1.  Physical Stress

Different types of stresses on the body can cause hair loss.  Stressors can include:  high fever, severe infection, major surgery, acute physical trauma, chronic debilitating hair loss, acute weight loss, crash dieting, anorexia, low protein intake, medications (beta-blockers, anti-coagulants, retinoids, immunizations), hormonal disruption, iron or zinc deficiency.  Surgery-related hair loss should not last for more than six months and hair should re-grow after that period of loss.  If the hair loss is diet-related, it may last for longer.

2.  Nutrient Deficiency

Here are some common signs that your hair loss may be nutrient-related:

• Your hair loss started more than six months after surgery.
• Your hair loss lasts more than 1 year.
• You have low energy levels or other physical signs of fatigue and malnourishment.

If you have these diet-related symptoms, you may need to change something about your diet.  Ask yourself if you are getting at least 60 grams of protein if you’re a female or 80 grams of protein if you’re a male.  If you are not, you should start increasing your protein intake immediately.  Be sure to go with food first.  Getting a majority of your protein from supplements may enable you to reach your protein goal, but you may be missing out on nutrients from real foods that your body needs.

3.  Vitamins/Minerals Deficiency

Are you following your vitamin regimen closely?  If not, start immediately.  Iron is the single most important nutrient when it comes to preventable hair loss.  Zinc deficiency has also been seen in correlation with hair loss.  Biotin is commonly believed to help prevent hair loss but has not been confirmed through research involving humans.  Other possibilities for deficiency include Vitamin A, Folate and B6.  Taking your multivitamin daily is key.  If you have a history of anemia or are a female of menstruating age, you may have to take an additional Iron supplement.  Omega-3 Fatty acids are also good for hair health and are found in walnuts, avocado and flax seed.

4.  Emotional Stress

Are you stressed for any reason?  Stress can cause hair loss.  Try to incorporate even as little as 10 minutes of quiet time into your day.  Sit in silence for some deep breathing, go for a walk or do some reading to decrease your stress levels.  If you have recently stopped smoking, this may also cause you to feel stressed.  If so, hang in there!  You will feel better and be glad you quit soon.

If you don’t think any of the above reasons are causing your hair loss, make an appointment to see your doctor.  There may be an underlying metabolic issue that could be the cause.

There are three kinds of physical activity that are all a part of a healthy, active lifestyle.  Aim to participate in all three every week.

1. Strength Training:  Performing repetitions of weighted exercises utilizing weight machines or dumbbells helps to build lean muscle mass, increase bone strength and improve posture.  Aim to perform these exercises 2 to 4 days per week.

 

2. Flexibility Exercises:  Gently stretching and bending your muscles helps increase circulation, decrease the risk of injuries and maintain mobility.  Holding stretches softly for about 20 seconds per muscle group after every time you perform any exercise can also decrease muscle soreness.

 

3. Endurance Activities:  Walking, biking, yard work, dancing, water aerobics, swimming and step aerobics train your cardiovascular system and lungs.  Build up to performing endurance activities most days of the week for 30 minutes at a time.

Be sure to get clearance from your surgeon before starting any exercise programs after your weight loss surgery.

Negative Calorie Balance

Weight loss is primarily achieved through negative calorie balance.  Negative calorie balance refers to burning more calories than you eat in a day.  Your body can naturally burn roughly 1,000 calories per day but that number can be very different from person to person depending on height and gender, so do not assume that that is your own magic number.  The natural amount of calories your body burns just from being alive plus the number of calories you burn during exercise should be greater than the number of calories you eat per day.

If you are trying to lose weight, cutting the number of calories your body uses to maintain weight by 200 per day and exercising for 30 minutes on most days of the week is an excellent goal.  In general, gastric banding patients are told to eat no less than 1,000 calories, but please speak with your dietician to ensure that this is an adequate number for you.  If you are shorter or taller than average, this number is probably different.  Eating less than 1,000 calories per day will inhibit your body from being able to burn adequate calories for weight loss.

For our patients, remember that you will see the dietician at each of your appointments.  Should you have any questions about your calorie intake she will be able to assist you.

At this month’s support group meeting our focus was on one thing – EXERCISE.  Why should we exercise?  How should we exercise?  What are the best ways to exercise?  How often and how long should we exercise for?  The questions are endless.  To help us get a grip on all things exercise we invited Monica O’Reilly, owner of Fit for Life Fitness Center, to help answer these questions.  Here is a breakdown of what we learned:

• In order to reach your goals you CANNOT continue with the same eating, the same exercise, and the same physical activity behaviors.  You must change these behaviors through self discipline. 
• Physical activity does not discriminate.  Adults of all ages, shapes and sizes will gain health and fitness benefits through physical activity.
• Sitting for prolonged periods of time hurts your body.  How?  It turns off most of the abdominal muscles, over-works the back muscles, over-stretches the spinal ligaments, stresses the back portion of the discs and shortens the psoas, calf and hamstring muscles.  If you have a desk job make sure you get up and stretch every 20 – 30 minutes.
• Sarcopenia is to blame for weight gain in the majority of adults.  Sarcopenia is the gradual decrease in muscle tissue that occurs with age and begins for most people around the age of thirty.  The average adult will lose 1% of musle each year after the age of 40.  Men and women who do NOT strength train will lose 5 – 7 pounds of muscle for each decade of adult life due to disuse atrophy. 
• Lean muscle loss = slower metabolism!  A slower metabolism leads to lower energy requirements for your body to function. Fewer calories are being used so more calories are being stored as fat.  Without a reduction in food intake (calories), this process results in 15 – 17 pounds more body fat for each decade of adult life.
• Keep your muscles!  To replace muscle and raise your metabolism, strength training must be done on a regular basis.  Research reveals that by adding just 3 pounds of muscle you can raise your resting metabolism by about 7 percent. 
• Muscle loss = fat gain.  How do we fix this?  Eat sensibly.  The average person should do cardio exercise at least 3-5 times a week for a period of 25-30 minutes.  Strength train at least 2-3 times a week non-consecutively.  Work the major muscle groups of the body which include the legs, hips, chest, back, abdomen, shoulders and arms.
• Kick off your exercise program gradually.  If you are new to exercise start off with a 10 minute exercise session then increase to 2o minutes and then to 30 minutes.  When strength training start off with 1 set of 8-15 repetitions per exercise.  Progress to 2 to 3 sets over time.
• Make healthy lifestyle changes.  Know your BMI and your waist measurment.  Be aware of how many calories you are consuming.  The more calories you eat the more exercise you have to do in order to burn those calories because what your body doesn’t use will get stored as fat.  Weigh yourself weekly and if you’re goal is to lose weight, aim to lose 1/2 pound to 2 pounds per week. 

Jill had gastric bypass surgery at the Center for Obesity Surgery and Treatment.

Jill Johnson is a great dieter.  Numerous times, she lost 100 pounds on a single diet and exercise plan.  While she had little problem losing the weight, she struggled to keep the weight off.  Within a year or so, she would manage to gain back all those hard-shed pounds.  At her heaviest, 5-foot-7-inch Jill was 273 pounds and wore a plus-size 24.

After a lifetime of a wild roller coaster ride of gaining and losing, Jill had enough.

“I finally admitted it to myself,” Jill says.  “I was incapable of losing weight and sustaining the weight loss with diet and exercise alone.”

As an advanced nurse practitioner, Jill realized that weight loss surgery, coupled with diet and exercise, would offer her the best chance of losing the weight and keeping it off.

In September 2007, Dr. Timothy Hipp performed gastric bypass surgery for Jill.  At the time of her surgery, she weighed 230 pounds.  Post-surgery, Jill reached a normal, healthy weight with ease.  But more importantly, she has not regained any of the weight.  In January 2011, Jill weighed 130 pounds.  Now a size 4, she has dropped more than 20 sizes from her heaviest.

Beyond her improved health and newfound energy, weight loss surgery has affected her love life.  She was single for 30 years prior to having surgery.

“I had resigned myself to the fact that I would probably live out the rest of my life with no partner,” Jill explains.  “This was because I had such a poor self image due to the constant fluctuation in my body size and the resultant changes in my appearance.”

In one of her most dramatic life changes yet, Jill started dating after her three-decade-long relationship hiatus.  She met Brian, discovering that it was possible for her to be in a loving and lasting relationship.

Although she appears to be younger, Jill is now 62 years old and has retired.  Ironically, she now how more energy than ever before.  Her son and daughter-in-law are avid cyclists, so despite the fact that Jill hadn’t been on a bike in 50 years, she bought a bicycle.  She and Brian, both fresh-air junkies, spend their free time in the great outdoors.

Jill’s advice to those considering weight loss surgery is to take action now.  Weight loss surgery is not a magical solution, she says, but it does make what was once impossible become possible.