Bariatric Surgery

Why do we fail on diets? Why do most regain the weight that they lost, and then some?

The most common reason for weight regain is reverting back to our old ways after a period of dieting. The greatest challenge in weight management is making diet changes that are sustainable for the rest of our lives.

The following information is designed to help you understand the critical role that addressing eating and other health habits plays in the success of weight-loss surgery:

• Weight-Loss Surgery: What it does and does not do
• Addressing Your Eating Habits
• How to be a Successful "Loser"
• Weight Loss Tips
• Turning Knowledge into Knowledgeable Behavior
• Dietary Guidelines after Bariatric Surgery

Weight-Loss Surgery: What it does and does not do

Weight-loss surgery acts as a tool to help you lose weight, but it is not the only requirement for attaining and maintaining weight loss and a "healthier you."

What Weight-Loss Surgery Can Do

Weight-loss surgery can help you lose weight in three ways:

• All types of weight-loss surgery drastically reduce the size of your stomach so that you cannot eat as much as you used to.
• Gastric bypass surgery bypasses the first 3 to 5 feet of small intestine so that you do not absorb food and nutrients the way you used to.
• All types of weight-loss surgery reduce hunger, thereby reducing your intake of food.

What You Must Do in Addition to Surgery

However, what you must do that weight-loss surgery cannot do is:

• Alter your eating habits - which have nothing to do with hunger.
• Exercise and follow postoperative dietary guidelines.

Weight-loss surgery does not do your exercising for you, nor does it fix your bad eating/health habits. The habits you struggle with before your surgery are the same ones you will probably struggle with after surgery. That's why addressing your eating habits before surgery and following dietary guidelines after surgery are so important to attaining your maximum potential for weight loss and successfully keeping the weight off after surgery.

Turn knowledge into knowledgeable behavior!