No Magic Pill: Bariatric Surgery and Your Commitment
We’ve all learned it at some point or other in our lives: there is no magic pill we can take to fix our lives: losing weight, being smarter, enjoying professional success, finding a mate. The only way through life’s obstacles is, in fact, through them.
Bariatric surgery is no exception. Bariatric surgery isn’t a magic pill; you won’t wake up the next day 100 pounds lighter and feeling great. The reality is that success in maintaining weight loss depends on your commitment to making substantive and permanent diet and lifestyle changes.
Bariatric surgery is a powerful tool that will assist you in your weight loss, but you will only achieve your weight-loss goals and be successful in maintaining them through making changes and supporting those changes, every day, for the rest of your life.
Here are some of the changes that you will need to embrace after your bariatric surgery:
- You will need to learn to eat very slowly. Many of us are accustomed to eating on the run or at a desk, and that means eating quickly. That’s not going to be an option after bariatric surgery. You will need to eat very slowly, taking small bites and chewing thoroughly before swallowing, and then you’ll need to wait a minute or two before your next bite.
- You won’t be able to drink with your meals. After bariatric surgery you’ll find that liquids fill you up too quickly and you need the nutrients, protein, and vitamins that are found in food.
- You’ll need to take supplements every day. You won’t be eating enough to get everything your body needs through your food, so you will need to take supplements after your bariatric surgery. Your nutritionist can help you determine what these are and how to take them.
- You must establish and stick to an exercise routine. While you may experience dramatic weight loss immediately after surgery before your surgeon indicates it’s time to start exercising, regular exercise is the only way for you to become and stay healthy, and keep the weight off.
Bariatric surgery is absolutely the right answer for many people; but it’s no magic pill, and you will need to do your part to become the person you always knew you could be!
