Book Review: When Food Is Your Frenemy by Jacob Bustos

Friday, July 20, 2018

When Food is Your Frenemy

The wonderful part of traveling to many different healthy-related conferences is you get to meet so many great people. One such person is Jacob Bustos. Like me, he is committed to helping people change their lives and live as their healthiest selves. He does this by sharing his personal story and the insights he has gained through his own weight loss journey.

When Food is Your Frenemy is an authentic and heartfelt book. Jacob shares his own personal story in an honest and forthright way of how he chose bariatric surgery and practices portion control to take back his health and put back the joy in his life. Not only does he tell his story but he also offers sage advice regarding the realities and challenges of weight loss surgery and reclaiming your life.

Some of his sage advice includes:

 

Mindset Matters.

He believes you have to have the mindset to be willing to embrace change. One of the ways you embrace change is by setting “SMART” goals. He also makes the point that positive thinking will yield better results.

Jacob Bustos
 

Choose Your Path.

Jacob points out that no matter how grim a person’s health situation may be, you always have options. It is your choice what path you choose. The key is in sticking to it.

 

Moving Forward Requires Forgiving Yourself and Learning to Love Yourself.

As Jacob states in chapter 7, “ In order for your mind to move forward, you have to forgive yourself.” As he points out, the biggest change that happens when you lose significant weight is inside. In fact he goes on to say, “…I had to learn to love again. Not to love just anyone, but to love myself!” He makes it clear that in order to truly move forward you have to address your self-esteem and work at being “at home” with yourself.

 

Get Back Cooking in the Kitchen.

In order to control our food environment we have to change the way we eat. The best way to do that is to get back cooking in the kitchen. It is how we can control what we eat as well as how much we serve up.

 

Portion Control Matters.

He makes it clear in chapter 9 that “In order for you to be successful in your weight loss endeavor, portion control will be absolutely crucial to your victory.” He believes to lose weight and keep it off you need to think about eating only 1000 calories a day. The best way to manage your limited calories is to eat several small meals throughout the day to prevent your body from going into starvation mode. Perhaps the most important point he makes in this section is that “You should also use small plates when enjoying a meal—since it will look like more food than you think.” Jacob has served up more than one meal on our Just Right Set® bariatric when competing as a chef at the Weight Loss Surgery Foundation of America (WLSFA) Bariatric Chopped event during their annual conference.

Jacob Bustos at WLFSA Bariatric Chopped Event


It is clear that Jacob cares and has shared his personal story to help people with their own weight loss and health journey. His book is filled with information and advice to help guide those looking for answers and insight. He even offers up a few of his own recipes. If you are one of those looking for someone who understands and can help you along your journey, Jacob and his book, When Food Is Your Frenemy, is a good place to start.

Are you looking for some more bariatric-friendly recipes to serve up right-sized?

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