Serving Size

The problem with serving sizes on packages is that they are oftentimes not realistic. For instance, how many times do you buy a bag of potato chips and eat only one to two ounces of chips in one sitting? Just in case if you asked, depending on the chip, one ounce may mean anything from 6 to 15 chips. It is important that you are always aware that the serving size  usually does not mean one package. In other words, if you have a bag of potato chips that has about 150 cal per serving and contains three servings, by eating the whole bag you ingested about 450 cal. In terms of daily calorie intake norm, it’s about a third of calories you should eat. For lap-banders’ it’s almost half of the 1,200 daily calorie budget! So when it comes to servings, always check how many servings there are in a package.

Percent of Daily Value

Just letting you know… this part is based on a daily calorie intake of 2,000 calories. If you had the lap-band surgery (1,200 daily calorie intake), the percentage is almost double. It is very important that you account for that especially when looking at the cholesterol and sodium percentages. For instance, if the label on canned soup says that one serving (1/2 cup) contains 825mg of sodium or 34% of your daily value, the lap-band patient percentage is over 50% of your daily value and that’s not even a whole can!

Fat

It seems like everything now is low fat. Even the things we normally didn’t think as fatty proudly announce to be light or low fat. Nevertheless, don’t let the light blue labels decide for you; let’s look at the fat contents. Although labels give you information about the total fat content, it is more important to look at the numbers for saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and trans fats. What you want to look for are products with relatively low contents of saturated fat and trans fat, and more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated instead. Unsaturated fats are broken up more easily by your body and don’t cause the clotting in blood vessels as much as saturated fats, which makes them a better nutritional alternative over saturated fats. Because the healthier fats often are not listed, if you want to know the contents, you will need to subtract the saturated fat amount from the totals.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol – a building block of hormones and a vital part of the cell membranes. However, to stay healthy you should try to keep your cholesterol below 200 milligrams a day. You can expect cholesterol to appear on items containing animal products.

Sodium

The body uses sodium to regulate blood pressure and blood volume. It also makes you retain water which can make you feel a bit sluggish. While healthy adults should limit their daily sodium consumption to 2,300 mg, those with high blood pressure and kidney disease should limit their salt intake even more. Because sodium is frequently used in foods to elevate the taste, most of the products are very high in salt content. Even the products you wouldn’t suspect to have any sodium whatsoever, may be hidden offenders. For instance, two tablespoons of unsweetened powder mix for a fruit-flavored drink contain a whopping 682 mg! To avoid or minimize the sodium intake, it is a good idea to read the labels carefully and buy foods that are marked as low sodium. According to the USDA’s requirements, low sodium products do not surpass the 140 milligrams of salt per serving, so if you stay in the serving range you should be fine.

If you would like to talk to a bariatric dietitian, or hear about a lap-band procedure, contact our DayOne Health Chicago clinic at (312) 239-3838. If you want to learn whether you are candidate for a weight loss procedure schedule your one-on-one consultation.

When juggling your calorie intake you need to always remember not only about the calorie content but also portion size. On average, a lap-bander stomach can hold about four ounces of food, so starving yourself just to indulge later is not an option. In other words, shuffling meals should be about calorie intake, not portion size.

Lap-bander breakfast
Depending on your preferences, breakfast may be anything from 200 to 400 calories. Because many of our patients say that their stomachs “don’t open up” until 10 am or even lunch hours, we usually advise lighter breakfasts. Remember, if you feel that your band is exceptionally tight in the morning don’t try to force food down. Instead, sip on a warm tea/water or broth to help your stomach relax. Breakfast is also a great opportunity to get your protein. The best lap-bander breakfast options are:

-       Egg white omelet or egg white scrambled eggs (if you have time)
-       Yogurt with fruit and/or granola
-       Oatmeal (with water or skim milk)
-       Grits (either water or skim milk, add honey or cinnamon to taste)

Lap-bander lunch
For a lap-bander, lunch may be the hardest meal of the day. The reason why is that you need to plan and prepare ahead of time. Of course, you can always eat out, but we strongly advise our patients to prepare their own meals. Taking leftovers to work is not only easier on your pocket, but also gives you control over calories and portion size that eating out usually doesn’t. Because meat can sometimes be tough and give patients a hard time going down, one pot meals remain the top favorite lap-bander lunch choices.

Easy to portion, easy on the stomach, and easy to reheat, soups and crockpot meats seem to be the most nutritious and fulfilling lunch options. Nevertheless, before you decide to follow that path you need to make sure that the calorie content of your favorites meets calorie recommendations. When venturing into the wide choice of soups try to stay away from rich creams, and choose soups that are broth based with chicken pieces and veggies instead. If you decide to have lunch as your “biggest” meal of the day, you can choose lunch dishes with higher calorie content. However, you need to remember to cut dinner calories accordingly.

Lap-bander dinner
Again, depending on your preferences this may be the most or the least caloric meal of the day. We recommend our patients to eat their dinner before 7:00pm. Eating your dinner early will help you to sleep comfortably and allow time to burn dinner calories before sleeping. If you choose this meal to be the lightest, good options for you may be:

-       steamed fish with steamed veggies
-       tuna or chicken salad
-       veggie or chicken wraps (use lettuce leaf instead of tortilla as a wrap)

If you choose dinner to be your heaviest meal, you can flip the dinner and lunch options. Indulge in a more elaborate dinner, while gravitating toward lighter broth based soup and steamed veggies for lunch. Because evenings don’t give you much time to burn off the calories, we usually recommend our patients to have heavier breakfasts and lunches instead. Nevertheless, if evening remains your best eating time you may always incorporate some additional activity or start an exercise routine to make up for the heavier evening meal. With that, you will not only sleep better but also have better weight loss results.

If you would like to hear more about our DayOne Health lap-band clinic, contact our patient advocate at 312-239-3838 or schedule your one-on-one consultation with one of our bariatric surgeons.

Image by LizMarie_AK on Flickr.com

While gastric bypass is one of the most popular weight loss surgeries performed in the U.S., it is also the most invasive. Because gastric bypass surgery requires alteration of the digestive tract and cutting of the stomach and intestines, once the patient starts to regain the weight it is very hard to advise on any additional procedure to stop the cycle. Until now, most gastric bypass revision surgeries have usually been intended for an inpatient setting. Nevertheless, with the development of new laparoscopic techniques and advancement in modern technology, it is now possible to perform low risk revision procedures on gastric bypass patients in an outpatient setting. One of the most recently offered solutions is placement of the lap-band device onto the post gastric bypass stomach.

How does the gastric bypass work?

Gastric bypass surgery is regarded as a malabsorptive and restrictive weight loss procedure. During the surgery, the surgeon cuts a large part of your stomach, leaving only a four-ounce pouch that is later sutured to the small intestine. The rerouted GI tract not only restricts the amount of food a patient can eat in one sitting, but also reduces nutrient absorption by restricting the connection with the small intestine.

While the risk of infection and complication was significantly decreased by performing the procedure laparoscopically (in place of an open surgery), gastric bypass is still considered the most dangerous of all weight loss procedures. Because the surgery drastically alters a patient’s digestive tract, those who decide to undergo the procedure have to follow a demanding post operational diet. In addition, due to the malabsorption issues gastric bypass patients have to take multiple nutritional supplements for the rest of their lives.

Why do gastric bypass patients regain their weight?

Soon after the surgery, gastric bypass patients lose a significant amount of weight. A gastric bypass patient can lose up to 80% of excess body weight the first year after the procedure. Nevertheless, the initial weight loss can be largely attributed not only to the restricted size of the stomach, but also digestive issues resulting from malabsorption, such as “dumping syndrome”. With time, the body gets use to the new gastrointestinal setup and patients become more comfortable with eating more versatile and often unhealthy foods. Because digestive reactions are no longer as demanding as in the first months post-surgery, patients start to eat larger portions and stretch the small stomach that was created during the surgery. As a result, gastric bypass patients find themselves regaining the weight and once again, begin to struggle with their eating habits.

How to prevent regaining weight after gastric bypass surgery?

Because the problem with the weight regain is connected directly with the increase in portion size and the return to unhealthy eating, more and more gastric bypass patients decide to undergo additional weight loss procedures on top of the already altered post-gastric bypass digestive tract. Any additional weight loss surgery performed on a gastric bypass patient is connected with an increased risk due to the residual scar tissue after the initial surgery. One of the safest choices among revision procedures performed in an outpatient basis is the lap-band procedure. Because the lap-band does not involve cutting or stapling of the stomach, it is considered one of the safest solutions for gastric patients who struggle to keep their weight down.

How can the lap-band help gastric bypass patients?

Because the biggest problem for gastric bypass patients is portion control, adjustable gastric band seems to be the best tool available to address the increased appetite. Once the band is in place the patient starts to feel the restriction that was lost in the years after the initial surgery. With a smaller stomach and option of adjusting the device, patients soon learn to again control their portions without feeling deprived. A lap-band also slows down the overall digestion process by slowly dosing the food passing from the stomach to the intestines.

If you have any additional questions about lap-band procedure, or you would like to learn more about DayOne Health weight loss program, contact one of our clinics by e-mail ppc-chicago@dayonehealth.com or call at (312)239-3838. If you would like to speak to a weight loss surgeon, sign up for a one-on-one consultation.

So how bad is it? Meaning, how much healthier could we be by preparing our meals ourselves or looking for different options other than fast food? Let’s look closer at the calorie and fat content, and try to compare it to some other food options. So here are some typical meals that our patients list as their lunch options:

Main Course:
McDonalds Big Mac: 540 calories and 29 g of fat
Burger King Whopper: 670 calories and 40 g of fat
Wendy’s Bacon Deluxe Double: 880 calories and 52 g of fat
Taco Bell Nachos Bell Grande: 770 calories and 24 g of fat

Sides:
Medium fries at McDonalds: 380 calories and 19 g of fat
Onion rings at Dairy Queen: 360 calories and 16 g of fat
Regular cole slaw at Popeye’s: 260 calories and 23 g of fat

Finally, the drinks:
Large Frosty at Wendy’s: 540 calories and 8 g of fat
Large sweet tea at McDonalds: 280 calories and 0 g of fat
Iced Carmel Latte from Dunkin Donuts: 450 calories and 12 g of fat

Now let’s crunch the numbers. While the calorie content of each of those dishes is every dietitian’s nightmare, the full nutritional report card looks even worse. A complete Big Mac® meal at MCD’s adds up to approximately 1,170 cal; if we substitute the medium fries and a medium drink to its small sized counterparts we will still get a whooping 900 cal in one sitting. In comparison, the average daily calorie intake for a thirty something adult female should be between 1,400 to 1,600 cal (depending on an activity level).

Now imagine that in one sitting you manage to use 80% of your daily calorie budget on your lunch. In other words, if you want to get your love handles under control and stay with your typical fast food lunch meal, you would need to condense your breakfast, snacks and dinner into a small 300 cal portion! And let’s be honest. Despite its high calorie/fat/carb content a fast food lunch won’t keep you full for long. Grazing seems to be unavoidable.

While there are ways to eat out healthy, it is always far healthier if you prepare your meals yourself. Getting organized and taking dinner leftovers to work may be the best remedy for your unwanted love handles. Preparing your own meals will not only save you money, but also put you in control of your diet – portion size and ingredients.

Without visiting the fast food joint you also won’t be exposed to the temptation of unhealthy eating. Let’s be honest, it is far more difficult to go to Burger King and order a grilled chicken breast instead of a Whopper®, than eat a grilled chicken breast from the night before and stay away from unhealthy snacks in your office.

If you are one of the people who appreciate fast food mostly for being fast and cheap, you can always think of substituting the most calorie packed foods, for more friendly options.

Fast Food DayOne Health Tips:

• Visit the nutrition page of your favorite fast food restaurants and look at the calorie/fat/carb content
• Avoid sauces and creamy dressings
• Substitute padded and fried chicken for grilled chicken
• Choose unsweetened ice tea or water over soda
• Swap your side of fries for a salad, fruit, or yogurt
• Limit portions by getting sides and drinks in small, and don’t cave in for the large or extra large dollar offers
• Don’t get milkshakes or any desserts that are not made from fruit or yogurt (and no, frozen yogurt is not a good idea either)

If you are struggling with your weight and you fell you need help in order to lose the extra pounds, contact our Chicago weight loss clinic at 312-239-3838. If you are interested in learning more about surgical weight loss options, contact our patient advocate at ppc-chicago@dayonehealth.com or schedule your one-on-one consultation with a bariatric surgeon.

Image from Buxtrosion on Flickr.com

Lap-band journey – the beginnings

If you decide to have a lap-band procedure, you need to be prepared for your weight loss journey to start as soon as you make your first appointment with DayOne Health. From the day you first visit our clinic, we will start working on your everyday routine which includes changing your eating and activity levels. You may ask, why should you make changes even before the procedure, isn’t the lap-band all about helping me with my weight? If you could do it on your own, you would have probably done it already, right? It doesn’t exactly work that way. By asking you to start working on your diet, we are not expecting you to lose a considerable amount of weight. The time before lap-band surgery is a time of preparation. It’s the time for you to see whether you are ready to make the big step and become a new, healthier you. Working on your eating habits and introducing some exercise into your daily routine will give you a heads start in your progress toward regaining your health. Even though the results may be disappointing at first, you have to remember that your main objective is to change your lifestyle, not to see the immediate drop in the scale.

How is my eating going to change in preparation for a lap-band procedure?

During your first visit at the DayOne Health clinic you’ll meet with a bariatric dietitian who will ask you about your eating habits. Your current diet will be a starting point for your new diet. Because most of our patients’ food choices are a part of their problem, during the weeks prior to surgery we will educate and advise you on nutrition. With the knowledge of how much of what your body needs, you can start to work on your food choices without feeling deprived. The better you deal with the changes to your diet, the better you’ll do after the procedure. Because the right food choices and adequate portion size are key to weight loss and weight maintenance, our first objective is to teach our patients to balance their meals. Mindful eating starts with learning about nutrition and easy ways to cut empty calories. Therefore, for the patients who agree to work with us on building their meal plan, the procedure is a final step in achieving balanced healthy eating.

Liquid diet and lap-band procedure

The liquid diet is a part of the pre-lap-band preparations as well as post-operative regimen. Beginning two weeks before your surgery, you will start your two week liquid diet. During that time you will drink three meals a day consisting of thicker fluids and as much as you want of clear liquids. While the main objective of the liquid diet is to shrink your liver before the surgery, the liquid diet is also important in psyching yourself up for the big change. At DayOne Health we noticed that patients who are successful in completing their liquid diet do better in the months after getting the band.  Lessons to be taken from a liquid diet are: planning your meals, building a balanced daily diet, and working on self-control. Following the surgery you will stay on a liquid diet for another week and then for the next five weeks slowly progress toward solid foods. No worries, our bariatric dietitian will supervise all of your preparations and make sure that you are including in your diet everything your body needs.

Life with the lap-band

After you have your band, you will soon start to learn about the capacity of your new stomach. Because the band works best when you eat well portioned solid foods, you will have to make sure that your meals contain all the nutrients your body needs. Finally, you will also have to learn to avoid certain foods that can go down the band easily and do not carry any nutritional value. Like we mentioned earlier, the band does not protect against calories you ingest, it only restricts how much physically can fit into your stomach. After the lap-band procedure, your stomach will be able to hold four-ounce portions, which translates into about half a cup of food. This in turn means that after the lap-band diet your daily calorie intake should add up to 1,200 calories a day. While a transition of this sort is incomparably harder to make without the band, to say that the band makes it easy would be a big stretch. Changing habits are also challenging, and that is why we are here throughout your journey to guide you. Our aim as a lap-band weight loss program is to help you change your habits and achieve a permanent weight loss.

If you would like to hear more about the lap-band procedure and the DayOne Health weight loss program feel free to contact us at 312-239-3838 or schedule a one-on-one consultation with a bariatric surgeon in one of our Chicago clinics.

Image from CJ-78 on Flickr.com

Half Marathon Morning
“The Princess half marathon was scheduled to start the first wave of runners at 5:45am so we needed to be on the last bus headed to Epcot by 4am. I’m not the best at being an early riser so it was a little rough and the thought of eating that early wasn’t appealing but I knew that I would need to eat something before the run. I ate a yogurt and banana as we were getting on the bus to the race site. I was nervous but more excited and the adrenaline was pumping.”

“My wave didn’t actually start until almost 6:30 so there was a lot of waiting around. This gave me time to actually wake up, stretch, and warm up. My sister and I were the last two people to start the half marathon, just in front of the pace setters. The pace setters had balloons with the 16 minutes per mile pace on them and if you fell behind them then you could get picked up at anytime by the “too slow bus.” Though I had made great strides in running, my goal for my First Half Ever (“FHE”) was to finish it without being picked up by the “too slow bus.”

“We were somewhere around mile 2 when the run leader ran past us going the opposite direction. She was on mile 8, while we had just started! The great part about a Disney run is that they make every stage of it fun. There was music playing throughout the race, lots of water and sport drink stations, and photo opportunities with your favorite Disney princess, prince, or even evil queen.”

“We started off by running 2 minutes at a time then walking. We used every motivational tactic possible to use. We picked out three people to follow and keep up with throughout the race, we picked out distances to run to, and my sister told me stories to distract me from the fact that I was running and my legs were yelling at me. I had a mantra that I would use when I struggled to run which was “light feet.” I used this to remind me not to pound my feet against the pavement which reduced the pain I felt in my knees and the rest of my body. My sister would chant this with me when we were pushing to run just a little bit farther.”

“Somewhere around mile 7 or 8, I found a burst of energy and ran for 6-7 minutes at a time. This may have been motivated by the women with the pace balloons coming up behind us and the rumor through the crowd that at mile 8 if you were behind them then you would get picked up and put on a bus. I had text messages sent to my phone that updated me on the progress of my run and the time that I was doing it in. I used these to craft mini goals throughout the race, like finishing in under 3 hours and 30 minutes or by 10am or at a pace below 15 minutes per mile.”

“Around mile 12, I started to really struggle. Twelve miles was the farthest that I had gone in my long runs during training. My sister was great and she told me stories to keep my mind off the fact that I was running and reminding me to put one foot in front of the other. The last mile was certainly the hardest. Every time that I thought the finish line was just around the corner, I’d see one more turn that I had to do. As we approached the finish line, I muster up all of the energy that I had left in order to run across the finish line. My sister turned around as soon as she crossed and gave me a huge hug. I DID IT! A few tears rolled down my face because it was a huge victory for me and I’d accomplished so much! It felt great to be able to say that I had done it. I also had the bumps and bruises and swollen knees to prove it but those were all worth it!”

“I’ve heard people say that running is addicting and that once you start it feels so good and you want to go more and more. I’m not there yet. I’ve always said that I wouldn’t run any farther than a half marathon. Around mile 12, my sister convinced me to join her in the 2012 Amsterdam marathon this fall. It must have been the endorphins, but Amsterdam here I come!”

“I’m not the poster child for the gastric band. I’ve lost 70 pounds so far but still have more to lose. I’ve gotten off course sometimes and have to focus on getting back on track. But I learned a couple of things during the half marathon trip while the band was open. I managed to lose a pound while the band was open for three weeks. I was able to maintain my eating habits and portions which taught me that I had changed my lifestyle. When I get to the maintenance stage of the band, I feel like I’ll be ready for it and successful in keeping the weight off. As I said in the beginning, I knew that it would be a process for long term success.”

If you would like to hear more about the DayOne Health weight loss program or a lap-band procedure please contact our patient advocate at 312-239-3838 or e-mail her at ppc-chicago@dayonehealth.com. If you would like to talk with a weight loss surgeon feel free to schedule your one-on-one consultation at one of our Chicago locations.

Image by jtdiego on Flickr.com

Training

“I continued with the couch to 5k program since I still hadn’t completed it but I knew that I would need more than that to finish 13.1 miles in 3 and a half hours. Yikes, 3 and a half hours, how was I going to do that and not fall down!!!! In late September, I signed up at the local gym, which included a personal training session. I explained that the motivating factor for membership was the half marathon and I was matched with a trainer that had a background in running.  Ultimately, I signed up to train with him on a regular basis since I didn’t want to miss out on the half by injuring myself. For months, we worked on strengthening the muscles used in long distance runs (the core muscles and legs).  The trainer also mapped out a training schedule to increase the miles I was running each week to build up to 13.1 miles. This was three shorter runs during the week and one long run on the weekends. Part of this schedule included beginning to run outside. This would accomplish a few things but the most important being experience with different types of terrain and the different effects that running on a harder surface has on your body.”

“Running outside felt like I starting from scratch and it was a little discouraging. It was around this time that I had built up to running 10-12 minutes at a time on the treadmill, but running outside I could barely make it 3 minutes without running out of breath.  It was frustrating but fortunately my family and friends were very encouraging. I have a friend who meets me every weekend for a long run. We have explored different running trails around the D.C. area and encouraged each other in our running adventures.  The first time that I ran a full mile outside felt amazing! It seems like such a little thing but when you start out struggling to run a minute that first mile is huge. I also believe in celebrating the little steps because they help you get to the bigger goals. However, with the half about 5 weeks away, I hadn’t gone on a run that was longer than 7 miles. My friend and I started adding 20 minutes to our weekend runs. The first weekend of adding time, we ended up doing about 9 miles because once you get out there, you have to get back whether you meant to go that far or not.”

“Having the band meant that there was additional preparing that I needed to do. My trainer was particularly worried about getting the nutrition that I would need to keep my body moving for the whole half marathon. We searched online to see if there were any posts or blogs of someone who had gastric band surgery and completed a half marathon or marathon. We didn’t find anything, so I contacted Day One for advice on what I should do. Getting the right nutrients into my body would be important for getting through the half marathon. The biggest concern was the morning of the half because I typically struggle to eat breakfast.  My trainer would explain some of the things that he would eat before a run or triathlon like oatmeal and a banana but these were things that I didn’t tolerate in the morning. We devised a plan for the use of running supplements throughout the half (I chose sport beans but tried energy gel packets and other chews) and I wore a 50 ounce camelback with a sport drink mix in it.  After consulting with Christine at Day One Health, I decided to have my band opened the week before the run and have it re-inflated after. This way I’d be able to make sure that I had the fuel my body needed for the half.”

“Throughout the training, I struggled with some things like chaffing on my skin or watching skinny people run passed me and look like it was so easy and they were gazelles. I pushed through it with the help of my family and friends. No I still don’t look like a gazelle but maybe someday it will be easy or at least I can make it look like it.”

If you would like to hear more about our DayOne Health weight loss program, do not hesitate to contact our patient advocate and a lap-band patient at 312-239-3838, or schedule your first consultation with a weight loss surgeon.

Image by jtdiego on Flickr.com

“I had my surgery with Dr. Elli almost two years ago. It took me about ten years to decide to have bariatric surgery and research which type of surgery that I wanted to have. So when I went in for my consultation, I had a very clear idea of what band I wanted and what it would take to lose weight with the band. I was very impressed by the clinic and Dr. Elli’s realistic approach to counseling his patients on expectations and what it takes to be successful. When I’m tempted to go off course I think of Dr. Elli saying to me ‘ice cream goes through the band and defeats the purpose’, and I reconsider my options.”

“Since then, I’ve moved out of the Chicago area but I chose to travel back to Chicago for adjustments of the band. I’ve gone to other offices for adjustments and don’t feel comfortable with their fills. Dr. Elli utilizes the technology available to ensure that the band is not too open or tight. The other places that I have gone to did not use any guidance and asked me to drink water after filling the band, if the water stayed down then the band was ok. Dr. Elli makes the adjustment process comfortable and as safe as possible.”

The Beginning of my Running Journey

“I ran my first 5k almost one year ago. At that point, I was nine months post band surgery and had lost about 50 pounds. I knew that the band was just a tool in the weight loss process and I needed to add in exercise as part of long term weight loss. I started on the treadmill since I’d had two back surgeries and a knee surgery and the treadmill provides a bit more cushioning. The first run, I pushed myself and ran for nine minutes straight but I thought that my lungs would explode and I couldn’t repeat that again. So I started talking to people at the local running store and looking for advice online about how to start running. I found a program that was called “couch to 5k” that I ultimately modified to fit me. It started with running for a minute then walking for 90 seconds. I slowly added to the amount of time that I was running. In the beginning, when I added time running, I also added time walking. Eventually, I started to reduce the amount of time walking between the running times. I was ecstatic when I was able to run for ten minutes stretches with walking one minute in between.”

“The first 5k that I ran was on my 32nd birthday. I hadn’t been running very long so I didn’t plan on running the whole thing but run/walking it. My entire goal was not to be picked up by the “too slow bus” and escorted to the finish line. When the run began, I picked out two tall men who were walking the 5k and decided that I would stay with them. I didn’t have any set distances or time to run or walk. When I felt that I was getting too far behind these men, I’d run until I caught up or passed them then walk for a bit. I can’t tell you how much of the first 5k that I actually ran but the most important part was that I finished. Of course, I ran the last tenth of a mile so that I could run across the finish line.”

“Running was also a way for me to get my family involved in my journey as I invited each of my family members to join in a 5k and we could check in on training with each other via email. My family was great about it but my brother-in-law requested a race that would have a half marathon or full marathon as part of a run weekend since he was an experienced runner. So I started looking for a fun vacation spot that my family could travel to for a 5k together and a longer run also. Through this process, I found the run Disney programs. This was perfect because my brother was not interested in doing a 5k but loves Disney AND my sister wasn’t interested in Disney but likes running. So the aunt in me decided that this would be a great reason to pull the family together for a run and get a Disney vacation to share with my four nephews. Initially, the family was going to find a run late last spring, but the February 2012 Princess run weekend would work best for everyone so we started planning the trip. The whole family signed up for the 5k on Saturday morning and my brother in law would run the half marathon on Sunday morning.”

“As we started planning the trip, I continued with my running and completed a few more 5ks on my own. With each 5k, I would pick someone to keep up with and try to run a little bit more than the last one. I can’t tell you what first gave me the idea that I should run the half marathon too (maybe a moment of insanity or too much rum) but I decided that it would give me a new challenge to try to complete a half marathon. My sister and I registered as a team in the Princess half marathon and I started training.”

This was the first part of Elizabeth’s half marathon diary. If you would like to hear more about the DayOne Health Chicago weight loss program, contact our patient advocate and a lap-band patients at 312-239-3838 or schedule your one-on-one consultation with a weight loss surgeon.

Do your research
The first step that we advise our patients to make is to do detailed research about the procedure, program, and post operative regimen. Before you visit DayOne Health for your first consultation, we recommend that you read materials about the procedure, as well as asking to take part in our online information session. During the seminar you’ll learn details about the device, procedure, and post operative care. It is important that you also do some research on your own, such as visiting lap-band blogs, patient forums, and other websites that share information about losing weight with the band. If you decide to become a DayOne Health patient, we recommend that you also come in to one of our support groups to meet our current patients and hear their stories. In addition, you can always contact our patient advocate who is also a patient herself and can provide you with a first hand account of successful weight loss with the lap-band. Detailed research will help you better prepare and decide whether a lap-band procedure would be your best choice.

Get the most out of your consultation with a bariatric doctor and dietitian
Anyone who decides that he or she would like to become a DayOne Health patient has to meet first with our bariatric surgeon and a dietitian. During that initial consultation the surgeon will not only assess whether you are the right candidate for the lap-band procedure in terms of your medical history, but will also answer all questions that you might have about the procedure itself, risks, follow up visits, and technicalities behind getting the band. We insist that our patients come to those initial consultations educated about the procedure and the band so they have questions prepared and a better understanding of the process. While the bariatric surgeon will tell you everything that is connected with medical aspects of your journey, it is the nutritional consultation that may be the most crucial part of your experience. During your appointment with the dietitian you’ll get all the information necessary for a successful transition from pre to post lap-band life. During your first meeting with dietitian, you will discuss your eating habits and learn how to eat right. If you decide to join DayOne Health, from the time of your first visit you will be able to visit, call, or e-mail anyone on our team, including the dietitian, to discuss any aspect of your journey.

Start working on your habits
As soon as you meet with the dietitian, you will most likely have a dietary plan in place. Don’t wait until the surgery to implement those changes. Every small change counts and each small step adds up to the final success. The better you do on your preoperative dietary preparations, the easier and more effective your post-lap-band regimen will be. At DayOne Health, we believe that one of the most crucial parts of your preparation is your liquid diet. The main purpose behind lap-band patients going through their two to three week liquid diet prior to the surgery is shrinking the liver. Nevertheless, the diet is also a way for you to prepare for the first weeks of their post-surgical diet when you will slowly progress from liquids to solid foods. The liquid diet is also a test of commitment on your part. From our experience, patients who do well on their diet before their surgery continue to have better results and a better weight loss during the first year after the procedure.

If you would like to hear more about our DayOne Health weight loss program or talk to a real lap-band patient call our Chicago clinic at 312-239-3838 or schedule your first consultation with a bariatric surgeon.

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It has been a little over a year since Amy, our last contest winner, had her lap-band procedure. We would like to congratulate Amy on her amazing transformation and a staggering weight loss of over 100 pounds in less than 12 months. Amy’s journey was a great inspiration not only for our current and future DayOne Health patients, but for the whole community of lap-band patients. We hope that you also enjoyed reading Amy’s lap-band diary, and that it helped you in your journey.

If Amy’s story inspired you to look more into the lap-band procedure, but your finances or lack of insurance prevented you from moving forward, you now have the chance to get your lap-band for free! We can’t wait to hear your stories and meet the authors of the essays that will be submitted. Similar to our last contest, the DayOne Health staff, along with the surgeon, will review all the stories and choose a pool of twelve finalists. The lucky twelve will be invited to our downtown Chicago clinic to meet the staff and Dr. Jonathan Myers, Medical Director of the DayOne Health weight loss program and the surgeon who will perform the free procedure. After the consultation, one of the twelve finalists will be chosen as the winner, and within 60 days of an announcement he or she will receive the free lap-band procedure.

Dr. Jonathan Myers was one of the first surgeons in the Chicago area to perform lap-band surgeries, and has been working with DayOne Health since 2005. With over a thousand weight loss surgeries performed, Dr. Myers remains one of the most experienced lap-band surgeons in Chicago. In addition to performing the lap-band surgery for free, Dr. Myers will also provide the contestant with a year of free follow up care including band adjustments.

Despite the fact that insurance providers are including obesity treatment in their policies more and more often there are still many patients without such coverage. For DayOne Health patients who don’t have coverage, we offer a self-pay option and financing if necessary. Nevertheless, because some patients still cannot afford the treatment, we decided to organize a lap-band giveaway contest. The number of essays we received during our last contest showed us how much that initiative was needed, and we determined that we would organize another contest as soon as we could.

We have no specific conditions that one has to meet in order to qualify for participation in our contest. Anyone over the age of 18 who accepts the terms and conditions, can submit their information as well as the essay. To learn more details on contest rules please read the terms and conditions on our sign up page. We look forward to hearing from you!

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