Courtney the RDN

Stalls in weight loss and weight plateaus are common after surgery. Keep in mind, you probably didn’t gain the weight one pound a day, or even one pound a week. So, expecting to continue to lose weight as quickly is unrealistic. After a few months of a stalled scale; diet, exercise, and other aspects of life may need to be examined to figure out what could be the culprit.   Lets go through some adjustments we could make when the scale isn’t moving in the direction we want. First, it’s important to understand, is it really a plateau? The scale can be your biggest enemy because it doesn’t tell you if you are losing fat, just mass. Take inventory, do clothes feel looser? Do you feel healthier? Losing inches instead of pounds still means your fat cells are shrinking. A true plateau is no weight lost and no inches lost in four weeks. If inches are being lost, but not pounds, you haven't stalled. Be happy you are still shrinking — becoming healthier, getting into smaller clothes, an...

After weight loss surgery, constipation seems to be a common complaint. Think about it, weight loss surgery patients go from eating however much they want to about 1.5 cups of food a day. These patients are also focused on high protein foods, which cause constipation. The best relief our bodies can get from constipation is fiber. Fiber is a part of a plant or seed that is not digestible by the body. It is large, bulky and helps to grab anything sitting in the intestine to push it out.   Fiber is considered a prebiotic . I am sure you’ve heard of probiotics . These are foods like yogurt, Kiefer, and sauerkraut with healthy bacteria in them. When we eat these foods, the healthy bacteria stay and live inside our digestive tract. These bacterias help improve our mood, reduce inflammation, and produce vitamins. On the other hand, prebiotics are food for the bacteria already living in our digestive tract.   Once f iber gets in our colon, its used as food for the bacteria th...

In our busy world we are constantly distracted by texts, emails, television, and social media updates. This information overload leads to stress and prevents us from living in the moment. By working on mindfulness, we can better navigate our data heavy world.  What is mindfulness?  According to  mindful.org "Mindfulness" is the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis. Basically, it is being present in the moment by paying attention to yourself and surroundings.  In Mindful thinking, there are no good or bad thoughts, just an open mind. Mindfulness takes practice and can include meditation. The  mindful.org website is a great resource implementing meditation practice.  Successful mindfulness leads to a more balanced life, healthier choices, increased wisdom of self and surroundings, and acceptance of what is.  So why...