Weight Loss

How to Lose 100+ Pounds and Keep it Off

Posted on 13.01.202216.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

When you need to lose 100+ pounds, getting started on a weight loss plan can be daunting. Most of our patients tell us that the weight gain happened over a period of several years, but it is one triggering event that acts as a “wake-up call” to their health. They might’ve held a little extra weight since they were in school. Or, it might not have become noticeable until they were older. Either way, losing weight is something within our control. By changing our lifestyle, we can maintain a healthy body weight. Here at six tips to help you lose 100+pounds and maintain that weight loss long term.

Tips to Lose 100+ Pounds and Maintain Your Weight Loss

1. Start Tracking Your Calories

Your body can only put on weight whenever you’ve got a caloric surplus. Each day, we burn a certain number of calories. If we eat more than that, we’ll gain weight. Eating fewer calories than you burn is the best way to lose weight. So, it is important to start tracking how much you’re eating if you are trying to lose 100+ pounds.

Staying under your caloric baseline will mean you’re in a caloric deficit. When your body needs calories, it’ll have to take them from stored body fat. Don’t try to maintain too steep of a deficit, though. This will make it more difficult for you to stick with the diet. Try limiting your daily intake by 10 to 15%, then, as you progress, you can cut your caloric limit by more.

2. Switch to a Ketogenic Diet

Maximize your weight loss by switching to a ketogenic diet, a diet that focuses on protein and fat. Without enough carbohydrates, your body will enter ketosis. It burns ketone bodies as its primary fuel source whenever it’s in this state of ketosis.

Switching to ketosis takes a little time, but it pays off. Soon enough, you’ll start burning fat instead of glucose. So, you’ll begin to lose weight rapidly.

3. Weigh Yourself Once a Week

One of the biggest problems people have when they’re losing weight, especially if they are trying to lose 100+ pounds, is scale freight. They’ll start weighing themselves every day. Then, they’re discouraged when they don’t see progress daily. Losing weight isn’t something that happens in a straight line. It’s normal to fluctuate a bit day-to-day. Tracking your weight once a week should give you a better picture of what’s happening. You should be looking for a steady decline. As long as that’s the trend, you’re doing well. If things start to reverse, you’ll need to cut calories and limit your carb intake even more.

4. Develop Active Hobbies

Spending all your time at the gym probably isn’t feasible. Even if you had the time, you wouldn’t want to stay there all the time. The best way to increase your activity levels would be to develop active hobbies. Going for a walk after you’re done working is a great start. Try walking 10,000 steps each day. You can also start doing other sorts of activities. For example, rent a kayak or go for a bike ride with the family.

5. Log Your Progress

Once you have lost the weight, you will want to focus your efforts on keeping the weight off, which requires a lot of willpower. We’ve found the best way to stay on track is by logging your progress. Take notes on what you’re eating each day and keep track of your progress whenever you look at the scale. There are some great apps out there that can assist you with achieving and maintaining your goals.

When you’ve hit your goal weight, don’t change anything. Pay attention to what you’ve been doing to reach this point. Maintaining your weight loss means living differently and you’ll need to keep these new habits otherwise, your weight will begin to creep back up.

6. Consider Bariatric Surgery

If you have a history of yo-yo dieting (losing a lot of weight and then gaining it right back) or have a health condition where weight loss can be more challenging, bariatric surgery may be the best option for you. Weight loss surgery limits your caloric intake by reducing the size of your stomach, and you will quickly see the weight come off within the first few months following surgery. Find a bariatric provider in your area to see if bariatric surgery is right for you.

Lose 100+ Pounds, For Good

Trying to lose 100+ pounds requires a lot of effort, especially once you get started. However, your daily actions will form healthy habits that will create a lifestyle shift over time. Soon enough, as you begin to see and feel your progress, you will be motivated to keep going!

This article was originally written by a blog contributor, Elizabeth Howard

How to Lose Weight After Bariatric Surgery Without Exercising

Posted on 27.12.202116.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

After bariatric surgery, strenuous exercise can be very challenging depending on your mobility. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t lead a healthy life. Thankfully, there are ways you can lose weight without exercise after bariatric surgery and without following an intense workout routine. We put together the following advice to help you lose weight when regular physical activity may not be an option.

4 Ways to Lose Weight without Exercising

Get Your Diet Straight

The best way to lose weight, no matter one’s mobility level, is to eat healthily. That means avoiding overly processed foods and drinks, which is already a dietary guideline after weight loss surgery. However, when you eat processed foods, make sure they are as natural as possible, such as premade bread. Yet you will want to try to limit carbs, whether processed grains or whole grains, after your bariatric procedure.

Processed sugars are also unhealthy and can cause weight gain. Similarly, a diet high in sugar and processed foods after bariatric surgery can lead to dumping syndrome, defined as the body’s intolerance to foods high in sugar and fat. These high sugar and fatty foods empty quickly from the stomach into the intestines causing nausea, clamminess, sweating, cramping, pounding heartbeat, light-headedness, and diarrhea.

Try to cut back on sugary foods and drinks such as soda, sweetened coffee drinks, alcohol, and even fruit juice. Instead, drink water or unsweetened tea. Refreshing and healthy, upping your water intake will also help you process the foods you eat.

Consider the Calories

Americans are not very good at planning their meals. We eat 25 percent more calories today than we did in 1970, which partly explains the rising obesity rates in our society. Our portions are huge, and the calories per plate of food match. Even healthy foods, in excess, can have detrimental effects on our weight. Portioning meals is essential for weight loss, just as much as eating nutritious foods is.

Consider a meal delivery service if you struggle with portion control or need help making nutritious meals. These services supply you with fresh ingredients while simultaneously providing the ideal amount. They’re convenient and an excellent way to diversify your diet in a healthy way. Otherwise, invest in an app that allows you to keep track of calories (we recommend MyFitnessPal) or a food scale to give you better portion control. Even keeping a calorie journal can make sure you don’t overspend with your meals and make healthful choices.

Get Enough Sleep

It may seem like exercise is the end-all, be-all for weight loss, but really, it isn’t. Other parts of your lifestyle play a more significant role in weight loss, such as what you eat and how you eat it. Even sleep and relaxation can be a large part of having a healthy weight. Studies have found that over an eight-week period, getting just one hour less of sleep each night for at least five nights out of the week resulted in less weight loss, despite being on a calorie-restrictive diet.

When we don’t sleep well, we may be hungrier the next day or find ourselves snacking more on unhealthy foods. Stress and chronic sleeplessness can lead to obesity, diabetes, and raised cortisol levels, which can contribute to weight gain.

Do what you can to let go of your anxieties, especially at night. You need to aim for about eight hours of sleep, if possible. If sleeping is difficult, make sure your bedroom is dark at night. Curb your caffeine levels, especially in the afternoon or evening, and don’t overeat before you hit the hay. Even small amounts of caffeine can interfere with deep sleep.

Get Chilly

If you are physically able, getting your body cold for periods of time can actually help you get in shape. It doesn’t need to be too cold, just anything under 66 degrees. A cold environment can speed up your metabolism, which can burn calories and help you lose weight. This concept is called “temperature training,” wherein the body expends energy to keep itself warm. You can use up to five times the energy you would in a warm environment.

You’re more likely to build what is known as brown fat when chilly, which can help burn calories. It may take time to show noticeable differences in body fat levels, but it could be as little as six weeks to have a registered decrease. It may be uncomfortable at first, but you can grow accustomed to the lowered temperatures.

Making healthy lifestyle changes doesn’t necessarily require vigorous exercise. Instead, if you’re unable to work hard, focus on what you eat, how you eat and prepare it, sleeping well, and changing your climate. No matter what your physical capacity, you can be successful at losing weight.

This post was written be Julie Morris

Treating Diabetes Through Lifestyle Changes

Posted on 16.08.202116.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

The primary goal of diabetes treatment and management is to manage the blood sugar/glucose levels better while avoiding drops in the glucose levels to the degree that the patient develops symptomatic hypoglycemia.

Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death worldwide and is the most expensive long-term disease to treat. In the US, where the diet of most individuals is high in carbohydrates and obesity is more prevalent, about 10% of the population suffers from diabetes, with type 2 diabetes accounting for about 90% of all cases.

Type 2 diabetes is also known as “adult-onset diabetes .” The cause of this type of diabetes is not clearly understood; however, it is most commonly associated with a combination of excessive body weight and insufficient exercise.

One of the most beneficial and effective ways to manage diabetes is through lifestyle changes that include dietary changes, increased exercise, close medical follow-up, and ultimately, weight loss.

Lifestyle Changes for Diabetes Management

Dietary

The lifestyle changes most important in the management of diabetes have to do with diet. This is usually accomplished through educating the patient about what proper eating means.

It’s imperative that an individual with diabetes eats a low carbohydrate diet and avoids most, if not all, simple sugars. These foods result in rapid, high spikes in the blood surgery levels, making it hard for the body to adjust and manage the persistently high glucose levels.

No one specific diet plan is better than the next. In general, the American Diabetic Association (ADA) recommends “reducing overall carbohydrate intake for individuals.” This is most commonly achieved by following (very) low carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins or Sugar Buster’s Diet.

Physical Activity

In addition to eating a healthy diabetic diet, the patient also needs to engage in regular exercise. It is recommended that you participate in 20 to 30 minutes of sustained physical activity daily. This will help to prevent rapid rises in the glucose levels when a patient does eat.

During exercise, our muscle cells can better use any available insulin to take up glucose during and after physical activity. This improvement can last up to 24 hours after a workout. Similarly, when your muscles contract during physical activity, your cells are better equipped to take up glucose and use it for energy whether insulin is available or not.

The third and probably most crucial lifestyle change a patient with diabetes should make is to lose weight. Weight loss can prevent progression from pre-diabetes to full-blown type 2 diabetes. Losing weight will also decrease the risk of developing hypertension and elevated cholesterol. In many cases, even a modest degree of weight loss can result in partial remission of the disease. If you have struggled with weight loss in the past, we encourage you to look into weight loss surgery as a treatment options. Weight loss surgery can be an extremely effective treatment for obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Most patients after surgery can maintain normal blood sugar levels with little or no medications, and long-term complications and death associated with diabetes are decreased.

4 Practical Tips to Avoid Weight Regain after Bariatric Surgery

Posted on 12.07.202116.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

A common misconception surrounding weight loss surgery is that it is a permanent fix. Although surgery can help patients lose weight at an otherwise faster rate than they would with diet and exercise, it will not keep the weight off forever—patients must maintain a healthy lifestyle.

As a bariatric surgeon, I have seen many patients who are confused about why they have regained their weight after bariatric surgery. In most cases, patients are partaking in unhealthy lifestyle habits that they are entirely unaware of. In last week’s blog, we talked about the steps you can take to avoid regain from a wellness perspective, and this week we will dive into the more practical tips to help you achieve long-term weight loss success.

1. Follow Up with your Bariatric Care Team.

Some of the most successful bariatric patients are the ones who frequently attend their follow-up visits after weight loss surgery and maintain regular contact with their weight loss provider. Patients who attend their post-op visits have the chance to meet one-on-one with their surgeon and dietitian to evaluate their eating and exercise habits.

By attending follow-up visits with your physician, you are likely to mitigate the bad behavior and avoid weight regain. Similarly, your physician will be able to identify any possible medications that are preventing successful weight loss.

The most common reason an individual fails to get help after weight loss surgery is feelings of embarrassment and a sense of failure if and when they have regained the weight. We want our patients to know that weight regain is not a sign of failure. Most of the time, the patient’s overall health is still significantly better after surgery, which is one great accomplishment in and of itself. It has been proven that when patients are held accountable, they are more likely to succeed. So be sure you are scheduling your visits to stay on track and avoid significant weight regain.

2. Stick to the Program

Following your weight loss program’s recommendations may seem obvious. Still, we know from experience that patients tend to follow their own dietary guidelines soon after surgery (within the first 6 to 12 months). It’s human nature to fall back into the old habits that contributed to obesity in the first place.

At Bariatric Centers of America, we teach bariatric patients the “food test rule” to make regular healthy food choices. The “food test rule” focuses on filling your plate with high-protein foods, aka anything that walks, swims, crawls, or moves in any form. Next, fill up on non-starchy vegetables – preferably green vegetables because they are low in carbs and have lots of vitamins and minerals. If you are looking to lose weight, you can still eat carbohydrates (in moderation) but focus on complex carbs such as whole grains, brown rice, beans, etc.

The consistent application of our “food test rule,” along with thinking of food differently, helps our patients apply these weight loss principles to their everyday life to make healthy food choices that will help them maintain the weight they lost.

3. Find Support

Many studies have proven that physical and emotional support will ultimately help patients become more successful with their weight loss. Support can come in all forms, but regardless of the type or the degree of involvement you would like your “mentor” to have, you must find encouragement to meet your goals.

A healthy support system consists of people who celebrate your successes and love reminding you when your stated desire to live a healthy lifestyle does not match your actions. Find someone or a group of people you can lean on that will walk this weight loss journey with you.

For patients seeking to lose weight, we encourage them to find a workout/accountability partner, lean on family and friends for times of encouragement, or to get involved in online communities such as a bariatric support group. Regular support group attendance has been shown, in many studies, to improve patients’ long-term outcomes after weight loss surgery. A properly run support group provides an informal way to maintain contact with the patient’s weight loss provider while at the same time providing ongoing education about proper nutrition and lifestyle changes.

4. Recognize Obesity is More than a Food Addiction

As the prevalence of obesity continues to rise, doctors and society alike have begun to look at obesity as more of a metabolic problem than a social problem. In many cases, obesity is not a sole result of overeating food but is also a result of hormonal imbalances.

With that being said, you may need to look outside your bariatric office to seek treatment. This may include following up with your GYN (ladies) or even visiting an endocrinologist to get your thyroid tested. If you are experiencing weight regain and you have been adhering to a healthy diet and exercise regimen, we suggest you schedule an appointment with your bariatric surgeon so they can help you get to the root of the problem.

At Live Healthy, we are on a mission to help patients live healthy, not just one-year post-op, but for the rest of their lives. We emphasize the importance of having a bariatric care team that will walk with you through your post-op journey. So, even if you had surgery elsewhere, we encourage you to fill out a form on our website and get connected with a provider in your area that can support you on your post-op journey to success.

Wellness Based Tips to Avoid Regain after Weight Loss Surgery

Posted on 05.07.202116.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

The journey to weight loss surgery is long and requires a lot of effort, possibly even a lot of money, so regaining weight after surgery can feel entirely defeating. According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, more than 50 percent of patients will end up regaining a small percentage of their excess body weight within two years of their procedure. Unfortunately, other patients will end up regaining most, if not all, of their weight back after bariatric surgery.

This is most often a result of resorting back to old eating habits while not incorporating physical activity into their everyday life. Within the first year after surgery, patients are diligent about their portion sizes and the quality of food they are consuming, yet they may begin to slack off over time.

At Live Healthy MD, we are on a mission to help patients live healthy, not just one-year post-op, but for the rest of their lives. In this blog, we give you our six wellness-based tips to avoid regain after weight loss surgery, that if followed, will help you reach your goal weight and maintain weight loss long term.

Tips to Avoid Weight Regain after Bariatric Surgery

1. Drink Lots of Water

Our bodies are made up of about 70% water, and therefore it is an essential substance we must consume for optimal bodily function. When you do not drink enough water and are dehydrated, you will experience adverse effects within your body, including your organ function, mental clarity, and overall health.

Drinking water is a great defense mechanism against fighting diseases and viruses. We all have mucus membranes in our eyes, nose, and mouth that catch germs before they enter our body. Yet, the mucus membranes are essentially ineffective if they are dried out. Similarly, water is essential in flushing out toxins from our bodies.

Water is also effective in helping you maintain a healthy weight as it acts as an appetite suppressant and helps your body metabolize fat. To experience all these benefits, you want to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. Try adding a slice of lemon or mint to your water to add variety to your hydration schedule.

2. Get Enough Sleep Each Night

Getting a good night’s rest is an essential aspect of achieving overall wellness and functions as a time for your body to heal and repair itself. Sleep impacts many of your bodily functions, including your mood, mental clarity, immune system, weight, and overall health. Over time, sleep deprivation will negatively impact your physical health. When we talk about being sleep deprived, we refer to not going through enough REM and non-REM sleep cycles, which ultimately affects your ability to function at your optimal point throughout the day.

When you do not get enough sleep each night, your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, an overactive thyroid, and obesity increases significantly. Many studies have found that sleep deprivation increases a patient’s risk of developing heart disease by nearly 50 percent and triples the risk of having type 2 diabetes.

3. Increase Daily Activity

Exercise is a key component of a healthy living plan. Exercise makes us feel better, reduces depression, and improves heart and lung function. Exercise increases our lean body mass (muscle mass), which increases our resting metabolic rate, the rate at which our body consumes glucose (carbohydrates). While exercise is a foundation for a healthy, happy life, it plays a relatively minor role in weight loss compared to focusing on your diet. However, it is beneficial in weight maintenance and helping patients avoid regain after weight loss surgery. The key to starting any exercise program and making a habit out of movement is to start slow.

Tips to creating an exercise regimen that you stick to are:

Find something you enjoy doing and makes you feel comfortable
Get a workout/accountability partner
Know your “why” – understanding your primary motivator is key to your long-term success
Set attainable goals that will keep you motivated along the way

4. Make a Grocery List

Grocery shopping can seem like a chore, especially if you are buying for a family or even trying to eat healthier in a world of uncrustables and cookies. If you have recently had Bariatric Surgery or are on a weight loss journey, navigating the grocery store can be overwhelming. Therefore, we always encourage our patients to make a grocery list before heading into the store.

Benefits of Making a Grocery List:

Saves Time: A grocery list saves you from wandering up and down the aisles, wondering what you will eat for the next few days.
Saves Money: Grocery lists give you guidelines for what to buy based on the meals you plan to eat that week, eliminating your spending on unnecessary food items.
Healthier Choices: Most unhealthy decisions are made impassively. Therefore, a shopping list keeps you from making last-minute, unhealthy food choices and ultimately avoid regain after weight loss surgery.
Planned Meals: Prior to going to the grocery store, you can review all of your meals and add ingredients to your shopping list based on what you plan to cook for the week.
Minimize Waste: A grocery list ensures you only buy what you intend to use, therefore saving you from buying too much food that will end up going bad and being thrown out.

5. Focus on Food Quality and Quantity

Two behaviors that are almost always the culprit for weight regain are frequent snacking and the overconsumption of carbohydrates. Snacking between meals can lead to significant weight gain after weight loss surgery due to the quality and quantity of food consumed. Most often, snack foods are full of carbohydrates and sugar. They are considered “low density” food items due to the lack of nutrition.

When you don’t sit down for planned meals, it is easy to overeat or eat foods that are not on your nutrition plan. Although we suggest bariatric patients eat five small meals a day, we also suggest they plan accordingly. Patients who recently had their bariatric surgery will notice they do not need more than the recommended 1 cup serving size to feel satisfied. However, as the years go by and you begin to eat more, your stomach will expand, allowing you to consume larger amounts of food. Therefore, patients must be highly aware of how much food they are putting on their plate at each meal.

The second reason you may start seeing the number on the scale go up is due to the overconsumption of carbohydrates. Although the body needs a certain amount of carbohydrates to fuel itself, if you are not burning more than you consume, you will gain weight. Therefore, we recommend bariatric patients stay away from high-carb foods such as fruit, starchy vegetables, and grains (including pasta and bread). Your body will receive enough carbs from the other foods on your nutrition plan to function correctly and still help you lose weight.

6. Keep a Food and Exercise Journal.

When patients start to regain weight and even hit a plateau, it is most often a result of consuming more calories than they are burning. When you aren’t keeping a close look at your food intake, it is easy to consume too many calories and experience regain after weight loss surgery. Therefore, we recommend bariatric patients track their food intake and energy expenditure for a week to see where you may be slipping up.

Similarly, you want to be sure you measure out your food. Start using diligent portion control methods and scales to accurately measure and report on everything you are consuming. This will give you an idea of how much and how frequently you are eating and give you a look into your macronutrient breakdown between carbs, fats, and protein. When you schedule a follow-up visit with your surgeon, be sure to bring the food diary with you so you both can go over it together.

How Sleep can Help You Achieve Optimal Health and Weight Loss

Posted on 10.05.202116.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Getting a good night’s rest is an essential aspect of achieving overall wellness. Sleep is the time when your body can heal and repair itself and impacts many of your bodily functions, including your mood, mental clarity, immune system, weight, and overall health.

The Science of Sleep

While you sleep, your body cycles through four stages known as non-REM and REM sleep. REM stands for rapid eye movement and is the time at night when your eyes move around quickly yet don’t send any visual information to the brain. During non-REM sleep, your muscles will relax, your blood pressure and breathing will lower, and you have the deepest sleep. Non-REM is the period in which your body will repair itself, your immune system will be strengthened, and your tissue, bones, and muscle are strengthened.

About 90 minutes after falling asleep, you should enter REM sleep, where your brain will become more active, your breathing and heart rate will peak, and you will experience more intense dreams. REM is vital to stimulating your brain to help with learning and retaining information. The ability of the body to cycle through the stages of non-REM and REM sleep is vital for a restful night and overall health.

Sleep Quality vs. Quantity

Sleep is the foundation of nearly every aspect of your health, from your focus, your mood, your energy levels, and your correlation to diseases. So not only is it essential to get enough sleep each night, but it is also important to get good quality rest so your body can heal and repair itself.

If you have a hard time falling asleep, you regularly wake up during the night, and you feel tired and restless throughout the day, you are likely not getting the high-quality sleep that your body needs for optimal health and wellness. Quality sleep is achieved when your body cycles through the four stages of non-REM and REM sleep, as detailed above. The cycling through these stages allows your body to repair itself and fully achieve a good night’s rest.

Even if you get a solid 8 hours of sleep, if you still wake up feeling restless, your body is likely not reaching the deep sleep you need. Fortunately, getting better quality sleep may be as easy as improving your night-time habits that we will detail in next week’s blog.

How Sleep Impacts Your Health

Individuals who suffer from sleep deprivation can begin to experience adverse side effects related to their health over time. When we talk about being sleep deprived, we refer to not going through enough REM and non-REM sleep cycles, which ultimately affects your ability to function at your optimal point throughout the day.

Diabetes and Obesity

There are two types of hormones that affect our feelings of hunger and satiety; leptin and ghrelin. Sleep impacts these hormonal levels, therefore influencing our desire to eat and the ability to stop eating. This can lead to obesity over time. Similarly, a lack of sleep results in the release of insulin, and when there is too much insulin in the blood, you are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure

Not getting enough sleep increases a patient’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This is because when we sleep, our blood pressure drops. Therefore, when you don’t get enough sleep, your blood pressure stays elevated for more extended periods. When you have continued high blood pressure, you are at risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke.

Immunity

When we sleep at night, our body releases cytokines, a protein that aids in fighting off infections in the body. When you don’t get enough sleep at night, your cytokine production decreases, making your body vulnerable to infections and common colds. This can also mean that it will be harder for your body to fight off the infection, leaving you sick for longer than you would like.

How Sleep (Apnea) Impacts Your Weight

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disorder that results in breathing involuntary stopping for brief periods during sleep, with the most noticeable side effect being snoring. Although snoring may not seem like a critical concern, sleep apnea should be taken very seriously. OSA results from the airway being blocked (obstructed) and is more likely to occur in overweight and obese individuals.

Like the disease of obesity, sleep apnea heightens a patient’s risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, and an overactive thyroid. Sleep apnea also makes it harder for a patient to lose weight due to the poor sleep quality that impacts metabolic and endocrine functions. Patients who suffer from sleep apnea and are not getting a restful night’s sleep each night will often turn to sugary and high-carbohydrate foods in an attempt to stay awake. This only exacerbates their obesity and makes their sleep apnea problem worse, leading to a vicious cycle.

Significant weight loss lowers the risk and severity of a patient’s sleep apnea leading to improved diabetes management, decreased hunger and appetite, better hormonal function, and overall fewer health complications.

8 Healthy Habits to Lose Weight and Keep it off

Posted on 08.03.202116.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

For over 15 years, I have worked with people who want to lose weight and avoid weight regain. For the same number of years, I have heard the most baffling words from these same people: “I don’t know how.”

Continue reading “8 Healthy Habits to Lose Weight and Keep it off”

Foods Hindering Weight Loss after Bariatric Surgery

Posted on 14.12.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Despite what you may think, all “healthy” foods are not created equal. The food industry has spent billions of dollars on marketing certain foods that they claim to be “healthy”. And unless you are doing your own research on food nutrition and food science, you are likely falling prey to this form of information dissemination.

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Heart Rate Zone Training for Fat Loss and Improved Health

Posted on 21.09.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Your heart is one of the most important muscles in your body. Although many people don’t look at it as a muscle because they can not artificially see it. Targeting your heart rate zone during exercise is a great “muscle building” attribute you can bring to the table. Simply put, your heart rate is the maximum beats per minute your heart muscle can achieve.

Continue reading “Heart Rate Zone Training for Fat Loss and Improved Health”

How Stevia Helps with Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery

Posted on 14.09.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

The bottom line is that the only way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit by eating fewer calories than your body burns for energy. There are many ways to accomplish this, and targeting added sugars and replacing them with stevia is an easy and tasty fix.

Continue reading “How Stevia Helps with Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery”

Video Blog: Maintaining the Motivation to Lose Weight

Posted on 07.09.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Motivation is the set of forces that activate, guide and maintain our behaviors in order to meet a goal. In other words, motivation is the reason(s) behind why you do what you do. The word motivation comes from a Latin word that means “to move”, therefore motivation implies effort and action—as in doing.

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Do Men Really Lose Weight Faster Than Women?

Posted on 06.07.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

There is a common belief that men lose weight faster than women under the same circumstances. And this belief reigns true in most cases. I see this all the time in my practice, where men seemingly have to do very little to lose weight compared to their female counterparts.

Continue reading “Do Men Really Lose Weight Faster Than Women?”

Reasons You May Not be Losing Weight on the Keto Diet

Posted on 01.06.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

The keto diet has been shown to be an effective diet for losing weight. Its low-carbohydrate, high-fat, moderate-protein model transforms the body from glucose-reliant to a machine that uses fat for fuel and produces ketones endogenously.

Continue reading “Reasons You May Not be Losing Weight on the Keto Diet”

Tips to Keep the Weight off after Bariatric Surgery

Posted on 20.04.202017.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

One of the common concerns for patients months after weight loss surgery is “will I be able to maintain this weight loss?” and “what if I gain all my weight back?”. If you are considering having bariatric surgery or have previously had the surgery, these question themes may have crossed your mind, and you may even be milling over these questions in your weight loss phase today. Continue reading “Tips to Keep the Weight off after Bariatric Surgery”

Fasted vs. Fed Cardio: Which if Better for Fat Loss?

Posted on 09.09.201917.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Exercise is a very important part of living a healthy lifestyle and is recommended to many of our patients as it promotes weight loss, preserves your muscle mass, and improves your mood. But is it true that working out on an empty stomach can help you burn fat faster? In this blog, I am going to talk about the science behind this thought and provide you with my opinion on whether you should engage in fasted or fed cardio.

Continue reading “Fasted vs. Fed Cardio: Which if Better for Fat Loss?”

5 Ways to Get Back on Track to Losing Weight

Posted on 02.09.201917.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Labor Day marks the end of summer (unofficially) and that means the kids are back in school and vacations are over. With things calming down, you may be reflecting on your summer thinking “where has the time gone?”. If you are anything like the other million Americans, summer has probably derailed your weight loss goals. With long days, late nights, and multiple vacations, it can be hard to make the most healthy life choices.

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How to Get Back on Track After Holiday Eating

Posted on 27.12.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Just like that, the holidays have come and gone. And if you are anything like the millions of other Americans, you probably put on a little weight as a result of all the glorious sweets and treats. On average, Americans will gain 1.3 pounds by the time January 1st rolls around and some will continue to pack on the weight into the new year.

Continue reading “How to Get Back on Track After Holiday Eating”

How to Overcome a Weight Plateau

Posted on 08.11.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

In the months following weight loss surgery, it is very common to notice rapid and consistent weight loss. This is due to the caloric restriction as a result of each weight loss procedure. However, there will come a time when weight loss may seem to slow down or even stop. And I’m not talking about once you have hit a healthy goal weight.

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Are You Eating These Food Groups for Weight Loss?

Posted on 06.09.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Grocery shopping and meal planning can be intimidating for patients who have just had weight loss surgery or are trying to lose weight. In our practice, we emphasize the importance of eating protein during every meal and eliminating carbohydrates, of all forms, from your diet. However, this can be easier said than done.

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Video Blog: How to Lose Weight

Posted on 30.08.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

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5 Tips: Grocery Shopping for Weight Loss

Posted on 09.08.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

This week we decided to take a trip to the grocery store to show you guys how to grocery shop like a pro! At Live Healthy MD, we get a lot of questions about what our patients can and can not eat before and after surgery. I am showing you all how to navigate the grocery store and pick up some delicious staple items!

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Video Blog: What is Restrictive Weight Loss?

Posted on 02.08.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

The Talking it Up Show with Arlean Edwards is a local production that interviews keynote speakers within the CSRA. I, Dr. Jacome, was invited to join Arlean on set in a series of videos where I talk about what it takes to live healthy. This is the fifth video we are sharing from this series. You can find the first four videos on Calories, Dieting, Family Dynamics, and Preparing for Change on our blog. Be sure to stay tuned to see what other exciting topics I cover in the coming months!

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Video Blog: How Dieting May be Ruining Your Weight Loss

Posted on 10.05.201818.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

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Why Am I Tired After Losing Weight?

Posted on 24.08.201717.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Losing weight is a great way to lower your risk of health related diseases as well as gain your life back again through increased mobility and energy. So it may be surprising that you are noticing a sluggish feeling to your everyday life, leaving you feeling tired and unmotivated. There are several reasons that may reverse the “traditional” symptoms of weight loss including a lack of sleep, an unbalanced diet, and mineral deficiencies.

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The Basics of Losing Weight After Bariatric Surgery

Posted on 27.03.201717.07.2023 by Live Healthy MD

Losing weight is a very difficult challenge. Anyone who has tried knows this very well. We were designed to store extra fuel in the form of fat during the good times (feasting) and hold on to fat during the bad times (starvation). Fat in our body is ultimately a way we store extra fuel (carbohydrates) in our body for future use. Unfortunately, for most of us in our society, we never get to a point of needing to use what we have stored over many years.

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