutritionally hungry, but you are defeating yourself before you even get to the race!  Can’t even slog with so few calories! (that one’s for you Dr. K)  You will learn in your journey that its all about NUTRITION NUTRITION NUTRITION!!  If you think that eating this little will help you lose weight faster then we need to review a few things together….remember it’s nutrition not malnutrition!.  Not only do you feel hungry, you may feel like you are failing because you haven’t lost “enough”.  Of course not….your body is not going to let you with that little to sustain it.  Now you may END UP losing weight…right after you lose a lot of hair…energy….skin tone…..even sex drive….got you with that one didn’t I!!!

#2    Be ready to EAT!!!  But not as a hobby.  Eat to maintain your body.  You chose to have weight loss surgery.  Give up food as a hobby and find a new one.  Believe me I know this one was really hard for me.  What I am trying to say is you need to eat at regular intervals to keep your brain from telling you it is hungry but you don’t need to make it a mission to go to the movies for the popcorn or a picnic for the fried chicken.  On the other hand, you need to prepare for those times that you will be in certain situations….for example, if you are going to a movie and think you may need a snack then prepare for it….don’t let the concession stand be your only option…..I’m here to tell you that they do not search your purse or coat pockets for healthy snacks upon entering the theater.

#3   EAT with your family.  Just because you have had weight loss surgery doesn’t mean everyone in your family needs to lose weight.  There are going to be times when they have things you can’t tolerate and it WILL get to a point that it is OK with you.  You can still enjoy the time around the table with your family. You don’t have to be segregated to the table in the corner or wait until everyone else is done.   When he was in high school my son told me….”Mom, we are so lucky we get to eat dinner together every night.  My friends don’t have that.”(Yes, I cried later) Dinner is a bonding time for a lot of families….a time to fulfill more than our nutritional needs. But it can also be a time of realization for your whole family. Sometimes the “starving to death” feeling has nothing to do with food….it is an emotional need that requires fulfillment.  The pleasure we feel when our kids enjoy our cooking is sometimes beyond words.  Let your family see the person (you) who cares enough about them to take care of yourself.   In learning how to satisfy your own needs you can help your family learn how to help you. They aren’t going to know what you can eat until you tell or show them! (Inspired by last support group topic “how to not let your loved ones sabotage your weight loss”) What better example can we set…..OK, so there may be some better but let’s pretend this is the most important one   See you at Wadley,  November 9th @ 7PM for support group —Lori

We really encourage people to drink water because it’s a fundamental component of weight loss.  Our brains are wired so that thirst is often mistaken for hunger.  Staying well hydrated is therefore an easy way to stave off hunger.  Before reaching for a high fat, high calorie snack, have 8 oz of water.  If you’re still hungry 20 minutes later, then it’s likely actual hunger, but you may often be surprised that the drinking alone knocked out the snack hunger pangs.

If you have some water 15-30 minutes before eating, you will likely eat less at the subsequent meal.  Again, you knock the edge off the hunger and the water will fill up your stomach a little bit, so you’ll end up eating less.  Drinking very cold ice-water 3-4 times per day may also help boost your metabolism.  Your body actually has to burn calories to raise your body temperature back up after your core temperature is dropped by the ice-water.  While this is only a temporary effect, every calorie burned is a few less you have to worry about, so why not try it? 

Did you know that even slight dehydration can be a major contributor to fatigue?  It’s true!  Steadily drinking water throughout the day so that you maintain a good level of hydration can really give you an energy boost (which of course will give you the kick you need to exercise…. just sayin’).  Dehydration is also one of the primary common causes of headaches.  So water will make me more energetic with fewer headaches?  Sign me up!

The best thing about water of course, is that it’s cheap, it has no calories and no carbonation.  While I freely admit that our local water is fairly revolting tasting, you’d be amazed how good it becomes with a simple tap filter you can buy at WalMart for about $12 and replace every 3 months or so.  Somewhat counter-intuitively, drinking lots of water can help keep bloating and swelling down.  Because drinking more water will make you urinate more and urinating also eliminates sodium, you end up overall with less swelling-causing saltwater in your body.  The decrease in bloating comes from the number one worst complication of even mild dehydration: constipation.  Drinking 6-8 glasses of water per day can eliminate constipation in many people without medications or fiber supplements.

What will water not do?  It contains a few minerals, but overall doesn’t have a whole lot of nutrients.  I’ve never understood exactly what “toxins” people claim are flushed out by water (or by enemas, but that’s a different subject) so that’s a myth.  Water won’t prevent cancer.  And as mentioned earlier, bottled water is no healthier than tap water.

But with those few caveats, water is a cheap, universally available diet aide.  Try it! You may establish a habit for life

-”make and take your own lunch” to work or school.  It’s radically cheaper and you can make sure you’re getting exactly what you need nutritionally without hidden calories

-it’s harder to get fat from food you pray over. Meaning: food prepared at home, eaten slowly with your family (after a nice grace is much less likely to allow you to overeat and is much more likely to be healthy than food grabbed from a drive-thru fast food joint

-”if you’re not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you’re not hungry”  I love this and want to start making this one of my rules!

-don’t eat foods that contain the “oh” sound in their name: Doritos, Fritos, Cheetos, Ho-Ho’s

-”it’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor” – healthy foods may be more expensive than junk food, but in the end you won’t get diabetes or high blood pressure.

-”don’t eat egg salad out of a vending machine” . It may look relatively good through the glass, but not only is there very little in a vending machine that’s good for you, but you might get food poisoning to boot.  Ewwwww.  So avoid eating from machines you have to feed coins into.

-”nobody gets up from the table before they’ve eaten fruit.” This insures that you get some sort of fruit/veggie at every meal and will likely cut the post-meal impulse to have dessert.  Fruit & veggies have fiber and will keep you fuller, longer.

The sweet signora did not speak any English.  I spoke only  rudimentary Italian.  So the first night I was there we had a kind of stunted conversation with my dictionary open on the table.  While she cooked her meal, she tried to explain to me why she stayed so healthy and vigorous at her advanced age.  She said the key was ”mangiare tutti i colori dell’arcobaleno”.  Being as confused as you might be at that sentence, I started looking up some of the words.  I knew mangiare = eat, tutti = all, i colori = the colors, dell = of the ….. but what was arcobaleno? 

The definition of arocobaleno in my Italian/English dictionary was rainbow.   When I looked at quizically she said, “si, si! Come i fiori!” Like flowers?!? I thought.  My impression was of either a demented woman who habitually chewed on daisies in the front yard or a serious failure of communication.

But colors and flowers were what she meant.  She actually did eat some flowers (violets), but her main point was that one’s plate should be varied in color, not just one bland sea of white or beige.  I’ve thought of this again recently when discussing food choices with Band patients.  A lot of the things that are good for you are found in the colors of the rainbow: red tomatoes and strawberries, purple eggplant and onions, blueberries with all their anti-oxidants, yellow squash and all the many wonderful variations of green that you can find in the vegetable section of the grocery store.

What do you not see in a rainbow?  White and taupe.  White like rice, pasta, Wonder Bread.  Taupe like gravy, french fries and chips. 

Try this: try not eating white or taupe foods for a week.  You may substitute brown rice or whole grain bread, but don’t eat anything that is pure white or dingy taupe.  No coffee creamer, no whole milk, no mashed potatoes with butter.  No oils – except for olive (which is good for you in moderation) these are all dingy brownish taupe.  Do see how many different colors you can get on your plate.  With these simple rules, you’ll avoid lots of empty calories of high-glycemic carbs and fat and you’ll load up on taste, texture, anti-oxidants and vitamins (not to mention fiber). 

Who knows?  With all the money you save on white/taupe fast food, you might be able to take a trip to Italy someday.

“Normally, our body is primed to say when we’ve had enough, but that doesn’t always happen when we’re eating something good,” said Dr. Deborah Clegg, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and senior author of the rodent study appearing in the September issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

“What we’ve shown in this study is that someone’s entire brain chemistry can change in a very short period of time. Our findings suggest that when you eat something high in fat, your brain gets ‘hit’ with the fatty acids, and you become resistant to insulin and leptin,” Dr. Clegg said. “Since you’re not being told by the brain to stop eating, you overeat.”

Dr. Clegg said that even though the findings are in animals, they reinforce the common dietary recommendation that individuals limit their saturated fat intake. “It causes you to eat more,” she said.

What is not known at this point is how long the effect lasts in humans.  So I suggest the following experiment: cut out all saturated fats from your diet for 3 days and try eating 40g of fat or less for same 3 days and then honestly evaluate your hunger level.  I’m willing to bet you’ll experience a little less craving for ice-cream and fries than you did before.

The most common time for hair loss is 3-4 months post-operatively and the explanation for it requires a quick lesson  on hair growth.  At any given moment, about 90% of the hair on your head is in a growth phase, growing at an average of about an inch per month.  The remaining 10% is in a resting, or dormant, phase in which it is not growing at all.  This hair is “pre-death” as it were and is hair that is likely to fall out after several months and not do much growing.  Surgery or any physically traumatic event (including serious illness, childbirth) will cause a greater percentage of the hair on your head to enter the resting phase, so 3-4 months later you suddenly start noticing all this hair falling out.  It will likely look a little thinner somewhat before then since there will be a greater percentage of your hair that is not in the growing phase.  This is usually a one time occurance, and after the hair falls out, the hair on your head usually returns to the normal 90%/10% split and appear normal to you.

The more concerning hair loss occurs because of malnutrition.  This can occur after large weight loss and is associated with a diet low in biotin, folate and protein.  Low levels of any of these nutrients in the diet can cause brittle hair that is not well anchored to the scalp and is easy to break or pull out, causing thinning of the overall appearance of the hair.  This loss can only be remedied by increasing protein intake (for Lap Band patients we suggest 40-60g protein per day, gastric bypass patients may require even more, and both sets of patients will need more if they are very physically active) and by taking vitamins.  Most Lap Band patients can prevent hair loss with 1-2 multivitamins per day, gastric bypass patients should consult their doctor since they may need 2 multivitamins and other more specific supplements each day depending on the type of operation they had.

So the bottom line is this: if you develop a sudden hair loss in the 3-4 month range after surgery, don’t worry too much.  Do, for the sake of completeness, make sure your protein and vitamin intake is adequate, but mostly we’re going to tell you not to worry too much as it’s likely to grow back normally without much outside intervention.  Hair loss at other times should prompt a discussion with your doctor about your diet.