Tag: weight loss

How To Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle With a Busy Schedule

Posted on August 26, 2022

Healthy dinner from lunch box at office working table

Healthy dinner from lunch box at office working table If you feel like your life revolves around all of the things that you have to do, you may believe you don’t have the energy or the time to focus on yourself. You’re not alone in this struggle, since many people across the nation feel that a busy schedule keeps them from maintaining a healthy lifestyle. However, it is possible for you to eat well and exercise without compromising your activities and routine.

Eating healthily when you are always on the go, taking the kids to soccer practice, and working full time can be difficult, but with a little bit of planning a preparation, these tips from the experts at Birmingham Minimally Invasive Surgery can make it easy for you to make healthy choices while on the go.

Keep Healthy Snacks Available

If you’re running from meeting to meeting or dropping your kids off at different activities throughout the day, it can be hard to squeeze in a meal. It’s understandable that many people feel as though they’re always picking up fast food when on the go—after all, it’s called fast food for a reason, right? But frequent fast-food stops can quickly upend your healthy eating habits. If you want to avoid this easy temptation, keep a steady supply of healthy snacks in your car so you can keep yourself on track throughout the day.

Prepare Healthy Meals Ahead of Time

We recommend preparing meals ahead of time that are both healthy and something you enjoy. Often, at the end of the day, we feel too tired to cook, and these prepared meals can help you make a healthy choice. Many meals can be stored in the refrigerator or in the freezer. Or, there are many meal services, like Hello Fresh, that will deliver healthy food right to your door.

Stay Active Throughout the Day

By staying active during the day, you can take advantage of little moments that can make a big difference in your health. For example, walking your children to school can allow you to spend time with them while also getting in your exercise for the day. Or, if you work in an office for most of the day, take advantage of your lunch break and walk around the block a few times. We’ve listed a few ideas, but there is no wrong way to get active.

  • Walk your kids to school
  • Walk laps during your child’s sports practice
  • Walk during your lunch break
  • Take the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Park far away from work
  • Exercise during TV commercials

Being active and making healthy diet choices can improve your brain health, help manage weight, and strengthen bone and muscle. With some intentional planning and preparation, you can maintain a healthy lifestyle during even the most hectic of days.

Lose Weight with a Healthy Lifestyle

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may be easier than you think! Sometimes the smallest changes make the biggest difference. Planning and preparation can set you up for success when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. At Birmingham Minimally Invasive Surgery, we want you to feel your best while maintaining healthy habits!

Weight Loss Surgery with BMI Surgery

The caring group of professionals at Birmingham Minimally Invasive Surgery will help you get started on your weight loss journey and stay with you every step along the way. Dr. Long and his team specialize in all types of bariatric surgery, including gastric sleeve surgery, gastric bypass, and the LAP-BAND. Give us a call to set up a consultation at 205-858-1211.

Top 3 Resources for Weight Loss Surgery Support and Advice

Posted on July 16, 2018

BMIS weight loss advice
By: Caitlin Hastings, Physician Assistant

Whether they’re post-op or just starting to consider weight loss surgery, everybody has so many questions when they come into our office. There are all kinds of stuff out there on the internet that can be misleading, or worse, flat-out untrue. While every surgeon does things differently, from the kind of pre-op diet they put their patients on to their post-surgery recommendations, even “accurate” information, may not be what our doctor, Dr. Long, recommends.

In order to make sure our patients and potential patients get accurate information and thorough answers to their questions, we don’t suggest you seek out advice just anywhere. Along with our patient folder full of all the information you could possibly need and attending our required pre-op prep nutrition/prep class if you want resources you can truly count on, here are our top 3 recommendations below.  

#1 Dr. Long

The absolute best way for patients and potential patients to get accurate information is to schedule a consultation with Dr. Long, as he really is the best resource. He can answer all of your questions and explain how we do things here at Birmingham Minimally Invasive Surgery. He does a great job spending ample time with each patient, taking anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour just talking about what to expect.

Along with using Dr. Long as the main resource, our front office staff is highly trained to answer any questions regarding bariatric surgery. While they’re happy to answer common questions, they may also encourage you to come in for a consultation with Dr. Long if they think that would be best.

#2 Our Website and Blog

We put as much information as possible on our website and blog, so you can often find answers to your questions here. Whether you’re just starting to consider weight loss surgery, or if you’re days away from having surgery, this is a great online resource. From preparing for surgery to details on gastric bypass or any other procedure that we offer, you can trust that this information is both accurate and timely.

#3 Our Facebook Group

Once you’ve decided that you’re going to have the surgery, you can request to join our Bariatric Facebook Group called Saints for Wellness. While there are many weight loss support groups out there, this one is near and dear to us because it’s run by bariatric surgery patients. It’s a large group with nearly 3,000 members made up of our patients and patients of another local bariatric surgery group. While many join once their surgery is scheduled to ask questions, it’s full of patients that have “been there, done that”, making it great for those that are both pre and post-op.
While your first instinct may be to search the internet for the answers to your weight loss surgery questions, you can’t always know if the information you’ve found is correct, and if it is, if it’s what Dr. Long recommends. That’s why we always tell our patients and potential patients to just ask us, consult our website or blog, and/or join our Facebook Group. This way, we can ensure that you have the trustworthy resources you need to help guide you through your weight loss journey.

Birmingham Minimally Invasive Surgery is a caring group of professionals who specialize in all types of bariatric surgery.  Our surgeon Dr. Jay Long has highly specialized training in bariatric surgery, having completed a fellowship in minimally invasive and bariatric surgery at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, where he focused on taking care of patients that are morbidly obese.  And we are so proud of our pricing that we publish the costs right on the front page of our website!  Insurance won’t pay?  We have a variety of financing options we can offer you so that you are able to get the healthy body you’ve wanted for years.  Visit us today at http://www.bmisurgery.com/ or give us a call to set up a consultation at 205-833-6907.