I willingly admit that I am ox moron when comes to food knowledge. I suppose that is why I have struggled with food addictions most of my life. RNY in 2002 helped me curb my appetites until 2006. In 2006 I began to regain weight and I have struggled every since to keep the weight off. Because I work in the gastric bypass industry you would think I would have access to the best science, support, and friends. You would be right. But have you ever met a person who worked at a restaurant and asked them ‘how do you like the food here…’ more times than not they respond…’I use to eat her all the time but since I work here I just don’t have an appetite for it’. I suppose you might say that my working in bariatrics has desensitized me to the information that is shuffled in front of me daily.

I have lost my ‘taste’ for the support and information. Not coincidentally I have re-found my taste for food. What better way to spark a food love than to be around 300 people with the same vice! So, when something comes along that is truly off the beaten path from ‘normal bariatric messages’ the information being NEW to me gets my attention. That is how I came to enjoy the programs being presented by Dr. Will Clower. Noted author, speaker, and innovative scientist Will is an ambassador for a simple message. Eat good food and its OK to love what you eat.

Now before you dismiss this please understand we are not talking about loving a bag of Lay’s potato chips we are talking about loving fruits, vegetable, meats, and things that are fresh (not processed). This program is not the same as liking cheesecake! So what is so special about Will’s message? Well the special is in the simplicity. He says …slow down. Eat fresh. Enjoy your meal. Stay away from sugars, processed garbage food, and of course most if not all fast food. Can it really be that simple?

Well, that is where this blog and you come in. I journey to the store recently and shelled out over $100 bucks for healthy foods that had words like (fresh, organic, and no preservatives). I cooked a meal last night for dinner my meal plan:

Brown rice (small amount of butter)
Peas
Butterflied pork center cut tenderloin.

This was the meal. Nothing extra special but the flavor was certainly good. I sat down and made myself take 10 minutes to eat that meal. I then took the leftovers and placed in fridge. Guess what I had for lunch today? You guessed it. I spent 10 more minutes eating the same meal. I added broccoli florets as a side salad (just to make me think it wasn’t the same meal)

One more thing I want to share. Will gave the audience in NY a ‘chocolate eating’ lesson that stunned my sense of chocolate love to its core. I am a self-proclaimed chocoholic and I can eat a Hershey bar like it is nothing. So when Will handed me a piece of 72% Dark Chocolate the size of a 1 inch square and he told me to break in four pieces I thought he was crazy. I did as he asked and I placed one piece on my tongue and let it dissolve (you can’t bite it) –Will’s rules. So there I am with a piece of melting chocolate in my mouth at an ‘obesity conference’ there is something so naughty and tawdry about that I actually felt like I was joining the chocolate mile-high club! My chocolate melted and I could taste chocolate on my tongue so intense that I enjoyed it for some time. I continued to listen to Will’s talk. I decided to ONLY take the next bite when the taste left my mouth. Do you want to know how long it took me to eat a one inch square piece of chocolate? Two hours. I ate and or tasted chocolate for 2 hours. I felt like I was in the middle of coma or something. I never once felt like I had over eaten and my URGE to have sweets was so saited that I came home on a mission to buy some 72% pure chocolate Godiva!

I am trying to convert my life to a Mediterranean approach. For more information on the innovate lifestyle meal plan visit Dr. Will Clower’s site at http://willclower.com/medwellness.php

This is not a sponsored content blog. The opinion are real and uncompensated.

In my day-to-day job I speak with many surgeons, hospital administrators, and bariatric coordinators and many of the persons I speak with have little idea how to target the marketing of the program to reach patients in the bariatric industry. I have consulted with 600 or more surgeon’s through-out the country and I have compiled a short list of things that I recommend all practices do prior to the launch of a marketing campaign. I also have compiled some ideas that might help define not only how to market, but where to market.

Top ten things a practice needs to know before launching a marketing campaign:

1. Bariatric marketing is not like other demographics. The patients are wise, Internet savvy, and have in most cases become very educated on the topic of obesity surgery.

2. In some markets the competition has become fierce, forcing some practices to increase marketing budgets to compensate. Areas that are highly concentrated and may require higher budgets:
-Southern California.
-Seattle, Washington.
-Houston and Dallas, Texas.
-New York, New York.
-North and South Florida.
-DC metro area and part of Virginia.

3. Name branding in bariatrics is a key component of success. Establishing a unique brand will help the practice stand out from the crowd. Be careful to not use terms that might cheapen the brand. For example: Budget Bariatrics. (Fail) A somewhat better choice would be “Affordable Bariatrics.” However, I coach programs to define the program by the mission. An example of a great name for a bariatric program: New Hope Bariatrics. The name reflects the desired outcome and is simple enough to be remembered. If your practice is failing on this point, I can help redefine your brand if you have been struggling in this area.

4. Don’t confuse marketing with advertising. This is a common mistake. Professionals attempt to advertise their practice and give up after one or two months. Keep in mind that the average turn-around time from consult to patient is six months. The key to a successful bariatric marketing campaign is to plan on long-term advertising that will create name recognition and branding. . It is a process. You may advertise many times in the history of your practice, but you should always be branding. Launch your marketing and let it stay in-market for as long as your dollars can withstand. This will result in name recognition and ultimately in patients. (Average time is one year or more) The average marketing budget can range from $12,000 to $60,000 annually depending on the media mix you choose. (See number six below for media mix.)

5. Advertise when you have something new to say or sell. Are you recently trained in a special procedure and are now offering these services to your patients? If so, it’s time to advertise. If you have succeeded in branding, (from number four above) you can freely advertise your new services. Make sure the ad is complimentary to your brand image. Do not make the mistake of sending mix message to patients. It is important to remain consistent in your message. Advertise the new service using some of the similar colors, messages, and schemes from your branding campaign. Continuity will be noticed. (The average is three to six months depending on your budget) The average dollars spent can range from $500 -$3000 a month,.

6. Advertise in multiple media outlets. Another big mistake a lot of programs make is that the tend to sink all their dollars into one type of advertising. Some programs swear by newspaper, others by online. Who’s right? They both are. Your practice should assess the amount of money budgeted to spend. Determine your market area. (Do your patients have a limited mileage range?) Define your market range and be sure to put your marketing dollars in a media mix that reaches that market. Below is an example of a distribution of $30K over an annual marketing spending. (With a diverse media mix.)
-Online marketing $12,000 40%
–Profile on listing site $4000
–Banner (geo-targeted) $6000
–Google or Yahoo $2000
Print $12,000 40%
–Industry publication $4000
–Newspaper $8000
Radio $6000 20%
–Seminar advertisements $3000
–Message and branding $3000
An easy way to look at media mix:
-Online (40%)-this is the most versatile type of advertising.
-Print (40%) -this is an age (demographically speaking) specific media. (30 and over.)
-Radio/television (20%) -usually more expensive than print and internet.
Each media outlet should be measured to determine the return on investment. (ROI) Adjustments should be made every six months based on outcomes.

7. Do not underestimate the power of value-ad services. An active surgeon who blogs may be more effective than some types of marketing. A surgeon should use message boards, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and social networks like ObesityHelp.com to stay in contact with patients, but also to reach out to the industry and market themselves by doing some of the simplest type of marketing; answering questions on a message board. For the patient and community members, your social interaction is priceless and sharing your expertise creates a positive effect on your practice.

8. The best marketing a surgeon can have is his or her own patient’s testimonials. Keeping in mind positive reviews on social networking sites like ObesityHelp.com, Facebook, Twitter and others, are worth their weight in gold to the surgeon. A surgeon should encourage his/her patients to use social networking sites to post personal testimonies. That practice will produce a self perpetuating snow-ball of patients.

9. Hold patient reunions. Many patients love to ’show off their new bodies’ and sponsoring a patient reunion in your area, for your own patients, will energize your patient population and will in-effect make them all ’sales persons’ for your practice. Not unlike the written testimony from number eight above but this is a patient telling their own family and friends about YOU. Programs that do this have higher success rates, happier patients and more patient referrals than those that do not support patients. Cost doesn’t have to be an issue - try a picnic (potluck style) it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Get creative.

10. Sponsor a support group. You would think this is a no-brainer, but I have met many surgeons that do not have a support group. If you do not have a group, you can contact organizations that train group leaders. ObesityHelp.com has a very low-cost training program for support group leaders. No matter which program you choose to train your leader, you should have a group. In the mean time, you can use an online group system to begin the process of contacting your patients and to get them ready for your new support group. Each group meeting should produce surgery ’seekers’ who have heard about you from a patient friend. (Remember number eight above.)

No mater what marketing you do for your practice, the worst thing a practice can do is- do nothing. The industry has become too congested to not market. Consider the adage “you can’t afford not to advertise.” During tough economic times it is easy to say “cut the marketing” however, that is a knee-jerk reaction. Remember that marketing is perception management to the patient consumer. If you pull your marketing, someone will notice. The message you send might be a negative one; the practice isn’t successful and/or is floundering. If economic times demand a cut-back then scale down your marketing but do not pull the marketing altogether.

I am available to help you with your marketing. I will conduct a one-on-one analysis of your current budget, plan, and focus. To reach me, email me at bomccoy@obesityhelp.com

Bo McCoy,
Director of Sales, ObesityHelp Inc.

Recently I had the chance to journey to Paris, France for the IFSO International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity. The conference is held annually in a different city (world-wide).

This years’ conference focused mainly on topics relating to AGB success, VSG - Bougie size and outcomes, DS Duodenal Switch procedure.

As to not bore my readers I want to summarize the prevailing thoughts presented by the conference.

Regarding AGB - Adjustable gastric banding;

-The overall consensus was the band works in both <60 and >60 BMI however, the long-term outcomes become questionable around year 7. The conference doctors mentioned that while the per case outcomes are based and/or skewed by the BMI the resulting long-term outcomes didn’t support the AGB as long-term surgery solution for obesity rather it was mentioned in more than one setting as a secondary ‘revision’ or in addition to RNY (Dr. Mal Fobi) Over the surgeons agree that the AGB is a safe procedure that provides nominal outcomes (success <50% of EWL -excess weight loss) However, in contrast the definition of a successful surgery was presented as any surgery that produces >50% EWL over time. (7 or more years)

Considerable differences were demonstrated among the presenters leaving one to formulate their own conclusion that the AGB has applications but in some case may or may not be the primary surgery of choice for some patients. This would of course be determined by the surgeon and patient.

Regarding VSG - vertical gastric sleeve

The VSG was presented with considerable favor by 99% of all the presenters. In short the VSG is a stage (1) procedure in the Duodenal Switch operation. However, the procedure itself can be, as was asserted by many presenters, be a primary procedure in and of itself.

The VSG is performed by creating a long cylinder type pouch using the current stomach as a guide. A “bougie” is used to create the correct cylinder pouch. The bougie is very similar in look to a piece of PVC pipe and is used in effect as a stencil for the pouch size. Bougie size used was commiserate to BMI and the aggressiveness of the surgeon.

The data presented demonstrated that VSG results over-time offered equal or greater success (again the same ration >50% EWL) than the RNY procedure. Additionally because the VSG is not a malabsorptive procedure the vitamin deficiencies, dumping, and other issues related to malabsorption are not present. The outcomes presented showed that at or around year three post VSG the patients had met or exceed the success of the RNY (without malabsorptive restriction). This leads the lay-person to conclude that the VSG may become the primary choice for surgeons in the U.S. over the next three to five years as training and insurance companies catch up to the international momentum. Indeed, recently VSG was coded for insurance approval and is being performed under insurance approval in the U.S. at this time.

Duodenal Switch

Of all the surgery types presented certainly the DS is the most radical of all surgeries. The procedure is the most radical of the major surgery types AGB, RNY, VSG. In times past the DS was red flagged by many U.S. surgeons as ‘too aggressive’ or ‘too risky’. Thus, the surgery has had a small but dedicated fan base. The surgery is being performed in only a handful of U.S. cities.

The outcomes presented in patient with BMI >50 seemed strikingly good (maintained weight loss over time) however, as would be expected the surgery produces a varied array of malabsorptive issues if the patient is malcompliant in daily nutrient supplements. Overall the DS can be viewed as a favorable surgery choice for any patient of a super morbidly obese classification. Now that the surgery data is in its ten year it can be expected that additional surgeons will begin to perform the DS surgery in the U.S. The majority of the presenters demonstrated that DS is an effective treatment for obesity but should be performed with strong understanding of after-care compliance.

I hope you gleaned from the IFSO information. No part of this is an endorsement or one or other type of surgery however, a simple “reporting” of the conference. I have not drawn many conclusions from the information given because I am not a medical professional but I have learned what the international community feels about the major surgery types.

From my point of view:

While I am not a surgeon or medical professional I am a patient of whom has already had several surgeries in an attempt to control obesity. My surgery resume:

• RNY 2002
• Hernia repair 2003
• Plastic Surgery I 2004
• Plastic Surgery II 2005
• Stomaphyx. 2007

I began my journey at 626 losing >200 lbs in the first six months. Peaking my weight loss at 385 lbs I found myself at 241 lbs in January of 2005. Since then I have struggled to keep every lb off. My pouch was dilated and measured in 2007 and found to be 200+ cc’s. This is gargantuan compared to pouches of today. In 2002 when I consulted with my surgeon I had no idea of DS, VSG, AGB etc. I only knew about RNY because that was the ‘gold standard’ at the time. Like any procedure the technique and outcomes are perfected over time. I find myself now nearly eight years out form surgery having regained about 120 of the lost 385. That places me very near to the ’success’ and ‘failure’ break-even point. I am hovering at 52% of EWL (success?) it depends on if you measure where I came from, where I have been, or where I want to be?

I choose daily to consider my surgery a success and my new life a testimony to that success. However, many people may view my journey with a bit of skepticism because they remember me at 241 and not 366. To those persons I would say you have entered the ‘play’ at Act III of a five act play. The excitement that built in Act II (being 241 lbs) has let down in Act III and now the conclusion looms. If you are just joining my play in progress you might see my before pictures of 626 and not realize the up and down struggle I have been facing. You view point might be “wow…you look great”. But, because my mind and body remembers the 241 with a longing sense of awe I might not agree with your assessment. But, I have to NOT see that 241 because it creates a negative self image for me. I have to view the 626 and remember just how far the journey has brought me.

So what happen in Act V? How will this play close? I do not know. I wish I had known about VSG in 2002. I wish I had a cure for this disease. But, I choose each day to fight rather than give up. I am considering surgery #5 (revision). I do not know if I can force myself to endure it but as a thinking and logical person I have to concede that losing another 100lbs would prolong my life 10 to 15 years. Thus, I sit her today writing this blog for others and myself.

Thanks for joining my play….come in the next act starts soon.

There is a great event this weekend sponsored by ObesityHelp and Realize Band. Over 250 persons are expected to join the weekend seminar. Beginning Friday evening at 6pm with a welcome reception and continuing through midnight on Saturday the weekend is full of great information and social gatherings.

When:
October 23, 02:00 pm - October 24, Midnight 2009

Where:
Hilton Rye Town
699 Westchester Avenue
Rye Brook, NY

For more information go to:
Click here for event website

About the area:

The Hilton Rye Town hotel, located in the New York City suburb of Rye, NY, is ten minutes east of White Plains, NY in Westchester County and
just two miles from the Connecticut border. This hotel is ten minutes from Greenwich, CT and only 35 minutes away from Manhattan, NY by train or by car.

We have negotiated a very special guest room rate of $109 for this event! Our group booking code is OBH. Provide this to reservations when you book your room.

Announcements:

MELTINGMAMA is coming to Rye Brook event. We’re kicking off our 2009 Regional Event Season with professional and dynamic speakers, such as Dr. Garth Davis M.D. and Mary Jo Rapini PH.D, stars of Discovery Health’s BIG MEDICINE! In addition to the tremendous insight that they offer, we will have breakout speakers in the areas of bariatric surgery and plastic surgery who are at the top of their fields, along with related professionals.

**Special Announcement: For the first 50 people who register online for and attend the Friday October 23rd meet and greet at this event, your name will be put into a drawing for a $100 gift card. You must be present to win and be on our registration list. This registration list is electronically pulled from our online purchase system. Attendees can win only one prize per event. Walk-ups do not qualify for the Friday night drawing, but may still attend.

Be sure to join us on Friday from 2pm-5pm for a clothing exchange! Bring your gently used, washed clothing that you no longer wear and go home with new clothing items from our exchange! Be sure to bring bags to transport your valuable finds!

If you would like to be involved in our member fashion show, please contact kim@obesityhelp.com for information! High resolution “Before” pictures to be sent in for presentation and show on Saturday at the beginning of our dance and social!!

Free parking on site
Indoor pool!

I wanted to invite everyone to tune into Big Medicine on November 18th to see the “Where are they now reunion show” for Big Medicine. For those of you who do not know Big Medicine is a show dedicated to the Dr’s who perform bariatric surgery. The show has enjoyed much attention from the media and bloggers. If you or someone you know is considering obesity surgery this show will help you understand how the surgery might help your situation.

November 18th at 9:00 PM EST Discovery Health will air a reunion show detailing the progress of many of the patients who have been on the Big Medicine show. Hosted by father and son team Dr. Robert and Garth Davis, of Houston, TX. This will be a show no one should miss!

Consult your local listings for channel information.

Blast from the past… was a funny movie that featured a family that had accidentially hidden themselves in a nuclear bunker for years thinking that war had destroyed their ‘world’. Many years later Brand Fraiser emerges to find that in fact, there was no war at all. The comedy centers around the main character being a man ‘out of touch with times’.

Today, I feel a little bit like that out-of-touch with time man. I have had my head in the work clouds for so long that I have totally neglected my blogs and my friends. Sorry friends. Sorry self. But, I thought today would be a good day to start as ‘tomorrow’ never comes.

Today I am going to review a product that has been in the bariatric industry for some time and has become a staple product.

But, before I review the product I thought it might be nice for me to review a person behind the product. I had the priviledge to meet Tom Kinder, CEO of Bariatric Advantage about 5.5 years ago. I think I will go on a limb to say that I immediately liked Tom and felt he was person with whom I had almost nothing in common with (he is tall, blonde, thin, etc) however, we did share one major commonality - we both care about people who suffer from Obesity. From that common framework I soon learned that Tom and I both share a passion for business, marketing, and at the end of the day spending time with our family is the reason we ‘do it all’. As a friend, I have found Tom to be a kind a generous person with whom spending time is a pleasure. I have used BA products for years and I must say that Tom has always asked for and listened to my feedback. I have watched the company grow and expand -becoming the #1 vitamin vendor in the bariatric space. With that in mind…let’s talk about the product.

Bariatric Advantage, produces a high quality bariatric forumulated vitamin that is designed to be nutritionally balanced for unique needs of gastric bypass patients. Now, as to not attempt to get to far into the scientific aspects of HOW this works; I will focus my review on the fact THAT is works. Because the gastric bypass mechanical digestion process has been so altered the body has a difficult times absorbing both general food and vitamin.

This mal-absorption is what causes weight loss and as a by-product produces a non-favorable side-effect - vitamin malabsorption. This is a problem.

What Bariatric Advantage is designed to do is absorb quickly into the body thereby providing the body the essential vitamins and minerals to maintain healthy living! - This is a clear advantage (living is a good thing).

For today’s review I am going to reivew the Baritaric Advantage multi-vitamin, Calcium, and new Chewy bars.

Our “scale” in todays review is “A” scale. - “Advantage scale :-)” One “A” being “Not good product” to five “A’s” being awesome product.

Multi-vitamin:

Taste: AAAA
Balance with necessary vitamins and minerals: AAAAA
Longevity (can this be done daily): AAAAA
Price: AAAA
Overall: AAAA
Note: let’s face there is nothing really exciting about a vitamin it is allot like breathing it just has to be done.

Calcium:

Taste: AAAAA (I love the cinnamon because tasts like altoids)
Forumulated for bariatrics-calcium citrate: AAAAA
Longevity (can this be done daily): AAAAA
Price: AAAA
Overall: AAAAA
Note: any vitamin or mineral that tastes like a “candy” has my vote. It isn’t easy to love a supplement but, I do love the cinnamon calcuim tabs.

New Control Bar - Apple Cinnamon :

Taste: AAAAA (I love the Apple cinnamon - great breakfast bar)
Forumulated for bariatrics: AAAAA
Longevity (can this be done daily): AAAAA
Protein: 12 grams
Calories: 150 cals.
Price: AAA
Overall: AAAAA

To buy Bariatric advantage products please visit: http://www.bariatricadvantage.com/catalog

This is not a paid endorsement nor constitutes any relationship between author and product.

Today is of particular difficulty. It is the first Monday of a new year. First Monday after the big holidays. So here we are in 2009. The holidays take their toll on a diet plan that is for sure. I mean I think the holidays were invented by chocolate and cake salespersons. Regardless of how we spent 2008; 2009 is here and we have a chance to do something amazing with it.

I woke up this morning with one goal in mind. (my resolution list) I want to lose (5 lbs a month) for the next year. I mean how hard can it be to cut back enough to lose a meager 5lbs? Well, based on my track record…pretty darn hard. So, when I woke up this morning I had a plan. I was going to track my food with a points (weight watchers plan). I have long loved the analytical nature of the WW Points plan. I created an excel spreadsheet to help me keep my points in a visual manner. If you would like a copy of the excel to use for your own journey I will be glad to provide to you via email.

I have been beating around the bush around concerning the reasons for the new found ‘zeal’ to recapture the control of my eating habits. Sometime between Thanksgiving and January 1st I realized I was about to turn 40. (Yes, I said forty). I had such a great Christmas with my daughter this year. It was her first “real” Christmas and I enjoy watching her open her presents so much I realized I wanted to be here for many years to come. So, my resolution was to make 2009 MY YEAR. This is my 40th year alive! I don’t feel old. I don’t act old (well maybe). I don’t look old. So, I have decided to be 40 years young!

I have created a 40th year resolution list. (Similar to a bucket list) Here is my list of 10 things to accomplish this year:

Say cheese.

The other day I watching the Food Network (I affectionately call it the porn channel) LOL. So, I am was watching a program about ‘dives and diners’ and one of the ‘dives’ was serving a cheese burger with an obscene amount of cheese on a hamburger so much so, that it created a cheese “curtain” on the outside of the bun and around the sandwich itself. If you like fried cheese or just cheese in general then you would have loved the way this burger looked with the cheese ‘curtain’.
Our product today is very much like the cheese curtain. Only this product has baked cheese formed into a ‘cracker’ the produce is called “just the cheese” produced by the Specialty Cheese Company. http://www.specialcheese.com/
For today I wanted to review a couple of products supplied by the company.

Pizza flavored cheese snack.

These crunchy little things have a great pizza flavor. I was very surprised by the robust pizza flavor. See below for the nutritional content. These are the perfect snack for the high-protein low carb dieters. I recommend these in place of popcorn or other movie snacks. In fact, the company has already thought of that and produced a “popcorn cheese” product that is great for a movie. (Although, don’t get caught sneaking it in the movies!) The pizza snack was a great product. I found it to be flavorful and just the right size for a gastric bypass patient. Definitely a ‘pouchready’ product.
The product is made from real Wisconsin cheese!

Cheese scale: 1 cheese wedge being low and 5 cheese wedges being the highest.

Taste: VVVVV
Price: VVV
Protein content: VVVVV

Popcorn flavored cheese snack.

Ok this is a really neat product. It has great packaging and would be exceptional for smuggling into the movies. This product is larger than the other product. It reminds me of a cheese cube you might see on a “fried cheese” order.
I liked this product because it was ‘cheese’ flavored cheese. (Umm, did that confuse anyone? It did me for a moment…but, it was really nice.)

Taste: VVVVV
Price: VVV
Protein content: VVVVV

Nutritional content:

Nutritional Details Rounds Snack Bars Popped Cheese
Serving Size: 1/2 oz. 1/2 oz. 1/2 oz.
Servings per Container: 4 1 3.4
Calories per Serving: 75 75 75
Cal from fat 60 60 60
Total Fat per serving: 6 1/2 g 6 1/2 g 6 1/2 g
Saturated Fat 3 1/2 g 3 1/2 g 3 1/2 g
Cholesterol 25 mg 25 mg 25 mg
Sodium 300 mg 300 mg 300 mg
Total Carbohydrate 1 g 1 g 1 g
Dietary 0g 0g 0g
Sugars 0g 0g 0g
Protein 5 g 5 g 5 g
Vitamin A 5% DV 5% DV 5% DV
Calcium 16% DV 16% DV 16% DV
Vitamin C 0% DV 0% DV 0% DV
Iron 0% DV 0% DV 0% DV

I just finished a great weekend with my daughter and mother. It was one of those times that your happy you got to enjoy. My mother doesn’t live near me and my daughter doesn’t get to see her very often. It was great weekend when my mom came to visit.

During our Sunday time together we decided to have a snack. I pulled out the Kay’s Naturals pretzels. I opened the Golden Butter pretzel. I let everyone try the product. I loved the product. I also opened up a bag of Wasabi pretzel sticks. I have to say, I love the Wasabi very much. It was my personal favorite.

My mother and my daughter both enjoyed the product too.

For those of you who do not know Kay’s Naturals is a great product that provideds a protein source with a high-fiber source. I first began working with Tim Beard (Sales Manager) for the company about two years ago. Kay’s Natural has been very generous to provide samples for all of ObesityHelp’s events. I have heard many people who share the same enthusiasm as my mother and daughter did. The product is a “natural” in the bariatric industry.

For lunch today, we used the Golden Butter pretzel to compliment our sandwich. I was telling my mother that I thought the Wasabi pretzel’s would be good in a salad. (I haven’t tried that yet).

Golden Butter Pretzel: Grading the product — (grading on a “&” pretzel scale. 1 low to 5 high).
• Taste: &&&&
• Protein value: &&&&
• Packaging: &&&&&
• Fiber value: &&&&&
• Price to value: &&&&&

Wasabi Pretzel Sticks: Grading the product — (grading on a “&” pretzel scale. 1 low to 5 high).
• Taste: &&&&&
• Protein value: &&&&
• Packaging: &&&&&
• Fiber value: &&&&&
• Price to value: &&&&&

Parmesan cheese chips: Grading the product — (grading on a “&” pretzel scale. 1 low to 5 high).
• Taste: &&&
• Protein value: &&&&
• Packaging: &&&&&
• Fiber value: &&&&&
• Price to value: &&&&&

Other products include: cinnamon toast, parmesan cheese, nacho cheese, and lemon herb.
To purchase this product please visit: http://www.kaysnaturals.com/

“We’re going to have a good time tonight …let’s celebrate…it’s alright, baby” - ‘Celebrate’, by Cool and the gang.

Sorry for the singing introduction but occassionally you try a product and it gives you a feeling of celebration because you finally found a product worth trying. Not coincidentially the name of today’s product review product is: “Celebrate vitamins”.
www.celebratevitamins.com

Celebrate is the brain-child of Vic Giaconia, for those of you whom have had the pleasure to meet Vic know he is a wonderful human being. I had the pleasure to meet and enjoy Vic’s energy and excitment for bariatrics over the past year and I have found him to be a genuine supporter of the bariatric industry.

Now lets talk about the product.

First things first. I am a marketing specialist and I can tell you Vic has done an exceptional job of making the product look amazing! I love the images and logos. So, if I were grading this product on appearance alone I would buy it!

Second and most importantly, taste. I tasted the multi-vitamin and I have to say I was prepared for a bitter after-taste. Guess what. This thing actually tastes good and I was no left with that ‘bitter chalk taste’ after chewing it up!

Third and very important, active ingredients. I spoke to Vic during ASMBS regarding the formulation of the product. I was very happy to hear Vic say that formulation was designed for Celebrate ’specifically for bariatrics patients’. What does this mean? Your biology is now different since your surgery and this vitamin has been formulated to for quick absorption into your body!

Lastly, when it comes to vitamins there are always going to be choices. However, I am sure even Vic would agree if your not going to celebrate with him; you should aleast sit quietly in the corner and take your “brand x” vitamins. However, given the choice to “celebrate” or not “celebrate” I think the choice is clear.

The score card: (grading on the celebrate scale \0/ -waive your hands in the air like you don’t care!)

Company bariatric friendly: \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/
Packaging: \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/
Taste and tolerability: \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/
Price: \0/\0/\0/\0/
Staff / Owner: \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/
Overall value : \0/\0/\0/\0/\0/

Bo’s recommendation: “It’s time to ‘Celebrate’…….. \0/ ”