My Lap Band Journey – Books and Magazines for WLS Inspiration and Ideas

This morning I was thinking that it might be a good idea to start a WLS book club.  Right now I’m reading Jillian Michael’s book – “Master Your Metabolism.”  I’ve never been a book club kind of girl, but I do read A LOT for inspiration and ideas to help me on my journey.  At any given point in time you’ll see a stack of books and magazines piled on or near my elliptical.

Since I started my WLS journey, I read for inspiration and ideas while doing my cardio.  I’d worn out every book I could find weight loss surgery while I was trying to make my decision about whether or not to have surgery and which surgery was the right surgery for me.  I found a great source of motivation in the pages of all of these books and magazines. That’s one of the reasons Sandi and I wrote “Is Lap Band Surgery for Me?”

Six years out, I still need to read for inspiration and ideas.  I was never of fan of the Biggest Loser, so I was pretty skeptical about reading a book by Jillian Michaels, but I couldn’t resist based on the title of her book “Master Your Metabolism.”  I’ve always considered myself metabolically challenged so the title was very appealing to me.  I read the reviews on amazon and decided to go for it and loaded the book on my kindle.  I have to say this book proved to be a pleasant surprise for me.  There is a lot of discussion about using food to better balance your hormones.  I’ve always been interested in how hormones impact appetite, and I believe there are some keys here that can really help me on my journey.  The book can get pretty technical which works for me since I’m someone who needs to know why to do things; not just what to do.  I have to say I was more than pleasant surprised by what I read.  This book seemed to synthesize a lot of research I’d been doing.  Her suggestions resonated with me.  I found myself wanting to stay on my elliptical longer, so that I had more time to read (not a bad thing!!) There is a lot to this book.  I’ve boiled down my key takeaways:

• What we eat can have a significant impact on appetite, satiety and of course our overall health
• The chemicals and hormones we consume can cause a variety of health problems, make us sluggish and confuse our natural satiety signals – avoid processed foods, trans fats, nitrates, artificial sweeteners and HFCS; eat organic produce, eggs, and dairy when possible; grass-fed beef; free range chicken, and wild caught fish
• Eat 3 balanced meals and one snack / day
• Don’t eat carbs in the evening  (this one is something I really need to try)

I’m traveling a lot these days for work.  Reading this book gave me the motivation I needed to cut back on ordering room service; I called the manager at the hotel I’m regularly staying at and asked for a fridge and microwave.  I’ve also stocked up on organic fruit, dairy, and produce, and cut back on the artificial sweetener.  These are all good choices to help me on my journey. 

I also mentioned that I read magazines for inspiration.  For those who eat out frequently, there is a great article in the March 2012 “Health” magazine titled “Dine Out Like a Health Pro.”  It provides healthy menu by some of the household names in nutrition and fitness for some of the well-known restaurant chains like CPK, Cheesecake Factory, Applebee’s, Macaroni Grill, PF Chang’s and even IHOP.  Now I’m not sure Jillian Michaels will approve of the choices, but I do think there are some practical suggestions here for me…

What are you reading?