Are You a Candidate for Weight-Loss Surgery?

In recent years, weight-loss surgery has emerged as an incredibly effective tool in helping patients manage obesity and make healthy lifestyle choices. However, weight-loss surgery is not for everyone, so you should understand the key factors used to determine if you are a good candidate for weight-loss surgery, like the LAP-BAND System.

While there are several medical factors that can determine whether or not you are eligible for weight-loss surgery; if you qualify, your commitment to the long-term weight-loss process will greatly impact the results. You may want to consider some of these issues on your own, but meeting with a weight-loss surgeon will help you gain an understanding of both the procedure and the lifestyle changes required afterwards.

Body mass index

The body mass index (BMI) requirements for weight-loss surgery were originally set by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and have been in place since the 1990s. As a result, weight-loss surgeons will look for patients with a BMI of at least 40 or a body weight at least 100 pounds over ideal weight. Patients with a BMI between 35 and 39 may also be considered for weight-loss surgery if suffering from at least one health condition related to obesity, including, but not limited to, diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, depression and high cholesterol.

BMI is the most commonly used method of determining an individual's level of obesity. By using theBMI calculator provided by NewHope Bariatrics, you can see where you fall amongst the following BMI classifications:

o Healthy Body Weight - BMI from 18.5 to 24.9

o Overweight - BMI from 25.0 to 29.9

o Obese - BMI from 30 to 34.9

o Severely Obese - BMI from 35 to 39.9

o Morbidly Obese - BMI 40 and above

Failure of traditional weight-loss methods

Before agreeing to operate, weight-loss surgeons also need to determine if their patients have attempted to lose weight on their own. In most cases, surgeons will require that patients have tried traditional diet and exercise regimens prior to considering weight-loss surgery and documented the results. And in some cases weight-loss surgery patients have participated in medically supervised weight-loss programs. Weight-loss surgeons use this information to determine if their patients are committed to weight loss and lifestyle changes.Documentation of weight-loss efforts is also important when approaching the funding of weight-loss surgery. Like weight-loss surgeons, insurance providers typically require prospective patients to provide proof of repeated efforts to lose weight without surgical intervention.

Overall Health and Lifestyle

While there are many health conditions that may increase the urgency of weight-loss surgery, weight-loss surgeons will require all patients to meet certain lifestyle requirements as part of the program. To ensure that patients undergoing weight-loss surgery are able to experience long-term success and improve their overall health, surgeons will look for patients that avoid smoking, drinking and the abuse of drugs. If considering weight-loss surgery, it is important to eliminate these habits prior to beginning the process. After surgery, patients will be expected to avoid smoking and illicit drug use, while alcohol consumption should occur on a limited basis.

Commitment

Lastly, it is very important that all prospective weight-loss surgery patients be committed to permanent lifestyle changes. After ensuring that patients understand both the risks and rewards inherent in weight-loss surgery, some insurance providers will require psychological evaluations. As weight-loss surgery is not a magic bullet to erase obesity, it is important for all patients to understand the role that better eating habits and exercise play in the recovery process. Additionally, most weight-loss surgery procedures will require patients to meet regularly with doctors, attend support groups or meet with medical specialists to help support specific areas of follow-up care. The decision to have weight-loss surgery should not be taken lightly, and hence, doctors and insurance providers will insist that any patient undergoing the procedure is fully committed to each part of the lifelong process.

If you are trying to determine if you are a candidate for weight-loss surgery, you should consider your BMI and your past experiences with traditional weight-loss methods. If you feel you meet the criteria outlined here, you should then carefully consider both the potential benefits and responsibilities of weight-loss surgery. Though you may be unsure if weight-loss surgery is right for you, a consultation with a weight-loss surgeon will provide extensive insight into your condition and information about life after the procedure. In the end, if you are a good candidate for the procedure and feel prepared for the necessary lifestyle changes, weight-loss surgery can be the first important step towards a longer and healthier life.

Carole S. Guinane, a Chief Clinical Officer writes articles about obesity and weight loss for http://www.newhopetoday.com New Hope Today.

Proactol - Proven Alternative To Prescription Weight Loss Pills

Today more and more people become concerned with weight loss issues as their overweight is getting more threatening to our overall health and social activity. Weight loss experts seem to be at one thinking that the only best way to treat obesity or lose excess weight is turn to more healthy life style, combining healthy nutrition and increased physical activity. But weight loss medications are nevertheless strong aid when it comes to enhancing weight loss efforts, though there are so many negative sides of using them.

This article will review the current situation on the weight loss pills market and point to some important points to consider if you wish to apply weight loss pills to maximize your success.

Prescription drugs

The basic licensed medications for weight loss available until now were Meridia (Sibutramine) and Xenical (Orlistat). Meridia active ingredient boost serotonin levels in our body, that leads to increasing the feeling of fullness and appetite suppression. Xenical reduces the absorption of dietary fat we consume with our meals, which also helps to reduce excess weight. Actually all other weight loss prescription medications act like appetite suppressants or fat blockers.

What is good about these medications - they are clinically proven to promote weight loss, but on the other side they are only prescribed by doctors in case of obesity or when extra weight may lead to health problems like high blood pressure, heart disorders and more...

Over the counter weight loss pills

For the major part of over-the-counter weight loss pills that are sold in drugstores, internet pharmacies or other sites there is basically little evidence of guaranteed weight loss claims. Some clinical studies may also be conducted for these weight loss pills, but the medical evidence is occasional as those studies are scarce. Another point of concern is insufficiency of information on the ingredients used in these weight loss pills and the true mechanisms of their action.

Weight loss pills that convince assure you to lose weight fast and permanently without changing your eating habits will not probably work as claimed. Eating in our usual (unhealthy) way and taking weight loss pills will hardly make satisfactory results, in comparison with combining natural weight loss pills and healthy eating, that is a proven way to fastest weight loss success. As I told, is not up to weight loss pill itself how much weight we are going to lose, it is always a matter of changing our lifestyle to more healthy.

Some weight loss pills are likely to be detrimental to your health if you have certain health restrictions or take other drugs. It is a great problem of prescription diet pills, but it may concern natural weight loss pills also due to the reasons I mentioned before - not all natural ingredients mean safe action on our organism. Depending on the ingredients, some weight loss pills may also interfere with prescribed drugs, which may bring harmful effects on our health also. So we can see the price for weight loss is sometimes high.

New level of confidence

In February 2007 brand new weight loss solution released that combine the best sides of prescription and natural weight loss pills. This is Proactol fat binder.

It acts somewhat like Xenical, binding dietary fats immediately before they are digested and turn into calories in our body. But while orlistat blocks fat by slowing down the action of lipase (responsible for fat ingestion by our body) and has a long list of side effects, Proactol does not affect lipase but comes into contact with fats immediately, which is the safest way of fat binding.

What are the benefits of Proactol?

The benefit of Proactol before prescription drugs is its natural origin and safe action without restrictions. Proactol is available without prescription.

As for natural over-the-counter supplements, Proactol active ingredient is scientifically researched and its action was medically proven and backed by numerous clinical studies. It's passed all the FDA guidelines for dietary supplements and bears the CE stamp of approval.

To discover how you can benefit from Proactol, visit our weight loss pills review site.

Anthony Voronoff is expert that is making explicit reviews and comparisons of the best weight loss pills online. His site gives you valuable advices how to separate credible weight loss pills from possible hype and how to invest not in just diet pills but in complete weight loss programs leading to success.

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6 Tips For A Weight Loss Plan

The first step for healthy weight loss is to create some sort of weight loss plan.

I know that sounded a little vague, but your weight loss plan does NOT have to be something that only NASA could understand or approve.

YOUR weight loss plan should include such simple things as what activities (exercise) you are going to indulge in, when, where, and so on. You will want to outline your goals, both long term and short term goals You will definitely need to outline what your strategy will be for nutrition...notice I DID NOT say "diet"!

Why have a formal, or at least semi-formal, weight loss plan?

It has long been known to those who are successful in business, sports, entertainment, motivation, and other areas, that one way to improve your chances of success is to sit down and write out where you are, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there.

It is easier to plan for losing weight, or any other goal related activity, if there exists a clear picture of starting points, ending points, and how you intend to move from one point to the other. It is very easy to start a weight loss program or any other activity with intense motivation and a flurry of lofty plans only to lose site of the objective or to be led down unproductive paths by daily activities and the blurring effect of time.

Here are a few tips to consider when putting together YOUR personal weight loss plan:

1. Make your goals realistic:

Wanting to weigh what you weighed in high school is, for most of us at least, unrealistic. Using some movie star's weight or a relative's weight as your goal is also possibly detrimental to actually accomplishing effective weight loss. Each of those people arrived at THEIR weight by a combination of genetics, diet, and exercise which may not apply to you at all!

Most people do not realize that a healthy weight loss program should, for most people, result in a weight loss of only a pound or so a week. To many who have been striving for years to lose weight, this may seem a depressing statement. However, let me put it in perspective.

I have a close friend who was so desperate to lose weight that she opted for gastric bypass surgery. She weighed 340 lbs at the time of the surgery. When the doctor was briefing her on what to expect, she learned that even with surgical intervention, she would probably only lose about 70 lbs in her first year. That works out to 1.35 lbs a week, which would be a healthy weight loss that most people could achieve through a combination of physical activity and proper nutrition. The doctor also informed my friend that she would continue to lose weight over the following years until she reached some new level which would be determined by genetics, nutrition, and activity. This is the same expectation that anyone bypassing the bypass and opting for a healthy weight loss program could expect.

Finally, unrealistic weight loss goals insure failure, while an average of a pound a week over a period of a year is relatively easy to attain with motivation and effort.

2. Do not focus on weight loss:

I know that sounds strange since your goal IS weight loss, but it is easy to see failure if you are only looking for weight loss. For example, people's weight fluctuates from day to day and even within the day itself. A temporary setback where weight is regained becomes inflated if viewed against the background of only weight loss. However, if your goal is to do the things which are going to make you healthy, for example, then those few days of overeating at Thanksgiving may be more excusable in your own heart if you know that you have been taking your walks, or have cut your use of sugar, or are still taking action in some other form.

This is something that should be considered in your weight loss plan. How are you going to make your life better overall? How many ways can you approach "weight loss"? Do not make it your goal to lose so many pounds this week. Rather, set a goal to walk so many minutes, lift so many pounds, garden for so many minutes. That way, even if your weight does not change that much in that period or even goes in the wrong direction, you still know that your body is benefiting from the parts of your weight loss plan that you are still in touch with.

NOTE: People who begin exercising as part of their weight loss program often experience a weight GAIN somewhere in the first few weeks of their new exercise experience. THIS IS PERFECTLY NATURAL! If you have just begun exercising to lose weight and experience a weight gain, this should be only temporary, and is most commonly caused by your body adding muscle mass faster than it loses fat.

3. Plan to go slow:

I don't know if there is a statistic somewhere that demonstrates how many people drop out of their weight loss program due to stress, strain, pain, or just plain burnout. However, I have experienced it myself, I have read about it, and I know people it has happened to. Sometimes the simplest statements are most true. One that you will often hear is, "It took years for your body to get this way, and you cannot change it overnight." This is so true. Also, take into consideration that, even though you might not be SEEING significant changes, if you are taking the steps that you have outlined in your weight loss plan, your body is adapting inside, in places you cannot see, but it is repairing and preparing to move to higher levels of fitness and health.

4. Plan to measure your progress:

I know I said not to stress so much about the weight loss, but you do need to see what is going on. You don't have to concentrate exclusively on pounds lost, however. If you can walk farther this week than you could two or three weeks ago, you are progressing. Hopefully, in another two weeks, you will be walking farther, or faster. If, at the start of your weight loss program you could only exercise for five minutes at a time, and now you can exercise for 15 minutes, that is progress, isn't it? That's an accomplishment and is something you should be proud of.

NOTE: One measurement of progress in a weight loss program is quite simply "size". Two weeks into a weight loss program, you might actually have gained weight, for example, as I pointed out a few paragraphs ago. However, if your clothes are looser, or you need to buy smaller clothes, or friends are coming up and asking, "Have you lost weight?" these are good signs that your program is working even if your scales haven't gotten the news yet.

5. Plan to stay motivated:

One of the most common obstacles that knock people off their weight loss program is loss of motivation. The drive and excitement that gets you started is very seldom still around when you lace up your walking shoes for what seems like the millionth time and have only lost two lbs.

Including your reasons for losing weight, the emotional and perhaps physical triggers that got you started in the first place, as part of your written weight loss plan gives you a means of reinvigorating your desire to achieve your goals. We often forget how we felt and what we believed at the start of such a journey, and being able to pull out the paper and review the dreams and expectations can bring us back up to that original level, or at least remind us of what we are enduring this for.

I used to be an instructor for a major national corporation, and one thing that I and other instructors would tell our students was, to achieve their goals, they had to, "plan their work, and work their plan."

Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. He has written poetry and essays for his own use, and instructional media in many of the positions he held. After his retirement from the U. S. Army in 1995, he began writing articles on various subjects for websites he owned as well as for use by other webmasters. He has a keen interest in health, fitness, diet, and weight loss and has recently completed courses on Diet and Nutrition, and Fitness. He has posted a review on a great way to build muscle and burn fat.

Weight Loss Motivation Rules

Successful weight loss Rules for Weight loss motivation.

As with any plan there are always rules. Weight loss is no different; after all it is a battle, a battle of mind over body and every battle has rules. Below is what I consider to be the golden rules of weight loss.

These are, in order,

o You are responsible for yourself and actions

o There are downsides as well as ups, take the rough with the smooth

o Pick the weight loss routine suitable for you

o Take the routine seriously

o And follow through to the end

You are responsible for yourself and actions

Remember, a diet is a selfish action; it is for one person and one person only. A diet should be undertaken for your own needs and desires, not others, for this reason alone it is your very person that is responsible for its success or failure. Pressure is applied more often than not by others and surroundings, but you will have to be strong.

There will be up's and down's

So, going with the theory that most people will take some time to realize the truth of the magic rules, the first thing that you need to do then to begin your weight loss regime, is to realize that it is not going to be an easy road to walk or run down.

There will be many tempting goodies like: cream cakes, full fat coffees, cream cheese bagels, the ever popular Burger chains and so on and so forth, littering your path. It is up to you to resist and not give in to these temptations.

I kid you not! It will not be easy so I will not even pretend that we can pass these by without being tempted one or two times and indeed giving into temptation. That would be delusion on a grand scale, and since we are for the moment at least, all about self-honesty, let's acknowledge the fact that we will fall off the wagon, most do.

But as I said earlier, what matters is not that you fell off the wagon in the first place, but what you do with yourself afterwards. Get up, dust off those cookie crumbs and get right back on the weight loss wagon. You can do it.

And this is really what you need to realize so early on, the fact that you will fall off the weight loss wagon, and the fact that your road will be literally paved with tempting morsel after tempting morsel.

Once you can realize and acknowledge this fact for yourself, you will find that you are better armed to deal with these.

You will also find that being prepared for these little wayside problems, makes it easier for you to tackle them head on, and in many cases, makes it easier for you to turn a blind eye to temptation (most of the time).

Pick a Weight loss Routine Best For You

You have decided that you want to lose weight and you are going about trying to find a way to make this a reality.

Now you need to take a few minutes away from your busy schedule to deicide exactly what measures you can implement in your lifestyle to make it easier for you to lose weight, and also decide how much time you are willing to devote to doing this.

This might be more difficult for you than you think, but the thing is for it not to become daunting at this first hurdle.

If you have only a very minimal time frame on your hands to devote to your goal of losing weight, there is no need to despair.

Since you have already begun the crucial process, you only need to follow through with it and implement a plan that will enable you to do so despite your busy schedule.

Take things one at a time and don't try to do everything at once. With a limited amount of time on your hands first concentrate on one aspect of your weight loss plan.

If you want to implement an exercise regime, then do so. Leave the diet plans for a later date when you are better able to deal with it, or when your exercise routine has become a set part of your life.

This way, you will be able to gradually incorporate your entire weight loss plan into your life, without having to leave anything out, or without having to feel beleaguered.

The key factor when going through with this golden rule is that you need to find the right balance of diet and/ or exercise for you, the one plan that will fit seamlessly into your lifestyle habits without taking you too out of your way.

Take the Routine Seriously

If you went through the earlier golden rule, you know that in choosing the best weight loss plan for you, you need to choose one that fits into your lifestyle.

The reason you are doing this, is to make this particular golden rule - the one about following through on your weight loss plan - a reality instead of a wish.

Many people, myself included, find it easiest to start something; it is the follow through that we find difficult, and because of this, we find it easy to let go of our ideas and plans when the going gets tough.

By choosing a weight loss plan that fits naturally into your lifestyle to begin with, you are making it that much easier for you to stay the course and to follow through on your weight loss plans.

If you look at it reasonably you will see that what I am saying makes sense. Think about it. If you have great ideas on how to lose weight and put them into action, you can be assured that for the first few days and weeks at least that you will go through with them.

But what happens when you have to break through your routine to attend to something else? Since life can never be planned out down to a T, you can be assured of getting these interruptions, and frequently, if you lead a busy life.

Well, to begin with, you would try and keep as close to your plans as possible, but there may be one or two days when you need to abandon them altogether to accommodate outside influences.

When this happens, which weight loss plan do you think you are most likely to follow through on, once you get back to your normal routine?

The one which is great, but which takes you out of your normal routine and which requires you to push and prod yourself to get back into it?

Or the one which is maybe not as great as your original grand plan, but which runs more or less parallel to your normal routine, and which you can fall into more easily because it doesn't require you to go out of your way?

I know which one I would chose, but this is because I know myself. I know that if I had to go out of my way over and over again, if I had to push and prod myself to get into my weight loss routine every time life threw a curveball at me that I would not follow through with it.

In fact, my life to date is littered with many of these grand weight loss plans and schemes, and for myself at least, I can attest that none of these worked the wonders that they should have. The plans were sound; it was the execution of them that left a lot to be desired!

It took a little bit more of down-to-earth thinking, and my realization of the golden rules for me to lose weight successfully and keep it off.

What you need to take away from this section, is the knowledge that sometimes life will throw a spanner in the works. You will find your weight loss plans going for a six, but that doesn't mean that you should quit.

Whether you have a "great" weight loss plan, or whether you have a not-so-great weight loss plan in the works, you need to follow through on your original plans and ideas and not give up.

It is at this point in your weight loss plans that it's going to be all too easy to give up and go back to your old ways. Don't.

If you think you might have trouble on the follow through, be prepared for this eventuality and plan for it accordingly.

And follow it through the end

The thing that will help you to lose weight, and will also help you to keep the weight off, is if you follow the plan through to the very end with your decision to lose weight.

In other words if you have set yourself a target weight, then stick to it. Follow through to the end, and don't give up.

If you have been reading through the earlier sections, or if you have gone down this route before, then you know how much easier it is to start yourself on a weight loss regime than it is to continue on with it.

And you will also probably know how much easier it is to follow through on such a course if you give yourself a little nudge, than it is to see it through to completion.

Many of us, even if we do manage to successfully drag ourselves through our weight loss routine day after day, will find that it is harder to stay on track as time goes by and your goal comes ever closer.

In my case most of the time, even when I followed through to nearly the end, I found myself losing the will to continue.

This was mainly due to the fact that I was not as committed in the beginning as I could have been which in turn meant that I was only staying the course because I was forcing myself to do so, and not because I really wanted to.

And this meant that when the going got tough, I got going - in the opposite direction most times!

Since it was difficult enough to stay the course when things were happening normally in my life, it was near on impossible to stay the course when things went even slightly out of sync.

The end result? I would always, always find some way, some little loophole to exploit which would necessitate my going off my weight loss regime.

So to see you through to your weight loss target, you need to follow through, and make a conscious decision that you will see it through to the end. But you also need to have that commitment to yourself and to your goal that you will see it through to the end.

And really, it is only when you want to do this, when you have the commitment to stick with it come hell or high water, that you will find that you not only lose the weight, but you find that you also keep it off.

Weight Loss Motivation tips and other quick weight loss plans for the modern busy woman.

When Should You Go to a Weight Loss Surgery Clinic?

If you have a serious weight problem, then a trip to a weight loss surgery clinic might just save your life. This is not to say that you can't go to a weight loss surgery clinic if you aren't in a life-threatening situation. It just means that as much as possible, you should try to lose weight the natural way. But if you do choose to have a procedure done, it cannot be stressed enough that you have to be fully aware and knowledgeable of everything that is going to happen.

Even with a weight loss surgery clinic near you, a visit to one should be done with utmost care. Before you undergo any procedure in a weight loss surgery clinic, be very sure that you know what you're getting yourself into. Do your research, not just on the procedure you're about to have but the weight loss surgery clinic itself. Be very sure that the weight loss surgery clinic is licensed.

Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is a procedure done to remove fat that collects in different parts of the body. Of the many procedures under weight loss surgery, a mini gastric bypass is considered to be simple and also inexpensive. The mini gastric bypass is very popular and is considered to be the safest, most effective weight loss surgery. The whole procedure takes up only about 30 minutes and hospitalization time is usually under 24 hours.

Weight loss surgeons recognized the potential for different surgical procedures during the course of operations they have performed. With this in mind, they used their observations to create various procedures that could be done safely to induce weight loss in people with morbid obesity.

Before Surgery

Before a weight loss surgery, every patient is asked to sign a consent form. This is to acknowledge that a person fully understands the information that has been given to him and that he is aware about the benefits and risks that comes with the procedure. Do not sign anything unless you've fully understood what is happening and what is going to happen. If you still have doubts, be sure to discuss them with your weight loss surgeon proceeding.

What weight loss surgery does

Weight loss surgery works by reducing your food intake without depriving you of any nutrients. In most procedures, the surgeon reduces the size if the stomach either by stitching or creating an artificial pouch. However, this procedure can alter a person's digestive processes. In such cases, food is indigested, unabsorbed, and eliminated with the bowel. Weight loss surgeons are still in the process of perfecting the procedure to eliminate these effects.

After surgery

After surgery, you should stick to your weight loss surgeon's instructions and restrictions. Take note that instructions vary from weight loss surgeon to weight loss surgeon and from one patient to another. Those with the best results are usually those people who learn how to avoid drinking too much liquids, eat less, and eat slowly.

Maintenance

A weight loss surgery will definitely give you a new body. However, as with any weight loss product or program, no matter how amazing, weight loss surgery isn't a permanent all around cure. Think of it as starting with a blank slate. To keep it blank, you have to work at it. If you don't create the necessary changes in your lifestyle then you might as well not have gone through with your weight loss surgery. Without the proper change in lifestyle and attitude, you'll end up gaining all that weight back and you're back right where you started.

Weight loss surgery can be life-changing. With a new body, a whole different world opens up to you. You can now do things that you've never done before because of the physical limitations that came with your weight problem. But remember that what you initially see is just the physical aspect of your transformation. The real meaning in the change in yourself comes from how you will use this change.

There are a lot of weight loss surgery clinics out there. Make sure to brush up on the different procedures being offered in different weight loss surgery clinics before deciding on what procedure and which weight loss surgery clinic to have it done in.

Phillip England is a weight loss expert and Author of the popular report "The Ultimate Weight Loss Secret". To receive your free information on the secret that doctors, and health companies either don't know, or don't want you to know, please see [http://www.theultimateweightlosssecret.com/secret]

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