After undergoing bariatric surgery, many patients anticipate a significant reduction in their hunger levels. While it’s true that appetite usually decreases due to the surgical reduction of the stomach’s size, feelings of hunger post-bariatric surgery can still persist. Understanding why you might feel hungry after surgery is crucial to managing it effectively and maintaining your ..read more

Navigating a busy schedule often means that cooking can feel like a tiresome task at the day’s end. For those adjusting to life post-bariatric surgery, meal preparation is a key strategy to manage this challenge, ensuring that making healthy dietary choices doesn’t become an overwhelming burden. This article aims to provide useful tips on meal prepping with a busy schedule so you can ensure you are meeting your health goals after bariatric surgery. 10 Effective Strategies for Meal Prepping With a Busy Schedule 1. Craft a Weekly Meal Plan Begin your meal prep journey by creating a weekly meal ..read more

Do you ever wonder how many calories you are consuming on Halloween with all the candy? Or how long you will have to workout to burn those calories you have just consumed? I have created a detailed infographic to show you just how many calories and carbs you are consuming with every sugary, chocolatey bite. I pulled together some stats to find out how many minutes the average male and female will have to walk in order to burn off their favorite Halloween chocolate treats.  According to CDC, the average male is 5’9″ and weighs 196 pounds while the average female is 5’4″ and weighs 169 pou ..read more

Grocery shopping can seem like a chore, especially if you are buying for a family or even trying to eat healthier in a world of uncrustables and cookies. When I first began this grocery shopping blog series, I took you on an adventure through the grocery store and you may have spotted me looking at a little white piece of paper throughout our shopping trip—that was my shopping list. I talked about the importance of a shopping list in my 5 Tips: Grocery Shopping for Weight Loss Blog, and today I want to emphasize the benefits of making a grocery list, especially for individuals looking to lose ..read more

Grocery shopping and meal planning can be intimidating for patients who have just had weight loss surgery or are trying to lose weight. In our practice, we emphasize the importance of eating protein during every meal and eliminating carbohydrates, of all forms, from your diet. However, this can be easier said than done.   A few weeks ago I listed my top 5 tips that I use when grocery shopping. These tips help me to avoid temptations at the grocery store and to ensure that I am purchasing real, healthy foods (not just the foods that claim they are “healthy”). This week I want to dive ..read more

This week we decided to take a trip to the grocery store to show you guys how to grocery shop like a pro! At Live Healthy MD, we get a lot of questions about what our patients can and can not eat before and after surgery. I am showing you all how to navigate the grocery store and pick up some delicious staple items! In this video, I picked up a few items that I believe are great staple foods for our patients. My grocery list changes every week, however there are a few key pieces of advice I personally use and tell our patients when shopping for “weight loss” foods. My Grocery Shopping Advice ..read more

For most individuals, summertime in Georgia means backyard barbecues, outdoor festivals and fairs, and lots of time with family and friends. This can also mean battling the temptation to eat whatever and whenever you want because “hey, you haven’t seen your Uncle Ernie in 5 years so you gotta enjoy this ice cream with him!”. Sound familiar? As a patient who is interested in losing weight or has just had weight loss surgery, we highly encourage them to stick to a strict dietary list to promote weight loss. This is a given. However, often times our patients feel at a loss as to what healthy foo ..read more

It is not unusual to become overwhelmed and confused when sifting through the latest nutritional data to improve your health after bariatric surgery. However, when it comes to improving your diet, sometimes the little steps can make a big difference. Here are five foods that you can substitute for healthier options to improve your overall health and wellness, especially after weight loss surgery. Whole Grains Over Processed White Foods Although we recommend that patients limit their carb intake after weight loss surgery, we encourage you to opt for whole grains as the most nutrient-dense opti ..read more

We have all heard of calories, but do you know what they actually do? Calories are what make our bodies run; they are the gas to our tank. Calories are needed for our organs to function and for our brains to work; they are what allow us to live. Remember, from last week’s blog, A Guide to Reading a Nutrition Label, fat has nine calories per gram while protein and carbs have four calories per gram. If you want pure weight change, counting calories is enough and will yield results. However, if you track and control your individual macronutrient levels, results will be far more fa ..read more

The holidays are a time when family and friends gather together, and food is usually a huge part of the celebration. Food is part of culture and heritage, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, family recipes and ethnic or regional dishes are one of the things that makes holiday meals so special. As a bariatric patient, Thanksgiving, and the weeks that follow, are intimidating. Food is a large part of the festivities and is nothing short of carb-filled goodness. It is recommended that bariatric patients who are a year or more out from weight loss surgery eat less than 75 grams of carbs ..read more