What is an Obesogen? And how do they affect us?

The technical definition is "Obesogens are chemical compounds foreign to the body that are hypothesized to disrupt normal development or homeostasis of metabolism of lipids ultimately resulting in obesity.
Obesogens may be functionally defined as chemicals that inappropriately alter lipid homeostasis and fat storage, change metabolic setpoints, disrupt energy balance or modify the regulation of appetite and satiety to promote fat accumulation and obesity." (1)  But, in lay-mans terms it is any toxin, chemical or pesticide that we put in our body that disturbs our bodies chemical and hormonal make up that disrupts the endocrine system.  Obesogens include plastic based chemicals, pesticides, hormones and chemicals fed to cattle or livestock, naturally occurring chemicals relating to soy products and our prescriptions and chemicals in our tap water.  Obesogens can trigger an unnatural increase in fat cells, therefore interfering with the body's ability to process leptin, the hormone that triggers the feelings of satiation.(2)

I know that prior to the weight loss surgery, I did not feel full. I ate processed food.  Since the surgery, I try to eat as clean as possible and have significant changes in my appetite.  I do believe it is due to the theory of obesogens.  The theory was coined by Stephen Perrine with Heather Hurlock in The New American Diet.  The author got 400 volunteers to go back to a diet that was based on eating environmentally conscious meats, fish, produce and dairy products.  Those who stuck with the plan for six weeks reported an average weight loss of 15 pounds.

Now I believe that weight loss surgery was my first key to living a healthy life.  But, now I choose to live and eat a healthy life style.  Yes, my food bill has gone up.  And yes I eat hormone and antibiotic free chicken and meat.  Most of my vegetables are organic.  But the more that I read and the more that I learn about my immune system and how compromised we all are, the more I wish to make sacrifices for myself and my family.  My family (my children included) struggle with their weight and I hope to not pass this disease on to them.  If I can give them a fighting chance then I owe it to them.

I encourage you all to educate yourself on obesogens and how BPA can make you obese.  93% of all Americans have BPA in there system (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and many scientists liken this to a national experiment on ourselves while we continue to use these chemicals.

Here are some ways to stay safe:

1) Eat well and exercise! Keep your immune system strong by not flooding it with obesogens and exercise to strengthen it further.

2) Buy fresh produce instead of canned or packaged.  Canned vegetables and products are lined with BPA most of the time and can leach into your food.  Try to buy fresh or glass items instead of canned.  Eden Foods and Pomi actually make BPA free containers, look on the containers.

3) Any time you are eating the skins, buy organic.  I know money is tight right now for many folks, but I highly recommend you buy organic when eating the skin.

4) Don't put plastic in the microwave. BPA will get released into the food you are eating and drinking, even a simple, "I am going to warm this up," will leach chemicals into the item that are poisoning you and your kids.  Don't buy any plastic ware that has the number 7, on the bottom of it.

5) Check the safety of your cosmetic.  Two recommended brands are Burt's Bees and Josie Maran Cosmetics.  Check Environmental Working Group for the efficacy and safety of the brand you use.

6) Use cleaning products that are frangrance free and no air freshners.  I have to admit this one is hard for me.  I love my house to smell fresh and clean.  However, using bleach and vinegar are cheaper and make my home smell just as nice.

7) Filter your tap water. Run off from farms can put pesticides into our tap water, it never hurts to filter your tap water, not to mention the amount of prescription medication that they are finding in our water now.

8) Leave your shoes at the door.  I live in sunny south Florida.  Our lawns are bright green and there's a reason, we all fertilize and spray for bugs.  Everytime you walk in your home, you are bringing those pesticides inside with you.  Leave your shoes at the door and lessen that exposure.


Scientists believe that these chemicals are linked to not only Obesity, but to Breast Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, ADHD, Endometriosis, Infertility, Lupus, Polycystic Syndrome.


Resources:

1. ^ ^{a b} Kirchner S, Kieu T, Chow C, Casey S, Blumberg B (March 2010). "Prenatal exposure to the environmental obesogen tributyltin predisposes multipotent stem cells to become adipocytes". Mol. Endocrinol. 24 (3): 526–39. doi:10.1210/me.2009-0261. PMC 2840805. PMID 20160124. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2840805.
2. ^ Grün F, Blumberg B (2006). "Environmental Obesogens: Organotins and Endocrine Disruption via Nuclear Receptor Signaling" (reprint). Endocrinology 147 (6): s50–s55. doi:10.1210/en.2005-1129. PMID 16690801. http://endo.endojournals.org/cgi/reprint/147/6/s50.pdf. 

Destination New York!!!!

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a conference on bariatric surgeon for bloggers.  This week I will be attending with multiple other bariatric patients turned bloggers.

The event is being sponsored by Obesity Action Coalition and Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. to discuss blogging and online discussions about obesity and bariatric surgery.

We will be meeting on Thursday evening for a reception and then all day Friday for the event.

The topics to be covered will be:

• Insights into the state of obesity in the United States and the importance of patient advocacy; led by the Obesity Action Coalition - The leading US patient advocacy organization
• Hear from a prominent US surgeon on the lastest trends in bariatric surgery
• Join your peers to discuss current trends in blogging and online media coverage of obesity and surgery; hear from industry experts

Experts in attendance:

• Joe Nadglowski - President and C.E.O. of Obesity Action Coalition
• Robin P. Blackstone, M.D., F.A.C.S. - Incoming President of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS)

Please note that all travel and accommodations are in accordance with the FTC  and WOMMA.

The event itself is by invitation only but a few of us are getting together Friday, April 15th. If you are in the area and would like to join us. Or are looking for an excuse to come to NYC? Please come hang out! Rumor has it that there are approximately 16 "bad girls" coming to hang out for the evening.

When: Friday, April 15 at 6:00pm till ?
Location start: Lobby of the Mondrian SOHO Hotel
9 Crosby St, New York, NY 10013

And some of us are planning to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday morning, just because we can.  The more the merrier!  Please join us!

Reduced Sugar Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Warning!!! This is not a low calorie snack.

Ingredients for the cookies include:
2 cups all purpose flour (I used wheat pastry flour and they came out fantastic)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (I grated 1/2 of a nutmeg)
1/ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup of butter (you could use applesauce to lighten the recipe)
1 1/4 cups of Whey Low Granular (sugar substitute)
2 large eggs, let them sit at room temperature before adding
1 cup of pumpkin, not pie filling
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Filling:
4 ounces of 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons of butter, softened
1/2 vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of Whey Low Powdered Sugar

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper for the best results.

2) Combine all dry ingredients on a piece of parchment for ease in adding later.  Cream all wet ingredients together, adding eggs one at a time.  Slowly add dry ingredients until well combined.  Drop by heaping teaspoons on to lined baking sheets.

3) Bake for 11 to 13 minutes.  Cool on baking sheets and them remove to a wire rack until completely cool.

4) Cream the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a small bowl on medium with a mixer until fluffy.  Gradually add powdered sugar until light and fluffy.

5) When cookies are completely cooled, spread a heaping teaspoon of icing onto the flat side of one cookie and close with the flat side of a second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies.  Since these have cream cheese in them, store in an air tight container in the refridgerator.

To all you weight loss patients, I was able to have one without dumping.  Keep in mind that they maybe low in sugar, but they are still rocking in carbs......LOL

Facing Facts After WLS - Matters of the Heart!

The facts are that 80 - 85% of all gastric bypass or weight loss surgery patients divorce within 2 years of their procedure.  That is a sobering statistic. 

Why is the divorce rate so high?  Does the rise in our self esteem threaten our partners?

A common belief among professionals is that obese patients tend to "settle" for relationships in which a "normal" individual would not.  I am not sure I believe in a fairy tale version of "normal".  I truly believe that everyone exists with a certain amount of dysfunction in their lives.  I believe it is those differences that make us special and unique.  I don't wish to be like my neighbor.  Now, do I believe I tolerated more when I was heavy to avoid being alone?  More than likely. 

As a weight loss patient who has lost half of her body weight, I can tell you that my self esteem has grown expeditiously.  I also know that my husband is 145 soaking wet and has a hollow leg!  He has never, nor will he ever understand what it is like to struggle with his weight. And as I have struggled to recover, there is very little sympathy.

Some couples may experience issues with jealousy and trust.  Suddenly, their spouse has gone from a size 24 to size 4 and the other sex is paying attention to them.  Your spouse may not know how to deal with their emotions and insecurities.  Also, as the individual that is going through the transformation yourself, you may quite enjoy the attention.   Promiscuity may even become an issue within the marriage.

I also believe that some weight loss patients believe that the sex has died in their marriage due to the obesity and when they lose the weight, it will return.  However, it maybe that your spouse just doesn't want sex and this symptom may have nothing to have to do with your weight and everything to do with your spouse.

Professional are quick to make the psychological testing part of the pre-surgical criteria; however, a huge part of the puzzle is realizing what we have been using food for.  Those realizations do not come until after the surgery and you're standing in front of the pantry door for no apparent reason other than an emotional one.
Weight loss surgery is not a magic bullet.  It will not save your marriage.  Please seek professional help as issues arise whether they be personal or with your relationship with your significant other. 

Celebrations!!!

I wanted to celebrate my first surgiversary with with you.  I am 132 lbs. down and have met my goal weight, but more importantly is the major changes that have happened in my life.

I have finally put 2 + 2 together and realized that I have an eating disorder.  emm hmm :)


I have finally seeing myself as a beautiful, worthwhile, human being who is entitled to her feelings and emotions.

I am on a spiritual journey to heal myself.

It is ok to be me.

I had my first bout with Multiple Sclerosis when I was 23, I am now 41, I have lived with the disease for 18 years.  I have had times in my life where I was bedridden.  I have had times when no one could tell that there was anything wrong with me, but through it all I have learned not to take the little things for granted.  There are good days and there are bad days, but most of all more good than bad.  I celebrate that!  Walking upright, I celebrate that!  Getting the weight off to make my body hurt less, I celebrate that! My sick sense of humor....I celebrate that!

I challenge you today to celebrate what is unique in yourself and proclaim it to the world. Put it on your Facebook page or write it in your journal, but whatever you do, PROCLAIM IT!

Bariatric Mean Girls

Remember what it felt like when people made fun of your fatness?  Remember how much it hurt when their comments and gestures penetrated your outer shell and pierced your soul? Do you remember the pain?  The tears?  Do you remember the "mean" girls in high school who wouldn't let you into their clique? I promised myself, I would never be one of "them". 

When I became a member of the WLS Club, I felt special.  When I first entered the membership, the online comradery was fierce.  If I had a question, I simply put it out there and got a mass of responses.  Further into my recovery, I started to face the emotional aspects of WLS, such as, body dysmorphia and self esteem issues.  Some online bloggers will discuss these subjects out in the open, they are honest that weight loss is not all peaches and cream.  WLS is not a cake walk.  WLS is not the easy way out!

I do believe that I was one of the lucky few, who had started my transformation (yes, it is a transformation) before the surgery.  I had been in therapy for years.  At the time of the surgery, I wasn't currently seeing a therapist.  I would recommend that if you are going to have this surgery, that you seek professional help. 

When the fat melted away, so did my armor.  The armor between myself and issues that I did not want to face up to.  An eating disorder that I needed to face and why I suffered from the eating disorder in the first place and a low self esteem. Most people whom have this surgery, have more to deal with than just weight loss and how to eat correctly after the surgery.  This is a life changing experience.

What I have noticed in our community lately is that there is a lot of finger pointing at each other.  As if we didn't have enough mistreatment from the outside, now we are mistreating each other.  I hear people stating that they wouldn't take advice from anyone that is only one year out and they have nothing to listen to.  I am the first one to say that the old timers in this game understand this fight longer than I do. However, I believe that everyone has something worthwhile to share about their journey.

I know that it pains me to watch people in this community to attack each other.  Perhaps I live in an ideal world, but when we came from such a self destructive place, have we just turned that self destructive personality trait on others.  Have we become one of them?  Are we now one of the mean girls?

Well this girl chooses not to be part of the clique!  I am confident and secure.  I do not need to lash out at others to prove my worth.  And I challenge you to do the same.  I had made a conscience decision to become "healthy".  That means all aspects of healthy, physically and psychologically.

I choose to work on my own issues and not lash out at others.  I choose to continue to speak about transfer addiction, body dysmorphia, eating disorders and the emotional side of WLS.  I will broaden my mind, spirit, eat right and share my recipes with the community.  Please join me in this challenge.

Happy Holidays! Lots to be happy for!

This year has been quite a change for me and I thought I would share it with everyone. I have made some major discoveries about myself, my needs, my wants and my desires.  I have had two major surgeries and my family is closer than ever.

It started 14 months ago with the loss of my job, I loved my job!  My weight was interfering with my ability to perform my job correctly and do it well.  When you travel up to 70% and your behind can't fit into the airline seats, it is going to have an impact.  I remember boarding flights, with a bead of sweat rolling down my forehead, and the shear look of terror on fellow passengers faces that would form.  You know that look!  It's the, "Oh god, please tell me your in another isle!" look!  The worst is when you are seated with two large men and they where hoping for some small petite tiny woman to sit with.......NOT!

The catalyst for me was when I had an allergic reaction to a medication the doctor put me on for high cholesterol that caused fluid retention and edema.  The fluid appeared to not only give me the worst case of cankles I had ever had, but it also caused fluid to retain on my lungs and I couldn't walk for any amount of distance without feeling like I was in cardiac arrest. Work had sent me to one of the most beautiful  places I had ever visited in Vancouver, BC and my supervisor and I went whale watching.  It was breathtaking in more ways than one!  I wouldn't have missed the experience for anything.

I was laid off shortly after the trip, so I quickly sprang into action.  I had been considering a gastric bypass for 10 years and had previously seen my doctors office give a informational speech 10 years ago.  I quickly reserved myself a seat for the next round of detailed informational segments on the how the procedure(s) is performed and how to get the ball rolling.

Within weeks we had gotten permission from the insurance company to proceed and authorization was obtained for an Roux-en-Y Procedure (http://www.rnygastricbypass.com/).  The stomach is reduced to handling the capacity of a golf ball and approximately 18 inches of small intestine is removed to interfere with absorption of food and calories during regular calorie consumption.   I was very excited and thought that this was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

I was a smoker since I was 15.  Not just a smoker, a Marlboro smoker, Reds to be exact.  I was getting chest colds every winter that made me sound like I was dying.  I kept talking about wanting to quit, but never did it.  But, the day the doctor said, "Oh, you have to quit or I won't perform the surgery!"  A little piece in me died.  I thought, "How am I ever gonna do this?"  I cut down each week, but confessions are good for the soul.... right???? I smoked up to the day of the surgery.  And I have never smoked again!  Smoking and RNY is serious business.  Everything I read says that it leads to ulcers and we have enough tummy issues without this too.  I am almost 10 months without a cigarette and I still crave them sometimes, but I like not smelling!  My husband still smokes and he stinks!  Flat out smells!  And I can't stand the smell!  How do you go 15+ years of smoking and not realize how bad you smell, I don't know, but I did. 

My tummy is super sensitive to this day.  In the months following the surgery, they recommend you get 100 grams of protein in your diet a day.  I am 10 months out and I get 60 grams a day now.  I have also become a vegetarian.  I drink my protein and eat my meals in the form of mostly organic vegetables. I have a terrible time digesting meat and have chosen to leave it out of my meals for that reason.

After losing 100 pounds, I had a bout with my gallbladder and had to have it removed.  It is my understanding that with large weight loss, it is fairly common to have to have your gallbladder removed.  That was a mild setback.  I took me about 1.5 months to get back on my feet.

One thing I didn't count on was to have so much time out, now one year later, I am beginning my job search vigorously.  One thing that this new lifestyle has given me is a new perspective on life, I look at the positives now and not the negatives.

I have been on an adventure for the last year.  An adventure of self discovery, when you have the surgery and start to lose the weight, you go through stages, well I did.  The biggest hurdle for me was realizing that my perceptions of myself where not always real.  When I was obese I never saw how big I really was when I looked in the mirror and now that I have lost the weight, I don't see my real size in the mirror still.  I struggle with my perception of myself and work on this everyday. It is an internal struggle that I have heard other weight loss gastric bypass patients speak of, as well.

The most profound realization for me was the day it dawned on my that I had a food addiction.  The day I realized that they had taken my ability to stuff my feelings away and I no longer could eat my way through my emotions.  What an awakening!  The compounding of such rapid weight loss, the inability to use my old coping mechanisms and the rapid changes in my life, left me with no choice but to seek professional help. It was the best choice, I had ever made.  I have made positive steps in the right direction to have a more positive mindset and have a more spiritual mind frame.

But, through it all, I have to say that my family has been wonderful.  I must of drove them nuts.  In the beginning with the pre-op diet, when everything in the house had to be removed or I would of eaten it!  During the surgery, when I later found out that they we're sneaking out to McDonald's and not telling me and now when they just eat their snacks in front of me with glee.....LOL  I do love them and appreciate all the support they gave me!  My hubby brags that I am "half of the woman he married"!  And he means that literally! I love them with all my healthy heart!

Here is to a new me, a new healthy start and to a new lease on life in more than one sense of the word!!!