Volume 3, Issue 8 ... ... August 2008
New insight on standard multivitamin supplementation after weight loss surgery
by Chris Corcoran, MS, RD/LD, of WeightWise of Edmond, Okla.
A recent study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that nutritional deficiencies after Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RNYGB) often cannot be prevented by standard multivitamin supplementation. The study aimed to evaluate how effectively a standard multivitamin could prevent and treat nutritional deficiencies in obese patients after surgery. Some of the major points were:
- Sixty percent of patients required one or more nutritional supplements six months after surgery and almost all patients needed them after two years.
- Almost 60 percent of patients were receiving three types of supplements and close to 40 percent were receiving four or more types of supplements two years after surgery.
- The presence of nutritional deficiencies increased with time.
The authors concluded that nutritional deficiencies are very common after RNYGB and can occur despite supplementation with a standard multivitamin. The authors suggested that close postoperative follow up is necessary to detect and treat nutritional deficiencies.
How does this information affect you as a WeightWise member? It emphasizes the importance of following the vitamin and mineral supplementation guidelines outlined for you by your WeightWise healthcare team. The current recommendations for vitamin and mineral supplements are designed to be proactive, meaning they are designed to help prevent nutritional deficiencies from occurring in the first place. This is for the simple fact that it is much easier to prevent nutritional deficiencies than it is to treat them.
Current recommendations are also designed to help patients more readily absorb the vitamins and minerals. For example, chewable multivitamins and other chewable mineral supplements ensure better absorption. Chewable nutrients begin to dissolve in the mouth and are more easily absorbed. Tablets may not fully dissolve depending on how long they take to pass through the gastro-intestinal tract and if they bypass the acidic portion of the stomach. In addition, the decreased amount of acid present in the stomach after weight loss surgery may also affect how vitamins and minerals are absorbed. This is the main reason your healthcare team recommends the more acidic (i.e., citrate versus carbonate) forms of vitamins and minerals.
Long term data and specific guidelines on proper vitamin and mineral supplementation for weight loss surgery patients are difficult to find. For this reason, it is best to follow the exact recommendations from your healthcare team
and follow up routinely. Nutritional deficiencies that are detected early can be corrected with proper treatment.
You can get your nutritional supplements online!
Click here to view the vitamins WeightWise has in our estore. Purchase online and have them shipped to your home!
For a limited time (through August 25, 2008) get 25% off your entire purchase at the WeightWise estore! Just enter promo code WW25OFF at checkout.
Source: Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87:1128-33The deserving servant
by Jodie L. Gutkowski, Marketing/PR Director, Foundation Surgery Affiliates
Meet Rita Phillips … a registered respiratory therapist with Foundation Bariatric Hospital of Oklahoma who is also an eight-month post op bariatric patient.
Rita has worked at FBHOK since the facility opened its doors in January of 2006. At that time she weighed 287 pounds. Although dedicated to her work in healthcare, Rita did not agree with weight loss surgery (WLS) because she had been exposed to patients with bad outcomes at her previous job. She vowed that she would never choose WLS because she thought it was the lazy way out and just too risky. By mid 2007, she changed her mind.
Rita is a trained caregiver and a dutiful daughter. In April 2007, while visiting her aging mother who had overcome many health obstacles related to diabetes and cardiac disease, Rita came to a realization that she didn’t want her own children and grandchildren to witness the same with her.
“I knew at 287 pounds if I didn’t do something soon, this would be my scenario,” Rita stated. “From that day on I did everything I needed to do to get the weight loss surgery process going.”
She knew it would not be easy. With hopes of ridding herself of the constant joint and muscle aches from carrying the extra weight to lowering her high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, Rita found motivation from the happy patients who surrounded her everyday at FBHOK. “After working at Foundation for almost a year and a half, and seeing the wonderful results and few complications, I decided that weight loss surgery was something that I owed to myself.”
In order to meet insurance requirements, Rita had to follow a six-month plan of diet and exercise before she could be considered for surgery. “There were days that I thought my turn would never come. But it was so worth the wait,” Rita expressed.
By December 2007, the wait was over. Rita underwent Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass surgery. She would finally know what it was like to be one of her patients and following her surgery, Rita has gained a new perspective and knowledge of the service needed for her WLS patients. The supportive team at WeightWise who consults her on nutrition, exercise, and behavior modification has become like a new family member in her weight loss journey.
Now, eight months following her surgery, Rita has lost 116 pounds and is enjoying life again.
“My life has changed in so many ways,” she enthusiastically shared. “I have not taken blood pressure or cholesterol medications since the day before surgery. I have more stamina and energy. I go out in public more often. I can enjoy my grandchildren more now. We can play and go to the park, and go shopping all in one day. I attend more social events, and the list goes on and on.”
It’s those WOW moments that now catch her breath. WLS patients refer to WOW moments as events that are common to most of us, but new or rediscovered by successful patients of weight loss. Rita shares one of hers: “This summer I will take my first airplane ride without having to require a seat belt extender.” It’s those little victories that add up and help patients of WeightWise get back to life.
Rita’s journey toward her goal weight continues, but she isn’t doing it alone. The support from her family and friends has been tremendous, not to mention the built-in support of co-workers and the WeightWise team. “I would like to thank God for working in his marvelous ways and bringing Dr. Gregory Walton into my life. For without either one of them I wouldn’t have had this second chance at life that I have today.”
Connect with Rita on
ObesityHelp.com here.Do you have a success story you'd like to share with us? We'd LOVE to hear it! Whether your 10 days post surgery or 10 months or 10 years, your story could inspire other people. Contact us at
jgutkowski@fsamail.com to share your story.
Join the 2008 Walk from Obesity
In September and October in cities across the United States, individuals affected by obesity, their family members and friends, healthcare professionals and many others are invited to come together and proudly walk to raise awareness of the disease of obesity, childhood obesity and morbid obesity in the annual Walk from Obesity.
In 2007, WeightWise co-sponsored the Oklahoma City area Walk from Obesity at the Oklahoma City Zoo. The 2008 event in Oklahoma will be held in Tulsa.
Walk Date: Saturday, September 27, 2008
Walk Location: Riverwest Festival Park at 21st and Jackson in Tulsa, OK
Presented By: Oklahoma Society for Metabolic and Bariatric SurgeryFunds generated from the event support the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Foundation (ASMBS) and its research and professional education initiatives, and the patient and general public educational and advocacy programs of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC).
Registrations are being accepted online
HERE. Click on "register here" and then choose "join a team" and select "Team WeightWise." If you're interested in carpooling or driving in a caravan from Oklahoma City, contact either
Somer Carey or
Lauren Wilburn at WeightWise of Edmond.
The benefits of weight training
by John Kinkead, Fitness Specialist at WeightWise of San AntonioWeight training is for people of all age groups - whether you are in your early adult or golden years. Weight training has many benefits for our bodies! One of the great things it can help you do is lose fat and replace it with lean muscle, making us look and feel better about ourselves.
Weight training also can be very powerful in reducing the signs and symptoms diseases and chronic conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, back pain and depression. So when you are having a bad day, don’t take your frustrations out on your friends and family. Reduce your stress with a good ‘ole fashion weight training workout. After your session, you will feel better and that stress will melt away.
Weight training makes your muscles stronger through a process of breakdown and rebuilding. When you force your muscles to lift more weight than usual, your muscle fibers literally tear (this can be a reason why you feel muscle pain after lifting weights). But during the 24-48 hours after your workout, your body repairs these tears, by adding more muscle tissue to the fibers. This process increases muscle mass and strength; it also strengthens tendons, ligaments and bones.
Weight training doesn't just make your muscles stronger; it also works on your tendons, ligaments and bones. This creates a variety of benefits to include making your joints stronger by allowing them to withstand more weight or stress when, for example, you exercise more vigorously. Weight training can also help prevent and slow the affects of osteoporosis by increasing bone mass. Last, but certainly not least, adding lean muscle can promote weight loss by stimulating your metabolism – increasing the total number of calories your body burns at rest per day.
Women often fear that lifting weights will make them "bulky" or look like a body-builder. But by using lighter weights and doing more repetitions ensures strength and toning without building bulk. Bottom line, no matter what your training goal is – strength training is for YOU.
Contact the WeightWise facility nearest you for a consultation on weight training with a program exercise physiologist. For Oklahoma, call 405.359.2473. For San Antonio, call 210.478.5300.
How to Maintain Relationships After Weight Loss Surgery
Contributed by Jim R. Keller, Ph.D., Director of Behavioral Health for WeightWise of Edmond
Join Dr. Jim Keller and the Oklahoma support groups in August to discuss the impact of weight loss surgery on relationships. See the
www.weightwise.com Calendar of Events to find a group and reserve your seat.
Losing weight after weight loss surgery is a great accomplishment. Although the impact of your weight loss may be dramatic, relationships may also be affected. Your spouse, friends and family may begin to mourn the person they knew before weight loss surgery. Here are a few ways to maintain your relationships after weight loss surgery while enjoying the benefits of a trimmer body.
Step1Be considerate of your spouse, friends and family. They may have supported the surgery, but are unsure of how to react to a more confident and outgoing you. Accept the compliments initially, but try not to dwell on them.
Step2Keep conversations diverse. Show concern and enthusiasm for what's going on with friends, family and your spouse. Don't talk too much about your weight loss success, as they may view it as being self-centered. Inquire about their interests and goals.
Step3Include your spouse in new activities. When you were overweight, you probably were leery of new activities in the past. Now that you're willing to try new things, solicit fun activities from your spouse. Take turns at picking the next adventure.
Step4Compliment your spouse. Let him know how much his support is appreciated or tell him how his encouragement helped during depressing times. Take the focus off you and put it on your spouse who may need reassurance.
Step5Do something special. Buy that hard to find CD that the hubby's been talking about, purchase concert tickets to your wife's favorite artist or plan a romantic weekend away. The point is to do something that will make your spouse feel special, especially when there is no occasion to do so. Your new personality may make your spouse insecure about the relationship and small gestures like these are reassuring.
Step6Listen. When friends and family express concerns about personality changes, listen to them and don't take offense. They may have valid points that are being overlooked. Changes are to be expected, but make sure the changes are positive.
Step7Express empathy. The bottom line is that losing weight feels great, but the response from loved ones can be unpredictable. Go easy on them and gradually reveal your new personality over time. A little empathy will help maintain relationships after weight loss surgery.
Source: eHow.comGet Viral with WeightWise on MySpace and Facebook
Do you do more than Yahoo? If you want to meet other WLS patients or encourage prospective patients to learn about WeightWise, we are now on the social web! Visit our home page and click on the Myspace and Facebook links, or use the direct links at the end of this story.
Share your stories. Ask your questions. Inform others about seminars and support groups. Become our "Friend" and our "Fan" today!
Running with the Torch
By Ken Taliman, Fitness Specialist Intern at WeightWise of San Antonio
The summer Olympics are finally here and began with the lighting of the torch in Beijing. The Olympic flame is passed on from city to city, country to country, all around the globe. In a way, I feel like my internship has lit my proverbial torch and now it’s my job to lace up my running shoes.
My time spent at WeightWise has been very meaningful. I am very grateful for the opportunity of being part of the WeightWise team that has been more than welcoming ever since I came on board back in June.
Up until now, I’ve been stuck in a classroom having to listen to lecture after lecture. This internship has allowed me to gain a first hand experience of the real world. I have been able to see and learn many things. Through observation, I’ve picked up on the importance of approaching matters with the right attitude and mind frame. I have also seen first hand, the amount of passion and dedication needed to flourish and prosper as fitness professional. This has definitely been a favorable and valuable experience.
Ken Taliman, a University of Texas – San Antonio graduate, completed his 10 week internship with the Exercise Physiology department at WeightWise of San Antonio on August 6th.
You're invited
The WeightWise Bariatric ProgramTM provides several support groups,
seminars and member events each month throughout 2008. At each of our
HealthPlex locations in Oklahoma and Texas, WeightWise hosts these
events with guest speakers and exercise classes to encourage everyone
to succeed and get involved.
Each WeightWise event is open to all members and many are open to
loved ones as well. For more information about our upcoming schedule of
events, visit our events page on WeightWise.com or call us at
1.866.948.9473.
WeightWise News is produced by Foundation Surgery Affiliates
13900 N. Portland Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73134
1-866-WGTWISE (948-9473)
If you have questions, want to update your e-mail address or
want your e-mail address removed,
contact us at WWeNews@fsamail.com.