Weight Loss Surgery SECRETS

Astonishing, don’t you think. At last I have found a Doctor who speaks my language. But before I get to that, let me fill you in.

I was recently listening to an interview of an Australian psychiatrist, Dr George Blair-West, who has written a book called “Weight Loss for Food Lovers”. As you might have guessed, I really liked what the good Doctor had to say - at last someone from the medical profession who didn’t talk down to me from on top of an ivory tower! I thought it would never happen….

Lesson 1 - for Doctors

This was the first great thing that Dr Blair-West had to say (I admit to paraphrasing here to save some space and get to the point!):

It is wrong and downright unhelpful for Doctors to view obesity as a physical problem. Obesity should be approached as though it is a psychological problem!

Let me spell out why this is so significant (at least for me).

By treating obesity as a physical problem, Doctors, dietitians and many others in the weight loss industry provide solutions that are almost exclusively physical.

And when these solutions fail (as they almost always do) the finger of blame points only one way - at you! After all, all you had to do was perform a number of simple physical acts (less eating and more exercise) and you didn’t - that means you lack self discipline and will power.

So all you get is - more failure.

I mean, who hasn’t been told to eat less and exercise more - do people think we don’t get that?? Of course we get it, but that doesn’t help anyone stick to diets and exercise regimes.

Now take a step back, and think about it as a psychological problem. When you can’t stick to a diet or do exercise or lose weight, the question becomes….

….what stopped you - what was going on in your mind that lead you to sabotage your earnest efforts. No blame here - just a realization that the subconscious mind is a powerful thing. The next thing you know, you get a solution that works…….

Lesson 2 - for Doctors

Here is gem number 2:

Eating is not just a physical exercise - from the moment we were born, it has been just as much an emotional exercise. We all have a deep psychological connection with food.

I have to admit, I’m paraphrasing a bit here.

But you’ve experienced this first hand.

Close you eyes and relax for a second - now think back to your childhood. I guarantee it will only take you a split second to remember being comforted or rewarded by food. And it starts when we are born - if you’re a mum like me, you almost certainly settled your children when they were babies with a feed…

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with this - it’s just a fact. But, it turns out that it’s very significant if you try to deprive yourself of the foods that you have a deep psychological connection with - if you do, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Lesson 3 - don’t deprive yourself of ‘high-sacrifice’ foods

I’m sorry, but I love this next point. Oooops, I’m jumping ahead a bit - let me set this up.

Dr Blair-West describes foods that we have a deep psychological connection with as ‘high sacrifice’ foods. Get this: most of us have no more than half a dozen of these - foods that mean much more to us than just feeding our physical bodies.

Stop for a minute now, and make a list for yourself. What are the foods that you savor, that make you feel loved or relaxed or comforted. My list includes chocolate (no surprise there), soft cheese and coffee.

Got your list? Now hang onto your seat… here it comes:

If you want to go on a diet, make sure it includes eating all of your high-sacrifice foods.

Far fetched - not at all. In fact, Dr Blair-West says that if you go on a diet that deprives yourself of the foods you love, you will simply set up a cycle of resentment and self sabotage.

Lesson 4 - for you

Let’s face it, if I go on a diet and continue to eat all I want of my ‘high sacrifice’ foods, I don’t think I am going to be losing much weight. So, what’s the answer….? According to the good Doctor:

In short, eat less and taste more.

In today’s society, the trend is to eat more and taste less. Just think about it - when you had your last meal, how many other things were you doing at the same time. Were you talking, reading, watching TV, thinking about work…. When that happens, there’s less chance you will address the psychological needs you normally satisfy with food.

Let’s have some fun here - have you got one of your favorite foods close by. I happen to have a half eaten chocolate bar sitting beside me (ooops - how did that get there) so let’s do it together. First, take a bite (not all of it) while you are reading this and chew away while you review this page and maybe quickly check your emails.

OK - now, how did that taste - out of 10, how do you rate that eating and taste experience. I am going to give mine a 6.5 - I’m feeling like a tough Russian judge today!

Now, this time when you take a bite, close your eyes and really savor the flavor and the texture of the food. Until you take that last swallow, I want you to be in the moment of eating that piece of food - think of nothing else. Ready - OK, I am now eating the rest of my chocolate bar….

How did you score - even though I have done this a few times lately, it still surprises me every time. The taste was much better the second time. I am moving my score up to an 8.5 - Delicious! Oddly enough, it also seems like I have eaten more than I actually did.

The mind is a strange and powerful thing….

Dr Blair-West takes his own medicine

OK, I’m nearly done but just wanted to finish by saying that Dr Blair-West is living proof that these techniques work. He needed to lose weight and went through the process of identifying his high sacrifice foods and then, although he went on a diet, he made sure he did not deprive himself of the foods he loved. That way, he didn’t “fall-off-the-wagon”.

Anyway, if you are considering going on a another diet, I hope that this is a bit of ‘food for thought’ for you.

Take care

JK

Hi,

It’s been a while since I last posted, and I apologize for that. In the last few weeks, many issues that have been bubbling away in my life for a long time have demanded my attention (and, if you know what it’s like to have a BMI of 46, you can guess what they would be).

First, here’s how all of this got started

In recent months, you have been sending me emails saying things like “what’s your angle” and “who are you, really”…. Now seems to be the perfect time to tell you my story.

I have been obese since childhood and weighed 260 to 280 lbs for longer than I like to remember. About 2 years ago something happened in my family that got me thinking deeply about my own longevity - I mean, who doesn’t want to enjoy their grand children as the years go by….

And so I started out on this wild journey by researching WLS as a possible solution for me.

I discovered 2 versions of the truth

What I found was that there seems to be 2 different stories. One is that WLS is a fool proof easy way to permanently lose weight - a “no-brainer” for anyone who is eligible and suffering from a bunch of life threatening obesity co-morbidities.

The other story is that WLS is radical surgery that should not be undertaken lightly - that there are many other factors at play and having WLS is no guarantee of success. I stumbled upon some sites that were full of heart wrenching failure stories. One MO person reported that while she made the decision to not have surgery, over 40 of her friends who had WLS had died in the ensuing 10 or more years - hardly a ringing endorsement!

I found the fact that there were 2 diverse stories to be frustrating and alarming.

Helping others seemed the right thing to do

So I started doing more and more research and thought that I should do my bit to help others like me realize that, while WLS can be a solution, it’s not a magic bullet. So the emails began.

I was surprised how well those emails were received by you, and it wasn’t too long before I had 5000 people on my email list - WOW.

And here’s the really funny part - I am an intensely private person who has never made friends easily. It’s a miracle that my husband and I ever got together (LOL). And here I was sending emails to 5000 people…crazy.

Next thing you know, I was in the book business

That was the beginning, and then I had this idea that I should get a book written by an independent expert that once-and-for-all settled the debate - so I spent the last 8 months and 10 of $000’s of my own money to get Weight_Loss Surgery SECRETS together.

Well, I have to tell you, once the launch of the book was done, the sigh of relief that came from deep inside of me could be heard in Canada… (a scary thought, huh). What also happened was that lot of ‘issues’ that I had been ignoring caught up with me.

You know how they say ‘plumbers have leaky faucets’ - well, it’s time I took some of my own advice!

The team is growing

Luckily, a few months ago I was ‘chatting’ to an old friend of mine who lives in Australia. You see, as a child my family travelled around a lot for my father’s work, and we spent a few years ‘Down Under’. Surprisingly, I’ve kept in contact with my ‘Ozzie’ friend on and off for many, many years (I’m not telling you how ‘many’ - that’s a lady’s prerogative….). To be honest, I don’t have any other friends like that - maybe it’s the distance, but I feel I can tell her anything.

Anyway, I was recently chatting to her and, I have to admit, I was whining about how hard it all was and how I didn’t know how I was going to cope.

And then we got chatting about her ‘boys’, and she told me they had recently started working together on the internet.

Well, I call that Providence!

So now, Phoenix and Adam are part of the WLS Secrets family. When they heard of my dilemma, they dropped everything and came to my rescue - thanks boys!

The plain truth is, if it wasn’t for them, Weight_Loss Surgery SECRETS would still be sitting on my hard-drive, gathering dust (or at least the electronic equivalent of dust). They have overwhelmed me with their level of commitment and compassion, and so I am very relieved that they are ‘on-board’.

Now I can focus on what I love…and some other stuff

You know what I love doing - researching and writing and digging for answers. That’s how all this got started.

And my number one fear - having to stand up in front of anyone to say anything. I have always been ‘behind-the-scenes’ and that’s where I like it. If it wasn’t for the anonymity of the internet, I would never have been able to get this far.

But the book launch has lead to people asking for my ‘bio’, interviews and photos, and I’m not ready for that. Heck, my immediate family have photos of me only because they caught me off-guard!

So, Phoenix and Adam have agreed to manage that ‘public role’ for a bit, and I fully expect that Providence will come to the rescue to provide a longer term solution.

You can see, it’s all good news for me, and for you. I can now focus on what I love doing - more research and article writing - while also attending to some personal and health issues that I have been ignoring for too long.

So, that’s my story. Look out for more interesting articles from me soon.

Take care,
JK