Diet fads and snake oil

I have been through the mill as far as dieting, exercise, and fads. I have seen many, many, many diets that I know won't work, or will work if you can maintain them over time. Once you reach your "goal" weight and go back to "normal" eating, you lose the fight and gain the weight back.
The only people who lose weight and keep it off for life are imaginary as far as I can tell. I haven't met any of them in real life yet, because, if they lose the weight and keep it off, they have solved their problems.
I haven't solved my problems yet, but I am moving in the right direction.
The gastric bypass gave me the head start.
The Dietitian gave me the tools.
Now, it's time for me to correct a few things that are still wrong in my life, and I should be able to solve my problems for life.
Prayer, diet and exercise are the keys.
Proper eating, having my head in the right place, and no major outside disasters will allow me to win this race. But, there is no end for this race. It will continue until I am dead.
The race will never end until I leave this body behind.

I had a teacher in 7th and 8th grade who told a story of the king who would give away his daughter in marriage to the man who could tell a story that would never end. We heard the story every day for two years, and the story never ended. We kept waiting for it to end, and it went on and on.
This is that story. It will never end.

Now, on to the snake oil:
I have a friend who sent me some chocolate that has ingredients in it to help you lose weight. It is part of a multi-level marketing system that is moving up the ladder rapidly.
I looked up each ingredient, and read about them to see if there was anything harmful in it. There wasn't.
So, the diet chocolate will work? Yes and no.

1. The stuff is expensive as all diet plans are.
2. There is not enough quantity of each ingredient to make any difference in your diet.
3. The diet required you to drink one glass of water with the chocolate before a meal. If you were 100 pounds or more overweight, you had to drink 3 glasses of water!
   
4. The main active ingredient besides dark chocolate was xylitol, which is a natural diuretic. So, you drink the water, and the xylitol makes you pee! Guaranteed weight loss. Xylitol also has benefits as far as your teeth are concerned. If you chew gum with xylitol, it has the effect of neutralizing the acid in your mouth that would cause tooth decay. This is something I learned from a dentist friend of mine. But, the amount of it in this chocolate, plus the fact that you get rid of the chocolate pretty quickly, negates it's benefits.
5. When you stop the diet, you lose the race, as I said before.
6. Some of the other ingredients haven't been tested long term, so their benefits/dangers may not be known. I do know that xylitol loses it's diuretic effects with usage, so it may not work after awhile. Your body gets used to it.
   

I have never met anyone who could lose 100 pounds or more and keep it off for life by eating one little chocolate piece. Or even 3 pieces!
Now, the water is a good idea. But three glasses? No wonder they lost weight. They were bloated with water! 3 glasses could be dangerous too.
If you want to make money with a multi level marketing company, Google "Send out Cards". This is the only company I know that has a legitimate product that will work if you work at it.

Last night's support group meeting

I gave out a pile of cards with my blog on it, in the hopes of growing my contacts with bariatric people.
This is a selfish thing on my part. I want to learn from as many as I can about what they do and how they do it.
I was surprised that many people didn't know what a blog is.
Well, in this world, a blog can be anything you want it to be.
So, back to the meeting.
The team and one other person took a walk around the grounds. I was in the lead for no special reason. I took us up and down the stairs and back and forth about 3 times. The building has 3 floors, and we saw all 3 of them twice.
I helped to move chairs and benches into the meeting room. That gave me a bit of a workout. I wanted to wait until the end of the meeting and help take them back, but I was tired from the snowy week. I shoveled two mornings in a row, and made two full batches of chili, along with everything else I did normally, so I am beat.
I was amused when one of the people mentioned that the meeting would have few people tonight because of the cold weather. I know that us fat and formerly fat people don't give a hoot about the cold weather. I also know how important this meeting is for me, and others. We learn so much, and we get the chance to ask questions that can't be answered anywhere else. It is worth it's weight in gold to be there.
THE PLACE WAS PACKED!
In fact, they had to go get more chairs. There was no room at all for more people and a few even stood in the doorway. One sat on the floor.
Wendy, our team RN and post patient gave a talk on resolutions. Very positive stuff with lots of encouragement for everyone. The Q&A afterwards was good too. Lots of questions.

The groups of people will probably have to be broken down into smaller groups. I will make that suggestion and others when the steering committee gets together later this month.

• Pre Surgery
• Post Surgery
• Pre-Band Surgery
• Post Band Surgery
• Family and friends support

There can be further breakdowns, but these are the main ones. The band people have different problems to deal with, and I would like to learn more about them in a few years, after I finish with my problems.
I was able to get into the post surgery group last night for the first time in 3 meetings. I really enjoy talking with the pre people and answering their questions really helps me to understand myself. But, I missed hearing from the people who are going through the post process.
Boy, did I pick up some tips and tricks! That was the best part of the meeting for me last night.
I managed to buy two bottles of calcium chewables for a song since the person selling them didn't like them and didn't want to take the time to return them. Now I have enough for another month or more.
I also met a few people that I am recognizing. This is good for my memory, since I have trouble remembering names and faces. It's tough at these meeting, though, because these people were heavier when I last saw them. The changes are amazing!
I let my hair grow out a bit because I haven't gotten to the barber in a few weeks, so I looked different as well. People still knew me....a great boost to my ego.
I am hoping people make contact through my email and this blog. It keeps me busy and the support is something I really need. I hope to support them too.

Next steps

Well, now I have to clear my head, and get back on track.
If you think that I am perfect, you had better think again.
I fell off the wagon the past month or so. I stopped eating properly thinking that the stomach surgery would take care of me. Well, it did, but not the way I wanted. I wanted it to do all the work, and I got lazy.
Now, I have to get it right. Fortunately, my "pouch" only allows me to eat so much before it stops me. But, what I put in the pouch is more important than how much.
So, I only lost 10 pounds between my last official weigh in and last week. I should have lost another 12 pounds on top of that.
This time, I know what I did wrong, and I can fix it.
When I lost weight before, I would look at this time as the end of my diet plan, and would have to find another excuse.
Now, I have a team to straighten me out.
I have reviewed my diet sheets, and taken some hard advice from Dr. Brader.
I am walking outside when I can, and working the treadmill and total gym inside when I can't get outside.
It's supposed to snow Monday night into Tuesday, so I will have time to do some things here in the house. That will work well towards my "between the ears" recovery. Getting the house cleaned up and some projects finished always makes me feel good.
At Thursday's meeting, we will hand out little pieces of paper with my name and blog site listed. If you know of anyone who is a Bariatric patient, or someone who could use some tips on how to lose weight the right way, send them my way.
I hope this site helps more people every day.
Now, you know I am not perfect. I am pretty close, but not quite......