Why Do Gastric Bypass Patients Get Sleepy After Eating?
Have you noticed since your WLS and return to regular eating a meal often causes you to become sleepy? Seriously sleepy. Drop your head in your plate sleepy.
This happens to me all the time. And there’s a good reason for it. When we eat the body produces a rise in blood sugar and a surge in insulin production. This chemical activity sends tryptophan to the brain where it becomes serotonin that signals the body "Take a nap!" Here come the nods, the yawns and the blinking eyes. WLS patients are highly susceptible to post meal sleepiness because of the shortened route to the small intestine. From there the tryptophan has a fast ride to the brain shouting almost like Paul Revere "The Sleepies are coming! The Sleepies are coming!"
Now, I don’t want any of you emailing my husband, but quite frequently I dramatically play the "I’m so sleepy" card and go to bed after dinner leaving him with the dishes and evening chores. (Feel free to try this at home!) In fact, he’s in the kitchen now doing tonight’s dishes!
This is fine for the evening meal, but what about a noonday meal? For example the business lunch. How can we socialize at our mid-day meal and not become a victim of the "Tryptophan Express" to Sleepytown?
A wise nutritional strategy for maintaining a sharp mental edge after lunch is to eat foods that give a gradual, steady release of food energy throughout the afternoon while placing only a light burden on the digestive system. Consider these strategies:
1. Emphasize healthy protein choices, like cold-water fish, beans and legumes, or a non-cream-based main dish soup or stew. Consume 60% of your volume from this group.
2. Choose a minimal serving of low-glycemic-index carbohydrates, like green salad, root vegetables in their skins, mushrooms, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, or artichoke. Consume only 20% of your food volume from this group.
3. Be sure your food choices contain healthy fats, such as cold-water fish, flaxseed oil, olive oil vinaigrette (the vinegar helps slow the release of food energy), nuts, seeds, or avocado
4. Absolutely avoid sugary, starchy, or fatty foods like soft drinks, non-whole-grain pasta, fried foods, and rich or creamy sauces and dressings
5. Skip dessert.
Rest assured, (pun intended) by making wise food choices we can be alert, responsive and LivingAfterWLS! Just say no to the Sleepies by making wholesome healthy food choices.
Kaye Bailey ? 2005 – All Rights Reserved
Kaye Bailey is a weight loss surgery success story having maintained her health and goal weight for 5+ years. An award winning journalist, she is the author and webmaster of livingafterwls.com and livingafterwls.blogspot.com
LivingAfterWLS is a no-nonsense resource for people Living After Weight Loss Surgery. Our community is growing in numbers even as we are shrinking in pounds. Together we support one another in this lifestyle, that it turns out, is NOT the easy way out.
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Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss #1
I am so grateful that you’re taking steps to take control of your life. You will be amazed when we work together how much you’ll uncover about yourself. You’ll understand how your thoughts have contributed to your being overweight and you will take daily steps to put together a new plan of action for yourself. I imagine that you are tired of living like this and want some new, something better for yourself. I am here to help you and I know you can do it!
As an integrative body therapist, I work with energy and thought processes. With this in mind, we’re going to begin this lesson with a discussion on energy and how you attract excess weight.
Everything is made up of energy. The couch you’re sitting on, the table, even money is made up of energy. Our bodies are nothing but pure energy. Since everything is made up of energy, these things are affected by the Natural Laws of the Universe. These Laws are designed to manifest whatever we put our thoughts on. In simple terms, whatever you put your mind on, is what you’re going to get.
We’re going to look at one of the Natural Laws-the Law of Attraction. How does this apply to being overweight? When you hold negative thoughts in your body, symptoms appear based on those thoughts. In your case, you hold excess weight. You may be experiencing other symptoms as well, but your main focus right now is your weight. You hold negative thoughts in your body and this attracts excess weight. According to Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, outlines weight issues in her book and anger is the driving force underneath the weight. It can be anything from anger at being denied love, anger at the parents or anger at one specific parent-often the father. In my case, I was angry at both parents, but more so my father.
Now, I’ll be giving you homework assignments because I like this to be interactive and have you contribute as well. So here’s your first homework assignment. It’s very simple. Identify who you’re angry with? You can include yourself. Once you’ve done this then describe why you’re angry with the person(s) you’ve identified and be specific.
We’ll be peeling back layers and these are simple steps to uncovering some layers. I will then address how you can release this anger so you can experience pure joy and love. In your case, especially of your body.
You are great just the way God intended you to be! You just need to peel back a few layers to reveal the wholeness that is already there. Thank you for letting me be part of your journey.
Tami Close
Weight Loss Expert
tamiclose.com
Tami Close is an Integrative Body Therapist. She is certified in Rapid Eye Technology and has a basic and advanced certificate in Emotional Freedom Techniques. She is also a Reiki Master. Tami is a recipient of a grant from the Sumasil Grant Foundation in her work with RET and EFT. She is a master trainer and has a B.S. in Training and Development. She is a #1 best selling co-author, Wake Up…Live the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom. The other authors include Mark Victor Hansen, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra and others.
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About the Author: