Thursday, March 11, 2010

When was the last time you checked your BMI Body Mass Index? Find out what your BMI is today at www.AngieFlores.net

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Waist circumference

Waist circumference is another widely used measurement to determine abdominal fat. An excess of abdominal fat, when out of proportion to total body fat, is considered a predictor of risk factors related to obesity. Men with a waist measurement exceeding 40 inches are considered at risk. Women are at risk with a waist measurement of 35 inches or greater.
If you are looking for help with your fight against obesity visit. www.AngieFlores.net

Friday, March 5, 2010

Support BMI Student Health Report

Schools play a critical role in preventing childhood obesity Governors, state agencies, and state boards of education can do much to help them. Please Help by Supporting BMI Student Health Report www.GiveObesityTheBoot.org

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Nothing can make you feel as beautiful as healthy does!
Visit http://WeightLossSurgerySeminar.com for your weight loss solution.
Seminars are held in ABG. New Mexico and Houston TX.

Monday, October 27, 2008

WLS Fashion Show (post-op models)



We invite you to join Body & Spirit Expo: Celebrating the New You! at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Houston on November 29th.

Activities during the Body & Spirit Expo: Celebrating the New You! Featured activities include a WLS fashion show (models post-op bariatric patients), several guests speakers (plastic surgeon, post-op staying on track, ect.. ), the ever popular lab tests, and many exhibits by local healthcare-related vendors and professionals. We are also having weight loss surgery seminars, door prizes and educational material giveaways.

Body & Spirit Expo is an admission free, educational and informational event, promoting and encouraging healthful lifestyles and decision making, while specifically targeting the arenas of weight and health. America is facing an epidemic of obesity…statistics estimate that 50% of American adults are obese, and 1 out of 5 children suffer with Childhood Obesity.

Body & Spirit Expo’s goal is to prompt an awareness of this disease and its related obesity health issues. We believe that it is necessary for every person in every family to participate in healthy lifestyle changes, from infants to grandparents. We encourage Celebrating the New You! by offering tips and advice on preventative choices, sound health care practices, nutritional decisions, mental health support, and awareness of the access and availabilities of these services locally. Educational material distribution, hands on participation, and face to face question and answer opportunities will be readily available to all attendees, as is the format for health screening and self-assessments.

Body & Spirit Expo: Celebrating the New You! offers opportunities to professionals in all medical fields, and to related businesses that provide products and services for our targeted attendees. We have invited the whole spectrum of providers from counseling to health services, from beauty to cosmetic venues, clothing and accessory vendors, as well as fitness, sporting goods and educational providers. Celebrating the New You! embraces the holistic view of creating new and healthy lives.

For information, please email AngieFlores@WLSShelp.com

Body & Spirit Expo: Celebrating the New You!
Crowne Plaza Hotel
2350 South Loop West Freeway @ Kirby Dr.
Houston, TX 77054
Saturday, November. 29. 2008
Opened to the public from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Thank You
Angie Flores
Founder of Weight Loss Surgery Specialists

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Exciting and Important News for Bariatric Patients

Dear Friends,

I have something exciting and important to share with you!

Deciding to take your health and your future into your own hands was an enormous first step in becoming the healthy person you are today. Unless you have made that decision and gone through with it, it is hard to understand the emotional and physical changes your body and soul find themselves in. Bariatric surgery is not for the faint-hearted. You were strong, committed, and basically you decided to take charge of your life.

You went into this knowing your life would change, and knowing that there would be certain life-long commitments. Basically you were reinventing yourself and your life and your habits. Two of the requirements you may have overlooked, or undervalued were the constant need for good protein sources and the beginning of perpetual vitamin regimes….the necessary, costly, sometimes painful, and often insufficient routine that becomes a daily chore.

How many times have your health care providers reminded you or chided you for not following their supplemental recommendations and advised the consumption of more protein? Who would have imagined the potential of protein deficiencies causing hair loss and dental problems? Or the possibility that a lack of Vitamin B and potassium might damage nerves and create leg cramps.

Gastric surgeries cause a slower, less efficient absorption of nutrients and vitamins. Many of us have tried protein drinks from chain stores and local pharmacies, vitamins by the handfuls in order to bring our bodies into alignment. Products on the market are not meant for bariatric patients but for athletes and geriatrics. Lactose intolerance often makes traditional, commercial, whey products unusable.

We have all experienced this depressing cycle: take vitamins, eat protein, and don’t feel too good as a result. Who hasn’t searched for a product that would effectively address these issues in a pleasant, efficient manner?

You all know how I am constantly looking for ways to make our lives easier and healthier. I have literally travelled from one coast to the other, looking specifically for a protein/vitamin source that would apply itself to bariatrics. There have been NO SUCH PRODUCTS dedicated to our unique needs……UNTIL NOW!

While there are several manufacturers who do provide products for bariatric patients, they often seem to have developed lines that are not really created with our specific needs in mind.
I recently had the opportunity to meet with 2 individuals who have taken the time to identify the bariatric niche and who have developed a protein/vitamin supplement that holistically approaches our nutritional needs.

Jeffrey S. Bliss is a product designer, developer, formulator, holistic nutritionist, and compounding expert, who is well regarded in both the nutritional and pharmaceutical worlds. Early on, he confided to me, that his experiences with traditional medicine forced him to realize that the body is best healed and maintained with a mixture of both conventional and holistic approaches. He has written the seminal treatise on Acai as antioxidant, and is currently writing books on personalizing the integrity of your own health care.

Kersten Conway is an art teacher who has studied alternative health systems, energy healings, shamanic healing and lifestyle. Since the death of her father to misdiagnosed and mistreated cancer, she has pursued the methods available to our bodies to help heal themselves. She enjoys working with computers, graphics, and design.

I was approached by this dynamic duo who wanted my opinion on our special needs, and I instantly felt a connection to their commitment and integrity. We talked and talked and emailed and phoned and ended up discovering a mutual passion for helping others. Imagine how excited I was to talk to these two who listened, asked me questions, and answered my questions in turn! I was amazed by how quickly we seemed to bond, and how just as quickly an answer to a major bariatric problem was solved.

As a result, the three of us have created a product line that is uniquely geared towards bariatric patients and our needs. It is so exciting for me to be able to tell you this: We will be launching Basically You™ this fall in the Houston area. If you are familiar with the journal, My Story of Transformation, which I published two years ago for bariatric patients, you already know that this has been my heart’s desire. Basics™, a powdered power drink, will be introduced in November.

Anyway, now that I have shared this with you, I want you to please, share your thoughts with me…and if you have any questions, specific concerns, issues, or helpful suggestions….for Jeff or me, please also let me know.

I can’t wait for this next segment in our life to begin…do your research….stay healthy…be blessed, and remember, it’s basically about you…

Angie Flores
Founder of Weight Loss Surgery Specialists
Angie@WLSShelp.com
www.WLSShelp.com

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

NSW Health Obesity Strategy

I wish our Government would implement something like this in the United States for people who suffer from the disease of obesity.

04 August 2008

New $36 million statewide strategy to tackle rising obesity


NSW Minister for Health Reba Meagher today unveiled a $36 million statewide Obesity Strategy to tackle the rising incidence of overweight and obesity across NSW.

Key aspects of the NSW Health Obesity Strategy include:
· A sustained statewide social marketing campaign promoting the importance of healthy eating and physical activity
· Establishment of a NSW Get Healthy Advice Line - a telephone help line to provide information and coaching for people who have decided to make the change to a healthier lifestyle
· A Parenting Program based on recent trials which showed good results in supporting parents of overweight and obese children
· Establishment of an Obesity Prevention Research Centre as a world-class centre of excellence in overweight and obesity research and policy development
· Specialised Medical and Surgical Clinics across NSW to provide multidisciplinary medical programs and bariatric surgery for those who are morbidly obese.

The Get Healthy Advice Line is the first of its kind to be implemented statewide in Australia.

"There's no doubt that behavioural change can be very difficult and this advice line means people won't have to do it on their own," Ms Meagher said.

"It's based on the very successful Quitline which has helped thousands of smokers quit the habit and start leading healthier lives.

"The advice line will provide one-off information and advice about healthy eating and physical activity, but people will also be able to sign up for a free coaching program with follow-up calls and individually-tailored counselling to help them on their way to better health."

Ms Meagher said the NSW Health Obesity Strategy includes programs aimed at helping people avoid becoming overweight and obese, but it also recognises that more needs to be done to help those who are already overweight or obese.

"Obesity levels across NSW have soared in the past decade and are now at record levels, with more than half of all adults and a quarter of all children overweight or obese," Ms Meagher said.

"Those figures are alarming - and unless we do something to address the rising number of overweight and obese people living in NSW we will see significantly higher levels of chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

"Over the past few years the Iemma Government has introduced a range of obesity prevention programs aimed at encouraging children to lead healthier lives and avoid becoming overweight
"This comprehensive statewide strategy builds on those programs to provide support and treatment for people who are already overweight or obese."

"Reducing the level of obesity in the community is a clear priority of the Iemma Government, with State Plan targets to hold childhood obesity to the 2004 level of 25 per cent by 2010 and to reduce it to 22 per cent by 2016," Ms Meagher said.

"Surgical intervention for obesity is a last resort option that will be provided under specific conditions for morbidly obese people across the state.

"But there is clear evidence that drastic and determined action is needed to turnaround the obesity epidemic which is costing NSW around $7 billion a year, and this strategy provides the framework for us to work toward that goal."

Components of the NSW Health Obesity Strategy

Social marketing campaign
· Commencing in August with the When it comes to thirst, drink water first campaign highlighting the high sugar content of sweetened drinks including cordial, fruit juices and soft drink and promotes the importance of water consumption as a healthy alternative.
· This campaign builds on the healthy eating messages of the Go for 2 and 5 fruit and vegetable campaign which aired earlier this year.
· This campaign will be followed by a longer-term social marketing campaign aimed at adults.

NSW Get Healthy Advice Line
· Based on the successful Quitline for smokers, this help line will be the first of its kind to be implemented statewide in Australia.
· The NSW Get Healthy Advice Line will be staffed by trained health professionals such as dietitians, nurses and exercise scientists.
· Callers will be provided with individually tailored information about healthy eating and physical activity as well as the option of taking part in an ongoing 'coaching' program.
· The help line will commence in early 2009.

Parenting Program
· A structured parenting program which includes activities for children and educational programs for parents, with the focus on healthy lifestyle (not weight loss) and a whole-of-family approach.
· The program will be delivered by Area Health Service staff working with parents in their local areas.
· The program is based on evidence from two trials involving parents of 5 to 9 year olds which demonstrated positive results with reduction in children's BMI and waist circumference.
· The trial program lasted 12 weeks, but positive results were found for up to one year after the trial intervention program.

Obesity Prevention Research Centre
· The newly established Centre will operate as a single research centre of excellence to provide NSW Health and other government agencies with up-to-date evidence about obesity prevention.
· The Centre will be based at the University of Sydney and will also lead and support key intervention research activities across the state.

Obesity Medical and Surgical Clinics
· Medical clinics will be established over the next four years in all eight Area Health Services and the Children's Hospital at Westmead, with surgical clinics operating in six Area Health Services by 2011-12.
· The first clinic will be operating in the Sydney South West Area Health Service by the end of 2008.
· The clinics will provide a multidisciplinary approach, staffed by specialist physicians including endocrinologists, diabetes nurses, psychologists and physiotherapists.
· People will be referred to the clinics by a doctor and will only be considered for bariatric surgery after assessment and approval by the multidisciplinary team and an endocrinologist and after all medical options have been exhausted.
· Criteria for bariatric surgery includes aged 20 to 55 years; BMI greater than 35 with a co-morbidity of type 2 diabetes; absence of other serious medical illness; absences of acute psychiatric condition or drug dependency; unsuccessful medical weight loss attempts; and assessed as fit for surgery.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au