Commitment to Weight Loss Surgery
Your commitment to losing weight plays a large role in the ultimate success of your bariatric procedure. Weight loss surgery is a life-altering decision that should not be taken lightly. It requires long-term dedication to a healthier way of life, including changes in your dietary, exercise and lifestyle habits.
Your bariatric surgeon will give you the tools to lose weight, but it is up to you to use them. To lose weight and maintain proper health after surgery, you will need to follow recommendations made by your weight loss surgeon, nurse and dietitian.
Are you ready for bariatric surgery?
Bariatric surgery may require you to make some drastic changes in your lifestyle. Before undergoing any type of weight loss surgery you need to assess your willingness to change. This includes your readiness to make changes to your diet and exercise habits as well as the way you cope with stress and emotions.
Your Commitment to Dietary Changes
Each type of bariatric surgery requires a long-term commitment to strict changes in the way you eat. After weight loss surgery your meals will be smaller and heavy in protein. You will not be able to order food from restaurants or snack in the same way you did before. Your stomach will be limited in the amount of food it is able to hold, requiring you to limit your calorie intake to the nutrients that your body needs.
Weight loss surgery forces you to rethink your relationship with food. Food functions purely as a form of sustenance that you rely on to maintain proper health and nutrition levels. Weight loss surgery will require you to eliminate unnecessary snacking and over-consumption.
Your Commitment to Increased Activity
Both before and after your bariatric procedure you will need to become more active. Increasing your daily activity can help you to develop stronger muscles, improve joint function and even improve cardiovascular health. Physical activity should be incorporated into your lifestyle every day, and can begin with small activities like walking the dog or climbing one flight of steps before getting on the elevator.
Your Commitment to Emotional and Psychological Change
Many overweight patients use food to relieve stress or cope with emotional trauma. In order to regain your health you must eliminate food as a crutch, but for many people this means unearthing disguised emotional pain. As you lose weight you must learn how to cope with everyday stressors that you encounter in your relationships, work and family life.
Support groups can help you to cope with all the changes that you will undergo as you lose weight, but the most important factor remains your willingness to change. Once you have decided that you are ready to make the necessary changes and pursue a healthier lifestyle, you need to assess if you qualify for bariatric surgery.