The actual surgical procedure for bariatric weight loss surgery may have gone well, but it's what you do afterward that ensures success. This means you're going to need to make a lot of changes in your day-to-day life, not just in how you eat, but in your routines and your overall lifestyle. Read on for some of these changes to ensure your surgery (and beyond) is a success.
Make Changes Before Surgery
Don't wait until after your surgery to start making changes. You're not going to be feeling like yourself after your surgery, so you may not want to wait to make all of these new lifestyle changes when you're already going to be experiencing change. Some things you will be able to change before your surgery are how you eat and what you put into your body. Start drinking more water and less soda and other sugary drinks. Skip eating out as much and start eating from home more often. Incorporate fresh fruits and vegetables and eat fresh foods as opposed to eating processed foods.
Have A Support System In Place
If you aren't usually someone that leans on others for support, you may want to start doing so. This is a surgery that may take a lot out of you mentally in addition to physically, and you are going to need support around you to help you when you feel like you need someone to talk to and to give you strength. A support system can be family, friends or even a support group for weight loss. Any of these will do, just be sure you have someone there for you.
Plan Your Meals
After your bariatric surgery, you need to start planning out your meals for the week ahead of time and plan your grocery shopping ahead of time. This will help prevent falling into bad habits again by just buying whatever at the store or going out to eat because it's easier. Planning your meals and planning your grocery shopping ahead of time will prevent this. Write everything down and only get what you need from the store — don't veer to those aisles that you don't need anything in.
Try New Things
When planning your meals, don't just eat the same things over and over again. This will lead to boredom and then will lead to falling back into bad habits. Try new recipes and add variety to your meal plans. Look online for new recipes or invest in some new cookbooks that offer healthy meals.
For a successful bariatric surgery, you're going to need to make changes in your life. Talk to your bariatric surgery services doctor about other helpful tips to ensure your surgery is a success long after the procedure.
Share1 October 2018
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