The end-of-the-year transition allows us to reflect on and appreciate the past year. Then, with renewed enthusiasm and motivation, we can move into the New Year with purpose.   Although meaningful milestones happen throughout the year, establishing expectations and goals at the start sets the stage. After all, we don’t just want to move forward, but move forward to create the life we desire.

Download On Track with Barix: Reflect, Appreciate, and Plan to Reach New Heights in 2023

Reflect and Appreciate

Take time to reflect and appreciate the experiences of 2022.  You’ve likely acquired new knowledge and skills, developed good habits, and shed bad habits – positive changes that will set you up for future successes. It’s easy to appreciate those positive aspects of the past year.

On the flip side, sometimes you may have really blown it and missed the intended mark. If you can learn from those experiences, acknowledge the lessons learned rather than consider them unfavorable.

Reflection allows us to take note of what we have learned in the last year and apply it to the future –bringing the helpful parts and leaving behind those that are not.

 Prompts to Guide Your Reflection

The past year may seem like a blur. After all, it’s hard to remember what you ate yesterday, much less the past year’s events. To get those brain cells firing, flip through your planner/calendar and the pictures on your phone. And then, as you think through the events of the year, use these prompts to guide your reflection:

• What experiences did I love?
• What were my big wins?
• I was most grateful for what (or who)?
• Did I develop any new friendships?
• Which people were most important in my life?
• When did I reach out to help someone else with acts of kindness, generosity, and compassion?
• What were the biggest surprises?
• Did my priorities change?
• When did I step out of my comfort zone, overcome temptations, or fight back against self-doubt?
• What was my favorite music?
• What were my biggest challenges?
• What was my biggest fear?
• When did I mess up completely? What did I learn from those experiences?
• What goals did I achieve?
• Which goals did I start but not complete?
• What would I change about the past year?
• What did I focus on the most?
• In what ways did I grow?
• What didn’t I do that I really wanted to do this year?
• Did I stick with positive habits?
• What negative behaviors popped up?

Planning

As you plan for 2023, start with an overall broad vision. Use these questions to help you envision how your days will look and what it will take to make this a fulfilling year.

• How can I spend more time on the things that bring me the most joy?
• What is most valuable to me?
• If I knew I could not fail, what would you try?
• What would I like to learn?
• How would I like my life to change?
• What does success in 2023 mean to me?
• What challenge would I like to overcome?
• Is there anything I would like to change myself?
• What healthy habits would I like to make part of my daily life?
• I would like to spend more time with which people?
• What is holding me back, and what do I need to do to get out of my comfort zone?
• What can I let go of that is not serving me?
• What most excites me?
• What do I need each day to feel my best – healthy food, good sleep, physical activity, and downtime?

Goal Setting

After you have an overall vision for next year, set specific goals to help make that vision a reality.

Create Goals for Different Aspects of Your Life

Set one or two goals in each vital area of your life. You may want to include goals regarding finances, relationships, health and fitness, vacations, free time, home improvements, and spiritual life.

Write Your Goals Down

Post your list of goals in a place where you will see them regularly. That way, you can review your progress and stay on track.

Set Realistic Goals

Break a large goal into several smaller goals that seem easy to reach. You’ll get a sense of satisfaction and boost your motivation to keep going.

Measure Your Progress

Write your goals so you can measure your progress throughout the year. Instead of setting a general plan to increase savings, set a goal to deposit $50 weekly into a specific savings account.  Instead of spending more time with friends, set a goal to plan a get-together once a week.

Plan Rewards

In addition to the intrinsic rewards that come with a sense of accomplishment, build in some fun extrinsic rewards. When you’ve completed that home improvement project on your list, get a sweet new rug for your office space. Once you’ve worked out consistently for four weeks in a row, buy a fun t-shirt. Little rewards help you to celebrate your accomplishments.

Starting a new year is always a little exciting. Full of possibilities, you can turn the page and make a fresh start. By reflecting, appreciating, and planning, you can reach new heights by intentionally creating the life you’d like to live.

It’s no surprise that following healthy habits is especially challenging this time of year. Holiday treats pop up everywhere – the breakroom, gatherings with friends and family, work parties, and cookie swaps. How do you avoid holiday weight gain with so much temptation? Here is the answer – you need a plan to stay in control of your eating and stay on track with healthy lifestyle habits.

Download On Track with Barix: Take These Steps to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain 

How to Plan for Success

A plan to have a free-for-all during the holidays and start back on your eating/exercise plan in January is sure to result in weight gain. Instead, set limits and stick to your goals. Avoid, limit, and replace foods and habits that don’t align with your goals. Starting 2023, a little leaner, more capable, and more confident will be great.

Your plan should take into account past struggles. For example, suppose you tend to stress over shopping. In that case, you may want to consider shopping ahead of time and simplifying your list. Maybe your struggle is the constant barrage of sweet treats – have no-added-sugar treats available to enjoy.

Before the bustle becomes full-blown, make a plan and a goal to make it to January without an extra pound gained. Below are some typical struggles encountered over the holidays and potential strategies to navigate them successfully.

Keep Stress at Bay

The holidays can be stressful. It’s worth thinking through this potential pitfall of the holidays since stress increases hormones related to cravings for junk food and weight gain.

To manage stress, you may plan to simplify holiday preparations, gift-giving, and celebrations. Other strategies could include the following:

• Keep up with exercise
• Add a few minutes of meditation or deep breathing.
• Making time for self-care.

Physical Activity is a Must

It’s tempting to ditch your regular exercise routine when so many activities are vying for your attention. Exercise helps to relieve stress, increases metabolism, boosts mood, and helps you feel energetic – do you want to give that up? When time is at a premium, see if you can multitask:

• Walk on the treadmill while watching the Holiday Channel.
• Take the kids sledding (and maybe skip the cookie decorating).
• Get your friends to sign up for a holiday fitness event instead of going out for drinks.

Remember that every step counts if you’re shooting for 10,000 steps a day,. Work to build in steps throughout the day.

Meal Prep Makes Daily Life Easier

Take the time meal to plan, prep, and stock up on healthy options. If you have healthy choices that you enjoy available, it will be much easier to limit or avoid foods that don’t fit into your plan. Buy foods in individual servings or prep and package to save time.

Keep Your Eating and Drinking Schedule

It’s easy to skip meals and snacks, but staying on schedule will help you make better food choices.

Eat foods in order. Start with protein. Next, eat vegetables, followed by a small amount of fruit or whole grain. Finally, if you want a little treat, make it no-added-sugar. Holiday meals can be high in simple carbs – you’ll naturally limit them if you prioritize protein and veggies.

Drink calorie-free beverages between meals.

Practice Avoidance

• If the breakroom is always filled with treats, find another place to eat your lunch.
• Don’t have holiday treats in your home – your family will have many opportunities to eat them elsewhere.
• Hang out far away from the food/dessert table at a party.

Share Healthy Foods

• Bring a healthy dish and a no-added-sugar treat to share. This way, you’re assured there will be something to eat that aligns with your lifestyle.
• You’ll have some favorites to rely on if you try out recipes now.

Don’t Skimp on Sleep

A lack of sleep can thwart your weight loss efforts in several ways.

• Increased appetite.
• More cravings for simple carbs.
• Less likely to exercise.
• Lowered metabolism.

Be Accountable

• Weigh yourself regularly. Whatever works for you – once a day or once a week.
• Track food and exercise – if you can’t squeeze it in daily, then three times a week.
• Share your plan with a friend, family member, or accountability partner. Other weight loss surgery patients work great for this role.

Enjoy Non-Food Ways to Celebrate

The holidays are a time for celebration. Talk to friends and family about starting new traditions that don’t involve food. You could attend holiday concerts or shows, volunteer, make crafts (instead of cookies), attend church services, play games, or have a holiday exercise competition.

Find Joy While You Stay True to Healthy Habits  

It can be challenging to stay true to healthy habits over the holidays. You may feel that people expect you to bake cookies, drink eggnog, or splurge and eat larger portions or foods you usually avoid. Staying true to healthy habits is staying true to the #1 reason you had surgery in the first place.

Reach Out for Support

What works well for one may not work for you. If you get off track, don’t let it completely derail you. Reach out if you need to – your Barix team is here to support you as you reach your dreams and goals. Making it to January without weight gain may not be easy, but it is possible. We’re here to help.

Have a Joyful Holiday Season

Having a plan can help you feel in control. It can help you relax and enjoy the people and activities that make the holidays special. We at Barix wish you and your family the best as you learn new ways to find joy and meaning this holiday season.

Surgery is the beginning of a new way of living – one that makes health a top priority. And the benefits are nothing short of amazing! When surgery is combined with seven specific behaviors, the rewards are multiplied. Consistently putting effort into these steps can pay off in a big way.

Download OnTrack with Barix: Take these 7 steps to get the most from your Weight Loss Surgery

Step 1: Track

Tracking provides valuable insight into current behaviors. It highlights what we are doing right and shows us opportunities for improvement. Over time, it can help us reach our goals. Studies show that people who track food intake and exercise are more likely to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off. Reasons why it works:

• Tracking keeps us aware of what we are eating and how much we are moving.
• When we track foods, we can weed out the foods we thought were “pretty healthy” but turned out to be higher in calories or added sugar than we realized.
• Tracking may cause us to pause before eating and consider if the food helps us meet our goals.
• Whatever numbers are vital to you; tracking provides them. You may track calories, protein, steps taken, vegetable servings, water intake, consistency of supplements, or other relevant numbers.
• Tracking allows you to see how shifts in your intake and lifestyle impact your weight over time.
• Portion distortion is a real thing. Tracking makes it clear that, although the portion size listed for almonds is 24 nuts, 15 almonds may be the portion you need if you’ve allotted 100 calories for a snack.

Setting, tracking, and meeting goals gives you a sense of accomplishment and encourages you to do more. 

Step 2: Eat Right

It’s easy to rely on fast and convenient highly processed foods. But these foods hijack your appetite and can limit your success after surgery.  You’ll eat better and consume fewer calories if you free up time to prepare foods at home. Start with a plan and then prep on your day off. You may want to put foods into single-serving containers for future meals and snacks. 

Eat the right foods.

• Start with lean protein-rich foods and fresh vegetables. Add fresh fruits, small servings of whole grains, and healthy fat.
• Eat mostly fresh, unprocessed foods.
• Strive to meet your protein goal daily. It helps you maintain muscle and feel more satisfied. Initially, most protein will come from protein drinks. After you’ve healed, most protein should come from food.
• Limit simple carbs – foods with added sugars, crackers, granola bars, rice, pasta, potatoes, and bread.
• Choose carbs from low-fat dairy, fresh veggies and fruits, and small amounts of whole grains.
• Keep between-meal fluids calorie-free. Milk and protein drinks count as a meal or snack. Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages. Alcohol can also contribute significantly to caloric intake and may slow weight loss.
• Log food intake to be sure to meet nutrition goals.
• Eat six small meals.
• Eating small frequent meals can help to maximize weight loss.
• Eat every 2 ½ to 3 hours.
• Keep portions in check. Eat ¼ cup to 1 cup of food per meal/snack.
• Take 20 minutes to eat, then stop and put the food away. Don’t eat or drink calories between meals.
• Sip on calorie-free and non-carbonated beverages starting 30 minutes after each meal.

Step 3: Move More

Regular exercise will help you to reach your goal weight and reduce your risk of weight regain. But the benefits go beyond weight control and include:

• Exercise boosts mental health by improving outlook, reducing stress, and lowering anxiety.
• You’ll lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, and cancer.
• The capacity increases for physical activity, even simple things like walking up a flight of steps.
• Sleep improves.

The benefits of regular exercise work in synergy to help improve results after surgery. After all, you’re more likely to make positive lifestyle choices when you feel better, and it’s not as hard to move.

Use your current fitness and comfort levels to set goals. Start small, track, and be consistent. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your body responds. Keep it as simple as counting steps or have a different activity each day – it’s up to you. As you lose weight and improve your fitness, you’ll need to increase your effort to get the same benefits. The more you put into it, the more you’ll get out.

Step 4: Supplements

Taking the right supplements after surgery is crucial. You’ll need a multivitamin, calcium citrate, and vitamin D3. Talk with your surgeon or nutritionist for individual recommendations.

Step 5: Manage Stress and Emotions

Chronic stress can increase weight by releasing hormones, including cortisol and insulin. Hunger is increased, and fat storage is maximized. Regularly practicing stress management techniques can help reduce the stress response. Methods can be as simple as a breathing exercise or a stroll around the block.

Many of us have learned to eat in response to emotional highs and lows. Celebrating, grieving, happiness, and sadness all involve food when food isn’t what we really need. Celebrate with dancing, music, sharing the news with someone close, or a non-food reward. Find comfort with a warm bath, a cup of hot tea, a call to a friend, or a walk around the block.

Eating in response to stress and emotions can limit success with weight loss surgery. If you graze all day, feel that your eating is out of control, or continually make poor food choices, you may want to engage the help of a trained therapist.

Step 6: Sleep

A lack of quality sleep contributes to weight gain. Crazy, but those with poor sleep habits often eat less, exercise more, and still gain weight compared to those with adequate sleep. Who knew? Most of us need 7-9 hours of sleep a night to function at our best.

The bottom line is– good sleep is crucial. Here are some ideas to consider for getting the most out of your nights:

• Go to bed at the same time each night. You’ll sync your body’s circadian rhythm (natural sleep cycle).
• Keep your bedroom as quiet as possible. Use white noise or earplugs for unavoidable sounds like neighborhood dogs and traffic.
• Sleep in the dark – light interrupts the circadian rhythm.
• Keep your room cool and well-ventilated.
• Put a bedtime routine in place to let your body know it’s time to unwind.
• Turn off the television, cell phone, and computers an hour before bedtime.
• Avoid alcohol, excessive fluid intake, heavy meals, greasy foods, and spicy foods in the evening.
• Caffeine is for the morning—even an early caffeinated drink can impact your sleep.
• You may want to include a light snack as part of your evening routine.
• Exercise in the morning or early afternoon promotes a restful night’s sleep.
• Use relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing, or visualization if stressful thoughts keep you up.

Step 7: Stay Connected

Over time, the natural tendency is to become complacent with our new eating and exercise habits. Old habits creep in here and there. One way to stay on guard is to be connected with other people who have had weight loss surgery. The Barix Clinics Facebook Support Group is an excellent way to do just that. It’s inspiring to see amazing before and after transformations. It’s motivating to read exercise posts.

Stay connected to your nutritionist and surgeon’s office too. We are here to help and support you along the way. Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight isn’t a once-and-done feat but a life-long trek.

Additional Steps

• Medications and medical conditions can affect your weight loss. Work with your primary care physician to manage medical conditions to minimize their impact on your weight loss. Medical conditions that can impact your weight loss include:
  • Low thyroid.
  • Medications can slow weight loss.
  • Joint pain can slow you down.
• A probiotic supplement may reduce digestive discomfort, maintain higher vitamin B12 levels, and increase weight loss.