The journey of weight loss surgery must include the ownership of the quintessential guide for patients to follow. The Bariatric Bible is a remarkable creation that should be studied by every patient seeking to understand the procedures and the instructions involved before, during, and after bariatric surgery. It provides a pathway for the bariatric patient to live a life where eating food can be a healthy and pleasurable experience. The Bariatric Bible is a masterpiece of the most significant information, combining incredible photography that is almost as delicious to look at as the recipes are to eat.The book is highly successful in the United Kingdom and has now crossed the Atlantic to the shores of the US to nourish the American bariatric community.
As a bariatric surgeon who works in both private practice and academia, I can attest to the importance of this precious book, which serves as a guide to use throughout the bariatric surgery process. It explains bariatric information in terms that patients can visualize and understand. It is a bible for life.
Carol Bowen Ball has developed a passion for the bariatric patient, which led her to create the essential diet that is healthy and a joy to experience, enabling the bariatric patient to help achieve long-term weight loss. Her website, bariatriccookery.com, and her newsletter both serve as a guide to seventeen thousand bariatric patients a month. She has lucid insight into the needs of the bariatric patient, which is evident from the outstanding quality of her healthy and delicious recipes.
Carol is a self-taught master who has acquired vast knowledge of food preparation and bariatric nutrition.After undergoing gastric bypass surgery and maintaining a 100-pound weight loss, she has gained the wisdom to succeed—and now, she provides that knowledge to her readers for their success.
In this masterful scripture of more than two hundred written pages, Carol provides invaluable advice, inviting illustrations, beautiful photography, and outstanding recipes for her enticingly delicious food. The first hundred pages of this bible include an extensive explanation of the bariatric surgery journey, with basic explanations of the procedures, the surgical preparation, and the recovery experience. Highlights of the first section include the basics of the bariatric diet and getting organized in the kitchen, and facts about warning foods, portion control, coping mechanisms, regain and plateaus, eating and travel, and coping with holidays.
Carol also includes details that only a bariatric surgery patient could understand and appreciate. Hers is a unique, accurate, and invaluable perspective that sets The Bariatric Bible apart from other books.
The second section of The Bariatric Bible is a treasure chest of two hundred pages, filled with recipes that are a testimony to healthy bariatric eating.The cookbook categorizes recipes into three stages: Liquids, Soft Food, and, as Carol delightfully puts it,“Food for Life,” which are the components of the classic post-bariatric surgery diet. All the recipes are color-coded for simplicity and organized into breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Extending one step further, there are categories of dressings, desserts, vegetables, snacks, baking, drinks, and food for the holidays.
The recipes are easy to follow and contain post-surgery portions as well as regular portions, with calculations of calories, and carbohydrates, fats, and, most importantly, protein content.The information will help patients create menus that include the recipes they can easily follow, enjoy, and use to achieve weight loss success. It may tempt readers to substitute shakes and protein bars, and indulge instead in high-protein treats, such as Cheesy Jello Pots—with only 37 calories and 6.6 grams of protein. Reviewing the nutritional content is a learning experience that will surprise readers into knowing that delicious food can also be healthy.
It is an honor to present this consummate bible as a pathway to a healthy life after bariatric surgery. I commend Carol for her outstanding artistry and illuminating achievement in presenting an extraordinary wealth of information in this definitive book for the bariatric patient, The Bariatric Bible.
Neil Floch, MD, FACS, is director of bariatric surgery at Norwalk Hospital and Danbury Hospital, Nuvance Health, Connecticut, and associate clinical professor of surgery at the Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont.
