Lessons of Vegas……

This has been a crazy week for sure.  This time one week ago I was arriving in Las Vegas for the Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America 2012 Meet and Greet as a board member and speaker.  I cannot tell you how excited I was to be there.  I was really looking forward to meeting so many of you who listen to my show each week and also to meeting with some of the vendors.  There were board members I had never met in person and I couldn’t wait for our face to face board meeting.

The fact that my good friend Cari De La Cruz was going to be my roomie since Ben wasn’t there just added to my excitement.  I had my entire weekend totally planned out. I knew how I was going to schedule my time to get to meet with as many of my current and potential sponsors as possible, knew the timing so that I could attend the talks of all of my friends and others I was interested in, and knew when I would be where for the entire weekend.

Boy did I get a BIG wake-up call Friday afternoon that smacked me dead in the face and said “YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL”   I never really thought of myself as a control freak before, but after this past weekend, I have to revisit that thought.

Lesson 1.- WE ARE NEVER AS IN CONTROL AS WE THINK- my plans changed drastically when I was on my way to a meeting with a potential new sponsor and took a major hard fall.  Suddenly I could barely walk and had little control over my plans for the weekend.  Suddenly there were two meetings for that afternoon that I simply was NOT going to be able to physically make it to and I had to just suck it up and deal with the circumstances.  Was I happy about it?  Of course not!  Could I change it?  NOPE.

Two of my dearest friends, Cari De La Cruz and Dr. Connie Stapleton- both from “A Post-op and a Doc”- always talk about living life on life’s terms.  Yep, I get it now.  After the last five days I totally get it for sure!  I actually had to give my talk on crutches! Yvonne McCarthy snapped a picture of that one for me!  My first ever talk done on crutches!

Lesson 2.- WE ALL NEED GOOD FRIENDS AND TRUE FRIENDS- I am one of those people who likes to do for others.  Sometimes I can be a bit of a “mother hen” and literally get pleasure out of doing for other people.  I love to have a house full of guests and see them having a good time and enjoying a nice meal Ben and I have made for them.  I love the look on my kids’ faces when we surprise them with something, or the look on a friends’ face when they open a gift that I picked out.  I just love seeing people happy in general.  I am a sap.  I freely admit that.

Letting people do for me is hard.  But this past weekend, I had to let people take care of me.  I learned so much about how amazing my friends are.  When I went to the Friday night function, I was trying so hard to be tough and walk and after being introduced with the rest of the board, I knew I needed to go back to my room.  I couldn’t do it.  Frank Surace, a very good friend, actually had to prop me up on his arm to get me back to my room.  Frank tried to get me a wheelchair but I just couldn’t sit.  With Ben not there with me, Frank stepped up and really filled in for the Guru Chef.  I truly do not know how I would have gotten back to my room without his assistance.  Ben was so grateful for his help.   Cari De La Cruz and Connie Stapleton went to the front desk for me, got the EMT to come to the room and once the paramedics got to the hotel, Connie and her husband and Cari stayed at the hospital with me until 2:30 am, knowing they had to speak the next morning.  All five of us were functioning on very little sleep Saturday, but all managed to do our talks and I couldn’t even tell that my friends were sleep-deprived.

Here I am about to head to the hospital and I think I am saying something about how I cannot believe I am on a gurney and about to take first ambulance ride in Las Vegas of all places!

Every time I needed food, or had something to carry, my friends were there for me.  If Cari had not been my roommate, I do not know how I would have functioned.  If Connie and Steve had not gone to get my medicine from the pharmacy, I do not know how I would have managed.  I didn’t get to go to the rest of the afternoon talks, as I had to do mine and hobble back up to my room on crutches and take pain meds and sleep so I could do the Disney presentation that evening.  I was upset, but hey, it was what it was and I made the best of it.  I don’t think there are words I can say that will fully express my gratitude to my friends and all they did for me.  I truly love them all.

I laid in my bed Sunday night at the hotel thinking and it hit me- all of these people who were so kind to me- I had just met a year earlier.  IN VEGAS!  It really hit me that it doesn’t matter how long you have known someone, and that true friendship is not measured in time or years for sure.  These people are like my family, s many in the bariatric community are.

All weekend, so many people were offering to help me and expressing kindness and it was really humbling.  This is a community of really awesome people.

Lesson 3.- TRANSFER-ADDICTION IS REAL.- The last lesson I took away from Vegas, and the one that I really want all of you to take to heart, is the reality of transfer addiction. Dr. Connie and Cari speak to this issue a lot and I saw some really concerning things during the short amount of time i was able to be at events.  When we can no longer use food to numb and comfort that empty place inside, it is easy to find something else to try and take its place.  I am seeing that for many that something is alcohol.  Now, don’t get me wrong- I am not saying that a post-op should never have a drink.  I, myself like to have a cocktail with my husband on special occasions and will usually order a shot of rum and a diet coke separately and can make one shot last all night through three t0 four drinks.  What concerns me is when I see people who are bariatric patients literally passed out in the hallways of the hotel, unable to speak, and at a total loss of self-control.

This scares me.  It is a really slippery slope and I would just urge all of you in the community to tread with caution in the area of alcohol.  All of the empty calories aside, just remember that NOTHING will fill that empty place inside until we get some therapy or talk to someone and find out why it is empty.  Food, alcohol, sex, drugs, exercise, shopping, and anything else you can become addicted to, will never fill that hole.

I have one client who literally lost everything.  She became so addicted to alcohol three years after her bypass that she lost her husband and kids, her job, her friends, and everything else.  My heart broke for her and she is now in therapy and trying to regain control of her life.  Her therapist is working on her addictions and I am helping her with the nutrition and exercise and she is making great progress.

We all have worked so hard to get healthy and lose the weight and shake the food addiction, so just be careful not to ruin all of that hard work!  please know that I do not talk about this to be preachy or bossy or judgemental, but because I love this community so much and I hate seeing amazing people fall prey to addictive behaviors that can ruin all of the progress you have made in this journey!

Although the weekend didn’t turn out the way I had planned and I didn’t get to spend as much time with all of you as I would like, it was still fun and I still take home a lot of funny memories and laughs and heart-warming moments that remind me why I love this community so very much.  Seeing hundreds of you all together in one place celebrating our new healthy lives literally warms my heart and makes me realize way I am so passionate about this community and doing all I can to help this community.

Yep, I am all about the warm fuzzies and seeing all of you together celebrating and laughing and looking for the camera and being confident and happy made the entire weekend worth it for me.  I am more convinced than ever that this is a community of strong, confident, and courageous people.  Thank you for accepting me as a part of this community through my radio show, conferences, and other programs.  I am proud to be one of you!

Thanks to Antonia and the rest of the WLSFA board and volunteers for making this a great event once again!

XXOO

Erin

McDonald’s at the Olympics…….IN the athletes’ village……REALLY?

When times get rough, it can be hard not to sell out.  Trust me, I get it.  There are many times when we do a Bariatric Breakthrough Challenge and it costs us money in the end.  All part of the growing pains of a new business.  I get emails often from some crazy companies wanting me to promote their product or service and wanting to advertise on my show or in the conference.  I always have to say no.

While I am sure my financial situation would be MUCH better if I hawked every product that came across my desk, my mental state and my sense of integrity would be shot to pieces.    I just cannot do that to myself.  I also have a HUGE level of responsibility to my family and to the WLSFA (Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America) since I am on their board of directors.  How would it look to see the Vice-President of Childhood Obesity Education and Prevention Programs promoting a fast-food chain or brand of beer?  Not too good.

This brings me to the point of this whole thing.  On my radio show tonight, I will be talking about the sponsorship by McDonald’s of the Olympic Games.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

WHAT CONNECTION CAN YOU POSSIBLY MAKE BETWEEN ATHLETICS AND FITNESS AND EATING ANYTHING FROM MC DONALD’S????

To me this is the absolute epitome of selling out.  Not only is McDonald’s a sponsor of the games, they are also be putting its’ largest franchise in the world at the Olympic Park.  This new restaurant (is it really fair to call a place giving us fat, chemicals, and processed garbage in between two pieces of bread a restaurant?)  will seat over 1500 customers and will be two-story.  There will also be another McDonald’s in the athletes’ village.

MCDONALD’S IN THE ATHLETES’ VILLAGE? I would love to interview a handful of them and ask how many will be chowing down on a Big Mac (540 calories, 29 grams of fat, 1040mg sodium) or a 6 piece Chicken McNuggets (280 calories, 17 grams of fat, 600mg sodium)?  Something tells me NOT MANY!  This is sending a terrible message to the millions of impressionable kids who will watch these games and watch their heroes and dream of one day being an Olympic athlete themselves.  If anyone is naive enough to think kids will not be asking their parents to take them to McDonald’s even more after being pounded with advertising from them during the games need to wake up.  It will happen.

A quote from an interview with Terence Stephenson, a spokesman for the Academy of Royal Medical colleges really sums it all up.  ”It’s very sad that an event that celebrates the very best of athletic achievements should be sponsored by companies contributing to the obesity problem and unhealthy habits.”  I have to agree.  Obesity costs this country billions and billions of dollars a year.  Do we really think promoting patronage of McDonald’s is going to help this?

America is not the only country with an obesity issue.  The games are in London this summer and about 25% of the British population are obese with the number expected to climb to nearly 50% by 2030 according to experts in that country.

How can we even dream of associating fitness and athleticism with fast food and processed garbage?  This whole thing is beyond insane to me.  It is a sad example of selling out for money.  We are taking a huge group of runners to participate in the 2012 Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  Do you think for a minute there will be ONE bit of fast-food suggested during our training plan?  NOT HARDLY!

To me, when we take our kids to places like this to eat, we are selling out as well.  We are selling out for the sake of convenience and in many cases, to keep our kids quiet.  Of course kids are begging to go to fast food restaurants.  They are bombarded with advertising from these places and also with the effects of the food.  The food industry does an excellent job of manufacturing flavor combinations and chemical combinations that make us crave these convenience items.  Don’t believe me?  Research it yourself.  They make no secret of these facts at all.  If you have Netflix, check out Food Inc, Forks Over Knives, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, and Supersize Me.

There is a reason you cannot eat just one Lay’s chip and a reason why you crave the taste of that Big Mac.  These guys are pros who know how to combine salt sugar and fat in such a way that our brains literally crave the food like a drug.  Many of these engineers used to work in the tobacco industry as well.

Sure it is quick and easy and cheap to run through a drive through and hit up the 99 cent menu, but why would we do that? Why would we sell out our overall health and well-being for the sake of saving a few minutes or a few dollars.  Fresh fruits and veggies can be prepared at a low coast with amazing health benefits.  We teach this to people every day through our programs.

There is no place for fast food to be connected to athletic competition and there is no place for regular use of the stuff in our homes either.  I know life is busy and we can get into situations where we need fast and cheap.  THERE ARE BETTER CHOICES.  If we know we have a hectic week coming up with kids activities, work, and other things, we prepare on the weekend and make meals and freeze them.  The last time we got ourselves into a jam and failed to prepare and had to stop at a fast food restaurant, both Ben and myself and two of our kids who were with all got so sick.

Why did we get sick?  It is simple- our bodies are no longer used to eating trash food. Our bodies are used to clean and nutrient-dense food and the shock to our systems was just too much.  Lesson learned the hard way.

I personally sleep better at night knowing that I turned down the advertising dollars from businesses that I felt contradicted The Bariatric Guru message of good health and fitness.  It is a shame an organization as large as the Olympic games cannot do the same.

I cannot speak for every athlete out there, but I think if you took a poll of every person in America who regularly engages in some type of sport, or who is a runner, swimmer, biker, etc. and ask them how often they eat at fast-food restaurants, the answer will be VERY RARELY.  And if you ask what they eat to fuel for sport and to recover after sport, I can almost guarantee NONE eat greasy fast-food!

We only get one body, and one life and it is never too late to get it to a healthy state and cut the crud! Once you do it, your body will thank you in many ways!

XXOO

Erin

Where is our sense of VALUE as a society?????

Value…..if you really stop and think about the word, what is the first thing that comes to mind?  The way we as a society tend to define value these days  seems just a bit warped to me.  When did our society become so misled and misfed that the idea of value became “more is better” and “bigger is better?”  When did we decide to define value strictly on the basis of cost? Restaurants and convenience food manufacturers keep making food portions bigger and bigger and the ingredients just seem to get worse and worse.

Even on television, we make a sport out of being able to eat insane portions of food.  I can think of at least three shows on right now that celebrate gluttony.  What is going on?  In the day of our grandparents, there was great value in growing and gathering and preparing good meals with little to no processing and the obesity rates were nowhere near what they are today.

This whole idea of wanting more and more for less and less, and wanting it faster and faster is exactly WHY we are becoming one of the most obese nations in the world. At what point did it become acceptable to define value as simply the price of something compared to the quantity? VALUE MEALS??? – What “value” is there in a meal that is filled with fat, sugar, preservatives, chemicals, and little to no nutrients?  Why do we buy into the idea that cheap= good value?

If we really want to tackle the issue of obesity in this country and especially childhood obesity, we have first got to redefine what true value is for each of us.  I hear people say to me all the time “Erin, it is just too expensive and takes too long to cook and eat healthy meals.  We are a busy family and just do not have time.”  Well, pardon my French but I call BS on that one.

Trust me, I know all about life being busy.  My kids are all involved in sports and different clubs and organizations and my husband is very involved in his Mardi Gras society and so we know ALL ABOUT having a household of people all running in different directions.   It all boils down to priorities.  The same people who are telling me they do not have time to cook a healthy meal are the same ones who I know spend at least 2-3 hours a day watching  television.  I have a real problem with parents who feed their kids processed fatty garbage on a daily basis because of what they call “time constraints” but find the time to watch TV.  Am I the only one who sees a problem with this?

There are many times for us during the week that we really are so crazy busy that there is not a lot of time for cooking.  This is why we often cook on Sunday for the week and put meals in the freezer.  This can turn into a great weekly family project.  Let the kids help plan the meals and then spend a Sunday afternoon together in the kitchen preparing your meals for the week.  This does much more good than you realize.  You are not only teaching your kids to cook, which will help them avoid a life of fast food and obesity, but you are also spending quality time as a family. When kids take ownership and feel the sense of pride that comes with helping ti prepare the family meal, they will eat better.  What kid would rather hit the drive-thru than help cook a good meal?  Not many!

For the same two hours that you all spend watching a movie together, spend that two hours cooking and see how much fun you have.  Life is all about priorities and there is always time to do the things we want to do, the question is WHAT do we REALLY WANT to do and make time for doing?

We are bringing up a generation that is the most obese in this nation’s history and that is such a huge disservice to our kids.  For many American kids, a home-cooked meal is a treat and fast-food is the norm. There is absolutely no VALUE in pumping fast food burgers and deep fried potatoes and sugar-laden sodas into our families.

A lot of people also try to use the excuse of cost when defending the choice to eat fast food three times a week.  Good food does not have to cost a fortune.  We have two kids still in the home.  if I were to take them to McDonalds and get the four of us value meals, the total bill would be about 20-25 dollars.  For less than 15 dollars, I can go to Wal Mart and get several different meals that are nutrient-dense and healthy and even feed us more than one meal in some cases.

Take a look at these meals that cost less for a family of four than a “VALUE” meal at a fast food joint-

Red beans with ham and brown rice-

Baked chicken with green beans and a salad

Vegetable soup

Whole wheat spaghetti with marinara sauce

Sugar free teriyaki chicken with brown rice

I could go on and on and on.  Don’t get me wrong, we still like to eat out and do that about once a week.  We do not eat out at burger joints, but at restaurants where we can get a good healthy meal.  To me, there is great value in going to a restaurant and sitting down to a freshly prepared meal that is healthy and enjoying the atmosphere and great conversation.  This can also be done on a budget.  Every city has coupons and deals and offers that can make eating out less pricey.  If you really think about the portions most places serve, you can share an entree with your someone and both have PLENTY of food at most restaurants.

The value of what we put into our mouths and what we feed our families and spend money on should be defined by more than just the price.  Processed convenience foods in most cases do not have much nutritional value or even cost value when you think about what is in them.  Going and buying fresh or frozen veggies and fruits and using that instead of canned does not cost that much more.

For my family it is all about priorities.  I refuse to go to Starbucks and pay five dollars for a coffee that is usually too strong and bitter.  My husband is a way better barista than any of them anyway!  I make my coffee drinks at home and use that money for other things.  It absolutely kills me to hear people saying they cannot afford to cook healthy for their family as they sip a $5.00 latte.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

The bottom line is that value has very little to do with price. How much value is there in a really cheap car that doesn’t run?  We should place the same, if not MORE importance on what we fuel our bodies with each day.  We only get one body and when we all decided to lose a large amount of weight and start recovering from obesity, we were given a second chance and should never take that for granted.  We also have an obligation to our kids to fuel them properly and avoid sending them down the unhealthy path we took that led to disease and morbid obesity.

I could NEVER in good conscience sit and eat a healthy meal as my children chowed down on junk food!  If the healthy food costs a little bit more in some cases, PAY it.  If it takes a little longer to prepare healthy meals, DO it!  In the long run, the investment in your health and the health of your family will turn out to be priceless!

XXOO

Erin

 

Can YOU cut the crud?

We eat so much crud in this country.  I do not think many of us realize just how many chemicals and how much garbage we take in on a daily basis.  I am convinced that the large amount of processed foods we eat are not only a HUGE contributing factor to the obesity problem in this country, but also to other illnesses as well.

It just doesn’t seem like a coincidence to me that the more we have turned into a society of convenience and fast foods and boxed meals, the higher our rates of cancer and heart disease and other diseases have gone.  I received this photo from a lady named Theresa who we met in Ephrata, PA at the Bariatric Breakthrough Challenge we did there.

Everyone who knows me knows the stories of my literal Dorito addiction and my episodes of LICKING them after my surgery.  WHAT THE HECK WAS I THINKING???

Ever since researching and realizing just what all of this was doing to our bodies, Ben and I have become staunch advocates of trying to eliminate all of the processed foods from our diets.  We try to follow the lead that if it doesn’t come from nature, we do not need to put it in our bodies.  I am even trying to make myself switch from Splenda to Stevia….and that is a work in progress.

I can tell you that both Ben and I are feeling SO GOOD since we removed the preservatives and additives and processed foods from our diets. We both see fewer aches and pains, more energy, and my skin even looks better!

Have you ever looked at your food and wondered why it looks the way it looks?  Do you know why apples and strawberries and tomatoes are red?  Do you know why cucumbers and bell peppers and green beans are green?  Every food that you eat that comes from nature gets that color from the micro nutrients that it provides. There is a reason we need to eat a rainbow of colors every day, and I am NOT talking about a bag of Skittles!

If we are ever going to really get this obesity epidemic under control, we have got to start knowing what we are putting into our bodies.  Have you ever actually read the list of ingredients in most processed foods?   This is not the way our bodies were intended to be nourished.  Everything we NEED to be strong and healthy and fit can be found in nature.

Have you ever asked yourself WHY 10 year old girls have breasts bigger than some 15 year olds from 20 years ago?  What did we think would happen if we pump chickens with hormones to make their breasts huge because as a country we have adopted the “bigger is better” philosophy and want more and want it faster and want it with little effort?

It is shocking to me how many people tell me they DAYS go by where they eat little to no fruits and veggies.  Our bodies literally CRAVE the nutrients and they help all of our different systems to function properly.  Additives and chemicals do not aid our bodies in any way.

I have a challenge for all of you.  CAN YOU GO 15 DAYS WITHOUT THE CRUD?

I want to see how many of my Gurus can go 15 days without putting processed foods and chemicals into their bodies.  Here is how it will work.

1. Make a pledge to eat nothing processed for the next 15 days.  No boxed meals, no junk food, none of that.  My only concession will be Splenda and sweeteners.  Other than that, NOTHING artificial.  For example- fruits and veggies need to be fresh or frozen.  NOTHING FROM A CAN!  Canned goods are filled with chemicals and sodium.  Proteins and meats need to be non-processed and not canned.  No lunch meats etc.

2. Pledge to eat at LEAST five servings of colorful fruits and veggies per day and this does not include french fries and white potatoes!

3. Pledge to eat nothing fried for this period.  Everything is broiled, steamed, or baked.

4. Pledge to take your vitamins daily as prescribed by your surgeon.

5. Post how you did AT LEASTevery three days.  Feel free to post photos if you see improvements in your skin or losses on the scale.

At the end of 15 days, we will randomly draw one person from the posts so remember-every post is an entry.  Feel free to post up to 15 times, but at least every three days!

THE WINNER WILL GET AN AWESOME PRIZE PACK OF VITAMINS FROM Bariatric Advantage, Wellesse, and Pharmics!

I PROMISE YOU WILL FEEL AWESOME ONCE YOU CUT THE CRUD!  COMMENT HERE TO LET US KNOW YOU ARE PARTICIPATING!

CONTEST STARTS TOMORROW FEBRUARY 20TH AND RUNS THROUGH MARCH 6TH- ONE OF MY FAVORITE DAYS OF THE YEAR!

xxoo

Erin

Super Bowl menu can be SUPER HEALTHY!

We always have friends and family over for the Super Bowl.  The Bariatric Guru family loves to host this event.  While I admit that I really have no connection to either team, I am always up for an excuse to entertain and be with the people I love.

When most people think of football food, they think of hot dogs and burgers and nachos and chips and cheese sauce.  If you have ever been to a Bariatric Breakthrough Challenge, or heard me speak anywhere around the country, then you know about my past and my Dorito addiction!  Those things are off-limits!

I am here to tell you that you CAN serve a healthy menu for the big game.  The Guru Chef- also known as my husband Ben, makes some delicious buffalo chicken bites that my kids literally fight over!  Healthy can be yummy!

We use these recipes quite often now and our friends love them!  Keep in mind, that calories, protein, carbs, etc will vary based on your portion sizes, so be sure to do the math! You will find links to nutrition info for each item inside the recipes.

For the main course- (this is mainly for Cari de la Cruz) we will serve:

Spaghetti squash with ground turkey marinara.  

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.      Split open the spaghetti squash and scoop out the seeds. Season as you like.  Our usual choice is a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and olive oil.  Just drizzle the oil and do not use too much.  Then spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and turn the seasoned halves face down on the sheet.  Bake for about 1-1 1/2 until you can touch the outside skin and it is soft and mushy. time will vary based on the size of the squash. While the squash is cooking, make your sauce.  Bottled spaghetti sauces are so full of added sugars and preservatives.  We prefer to make our own and it is so easy!

4 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, 1 tbsp chopped garlic, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp olive oil. 1 lb ground turkey

Brown the turkey in a skillet and drain the fat. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer  down for about 20 minutes.  Feel free to tweak to your taste and add things like Italian seasonings or anything else you like in traditional spaghetti.

Once the squash is done, take a fork and rake it out and it will look just like spaghetti!  Toss with the sauce and serve!

My kids love this and do not even miss the carby empty calories of pasta!

People like to snack throughout the game and so these are some great snack ideas.

Chef Ben’s boneless buffalo chicken bites

5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces, Bran Flakes, Frank’s Hot Sauce, salt, and pepper.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place chicken in large bowl.  Salt and pepper to taste. Pour in the Frank’s and use enough to coast the chicken and toss until all pieces are well-coated.   Fill a gallon-size Ziploc bag with Bran Flakes. Smash to a pulp until they are well-ground.  (this is my part- Ben always let’s me do this and it is GREAT therapy!)  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Roll each piece of coated chicken in the cereal and place on the cookie sheet.  Place in oven for approx. 25 minutes or until chicken is done and outside coating is crisp and crunchy and browned.

A great dip for these is our Greek Yogurt ranch dip and dressing!

This recipe is tweaked just a bit to also become a salad dressing.  Often times, the worst part of a salad, nutritionally, is the dressing.  Not with this option!  Same thing is true with many dips.  This is a great choice with lots of protein and no fat!

Ranch dip-

1 16oz container of PLAIN Greek yogurt, 1 packet of dry Ranch dressing mix

MIX IT UP AND DIP YOUR FAVORITE RAW VEGGIES INTO IT!

The whole container has 360 cals, 0 fat, 32 carbs (mostly natural dairy carbs), and 46 grams of protein.

Ranch dressing- 

Same as above but add 1 cup of skim milk (use more or less depending on how thick you like it)

The whole batch has 440 calories, 0 fat, 48 carb (mostly natural dairy sugar carbs), and 54 grams of protein. You can do different things to make different variations.  Sometimes we add cajun spices, or salsa, or anything else that you like to season with!

Dipping the chicken bites into this is a favorite in our home.  You can also dip Veggie Straws into the dip. A serving says 38 pieces, but of course as a bariatric patient we always recommend a half serving.

These also come in an apple flavor and are called apple straws.  Those go great with our sweet version of Greek Yogurt dip!  Try this one with fresh fruit too!

Sweet Greek Yogurt Dip

1 container PLAIN Greek yogurt

2-4 tbsp of sugar free vanilla syrup (or you can also use Splenda, sugar-free honey, sugar-free maple syrup, or any sweetener of your choice)

I also add a touch of cinnamon and it gives it a nice kick.

For crunch- sprinkle with Fiber One original to taste. ENJOY!

YOU CAN ALSO USE GREEK YOGURT AS A HEALTHY SUBSTITUTE FOR SOUR CREAM!

The last big party we had, we did a Greek yogurt bar.  The kids loved it just as much as they would an ice cream bar.

We had the plain Greek yogurt in a bowl and had in little dishes- sugar free honey, sugar free Torani syrups in different flavors, Bear Naked Fit Vanilla Almond granola, blueberries, sliced strawberries, chopped nuts, Fiber One original and anything healthy that you can think of to mix in with the yogurt.  This is always such a big hit!  PACKED with protein and satisfies that sweet tooth!

We will also have a cheese tray made from wedges of all the different flavors of Laughing Cow wedges.  They are so yummy and only have 35 calories per wedge.  We serve the cheese with my FAVORITE LOW CARB LOW CALORIE Cracker.  34 Degrees Crispbreads Whole wheat flavor.  These are amazing and  9 crackers have 35 calories and 7 grams of carbs.

Another great snack is to take canned garbanzo beans and lay them out of paper towels and dry most of the moisture off of them.  Drizzle a cookie sheet with olive oil and then spread the beans on the sheet and  roll the beans until lightly coated with the olive oil.  Then add your favorite seasonings and bake at 400 degrees until crisp and brown.  We usually have to try them a few times.  The key to making them crunch is draining ALL of the liquid out and also be sure to really pat them dry with paper towels.  If you do not do this, they will never get that crunch.  As for seasonings, we love to use garlic and salt and cajun spices.

These are a yummy alternative to popcorn and the carbs in them are GOOD COMPLEX carbs.

At halftime, we will make another favorite in our house-

Kale chips and salsa

This is what they look like before you cook them.  YUMMY STUFF!!!

 

Kale is one of my favorite super foods.  It is so low in calories and packed with iron.

Here is a great recipe for them: This is so easy my kids can make them.  These are a wonderful and crunchy substitute for potato chips!

Preheat oven to 375.

Take a cookie sheet and spray it with no calorie cooking spray- olive oil flavor is my fave.

Take Kale and break into bite-sized pieces and spread on cookie sheet.  sprinkle pieces with your favorite seasonings.  We like cajun seasoning, or italian seasoning etc.

Once seasoned, spray chips once more with non stick spray to make seasonings stick.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until crisp!

They are usually too flimsy to actually DIP into things like salsa or Greek Yogurt, so just spoon the dip of choice onto the chips and enjoy.  These do not keep well so only make what you will eat at that sitting.  If you look at the picture of the kale above, that is less than $1.00 of kale!

We will also have a bowl of mixed nuts and fresh fruit on the menu this Sunday.  No one will leave hungry and no one will leave with a tummy full of fat and empty carbs and sugar.

Enjoy the event without feeling guilty about your food choices!  Your friends and family will be pleasantly surprised at how good non-processed healthy foods can taste!  As the Guru Chef says, YES YOU CAN have fun and have good food and still be healthy!

 

Do you have other yummy and healthy ideas?  Leave them here in the comments to share with others!

ENJOY THE GAME!

xoxo

Erin

 

What are we doing to our kids????? And WHY????

I used to be morbidly obese.  Most of you know that.  I was 326 pounds in 2008 and had gastric bypass and decided to take control of my life and get my health back.  I am a work in progress and will be forever.  I was forced to face my food addiction and to completely change my life.  Just like an alcoholic has to live with their addiction daily, so do I.

FACTS: and these tend to be true for many of us who were once morbidly obese and who lost the weight.  It does not matter if you lost it through surgical or non-surgical means, they still are likely to apply to you if you grew up as an obese child and young adult. If you are still obese, then you can really relate to these I am sure.

1. Kids at school could be cruel.  Most of us know the feeling of being picked on in some form or fashion.  I sure do.  From the bus driver in first grade calling me “big mama”, to the wretched kids in high school who missed out on getting to know a really nice person because they couldn’t see past my weight, I have heard and seen it all. My kids know that in this family, we do not ever pick on or make derogatory comments on someone’s weight. My kids also know that picking on a classmate or anyone else in the world about their weight is just as big an offense as picking on them about their race, religion, sexual orientation, or anything else along those lines.  Those things are just not acceptable in the Akey household.

2. We missed out on things like dances and prom. I didn’t go to too many dances in school.  I went to two only with a date and one with girlfriends.  Many who were morbidly obese in their young years didn’t get to go to any at all.  Those can be tough memories.

3. We missed out on team sports and team activities. How many of us who were obese teens got to be a cheerleader or play on the sports teams at our schools?  Not too many I would guess. How many of us stayed home on trips that involved swimming and other activities that could be deemed uncomfortable or put us in a vulnerable position?

4. We didn’t get to dress like the other kids many times. Kids like to fit in and feel normal. It used to really bug me that I couldn’t wear a lot of the trendy styles and that certain brands of jeans just did not come in my size.  As an adult I don’t think about those things, but in the mind of a teenager or pre-teen, those are important issues.

I could go on and on and on, and I am sure every single on of us has our own personal set of  issues that were directly related to our being an overweight/obese child/teen.  Those are memories that many of us would care to forget.

Fast forward to the present.  We have chosen a path that takes us back to being healthy.  For some of us, the tool of choice was surgical and for other non-surgical.  The end result is still the same.  We are now a healthy and normal weight.  Our diets are totally different, or at least they should be.  We no longer stuff ourselves with processed garbage and empty carbs and loads of sugar.  We eat fewer carbs and try to keep them complex and not simple.  We eat a lot less and stay away from sweets and fast food and junk food.

This is all WONDERFUL!  We feel better and look better and our labs are great.  We exercise at least three times a week and are so much happier and healthier.  Getting control of our health is likely the best thing we have ever done for ourselves.

I ask you this very important question now.  IS THE REST OF THE FAMILY EATING HEALTHY?  I realize we cannot force adults to make changes in their diets.  Nothing saddens me more than hearing about situations where the spouse/partner is still eating the same garbage food they ate before the other half had weight loss surgery.  I just cannot wrap my brain around a partner who sees the amazing changes in the other person and still wants to pump garbage into their own bodies.  But that is another issue.

What we can control is what our kids are eating.  If you lost a tremendous amount of weight, and your kids are still eating the same way, then I urge you to do some soul-searching.  Dealing with unhealthy habits gets harder the older we get.  Children can be taught much more easily than adults to make better choices.  Why would you still feed your child fast food and snack cakes and donuts and chips and all of the same garbage food that led you to morbid obesity?

I know being a parent is hard.  Ben and I have five kids between us and two still at home.  It is tough,  for sure, but to me, seeing them walk in my shoes would be even tougher.  Would you want your kids to suffer the same things you did as a child?  Would you want them to be picked on and to miss out on activities and feel bad about themselves?  Of course not!  We love our children and want them to be happy.

When I was 326 pounds- 

my kids ate at the same places I did.  We went to fast food joints and I bought a lot of snacks and snack cakes and chips and soda and junk.  Once I decided to get healthy-

my husband and I decided to make it a family affair.  I tell people all the time that we all eat the same things.   I do not cook two meals (okay Ben does not cook two meals since he does 75% of the cooking.) We all eat healthy now.  Many people will look at me and roll their eyes and then proceed to tell me how that is just wrong to deprive my kids and how it just would not work with their family etc. etc.  My response to that?

BULLHOCKEY!  My kids are and were no different from anyone else’s.  They loved fast food and loved sweets and cookies and snack cakes and soda.  OF COURSE the first few weeks were hard.  They fussed and asked what happened to their favorite snacks. They thought we were cruel for not buying sodas and not letting them eat at the various fast food places that are on every corner.   I even had family members tell me that just because I was so fat, why did it mean I needed to deprive my kids of the goodies they love?

My first question…..when did these goodies become accepted staples in our diets?  Our parents and grandparents didn’t have fast food every week and didn’t have snack cakes in the house at all times.  i think they turned out just fine!   Oh, yes, and guess what?  THEY WERE NOT AS OBESE AS OUR KIDS TODAY!

Do you even realize what you are giving your kids when you pull through that drive-through for the sake of convenience?  Here are some examples for you:

McDonald’s- cheeseburger, medium fries, meduim Coke- 890 calories, 31 grams of fat,  1035 mg of sodium.  

Burger King- original chicken sandwich, small fries, medium Coke- 1230 calories, 60 grams of fat, 2160 mg of sodium.

Need I say more?  In the same amount of time it takes for you to drive to the fast food place, order, and take it home and eat, you could have spent that time in the kitchen with your child making a nice salad or healthy meal together and improving not just their health, but bonding with them at the same time.

It takes no more time to grab an apple from the fridge as it does to grab a Twinkie from the pantry.  Which is going to help nourish your child better?

Most kids love to help in the kitchen and it is a proven statistic that kids who help their families prepare meals eat better.  I am not here to make anyone feel bad, but to make you wake up and think about the things you are putting into the bodies of your kids.  they deserve a healthy start and a healthy foundation.  It is our job and responsibility to give that to them.  

My children are NEVER rewarded with food.  EVER.  It has been three years since we purged the house of all of the garbage and guess what?  They do not miss it at all.  I asked them at dinner last night how they felt about the fact that their friends eat at fast food places quite often and their friends’ parents buy sodas and cookies and all of those things and we do not.  Both of them looked a little puzzled and both said they really just do not think about it anymore.

That is my point.  Kids are easily trained.  If you make the effort to train them to be healthier, they will do it.  My kids still eat snacks after school every day.  What do we keep for them?  Fresh fruit, peanut butter, cheese crackers, and yes some things I would not eat, but that are way less offensive than the sweets and garbage they used to eat. would you rather give your child a Twinkie or a pack of peanut butter crackers?

They are both very athletic.  Connor is s runner and even little Reed has done many 5 and 10k’s with us.

It didn’t happen overnight and of course there were some battles in the beginning.  are our children not the most important things in our lives?  Do we not want to give them the best of everything?   If so then why are we poisoning them with junk food while we try to get healthy?

My kids now do not even EVER ask to go to a fast food restaurant.  Once you create a healthy habit, it tends to stick with them.  They do not ask for sodas, however occasionally when we are out to dinner, we let them order a regular Coke.  It is a TREAT and not a habit.  Do they eat perfectly every day?  Of course not.  i do not either.  This is not about perfection but about making good choices one at a time that lead to better habits for a lifetime.

As a parent, why would we want to see our kids go down the road of obesity and its’ co-morbidities that we went down?  We owe it to our kids to give them a healthy start while they are young.  My good friend Dr. Connie Stapleton put it very well with this quote.

” Parents are the most influential people in their children’s lives.  Children are much more open to changing their habits through parental guidance.  This is especially true when parents do it with them and include them in decisions.  Behavior patterns are established early in life and the earlier we can establish good habits, the less difficult it will be later on.  Kids inherently want to please their parents and so they are much more eager to eat healthy with their parents.  Parents need to take responsibility and realize that just because kids can seem to ‘get away with’ eating less healthy with seemingly less adverse health effects at the time, there will come a time when the bad eating habits will catch up to them and result in similar health problems as their parents had.”

To me, this says it all.  Would you quit smoking and then allow someone to blow carcinogen-filled smoke into the face of your child?  Why then would you do all you could to fight the disease of obesity in yourself but not do all you could to prevent your children from suffering from the effects of the disease themselves?

We owe it to our kids to save them from the terrible path we took and save them from the emotional effects of being obese.  I would rather see my kids upset for a few days at the new food choices than see them upset and unhealthy from a lifetime of bad food.

I promise they will thank you one day.

The choice is yours.  Deprive your kids of garbage food or deprive them of a lifetime of good health?

Way to go Dr. Oz

Yesterday was a good day for the image of bariatric surgery in the mainstream media. Most of the time, if you see a story on gastric bypass, LapBand, or any other type of bariatric surgery on television, it is portrayed in a negative or scandalous light.  This has frustrated myself and many others in the bariatric community for years.

I knew Dr. Oz had come out in favor of bariatric surgery in recent months, but was still nervous to see his show yesterday.  I don’t think I could have been more pleasantly surprised!  Dr. Oz had several physicians on the show and one was not only a bariatric surgeon but also a gastric bypass patient named Dr. James Rosser.  Another was a bariatric surgeon named Dr. Denise Bruder.  Both spoke eloquently and honestly and they did address several complications that can arise as with any invasive procedure.

Dr. Oz pointed out that this was major surgery and the decision to have it should not be made lightly.  Those are true statements that I agree with wholeheartedly.  Dr. Oz also pointed out a very staggering statistic to his audience.  ONLY 1% OF ELIGIBLE PATIENTS ARE HAVING THIS SURGERY.

I truly feel that part of the reason this is so, is the image this procedure has in the mainstream media and general public.  This needs to change.  While gastric bypass is of course NOT for everyone who is morbidly obese, it can and does save lives and the time is now for the stigma associated with weight loss surgery of any type to go away for good.  We as a society would never dream of chastising someone who used a patch to quit smoking or dare tell them they took the easy way out.  We would commend them for taking control of their health and taking steps to improve it.  Common sense tells us that the patch is a tool and the same thing is true for weight loss surgery.  BARIATRIC SURGERY IS A TOOL TO FIGHT THE DISEASE OF OBESITY AND THE DEADLY CO-MORBIDITIES THAT GO ALONG WITH IT.

Dr. Rosser spoke of the changes the surgery had made in his life and how it cured his sleep apnea and other ailments.  One thing he said that I LOVED hearing was the fact that this surgery required a lifetime commitment to taking vitamins.  This is something so many patients seem to forget, and it is a big part of what we talk about in the Bariatric Breakthrough Challenge conference series.  I know that there is not ever going to be a day in my life when a product from Bariatric Advantage will not touch my lips. It has to become as habitual as taking a shower and brushing your teeth.

The show dealt in pure fact and not emotion and was very refreshing.  Many of us in the field know that there is just no denying the research and studies proving that many patients who have a gastric bypass actually leave the hospital within two days of surgery and can be taken off of diabetes medicine.  Dr. Bruner confirmed that Type 2 diabetes can  be instantly reversed in many patients.  I personally know patients who have experienced this.  This is a true medical event that is due to hormone levels changing in our bodies when gastric bypass is done.

There are major health benefits to all types of weight loss surgery and each person has to decide which is the best procedure for them.  People fighting the disease of obesity have a right to be exposed to options and have a right to know the truth and not just what the media wants us to know about bariatric surgery.

Dr. Oz has a lot of credibility and his endorsement surely helps the field. The sad part to me is that it takes someone like Dr. Oz to help the image of weight loss surgery.  What about the hundreds of thousands of patients who will proudly stand up and say that weight loss surgery saved their lives?  To me, those results and testimonials should count for just as much and more than anything that comes from the media.

I meet people every day who have been given a second chance at life due to one of these procedures and it makes me so happy to spend time with them and hear their stories.  There is a LapBand surgeon in Texas who is also a patient and he has been on my show several times and I love his perspective. Dr. Adam Smith of Fort Worth LapBand is not just helping save lives, but he himself had his life drastically changed by this procedure.

Obesity is killing more and more people every day and the fact that only 1% of those eligible to receive life-saving treatment for this disease are actually receiving it is a travesty in my mind.  Even worse are the people who need it and want it and cannot get it because their insurance companies are denying them the surgery.  There are so many studies that prove the cost of treating a patient over the years for all of the obesity-related illnesses is much higher than paying for them to have either gastric bypass, LapBand, or one of the other procedures out there.  I serve on the National Board of Directors of the Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America and am so passionate about this great organization.  They are giving hope to people who would never have the chance at this treatment any other way.  Just go to their site and read some of the stories.  They will move you in a big way.

This is another reason why I am so vocal about personal responsibility.  The only person in the audience that Dr. Oz spoke to who had anything negative to say, was a lady who had lost over 100 pounds and then gotten pregnant and had three kids and gained a little bit back with each pregnancy and her only negative was to say that the surgery does nothing to address the issues that made us obese and she is correct!  We all have that personal responsibility to eat correctly, follow the rules, exercise regularly, and when needed (which I believe is almost 100% of the time in patients who have bariatric surgery) go get some therapy for either the food addiction or whatever caused us to eat ourselves to morbid obesity.  If there were no emotional issues involved then we would all have been able to put down the fork and keep our bodies at a healthy weight.

I feel that the treatment for obesity should involve so much more than just the initial procedure.  We can have our tools put in place, but then we have to do the work.  This is why people involved in our programs like Dr. Connie Stapleton, who is a wonderful therapist and Olympic runner Jeff Galloway are so important.  What our surgeons do is just the beginning.  The rest is up to us as patients.

This episode of Dr. Oz did a lot for the field of bariatrics, now let’s all do our part to keep the trend moving in the right direction. If you have had bariatric surgery and feel it saved your life, comment here and tell me your story.  We need to let the world know that this is a game changer and it is real!