Americans are well-known for their super-sized fast food meals. Value meals and the dollar menus draw people to the restaurants not only because they are cheap, but the convenience of drive-thru has made these meals a staple for some folks.  It's no mystery to me why people eat there. All you have to do is push a button to lower the window, hand over a few bucks, and within several minutes you get a meal that requires no prep or clean up.

Recently at a Vancouver bariatric support group I heard it mentioned that McDonald's features a "Canadian…

» Read more...

The front cover still has a few changes and will post new cover when released.

As wrtten on Amazon.com.  

A practical, empowering guide to maintaining your weight after weight loss surgery Weight Loss Surgery Cookbook For Dummies is a book about food and maintenance: what foods to buy, how to prepare them, and how to enjoy a nutritious post-surgery diet. It helps you solidify new eating habits and enjoy some new recipes, as well as better understand nutrition and your food intake so that you can maintain your…

» Read more...

 

Anyone of you remember that great show on TLC several years ago called "Big Medicine"?  I loved that show and was so disappointed when they took it off the air. One of the surgeon stars of the show, Dr. Garth Davis, has written a book for anyone contemplating or in the preoperative stages of weight loss surgery. I have read many a weight loss surgery book and this one is one of the best. If you watched the show, you can hear Dr. Davis's voice talking to you while you read. It's comprehensive, easy to understand, and…

» Read more...

After weight loss surgery we are all taught to keep sugar to a minimum and desserts are almost out of the question.  I understand the reasons behind why desserts are to be kept to a minimum.  First, we don’t have much room in our pouch so we want to only put good nutritious foods in.  Second, depending on which weight loss surgery you had, dumping can happen which cause you not to feel well.  Lastly, dessert and high sugar foods is one of the reason why some, if not most of us had a problem with weight gain.   So…

» Read more...

If you are in America and grumbling about your insurance company's requirement to do a three or six month weight loss program before surgery, it may help you to know this information.

In the metro Vancouver area and  Vancouver Island, including Victoria,  there is a population of about 3.2 million people. To the best of my knowledge there are only  two surgeons doing gastric bypass and sleeve surgeries. Government health care pays for the surgery, but has limited the surgeons to a total of 52 surgeries PER YEAR. A gastric bypass up here who is about 18 months…

» Read more...

Did you know the average American consumes more than 3,500 mg of sodium daily? That's a little more than 1.5 teaspoons of salt! The recommendation from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is less than 2,300 mg a day. If you already have high blood pressure, it is recommended that you aim to eat less than 1,500 mg of sodium a day. In addition to reducing the amount of salt you add to your food, purchase foods that are labeled "no salt added", "reduced sodium", or "low sodium". They will still contain some sodium but not as much as…

» Read more...

I’m in Las Vegas, NV at the annual American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) conference.   Thousands of weight loss professionals from around the world and from the United Sates meet once a year to share research and the up and coming weight loss methods.  In addition, most every weight loss food product that specializes in bariatric weight loss is available to sample. During the convention I get to taste the latest protein shakes, bars, and other foods and will be able to share with you what made the grade, and in my opinion, what didn’t so you…

» Read more...

You know the old saying: “Eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner.” The maxim is one to live by. Eating hearty at the start of the day provides fuel for the rest of your waking hours, and can actually kick start your metabolism into high gear. What’s more, studies have proven that those who eat breakfast are less likely to overindulge on empty calories later in the day, and that kids who eat breakfast have better concentration. In the latest episode of Eating Right Every Bite, Chef Dave demonstrates a couple…

» Read more...

It has been a mighty wet spring in Vancouver and we are still waiting for summer. It rains  a lot up here, and it has been record setting in the past  four weeks.  The rain doesn't slow down people from getting out there and being active. Unlike fair weather walkers in Reno (where I lived for many years) who don't go out because it's too hot, it's too cold, it's too windy, there's a raindrop, I see people out here being active unless it's raining sideways. When it rains, the walkers pop open their umbrellas and hit the trails.…

» Read more...

I was reading your Bio online when I came across the part where you mentioned that obese people don't cook; they eat out all the time. God that was an epiphany, I have rarely cooked most of life. My niece used to joke that she loved how I cooked, "Hello, do you deliver?" I'm making the commitment to try a new recipe at ...least once a week. I'm 3 months out from a gastric bypass revision and I'm gonna learn to cook!

Robin Simmons

» Read more...