Long Term Weight Loss Surgery Tips

• The 6 habits of people with successful long-term weight loss after surgery

  Understanding your disease

  It is important to remember that we have not cured the disease which, in most people, is at least partly genetic. Your operation doesn’t change your genes. Understanding that you have a chronic disease is vital to your long-term success.

  Food choices

  It goes without saying that the guidelines we give you for your long-term diet need to be followed. Excess carbohydrates are one of the most common causes of weight gain where this does occur.

  Supplements and blood tests

  It is important for your long term health to continue recommended supplements indefinitely. Significant problems can occur without supplements including bone weakening and serious depletion of vitamins and iron. You should attend as advised for blood tests and review either by a LapSurgery physician or your regular General Practitioner.

  Physical Activity

  Physical activity is also vital to long-term success. Studies have shown that overall physical activity correlates very well with long-term success. You may choose to perform regular workouts in the gym, but the studies show good correlation with general physical activity as measured by a step count. Unless you have significant physical problems, you should be aiming for around 10,000 steps on four or five days of the week. If you have a sedentary job it means that you need to get out and do a reasonable brisk walk, especially on weekends.

  Regular weighing

  If you have high blood pressure you need to check your blood pressure regularly. It is the same with your weight. You should be weighing yourself at least once every two weeks. If you put on a kilogram or two you need to work at it straight away. It’s usually reasonably easy to drop one or two kilograms but if you start gaining weight, and put off treating it, you may gain more than four or five kilograms which becomes more and more difficult to manage. So, weigh yourself regularly and act quickly if there is any weight gain.

  Visiting your family doctor

  It is essential that you find a regular General Practitioner and visit them at least three times a year. When you visit your General Practitioner, you should ask to be weighed and discuss the ongoing management of your weight. Your General Practitioner should be your partner in achieving your long-term goals.

• Managing weight gain

  Obesity is a chronic disease and sometimes, despite your very best efforts, the weight starts going up. The key to stopping this from getting out of hand is to get back to us by making an appointment to see your surgeon as soon as you feel your weight is out of control.

  Do not feel embarrassed and do not wait to seek our help – we understand.

  We can help. The cause of weight gain after surgery is rarely due to a single factor. The reasons are nearly always complex and can be related to all sorts of issues which may be; psychological, related to food cravings, excess alcohol consumption and in rare instances there may be something wrong with your operation. We have a formal weight management clinic where we fully assess all factors related to the weight gain and help you to overcome these. Sometimes it’s a simple matter of altering the diet, at other times problems such as food cravings or excess alcohol consumption may need the help of our psychologist.

  We now have a new generation of drugs which have come out in the last few years which can be extremely effective in getting your weight back under control.

  We wish you the very best for the future and we are always ready to provide help if you need it.