Set Up your Home for Weight Loss Surgery
Staying on track with your weight loss goals might seem simple at your weight loss center, but you won’t be able to spend the entirety of your weight loss program there. After weight loss surgery, you’ll have to go back out into the world, which will be filled with the same temptations and troubles that may have challenged you in the past.
However, the world around you can be just as helpful in your quest to lose weight as it can be harmful. Because our environments have such a big influence on our behavior, surrounding yourself with things that promote a healthy lifestyle can play a big role in your success. Nowhere is this more possible than the place where you exert total control over your surroundings—your home.
Your bariatric center is where the weight loss journey begins, but your home is where that journey will continue. If you’re like most people, you spend a fair chunk of each day at home, so making it an ideal place to lose weight can be a huge leg-up in your program.
Though optimizing your home for weight loss may take time, the benefits are well worth the effort. You can start with these two simple steps:
Step One: Make healthy choices the only choices.
After weight loss surgery, you probably have a few vestiges of your former habits left lying around. For example, your kitchen may still be home to junk foods that fall outside the confines of your diet. To truly make the transition to your new lifestyle, this stuff has got to go.
Dig through your cabinets, pantry, fridge and freezer and conduct an overhaul. Your clean sweep should get rid of anything that may tempt you into breaking your diet. If you feel bad trashing them outright, you can donate them to a homeless shelter, neighbor or friend, but one thing is certain: they can’t stay in your sight.
You may have others living with you who object to this kitchen cleansing. Talk to them about the importance of a healthy home and ask that junk food be kept far from your view. Ideally, no unhealthy foods will be left in your house, but they shouldn’t cause problems if you don’t know about them.
Step Two: Make it easier to make the right decision.
The gaps left by your kitchen overhaul should be filled with the types of healthy foods that make up your nutritional diet. Make it easy to choose the healthiest options by making them the most accessible in your kitchen. Try keeping a bowl of fresh fruit out on the countertop. Leave your healthy snacks front and center in the fridge. Make sure that when you go to the kitchen for a snack your path to a healthy option is always clear.
Of course, weight loss is about more than just diet—you’ll need exercise as well. You can make this simpler by keeping exercise equipment in your home. Try investing in some free weights or workout DVDs that will help you exercise even when you’re feeling unmotivated. You can store workout gear near your computer or TV to squeeze in a little workout time as you relax in the evenings.