Bariatric Surgery – Then What?
You’ve had your bariatric surgery – wonderful! That’s taken care of your obesity problem, now, hasn’t it?
Not exactly. What bariatric surgery gives you is a tool to use, not a magic solution. Most people don’t realise it, but you can stay obese or even gain weight after bariatric surgery! So understand from the beginning that your struggle with your weight isn’t over.
It is, however, easier. Bariatric surgery has made your stomach smaller, so you will eat less food than before. But that doesn’t mean you can fill your post-bariatric surgery stomach with sweets and fats!
First of all, your body will revolt, and you’ll experience the dumping syndrome that your bariatric surgeon has no doubt told you about. But even if that doesn’t happen, continuing to eat those foods is a sure way to sabotage all the good that the bariatric surgery did for you.
You can still eat a lot of food, too, by “grazing” – eating small amounts of food many times in a day. That will help you stay obese as well.
So what should you do?
After bariatric surgery, you want to be careful and mindful of what you eat. You’ll want to be sure that your body gets the proteins and vitamins that it needs. And you’ll want to eat regular meals, without liquids, and without snacking in between. You’ll be taking supplements to be sure your body does in fact get all the nutrients it needs. But the person who is most in charge isn’t your nutritionist, and it isn’t your bariatric surgeon: it’s you!
Bariatric surgery works – but only if you do, too.
