Adjusting to Your New Lifestyle
Weight loss surgery is an important part of losing a significant amount of weight and keeping the weight off, but it’s only one part of a bigger weight loss plan. Your weight loss success will ultimately depend on your ability to adjust to a new lifestyle that involves eating less and moving more.
The gastric band will help you with the eating-less part. By consuming fewer calories on a consistent basis, you will lose weight. The band itself will provide a gentle restriction by making it more difficult to overeat, but it’s still up to you to “listen to the band” when it signals that you’ve eaten enough. It’s also your responsibility to follow the dietary guidelines and avoid drinking your calories, which the band can’t prevent, and make sure that the foods you do eat are healthy and low in calories. The more closely you follow your dietary guidelines on a regular basis, the more weight loss success you’ll enjoy.
The second part of losing weight and keeping it off is to burn more calories through physical activity. While the band itself can’t make you exercise, the weight loss assistance it does provide can make being more physically active easier. As you begin to lose weight, you’ll have fewer physical limitations to worry about and more confidence and energy to get out and be active.
After having weight loss surgery, it’s helpful to think about physical activity as part of a healthier and more active lifestyle rather than a daily or weekly requirement for a set amount of exercise. While focusing on a fitness program is helpful, there are also lots of little ways to get active in your daily life.
Tips for Adjusting to Your New Lifestyle:
- Stand instead of sit when you can.
- Walk instead of stand when you can.
- Be outside instead of inside when possible—people tend to be more active when they’re outdoors.
- Walk as many steps as possible during the day. If you use a pedometer to challenge yourself to take more steps each day, you might find yourself looking for opportunities to walk. You might take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Make a habit of parking farther away at work and when shopping, or leave the car behind and walk to your destinations.
- Spend family time outside being physically active instead of watching TV.
- Make a point of visiting local tourist attractions in your area on the weekends.
The more weight you lose, the more you’ll find that you’re able to enjoy a life that involves getting out and about. For many weight loss surgery patients, this is a dramatic change compared to how they were living their life before surgery.