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VOLUME 16 April 2015 NUMBER 4

Editorial Notice

Editorial Staff:

Melissa Grant

Bariatric Coordinator.

Items for the newsletter must be submitted by the 1

st of the month

for consideration for publication in the upcoming issue!

submit items to: melissa@morasurgicalclinic.com

If you no longer wish to

receive Bariatric Bulletin, contact:

melissa@morasurgicalclinic.com

Bariatric Bulletin,

This newsletter is published

monthly for Dr. Parham Mora 645 McQueen Smith Road.

Suite 205 Prattville, Alabama 36066

"The way you think determines the way you feel, the way you feel determines the way you act. If

you want to change how you act, you must begin by changing the way you think. Your thoughts

are the autopilot of your life." - The Daniel Plan

Change The Way You Think

by Rick Warren

“We capture every thought and make it give up and obey

Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NCV)

Here’s the secret to temptation: Don’t fight it. Just refocus. Whatever

you resist persists.

Did you know that in the Bible, not once are you told to resist temptation? We are told to resist the Devil, and that’s a

whole different issue. But the key to overcoming temptation is not to push back. It’s to change your focus.

Whatever gets your attention gets you. The battle for sin always starts in the mind. That’s why the Bible says in Psalm

119:6, “Thinking about your commands will keep me from doing some foolish thing” (CEV). Why? Because if

you’re thinking about God’s truth, you’re not thinking about the dumb stuff you could be doing.

Have you ever looked over a cliff and felt like you were being drawn to jump off? Not like a temptation, but like there was

this force that was pulling you. It’s because whatever you focus on pulls you.

It’s true in every single area of life — good or bad. If you focus on godly things, it’s going to pull you that direction. If you

focus on the stuff that’s at the movies and in magazines, it’s going to pull you that direction. Whatever you focus on gets

your attention. Whatever gets your attention is going to get you.

The key is to just change your mind.

Temptation always follows a predictable pattern: attention, arousal, and action. Your mind gets hooked, your mind kicks

in, and then you act on it.

So you don’t fight a temptation; you just turn your mind to something else. “We capture every thought and make it

give up and obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NCV).

The thing is, we’re not very good at capturing every thought and turning it to Christ, because it takes lots of practice. You

can’t always control your circumstances, and you can’t even always control the way you feel. But you can control what

you think about. That’s always your choice. And if you change the way you think, it changes the way you feel, and that

will change the way you act.

Talk It Over

What do you spend your time thinking about? Where does your mind wander when you’re not focused on something specific?

How can you train yourself so that it is more natural for you to focus on God’s Word and truths instead of the things of this world?

7 TIPS TO HELP YOU CHANGE

Are you having trouble sticking with The Daniel Plan?

Don't beat yourself up. The Daniel Plan is designed to help

you rewire your brain so you can get thinner, smarter, and

happier. But don't expect it to be as easy as flipping a

switch.

Did you know that your brain is hardwired to resist

change? The human brain likes to conserve energy and

doing the same-old same-old doesn't require as much energy as trying something new and different. No wonder it

can be so hard to change lifelong habits!

Be patient. It takes time to overwrite old neural pathways with new ones. But you can do it! The Daniel Plan is here

to help you along the way. Here are 7 tips to help retrain your brain so you can continue making progress.

Don't try to change everything at once. If you have come to the decision that you want to make changes in your life,

you probably want them to happen NOW! But after nearly 30 years of helping patients navigate the change process, I

have learned that taking a gradual approach is the surest way to success.

So many people try to change all at once, but this almost inevitably invites disappointment and

failure. You don't have to change dozens of behaviors at once. Start with a few vital behaviors—the

ones that will have the biggest immediate impact—and go from there.

1. Believe you can do it. If you don't believe in yourself, you will never achieve your goals. Lean on others in your small group for support and encouragement. When others believe in you, it can help you learn to believe in yourself.

2. Focus on your successes. Rather than dwelling on the habits you haven't managed to change yet, focus on the positive steps you have made. Are you drinking more water? Terrific! Are you eating more veggies? Excellent! Are you walking with your small group? Fantastic! Celebrating even the smallest successes can help keep you motivated.

3. Don't swap one bad habit for another. If you've got a sweet tooth, you may think that kicking your sugar habit is the ultimate goal. So instead of chomping on chocolate in the afternoon, you start sipping a diet soda or a café latte. Yes, it isn't chocolate, but it still isn't good for your brain or your weight-loss efforts. I see this so many times with my patients who quit one bad habit only to acquire another one in its place.

Some people even turn to illicit drugs. At the 2010 meeting of the American Society of Metabolic

and Bariatric Surgery, researchers presented evidence that some people who have bariatric

surgery replace their food addiction with drug or alcohol addiction. A survey of post-bariatric

surgery patients in substance abuse programs revealed that 85 percent of them put some of the

blame on "addiction substitution" and 75 percent thought "unresolved psychological issues"

played a role in their substance abuse.

This doesn't surprise me because, as I like to say, stapling your stomach may be working on the

wrong organ. There may be underlying biological, psychological, social, or spiritual causes for your

overeating. If you get rid of your problem foods or have surgery to shrink your stomach but do

NOT address these underlying problems, you won't make any progress. You will simply look for

other ways to self-medicate. To be your best self, you need to kick your bad habits and replace

them with healthy habits.

4. Get back on track—setbacks don't mean failure. The road to change is not a one-way street. The steps to change are not static. I frequently tell my patients that their journey will be like going up and down a staircase. They will go up several steps, feel like they've made progress, then go back down a few steps when difficult situations arise. They will make several more steps of progress, then slip back a few, but usually not as many as before. Usually, the slope of progress is in an upward, positive direction.

If you aren't expecting to encounter setbacks, it can derail your efforts. Let's say you've been doing

a great job sticking to your daily calorie limit and have lost 5 pounds after a few weeks. But then

you go to your parents' house for the holidays where you overindulge and end up gaining 2

pounds in a week. Then you feel like you've blown it, so you continue overeating after you return

home and then you give up entirely on changing.

Understanding that setbacks are part of the process and planning how to deal with them makes

them easier to handle. So you ate more than you should during the holidays and gained a couple

pounds—just get back onto your program the next day. Remember, losing weight is not a race, and

faster is not necessarily better. Slow and steady is the healthiest way to lose weight and keep it off.

5. If you hit a plateau, change things up a bit. Hitting a plateau can be one of the most frustrating challenges in your weight-loss journey. A plateau is when your scale seems to get stuck on a certain number and just won't budge even though you haven't veered away from your new brain healthy habits. Rest assured that this is a common scenario.

First, ask yourself, is it really a plateau? Even if the number on the scale is stuck, your body

composition might still be improving. So don't automatically get discouraged if the number on the

scale isn't changing fast enough for you. We often get so hung up on a specific number that we lose

sight of our real goal, which is to look slimmer, feel happier and more energetic, and be smarter.

If you really have hit a plateau, then it is probably time to add more intensity to your workout

routine or adjust your calorie intake.

6. Remember that change never stops. Our bodies and lives are in a constant state of change. Marriages, divorces, job transfers, pregnancies, injuries, illnesses, and hormonal transitions are just some of the many things that keep us in flux.

Because of this, as you reach your initial goals, you may decide that you want even greater results. Or

unexpected things might happen in your life that make you reevaluate your original benchmarks and

downshift your expectations. Just know that with every change that comes into your life, you have the

power to be in control of the way you handle that change.

http://danielplan.com/start/about-us/what-is-the-plan/

Roast Chicken Tacos with Creamy Chipotle

Lime Sauce

Skip the fast food taco joints and make tastier,

healthier tacos at home. Tacos are the perfect use

for leftover shredded roast chicken. You could also

use thinly sliced steak, small grilled shrimp, even

seasoned and cooked ground beef or turkey. Tacos

are so versatile!

GF - 8 tacos

8 small organic corn tortillas

2 cups finely shredded green or red cabbage (or dark lettuce leaves)

2 large roma tomatoes, diced or slice thin

2 avocados, sliced into thin wedges

2 cups shredded roast chicken breast

2 ounces shredded jalapeno-jack cheese (optional)

Fresh cilantro (optional)

12 large limes cut into quarters

½ cup Creamy Chipotle-Lime Sauce

1. Warm tortillas for about 30 seconds in the microwave wrapped in wax paper or in an oven-safe tortilla

warmer, until they are soft and pliable.

2. Spread each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of sauce. Top with cabbage, tomato, avocado, chicken, cheese, and

cilantro. Squeeze lime over the top.

Creamy Chipotle-Lime Sauce

Make your tacos sing with this fresh spicy sauce. It works well with any taco meat or toppings.

Makes ½ cup

¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

How to Get Sexy Arms

Q: My arms are a flabby mess. Do you have a simple exercise to tone them

up?

A: Absolutely! I've got just the thing. When you have sculpted triceps you free yourself from

having to wear those loose, long-sleeved shirts. Go ahead and fill your closet with short-sleeved

shirts. Better yet — go sleeveless! With toned triceps you can wave to your fans all you want (no

more upper-arm jiggle!).

Sound good? Then get started with tricep kickbacks, a terrific beginner exercise for sculpting the backs of your upper arms:

Tricep Kickbacks

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet hip-width apart with a slight bend to your knees.

Bend over at the waist so that your torso is slightly above parallel with the floor. Bend both elbows so that your upper arms are locked

at your sides parallel to the floor.

Keeping your arms still, straighten your arms behind you until the end of the dumbbell is pointing down toward the floor with your

palms facing in towards your body.

Hold for a beat and inhale, slowly lowering your arms back to the starting position, and repeat.

To do this properly, remember to keep your abs tight and your back flat.

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fit/lose-weight/how-to-get-sexy-arms?xid=nl_LosingItWithJillianMichaels_20150420

¼ cup organic or vegan mayonnaise

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 pinches Kosher or sea salt

1 pinch black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1/8 teaspoon ground chipotle powder (or cayenne)

1. Whisk yogurt through chipotle powder in a small bowl until smooth.

Based on The Daniel Plan book, The Daniel Plan Cookbook: 40 Days to a

Healthier Life is a beautiful four-color cookbook filled with more than

100 delicious, Daniel Plan-approved recipes that offer an abundance of

options to bring nutritious cooking into your kitchen to help transform

your health in the best way imaginable—from the inside out.

http://danielplan.com/blogs/dp/change-the-way-you-think-2/

Quote of the Day

"Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and

disappointments, but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in

their proper figures." – Joseph Addison

About Joseph Addison

English politician and writer Joseph Addison is remembered as a cofounder, along with his friend Richard

Steele, of The Spectator, one of the first magazines to cover literature and manners. He was born on May

1, 1672 in Wiltshire. He spent four years traveling in Europe, studying politics and writing poetry, and

became a Commissioner of Appeals on his return to England. His shyness made public office difficult. His

most famous work is the play Cato, a tragedy about ancient Rome. He died on June 17, 1719.

To reach me it is Melissa@morasurgicalclinic.com. Please

make a note of this and change it in your address book. If you don’t have Email please make sure I know.

This is how I do a lot of my

communication with

you.

Search morasurgicalclinic

Don't forget about our website www.morasurgicalclinic.com

We will feature a new weight-loss story every month.

You can now see us on the bscreen at the Prattville Promenade

IMPORTANT!! IMPORTANT!! IMPORTANT!!

1. Maintain a healthy, low calorie diet that is

low in carbs and fat, but rich in protein. Your

water intake should be at least 64 oz. per day.

2. Exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, biking,

cardio, etc.) 1 hour per day, 5 days a week.

3. Take vitamins and prescribed minerals without fail.

4. Seek out help from a mental health care individual (psychiatrist, psychologist)

to learn new ways of coping with stress as needed.

5. If you are a lap band patient and you have had an adjustment to your band,

and start having problems keeping foods or liquids down that day, that night,

or the next day, CALL US IMMEDIATELY and let us know. Adjustments are

usually done on Mondays and Wednesdays when Dr. Mora is in clinic. You

MUST let us know by Friday if you are experiencing problems so Dr. Mora can

evaluate you before the weekend. Do not go over 24 hours without reporting

problems to us or you can damage your band.

6. If you are a gastric bypass patient, 3 months or more out from surgery,

have your lab-work done one week prior to your follow-up appointments.

7. Regularly attend support group meetings.

Please write a story of YOUR weight loss

story with pictures and submit to

Melissa @ Dr. Mora’s office for

publication in the newsletter. Submit

to melissa@morasurgicalclinic.com or

call the office @ 361-6126, ext 2

IS THERE A TOPIC YOU WANT TO SUGGEST FOR OUR NEWSLETTER OR SUPPORT

GROUP MEETING? IT’S A GREAT TIME TO LET US KNOW!!! WE WANT TO HEAR FROM

YOU! The support group meetings and newsletters are for you, our patients. We want

to make sure you’re getting the information you want from both the meetings and the monthly newsletters. Send your

suggestions to Melissa at Melissa@morasurgicalclinc.com or call the office

361-6126, ext 2

UPCOMING SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

**PLEASE NOTE! WE HAVE THE DATES LISTED BELOW FOR SEMINARS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2015

NOW, SO MARK YOUR CALENDARS TO ATTEND!

LOCATION:

Prattville Doster Community Center

424 South Northington Street, Prattville, AL.

TIME: 6:00 P.M. -7:00 P.M.

DATE: 2015 April 27, May 18, June 22, July 27, August 24 and September 28

PLEASE note all dates are subject to change due to availability of Dr. Mora or other

extenuating circumstances. We encourage you to call to check that the date has not

been moved ahead of time each month, especially if you live out of town!

GUIDELINES FOR SUPPORT GROUP MEETINGS

Everything said and heard in the group will be treated with respect for the

participants’ privacy. What is said in the group stays in the group.

• Silence is acceptable. No one needs to say anything she/he does not wish to say.

The group is supportive rather than judgmental.

• The group offers respect for individual choices and experiences.

• Only one person talks at a time.

• Turn off all mobile phones and pagers.

• No one is allowed to dominate the conversation.

• The group facilitators’ roles must be respected.

• Begin and end meetings on time.

• The group is a safe place to share feelings, and to obtain and provide support,

information, reassurance and encouragement.

• The group is broadly defined. It is flexible; flowing with the participants’ needs

and interests, and provides an opportunity to reduce feelings of isolation.

• Bariatric surgery support groups are open to all persons going through the

surgery process, including family members and others in a supporting role.

• Although the results of going to the group can be therapeutic, the group is not

meant to replace individual behavior therapy.

• Every effort should be made within the group to resolve conflict arising from or

during group interaction.

If you have any concerns or questions after attending one of our meetings, please feel free to contact Melissa

confidentially by email at Melissa@morasurgicalclinic.com