Adjusting to Your Bariatric Surgery 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 Bariatric Surgery Lifestyle that involves eating less and moving more.

The sleeve gastrectomy 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 your stomach” 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 sleeve can’t prevent, and make sure that the foods you do eat are healthy and low in calories. As part of your bariatric surgery lifestyle ,he more closely you follow your dietary guidelines on a regular basis, the more weight loss success you’ll enjoy.

Activity as Part of Bariatric Surgery Lifestyle

The second part of losing weight and keeping it off is to burn more calories through physical activity. While the sleeve 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.

From the Palmyra Surgical Blog

  • Understanding the Glycemic Index
    Understanding the Glycemic Index
    Carbohydrates are one of the six essential nutrients. Despite common talk about avoiding carbohydrates for weight loss, our bodies require them to thrive. Carbohydrates contain sugar. When you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks down that sugar and absorbs it into the cells with the help of a hormone called insulin, where it is then converted to fuel and used for energy.
  • Reasons to Consider Weight Loss Surgery
    Getting weight loss surgery is a choice that can have a major influence on your health and quality of life for years to come. The conversation surrounding weight loss surgery may come up at the advice of a doctor, after seeing a friend who was successful in their weight loss efforts or maybe after a series of frustrating weight loss attempts.
  • Managing Special Occasions after Weight Loss Surgery
    Every time you turn the corner there is another fast food restaurant or bakery loaded with its own temptations, and you do what you can to stand strong and stick to your post-bariatric diet plan.
  • Shop Smart to Lose Weight
    Healthy Shopping Strategies for a Healthy Household
    When one person in a household gets weight loss surgery, it is actually common for other members of that household to lose weight too. This is called a “halo effect.”
  • Making Healthy Food Substitutions after Weight Loss Surgery
    Approximately six weeks following weight loss surgery you’ll start making the gradual transition back to a whole-foods diet. This is an exciting period for many people. After weeks of gaining sustenance through liquids and soft foods, being able to enjoy a regular meal is something to look forward to.