Surviving Weight-Loss (Bariatric) Surgery: Lifestyle Changes for Long Term Results

Most people are familiar with the two most common weight-loss surgeries, gastric bypass and adjustable gastric band (Lap Band). Unfortunately, many people think they can have one of these surgical procedures and then eat whatever they want, not exercise and still lose weight. If you want to know the reality behind weight-loss surgery, keep reading. Otherwise just sit back on the couch, eat your chips and plan your fantasy surgery that won't yield long term results.

Still reading? Good! No matter what bariatric procedure you consider, long term success depends completely upon lifestyle changes. That's right, there is no way around the old "diet and exercise" thing. Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or just ignorant to the truth (that includes doctors). You may have heard stories of people who had gastric bypass and lost weight while they continued to eat bad food. If you can, follow-up on the stories to see how they did in the long term. After all, isn't that what you are after...long term results? You will most definitely find that they didn't lose as much weight as they hoped and, if you stay with the story long enough, started gaining their weight back!

All those who go into any weight loss venture, whether surgical or not, need to deal with the issues they have with food and accept the fact that they are overweight because they eat / drink too many calories. If you are overweight and say "I don't know why I'm overweight... I barely eat/drink anything", then you are kidding yourself. The only way to gain weight from fat is to take in more calories than you burn up.

Many overweight people overeat for comfort. Stress, anxiety, depression can all lead to comfort-seeking behavior. Some turn to sex, alcohol and/or drugs. No matter what your reasons, you must deal with the issues that are causing you to overeat/drink or you will not achieve long term weight loss results. If you feel a psychologist may help, then by all means work with your primary care physician to find one who can help you.

Another important factor in surviving weight-loss surgery is staying healthy while you lose weight. Let's face it, losing weight through surgery is not natural. Your body has been altered and, therefore you must make adjustments in your nutritional intake to compensate or else face malnutrition. Work with your physicians and a dietitian to get the proper diet/supplements you need, especially for gastric bypass surgery. The effects of malnourishment can be devastating on your body!! Also, gastric bypass patients are more prone to developing ulcers. For this reason, it is very important to avoid anything that can increase your risk of ulcers... smoking, excessive alcohol use, drug use, taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory meds (ie: ibuprofen.), etc. Also, if your bariatric surgeon recommends it, take acid suppression medication to reduce your ulcer risk.

OK, let's first talk about the adjustable gastric band. I won't go into detail about the surgical procedure itself, but you can get that info. from the two companies producing and marketing bands in the United States (Allergan, which produces the "Lap Band"... http://www.lapband.com/ and Ethicon, which produces the "Realize Band"... http://www.realizeband.com/ ). I want to focus on the aftermath. So, a gastric banding procedure is performed to reduce your appetite (by providing pressure on the stomach) and restrict the quantity of food you can eat at any one sitting. You still need to improve the quality of food you eat because you will absorb the same amount of fat and calories in your diet as you did before the banding. If you read carefully, you noticed the phrase "...at any one sitting". If you decide to eat every two hours, then you may be eating as much food in a day as you did before the surgery. Also, foods that crumble (chips, cookies, popcorn, etc.) and foods that melt (ice cream, candy, etc,) go through the band easily so you can still eat them. Since you can still find ways to eat volumes of food (all be it in small portions) and still absorb all the fat and calories in bad foods, it makes sense that the only way to have long term weight-loss success with a band is to change what you eat as well as how much you eat.

Now, the gastric bypass (Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass) helps you to lose weight a little differently. You can get a description of the procedure at www.webmd.com/diet/weight-loss-surgery/gastric-bypass . With this surgery, your stomach is divided to create a small "pouch" which gives you portion control and hunger suppression. Also, your intestines are re-routed, so to speak, to cause poor absorption of fat and calories. Because of this poor absorption, many (but not all) gastric bypass patients get very sick if they eat foods with too much fat or sugar (Dumping Syndrome). All the above creates a recipe for rapid weight loss...for the first 18 months or so! In time, that gastric "pouch" (stomach) will stretch. How much it stretches depends upon how much food you try to put into it. It is very possible to stretch a gastric bypass pouch to a size that will allow a patient to eat as much as they did before surgery. Also, your intestines will adjust and begin to absorb more and more to the point that you will absorb fat and calories just as someone who has not had gastric bypass. So again, the only way to have long term weight-loss success with a gastric bypass is to change what you eat as well as how much you eat. Sensing a trend here?

Let's not forget exercise. Since you have to watch what you eat and how much you eat with both band and bypass surgeries, you will have to exercise regularly to achieve optimal weight loss and to keep the weight off !!

It's that simple...lifestyle changes for long term results.

I have your best interests at heart. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

Sincerely,

The Patient Protectors