Secrets of Gastric Bypass Surgery: Lose Weight Without Surgery

There's more to gastric bypass than surgery and rapid massive weight loss. Patients who undergo weight loss surgery (WLS) sign-up for a lifetime of rigid behaviors to guarantee their long-term success.

Just imagine: If you knew what those behaviors were, could you lose the weight and keep it off without surgery? Take a look at the four rules WLS patients live by:

Rule 1: Protein First:

The first rule for living after Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) is Protein First - that means eating protein for three daily meals, and protein must be 50 percent of food intake. Animal products are the most nutrient rich source of protein and include fish, poultry and meat. Dairy protein, including eggs, is another excellent source of protein. Nuts and legumes are also good sources of protein, but sometimes difficult for the bariatric patient to consume.

Science is proving that a protein rich diet will prompt weight loss and increase energy. The body contains over fifty-thousand different active proteins all made out of the same building blocks: amino acids. Amino acids are made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen as well as sulfur, phosphorus and iron. Many diseases - including obesity - indicate an amino acid deficiency.

Weight loss surgery patients don't have a choice, they must eat lean protein or they will get sick, anemic, and weary. Weight loss will cease if they eat processed carbohydrates instead of lean protein. Dumping or vomiting may also result if patients do not eat lean protein for the first half of every meal.

The distinction must be made between high fat proteins and lean proteins. A gastric bypass patient cannot tolerate high fat proteins such as bacon, fatty beef or sausage products or greasy fried chicken: these foods cause nausea and vomiting. In addition, these high fat protein rich items are contributors to obesity and should be avoided by anyone wishing to control their weight.

Rule 2: Drink lots of water

Dieters are often told - drink water. Drink a minimum of 64 ounces a day - eight glasses a day. Gastric-bypass patients don't have a choice: they must drink lots water. Other beverages including coffee, tea, milk, soft drinks and alcohol are forbidden. Water is the essential fluid for living. Water is one of the most important nutrients the body needs to stay healthy, vibrant and energetic. A tell-tell sign of a gastric bypass patient is the ever-present water bottle.

The human body is a magnificent vessel full of water. The brain is more than 75 percent water and 80 percent of blood is water. In fact, water plays a critical role in every system of the human body. Water regulates body temperature, removes wastes, carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells, cushions the joints, prevents constipation, flushes toxins from the kidneys and liver and dissolves vitamins, minerals and other nutrients for the body's use.

Nutritionists say a precise measure of the body's need for water is to divide body weight (pounds) in half and drink that many ounces every day. That number could well exceed 200 ounces a day for morbidly obese people actively engaged in weight loss.

The body will panic if actual water intake is significantly less than required. Blood cannot flow, waste processes are disrupted and the electrolytes become imbalanced. Proper hydration prevents inflammation, promotes osmosis and moistens lung surfaces for gas diffusion. It helps the body regulate temperature, irrigate the cells and organs and promotes all functions of elimination. Certainly by drinking plenty of water many people could resolve inflammation and elimination problems that result from insufficient water intake. Adequate water facilitates weight loss.

Rule 3: No Snacking

Gastric bypass patients are instructed to avoid snacking. No exceptions.

Snacking is the worst possible thing a WLS patient can do. If patients snack they cease to lose weight and could possibly regain weight. In addition gastric bypass snackers risk severe swings in blood sugar levels and glucose overdose, they fail to move forward to the healthy life that surgery makes possible. They feel like failures when the WLS does not result in weight loss.

The nature of gastric bypass surgery gives patients an edge on beating the snacking habit. When a patient eats three protein-rich meals a day the body's fuel requirements are met and satiation results. Hunger does not occur if water is sipped throughout the day. If a patient is taking vitamins they will not be nutritionally wanting. Given that, patients who snack are doing so out of the very habit that contributed to obesity.

If a dieter must snack they must be mindful of their choices. Fruits, vegetables and lean proteins will contributed to wellness and weight loss. Processed carbohydrate convenience foods fail to meet nutritional needs or facilitate weight loss and should be avoided.

Successful WLS patients understand that snacking is bariatric purgatory. When they begin to snack weight loss will cease and weight gain will certainly result. Successful weight loss patients - those who maintain their weight loss years after surgery - do not snack. The same is true for all successful dieters regardless of the means by which they initially lost weight.

Rule 4: Exercise

The final rule, the one WLS despise the most, patients must exercise every day.

Nothing is more disappointing than hearing a gastric bypass patient brag that they didn't have to exercise to lose weight. It's true; patients will lose weight without lifting a finger. But patients who do not use the time of rapid weight loss to incorporate exercise into their lifestyle are doing themselves a grave disservice.

Obesity cripples the body. Bone tissues are compromised, joints are swollen, the vascular system is inadequate and the skeleton overburdened. As weight is lost, the burden on the bones, joints and vascular system is decreased. However, the body is a magnificent machine. Given proper nutrition and physical motion it will rebuild its broken framework. The systems can become strong and vital.

The most effective way to heal the body from the ravages of obesity is to exercise. Exercise means moving the body: walking, stretching, bending, inhaling and exhaling. Exercise is the most effective, most enjoyable, most beneficial gift one can bestow on themselves in the recovery from life threatening, crippling morbid obesity. People who successfully maintain their weight exercise daily.

Conclusion:

Successful weight loss surgery patients will tell you these are the four rules they live by, that the gastric bypass is only a tool to facilitate mindful behavior for better health. They will confirm that weight control, even with surgery, takes a lifetime of diligent attention to their bodies and behavior. They will assure you it isn't easy, but the results are worth the effort.

By Kaye Bailey

Vegetarian Is Beautiful

I keep my first body, the physical one, in good health and shape feeding it with the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals that the vegetable kingdom provides me with abundance and joy.

I combine them with know-how and fantasy, because I know what I need and where to find it, and I get light, tasty, and balanced recipes that satisfy all my seven bodies, the dense, emotional, mental, sentimental, cosmic, and consciousness ones.

Taking nourishment becomes then, in each moment, an act of gratitude and celebration.

I'm lacto-ovo vegetarian because when a delicious cake, made of dairy products and eggs, happens to be in front of my eyes and nose, I taste it with joy and bliss.

I have also been vegan and raw food eating, during some of the various stages of my life, and I chose to be relaxed and free to move to the homes and restaurants of the world, without creating too much troubles.

I found myself a vegetarian for ethical reasons, because I love life and freedom; for humanitarian reasons, because there is food for everyone; for environmental reasons, because I love all forests; for physical reasons, to be healthy, fit, and positive; for social reasons, to be kind with others; for aesthetical reasons, because I like a living nature, and for metaphysical reasons, to keep my vibration high and zeroing my karma.

I find proteins in legumes, grains, seaweeds and their derivatives; carbohydrates in grains, vegetables, roots, fruits and yeast; fats in seeds, nuts, and oils; vitamins and minerals in salads, raw vegetables, fruits, and seaweeds.

I carefully prepare my food from my heart; I cook it meditatively; I chew it thoroughly; I wait at least three hours before taking another bite; I satisfy my taste and palate with sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent, astringent, hot, cold, soft, liquid, crispy and hard sensations and tastes.

I tell my friends that when I eat the fruits of plants and trees, vegetables that grow again, seeds that are cropped at the end of their life cycle, I take just what exceeds, and there's much of it, without burdening others' lives, in this case those of the vegetal world. This way we are all happy: me, mother earth, and the universe, because when one is happy, it means happiness is there and this is universal.

I have vegetarian friends growing up their sons and daughters in a conscious vegetarian way, at home and at school, and these are in good physical, emotional and mental health, they are beautiful, alive, and happy to be vegetarians.

More than that, at the moment, I don't know.

By Andrea Scarsi

Get Ripped to Shreds in 6 Short Weeks!!!

The time is coming… you just turned 28 and your 10-year high school reunion is just around the corner. You're going to Cabo in 2 months! Or maybe you just want to Get Ripped for summer? Who cares what the reason is! We're all in the same boat and we need to Get Ripped FAST!

A wise man once told me that when a person won't do something, it's for one of 3 reasons. They either 1. Don't know how to do it, 2. Don't know why they should do it, or 3. They simply just don't care. I'm going to assume that you don't know how, or you would already be ripped to shreds. Be it to get the chicks, personal satisfaction, a reunion… everyone has their own reason why. But if your reason is the last one, you should just stop reading this right now. Because if you simply don't care enough, you aren't going to get anywhere. And there's nothing I, or anyone else for that matter, can do to help! So, "go start an ant farm!"

I'm going to tell you how to Get Shredded Fast and explain why these 5 steps work! What you are about to read may or may not be news to you… I don't know. But I do know this, if you follow these 5 steps – you wont be disappointed!

1) Nutrition: focus on your metabolism!

I put this first on the list for a reason. It is the absolute most important part of any successfully shredded man or woman's lifestyle. Your nutritional choices directly affect your metabolism and through it alone, you can totally change your physical appearance! But, whether you are a bodybuilder, a swimmer, a football player, or an every day average overweight American, keeping a consistently clean diet is as hard as it gets… and I'm sure we all can attest to that.

Eat 5-6 Meals per day:

It's funny… I have this friend who swears this 5 or 6 meal-a-day rule is the "Catch" that all the nutrition companies are throwing out there. He says that no one can consistently eat 5 small meals a day and the nutrition companies know this – so they put this rule out there as a fail-safe to ensure that, if their diet program doesn't work, they can blame its failure on the customer! The ironic thing about it is if the customer had followed the rules of their diet program, they would have succeeded!

And the reason they would have succeeded is because the "eat 5 small meals a day" rule works… just probably not in the way you think. You see, it's not really the 5 meals that does it… it's the fact that you aren't relying on 2 or 3 meals to fuel your body for a full 24-hour period. Think about it; your body uses a fairly steady stream of energy all day, so when you feed it in spurts, your body adjusts and begins to store energy instead of using it. Eating 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day ultimately conditions your body to use the energy you provide it – and use it now – because it knows that more is coming soon. There is no need to store the energy (fat) for later… make sense?

Eat Low Glycemic Carbs:

Eating 5-6 small meals per day is a great start. But (there's always a ‘but' isn't there?) that's not the only thing you have to do. Something else you've probably heard before but hasn't been explained fully… the benefit of low GI carbohydrates. Low GI carbs being carbs low on the Glycemic Index (GI). People usually confuse this with an ultra-low carb diet but its not! All you need to do is control the types of carbs you eat… not lose them altogether! Approximately 40% of your total calories should come from low GI carbs. A low GI carb diet will regulate your insulin levels in your body. This is important because your body uses insulin to burn the food you have for immediate energy. To explain it further, when you eat carbs, your body digests them and turns them into glucose. Then insulin is released to metabolize the glucose for energy. High GI carbs have a very fast glucose response, which tells your body to release a lot of insulin quickly. The result, you digest your food very fast… a bad thing! You want your food to digest slowly! And you can control this by eating low GI carbs. Knowing which carbs are low and high GI is pretty easy too. As a general rule, the more processed it is, the higher it is and the more natural (unprocessed) it is, the lower it is.

Here are a few examples.
Low GI Carbohydrates
FRUITS:

Berries

Apples

Barley

Pears

VEGETABLES:

Asparagus

Black beans

All lettuces

GRAINS:

All bran cereals

Whole grain breads

Whole grain pastas

Wild rice

DAIRY:

Organic milk

Organic plain yogurt

Low-fat cottage cheese

BEVERAGES:

Fresh vegetable juice

Grapefruit juice

Green tea

Water

SWEETENERS:

Fructose

Stevia

Moderate GI Carbohydrates
FRUITS:

Grapes

Watermelons

Mangos

Kiwis

VEGETABLES:

Carrots

Corn (on the cob)

Lima beans

Yams

GRAINS:

Brown rice

Oatmeal

Most pastas

Popcorn

Sourdough bread

DAIRY:

Custard

BEVERAGES:

Apple juice

Orange juice

SWEETENERS:

Unrefined raw honey

Organic brown sugar

Barely malt

Organic maple syrup

High GI Carbohydrates

FRUITS:

Raisins

Bananas (ripe)

VEGETABLES:

Potato (baked)

French fries

Sweet corn

GRAINS:

White bread

Whole wheat bread

Bagels

Breakfast cereals

Hamburger and hotdog buns

White rice

Pancakes

DAIRY:

Ice cream

BEVERAGES:

Soft drinks and sport drinks

Carrot juice

SWEETENERS:

Corn syrup solids

Sucrose (table sugar)

maltodextrin

Maltose

High-fructose corn syrup

There is, however, one time when you want to digest your food fast! Immediately following a workout, your body is goes into a "need food now!" state and requires a lot of nutrients to begin repairing the muscle that has been broken down. This is the perfect time to ingest 40-50 grams of high GI carbs. Actually, if you don't, you are taking a risk that your body will go into a catabolic state and start breaking down muscle for energy instead of fat. Timing is important!

Increase Protein Intake:

The final part of the diet is to increase your protein intake. Again this is something we have all heard before… but do we really know why? First of all, we all know protein is a crucial part of muscle growth. But what we all don't know is that protein is a good fat burner too! Protein digestion takes a lot of time and a lot of energy! You might be doing this already and if you are… don't stop. A good rule of thumb is to consume 1 gram of protein for each pound of bodyweight. So if you are 200 pounds, you need 200 grams of protein.

2) Workout!

More cardio!

Increasing the intensity of your cardiovascular workouts will no doubt make a vast impact on your fat burning productivity. When it comes to burning fat, the more intense the cardio the better! A lot of fitness trainers and other self proclaimed fitness guru's will tell you to be careful not to over do the cardio, but they don't explain how you should do it. Here's how.

It's a little something I call Anabolic Cardio. You will burn more fat, faster, doing "anabolic cardio". Anabolic cardio is often called HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT is short burst, sprinter-like interval training. Here is a great example of HIIT that can be used doing any form of cardio; treadmill, elliptical trainer, or even an old school Health Rider!

Start off with 3 minutes working at a moderate 60% pace. This will get you warmed up and ready for the rest of the workout. Start the "interval portion" of the workout on minute number 4 going AS HARD AS YOU CAN without falling down or losing your running form (I'm talking 95%) for 1 full minute. Don't pace yourself here, if you can go longer than a minute or two, you probably aren't going hard enough! However, if you can only go at this pace for 20-30 seconds, that is ok... Just go as long as you can, you will improve fast! After the first minute, slow the pace to about 40% of your max. This should be a light jog or even a brisk walk for a minute or two until you recover your breathing. During the slower, recovery interval, try to focus on controlling your breathing and relaxing as much as possible.

Keep this interval of 1-2 minutes at 95% followed by 1-2 minutes at 40% for 10-15 more minutes. Like it or not, Anabolic Cardio is a key component to building a strong, lean, hard body!

Intensify Your Resistance Training

Believe it or not… weight training actually burns more fat than cardio! In fact there have been numerous studies to prove it. This doesn't mean you should just drop cardio work altogether, but that you should have a balance between cardio and weight training. Hopefully you are lifting weights already. If you are… great! If you aren't you really need to. Resistance Weight Training is only way to permanently raise your metabolism! You see… muscle burns fat. Not just when you are working out, but all the time – every day! One pound of muscle alone can burn up to 500 calories per week – that's without doing anything! Lets put it this way: Without resistance training, the best you will ever be is "skinny fat".

The best way to use weight training to get shredded is to stick to the basics! Hit the gym 4 times per week and focus all your efforts on doing compound muscle group movements like Squats, Deadlifts, Military Press, and Power Cleans. In fact, you could do 20 minutes of anabolic cardio then 6 sets of 8 reps on each of these exercises (one exercise per day 4 days per week), you would be in great shape easily in 6 weeks. These are easy to learn movements that use a lot of muscle groups and burn fat like CRAZY!

3) Get more sleep!

Sleep is probably the most overlooked factor in the quest to get shredded. Everyone knows the importance of getting "a good nights sleep" but not many of us go out of our way to be sure we get it. I read somewhere that the average adult gets approximately 7 hours of sleep at night! Not bad… but if you're anything like me; 7 hours of sleep would be a blessing! And 7 hours is fine for the average adult, but if you're an athlete you need more than normal! How much do you need? Well… that's something you'll have to experiment with and find out on your own. 7 hours of sleep might be enough for you – but it likely isn't! I do know this - if you don't get enough sleep, you are limiting your potential to build muscle. Sleep is very anabolic and you need it in order to efficiently recover from grueling workouts and stressful days! Be sure you get enough… it could be the difference maker.

4) Supplements!

Getting Ripped To Shreds is not an easy task for anyone. If it was easy then everyone would be ripped don't you think? I know for sure that, at least for me, it would be virtually impossible without the benefit of supplements. There's no denying that genetics plays a huge role in who is shredded and who isn't, but that's not the only thing. If you could take a behind-the-scenes look at just about any professional athletes' supplement regimen, you would probably be shocked!

Back to the supplements… Getting "shredded" involves keeping (or gaining) muscle mass and losing fat at the same time, two things that are best done separately! So right off the bat the odds are against you. And if you're anything like most Americans, you're going to need all the help you can get! I'm going to recommend 3 separate base or standard supplements and then 3 I-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-get-there supplements.

Base Supplements:

1.A balanced Meal Replacement (MRP)

An MRP is important for the obvious reasons. Diet is the number one key and with the way life is now, it's pretty difficult to get 6 good meals in a day. However, if you alternate 3 small meals and 3 MRP's throughout the day, you'll be indeed setting yourself up for success. The reason I say "balanced" MRP is because too much protein is a waste, too little carbs will leave you energy-less, and you need to get your vitamins somewhere. Check the label and be sure it has around 30g of protein, 20g carbs, L-Glutamine, BCAA's, EFA's, and an array of multi vitamins. I recommend Myoplex by EAS, KILLER MRP by IMPACT Nutrition, or Lean Mass Matrix by Labrada.

2.Creatine

No matter what you think about creatine, you can't deny the facts. Creatine promotes muscle growth and muscle contraction energy. And even though it is thought of as a staple to only muscle building programs, it's an effective addition to almost any program… no matter what the goal is! Just get some and take it as directed.

3.ZMA

ZMA is a formula of Zinc and Magnesium Aspartate that has been proven to increase muscle strength, stamina, and recovery. But the main reason I added it to the list is because it will help you relax and sleep better. Like I said before, sleep could be the difference maker. And ZMA's a lot less damaging than taking a shot of tequila or cough medicine! I suggest the original ZMA by SNAC Systems.

Will-Do-Whatever-It-Takes-To-Get-There Supplements:

1.Testosterone Based Anabolic Agents

Even with all the bad things reported about using "legal steroids", they continue to reign in the muscle building supplement world. Why? Because they work! Believe me when I say this. Testosterone is the KING of the Muscle Growth jungle. The more testosterone you have in your system the more muscle you will have on your body. Period. Testosterone helps you recover faster, it raises your metabolism, it burns fat, and it gives you an "attitude" that leads to major muscle growth. If you can focus the increased aggression into your workouts, you will see substantial lean muscle growth, fast! Some great examples of Testosterone based legal steroids are Permadrol by Wesley-Adams, TestoXterone by RedXLabs, Equibolan by IMPACT Nutrition, Halodrol by Gaspari Nutrition, and Dynabolan by Russia Labs.

2.Anabolic Recovery Agent:

Like I said earlier, recovery is the KEY to building muscle. The better you recover, the faster your muscles will grow. Using an anabolic recovery agent is not a substitute for good nutrition choices or for sleep. But using a good recovery agent like RX5 by Red X Labs can put you in a more constant anabolic state between workouts. This will reduce your recovery period and allow you to get back to the gym faster. You can find these products at Zupplements.com

3.Anti-Catabolic Agent:

Anabolic means to build and catabolic means to break down. So, ANTI-Catabolic means agents are those that can help prevent the breakdown of lean muscle tissue; an important feature to anyone who is putting their body through a 6-week "Try To Get Ripped As Fast As I Can" program. You want to lose fat, remember… not muscle! Burn fat, preserve muscle, that's the name of the game! Probably the best anti-catabolic agent available today is a veterinary injectable "supplement" called Kynoselen. There is supposedly a human version of this product too but I have yet to find it.

5) Know what not to do!

Now that I have explained all the tools you need to get ripped in 6 weeks, I feel obligated to address some of the most common mistakes people make when trying to lose fat fast! First of all you have to steer clear of the "Fab Diets" that claim you can drop 10 pounds in 48 hours. Even though these claims are true, you don't want to do it. The weight you lose will be temporary at best! And because these diets help you lose weight, not fat, they wont get you shredded.

Fasting is another common mistake. You have to eat and eat consistently. As I pointed out before, it's imperative that you don't put your body in a "lets save the food for later" state. Remember, even though you are reducing your overall calories, your body will store more fat!

Oh… one more thing…. No matter what else you do over the course of the next 6-weeks… even if you mess up 10 times… even if it looks like you aren't going to make it… no matter what… DO NOT GIVE UP!!! During the first 4 weeks you might not see one single change in your body composition. But that last 2 weeks could completely change it around! I like to think of it like coming back in the 4th quarter! Never give up because all that hard work will not go to waste! Remember what I said? People don't do things for one of three reasons… don't let your reason be that you simply don't care!

By: Anthony Robbinson

Women Can Get Great Benefits From Whey Protein

Are you concerned about taking care of your body before and after strenuous activities or workouts? Do you try to avoid supplements that contain additives and possible side effects? I am very particular about what I am putting into my body at all times. I hate the idea of eating or taking something that I am not sure about what it is suppose to do or what side effects may be caused.

If you are interested in better health and improved physical fitness you have surely heard that bodybuilders and other athletes are turning to a simple, natural supplement called whey protein. Whey is the only supplement I take besides my daily multivitamin that I feel safe taking. So lets cover a few questions or concerns many women have about taking protein.

WHY DO ATHLETES USE WHEY PROTEIN?

Protein levels are depleted through exercise. Muscles require amino acids to prevent deterioration, give endurance and build mass. Proteins supply these amino acids to the muscles which is why athletes use whey protein. If you want to gain muscle you have to make sure you have the building blocks for it. Women need protein the same ways that men do so do not be afraid of it.

WHAT IS WHEY PROTEIN?

Commercial whey protein comes from cow's milk. Whey is the by-product of making cheese and was usually thrown away as a waste product. Now researchers know that whey protein is high quality, natural protein that is rich with amino acids essential for good health and muscle building. It is naturally found in mother's milk and also used in baby formula. It is being considered for use as a fortifier of grain products because of its considerable health benefits and bland flavor.

Although protein is also found in other foods such as meat, soy and vegetables, whey protein is proven to have the highest absorption (digestion) levels in comparison to all others.

WHO SHOULD CONSIDER USING WHEY PROTEIN?

Whey protein has many health benefits including immune support, bone health, sports health, weight management and overall well being. And as women, we need all the help we can get to keep out bones strong and supportive. Plus overall health is not a bad thing either. The better nutrition you have in your life the less likely that the flu or other bugs will come knocking on your door.

Because amino acids are 'building blocks' for the human body it is sometimes used by patients to speed up the healing of wounds or burns.

The high quality protein that comes from whey makes it a recommended choice for those who need optimal benefits from restricted diets including diabetics, those on weight management diets and even ill patients not able to consume enough protein in their diet to assist with healing.

CAN WHEY PROTEIN BE DANGEROUS?

Whey protein is a food and so it does not have have the risks associated with other supplements. That said, too much of anything carries risks. Extremely high use of whey protein can overload the liver which can cause serious problems. Moderation is always recommended.

If you are lactose intolerant you might try whey protein isolate which has less than 1% lactose and should be tolerable for most users.

Whey protein is a natural and healthy way to bring protein into your diet and increase well being.

WILL WHEY BULK ME UP?

No, women lack the hormones that men have that allow them to get those large bulky muscles. Women will get an overall toned appearance without looking like the Hulk. Those women you see in body building competitions more often than not achieve their unusual frame by injecting additional hormones or supplements into their body. But no, with the use of whey you will not look like these women.

SOME TRICKS WITH WHEY

If you buy the powder you will be able to do a lot more than just simple shakes. But for shakes be create.
Mix the whey with milk and maybe add some strawberries or blueberries to make the best shakes around!
When you bake cookies scoop some whey in for a power cookie
If you drink coffee but some chocolate whey in to make a great mocha

The possibilities are endless, get your creative juices going!
Taylor Ryan