Have you ever gone into the basement … stopped … looked around blankly … and thought, “now, WHY did I come down here”? Then you go back up stairs, remember, come back down your stairs for the second time, and do whatever it was you had to do.

Yes, age-related forgetfulness can increase your daily activity level by making you retrace your steps all the time, but it can also be a cause for concern. Not to worry, though, because these kinds of events are very common as we get older. The key is not to worry about preventing them completely (because, well, you can’t), but to give your brain its best chance of staying as sharp as it can, for as long as it can.

Mental “brain-aerobics” can certainly help you stay on top of your game, but certain foods can do just as much for your graying gray matter!! In fact, some edibles are especially good at protecting the brain's delicate nerve cells and blood vessels from the damage that comes from normal aging. Even better, most of the very smartest foods for the brain also happen to be good for the heart. Click here to read more.

Why do I feel nauseous during and after my exercise sessions? Why do I get sluggish three miles into a run? Why do I start getting weak about half-way through my strength training workout? Why are my workouts great at the beginning of the week, but by the end of the week it is all I can do to get motivated enough to get to the gym? These are some of the most common problems I see people facing upon initiating an exercise program after weight loss surgery. While there could be a number of different reasons to explain each one of these issues after weight loss surgery, the majority of time these questions can all be answered with one simple word. Carbohydrate.

For good reasons, such as wound healing and maintenance of muscle tissue to name a couple, protein becomes the priority macronutrient after weight loss surgery. Unfortunately, protein does very little to fuel exercise and is only part of the equation when it comes to exercise recovery. With protein being the focus in addition to significant caloric restriction after weight loss surgery, this combination places limits on an individual’s ability to exercise intensely and/or for long durations. Even though protein is not the primary source of energy during exercise, the most common answers I hear to the questions presented above always include protein and more protein. Rarely is carbohydrate ever given a mention. Click here to read more.

Bariatric Surgery has gone from an open surgery requiring a large abdominal incision to laparoscopic surgery requiring five or six tiny incisions to Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery requiring a single abdominal incision. The future will be transoral or endoscopic bariatric surgery that involves no incisions. WD152

The Toga system developed by Satiety, Inc., a medical device company based in Palo Alto, California is one of the procedures currently undergoing clinical studies in the United States. The system is a flexible device that is inserted through the mouth into the stomach to staple the stomach.

The TOGA procedure is performed under general anesthesia by a bariatric surgeon. The surgeon then places the flexible stapler down into the stomach and inserts an endoscope, which is a flexible camera into the stomach to see the procedure on a television screen. The device then suctions the wall of the stomach into the stapler and forms a four-inch tube or pouch in the proximal stomach. Click here to read more.

The holiday season is fast approaching, bringing parties and possibly pounds. The abundance of cakes, cookies, pies, candies and casseroles can sabotage even the strongest of wills. In fact, the average holiday weight gain can range from 5-10 pounds. The excess of calories can start as early as Halloween and continue all the way through New Year’s Day. However, there are ways to avoid those extra holiday pounds. Here are 10 tips to help you have a healthy holiday season: WD153

1) Eat what you want. Yes, you heard it right! Give yourself permission to eat your favorite foods but in appropriate amounts. Deprivation can breed overindulgence, so don’t deny yourself. However, it is important to practice self-control. Try to eat half the portion you would normally eat, and eat it slowly, savoring every bite and every taste. Chew slowly and try to figure out what ingredients are contributing to that wonderful taste.

2) Plan ahead. Keeping the above idea in mind, budget for the calories in your favorite foods. Know what foods will be served and treat yourself to your favorites but be aware of the calorie content of those foods. Decide on what calorie content you can budget for that meal and fill the rest of the plate with free foods. Free foods are foods low in calories and high in nutrition like broccoli, carrot sticks, celery and other items on the veggie tray. Fruits, though not as low in calories as veggies, are also a good choice due to their high nutrition content. Try dipping veggies in salsa, since this is almost a free food, or choose other dips but in small amounts. Click here to read more.

Water is an essential nutrient in the diet. The general goal of fluid intake is 64 ounces or eight eight ounce cups per day, though needs vary based on climate, activity level, gender, and body weight. Further, regarding daily fluid intake based on gender, The Institute of Medicine Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommends at least nine cups water for women and 12 cups for men. WD154

Maintaining adequate hydration may prove challenging after bariatrics weight loss surgery due to limited capacity of fluids in the new small stomach pouch. Also, post-surgery patients must space meals and fluids and are advised to drink fluids up to 30 minutes before and after eating. Water is emphasized as the primary source of fluid intake after weight loss surgery. Yet, consumers have a surplus of commercially prepared water products from which to choose that include bottled waters, (artificially) flavored waters, and enhanced waters that can contain herbal ingredients. As patients find ways to meet their daily fluid goal, it is important that patients are educated and aware of proposed benefits and possible side effects that select ingredients in enhanced water products have on the human body. Click here to read more.

Last week we released two major updates. First was the public release of OH Groups where any ObesityHelp member can now create their own Group. Second was the addition of Activity Tracking to Health Tracker, which provides a robust and easy to use tool to track and monitor your exercise and activity. Today we have added My Meals and an Activity vs. Weight Loss Report to Health Tracker. 

My Meals My Meals allows you to group and store multiple food and beverage items as a custom meal that can be used over and over again. If you have meals that you eat on a regular basis, you will no longer need to log each food item individually.

To access My Meals, go to your Health Tracker in My OH and click on the Nutrition tab. You will see My Meals listed under Nutrition.

Creating a new meal works similar to your Food Log. You can search for food items on the right and add the foods to the meal on the left. A Calorie Breakdown chart and Nutrient Summary Label are also available for each meal.

Once a meal is created you can add that meal to your Food Log from My Meals by clicking "i had this" or you can search for the meal from your Food Log.

When searching for a meal to add to your Food Log, all meals will be returned when "My Foods" is selected in search. So, to "drill down" on meals that you have created, select to only show "My Foods." When a new meal is created it may require up to 30 minutes for that meal to be indexed and become searchable.

Activity vs. Weight Loss Report Adding to the Macronutrient and Export Reports previously available, there is now an Activity vs. Weight Loss Report. This report will allow to compare Average Time in Activity vs Weight over time, providing you with further insight into what impact physical activity as on weight loss and weight loss maintenance. In Health Tracker, click Reports and then select Activity vs. Weight Loss.

We hope these additions to Health Track reduce the time required to log your daily food intake and makes it easier to view how physical activity impacts your weight.   Create your first meal now! If you have any questions, comments or concerns about this release, please post them on the Main Message Board.

The last several months have been fairly busy ones here at OH and we are really excited about this upcoming release. First, long overdue is the public release of OH Groups. You will now be able to start and  manage your own public groups. Second, is a major update to Health Tracker....Activity! We are planning to launch these new features on Wednesday evening, October 7, 2009. 

OH Groups

Getting to OH Groups is easy. Just click on the Groups tab at the top of any page on ObesityHelp. OH Groups allows you to start and manage your own groups, you can find groups that suit your interests and find support groups in your area.

If you are looking for an OH Group that focuses on a specific topic, you can browse groups by category.

Activity

To get to your Activity Tracker, click “My OH” at the top of any page on ObesityHelp, select “Health Tracker” on the left and then click the “Activity” tab.

Understanding your total daily caloric expenditure requires more than just knowing how many calories you burned on the treadmill. In your Health Tracker settings area you are now able to estimate the caloric expenditure of your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and lifestyle. These estimates are integrated and displayed with the caloric expenditure of the activities you have logged.

Your exercise log allows you to search for and add strength training exercises, cardiovascular exercises and general activities to your daily log. Caloric expenditure is auto calculated for a number of activities already included in our database of exercises. Pie charts display details about caloric expenditure and time for each type of activity.

Sets can be added and subtracted from strength training exercises. Reps and weight used can be entered for each set.

A number of details can be tracked for cardiovascular exercises and general activities. Some of these variables include, time, distance, calories burned, average heart rate, average power, altitude gained and average grade.

If you can’t find the exercise or activity you have participated in, you can also add your own custom exercises.

Other updates include the ability to create list of your favorite exercises, reports have been updated to include a number of activity items, the nutrition search has been enhanced and we have managed to slip in a sweet macronutrient report under the “Reports” tab. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about the features in this release, please submit those here. If your are new to ObesityHelp or have not used ObesityHelp's Health Tracker before, you can learn about the first release here and the second release here. Need help using Health Tracker? Click here for help. Enjoy!

1. Weight loss surgery requires an inpatient hospital stay.

Not true! In fact, most weight loss surgeries can now be performed as an outpatient. The laparoscopic adjustable gastric band is the most popular outpatient weight loss procedure. The laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy can often be performed as an outpatient. Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass can also be performed with an overnight stay or a short one to two-night hospital stay.

2. Weight loss surgery has high risks.

While weight loss surgery used to be considered a high-risk operation in the 1970s and 80s, this was due to many factors including the large open incision required, the severe medical problems of the patient candidate, and the relative inexperience of the surgeons and staff. All of these factors have changed markedly. Today, weight loss surgery is performed very safely with low risks in the hands of experienced surgeons and centers. And while any treatment or surgery or intervention has risks, for most people considering weight loss surgery, the risks of not undergoing surgery usually far exceed the risks of undergoing the procedure. Click here to read more.

After significant weight loss, either through bariatric surgery or through diet and exercise, the skin often sags because it has been stretched to the point where it has lost its elasticity and is unable to shrink. When getting plastic surgery to tighten this loose skin, most patients concentrate on sagging abdomens and breasts while ignoring another crucial area—the face and neck. The face and neck are the most important visible features of the body, and they convey the way we feel through expression and appearance; an individual who is happy and energetic can appear sad and tired due to sagging in the lower face and neck.

During the weight loss process, all the tissues in the body become loose. The neck is no exception, and it can be one of the most troubling long-term issues for many individuals. Sagging “turkey gobbler” necks make people look much older and heavier than they really are. In fact, the two areas with the most influence on how others perceive us, either positively or negatively, are the eyes and neck. Fortunately, both of these areas can be corrected with relatively straightforward procedures that can produce a remarkable change. Click here to read more.

The field of bariatric surgery is constantly evolving and new procedures continue to develop. Bariatric surgery has evolved from open very invasive surgery like the “stomach stapling” or vertical banded gastroplasty to laparoscopic gastric bypass, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, and laparoscopic duodenal switch, all of which are performed through tiny incisions in the abdomen. The medical development industry is constantly trying to discover new technology that requires less or no incisions to make bariatric surgery even less invasive in the future. These new technologies will help increase the likelihood that patients will choose surgery and help to decrease the epidemic of obesity in the United States.

One of the newest technologies currently being used in the United States is Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS™) adjustable gastric banding. The procedure is a laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding that is performed through a single incision hidden inside the belly button instead of the traditional five incisions. This procedure results in much less pain, improved cosmesis, and quicker recovery. Click here to read more.