Many notions have been trailing the surgical method of losing weight. From the complications to the risks that come with the surgery, many obese individuals get feet of clay towards the surgery.
Despite these, the number of patients opting for the procedure is on the increase. In addition, the rate of medical tourism is getting high and weight loss surgeries are the leading treatments patients opt for. So, is a weight loss surgery abroad a walk worth taking?
During winter, people tend to consume lots of food such as calories. However, when summer comes knocking at the door, they begin a frantic search for the best way to lose weight. When summer approaches, thousands of obese individuals start looking for exercises to engage in and diets that can help them lose extra kilos of flesh they gained during winter.
Most people want to lose extra kilos of flesh fast and are willing to try several methods to achieve. After exercises and healthy dieting failed to meet up with the long-term plan, patients are now looking at the surgical method. However, some obese individuals that underwent the procedure gained it back within a few months. In another clime, some people find it hard to sustain the long-term weight loss plan. So what is the best way to shed off extra kilos of flesh and maintain it?
If you’re considering bariatric surgery abroad, take note that the process requires long-term follow-ups. You also have to make a personal commitment to stick to the weight loss plan during winter and avoid inordinate consumption of food. If you’re considering the procedure, it’s best to consider it as the first step to weight loss. Losing weight and maintaining it results from a combination of factors such as exercising, healthy dieting, and lifestyle changes. You can also count on Weight Loss Riga’s comprehensive care and support in the weeks, months, and years following your bariatric surgery at the clinic. Let us delve into the five (5) tips to stay healthy after weight loss surgery.
1. Stick to Regular Exercises
Bariatric surgery is not the “easy way out of obesity” as many presume. While they help you lose weight and offer the cure to some obesity-related illnesses, your efforts such as regular exercises is a better way to sustain the tempo.
Your body is adjusting to changes from the surgical operation and will need time to adapt to it. That is why it is important to develop a routine of regular exercise. This physical activity works in tandem with dieting. After the procedure, you will be encouraged to be on your feet and walk about as your strength can permit you. After you leave the clinic, it is important to stick to the doctor’s stipulations for exercises. This is because exercises help bariatric patients achieve the long-term goal of losing weight faster.
While you are at the clinic, you can start with shorter walks and increase the distance when you get comfortable with it. In addition, you can try low impact exercises such as swimming and cycling. However, make sure you are not pushing your body too hard soon. As you leave the hospital, follow the physical activity recommendations from the medical care team.
While exercises play vital roles in the success of your bariatric surgery, you might be at a loss on the best form of physical activity to take up. It is important you engage in many exercises but while at these, avoid strenuous activities (such as weightlifting). You can keep them until you get healthier. In the meantime, you can with a light walk for few minutes and after a few weeks of the surgery, you can increase the intensity of the walk. Yoga is also good because it helps in muscle building. Kickboxing is a physical activity that helps you build balance and stretch your muscles. Going for a light swim is another way to exercise and you can start with a swim from the end of the pool to the other. When your body recovers, you can add more laps to your swim.
2. Healthy Dieting
There is no doubt that diets play crucial roles in the recovery phase. However, take care not to consume much food. Also, avoid calories because they can trigger weight regain. Your choice of diets should be in accordance with the care team’s guidelines. Diets comprise meals and drinks. There are some foods and drinks to avoid and we will be looking at that.
Prepare your diets before the Surgery
It is on record that most obese individuals got extra kilos of flesh from their meal intake. Calories are the leaders in this category. In addition, much consumption of food and eating snacks between meals can trigger obesity. If you’re looking at weight loss surgery as a medium to shed off extra kilos of flesh, you have to prepare your post-op diets before the surgery. This is necessary as it helps you plan the meals you will be eating after passing through the knife. Your doctor or surgeon can walk you through the meals you can consume.
While you set about the task of preparing your diet changes before the procedure, you should also follow the specific eating guidelines given to you by the medical team. The post-operation dietary guidelines help you eat right and can vary depending on the type of bariatric surgery.
You will not be able to eat
As your body recovers from the surgery, you will not be able to eat traditional solid foods. In this light of this, you have to master the stages in the recovery diet. There will be a slow transition from liquid foods to pureed foods. From this, you transit to soft foods and after few months of adapting to these stages, your doctor gives you the nod to start solid foods. However, take note that some solid foods are not on the list of diets you can eat. Always consult your doctor for clarifications before preparing your diets.
Keep Proteins; Toss Away Calories
Avoid calories as much as possible. Proteins should make a regular appearance in your meals. Proteins should be your primary focus when you sit down for a meal. They help you feel full faster and help in maintaining the muscle mass when losing weight. Some of the other foods you have to avoid are alcoholic drinks and simple carbohydrates. In addition, do not eat snacks between meals and avoid liquid consumption immediately before and during meals.
3. Follow-Up Care
Weight Loss Riga offers 5 years of follow up, which means that our UK patient coordinator is available for patients by phone, email etc. to answer questions and whenever some questions need to be brought to the attention of the surgeon, the patient coordinator will follow up with him and get back to the patient with the surgeons professional opinion and recommendation. Join Weight Loss Riga's Facebook group, where you can learn more about real patients and engage with past, present, and future patients of Weight Loss Riga.
4. Seek Support
You cannot work the miles of weight loss surgery alone. Even though the medical team will be helping you during aftercare services, they will not be with you always. There is the need for more intimacy that will help you through the recovery phase. That is where support groups come in. Become a part of Weight Loss Riga's Facebook group where you can engage with patients, ask questions and learn more.
These groups help you weather the storm of depression that comes with losing weight after bariatric surgery. Patients sometimes experience hair loss, body aches, and mood swings as their weight loss are in progress. These problems are not what a doctor can cure or what you wish away y the snap of a finger. You need counseling and this has to come from people that have been in your shoes.
Hundreds of obese individuals undergo weight loss surgery every month. This figure continues to grow as the years pass by. As the number increase, the number of people who have walked in your shoes will be on the increase. There are many support groups you can join to keep active during your weight loss.
The widespread use of support groups provides bariatric patients with the opportunity of discussing their fears and expectations. Not only do they offer emotional support but they also offer advice on the different changes you face as you lose weight. You can find these groups on the internet or within your area. In these groups, you get to interact with people who lost weight after bariatric surgery. Patients that recently underwent the procedure are also members of the group.
Support groups are one of the most viable platforms to excel in your weight loss goals. Matters of urgent importance are in the discussion and you get the opportunity to get advice on a wide range of issues. This is a collective way of overcoming your fears, getting extra support in your weight loss, and getting emotional support. There is the tendency that you will lose friends who will not be comfortable with your new lifestyle. In the support group, you can build friendshipand interact with like-minds.
5. Change your Lifestyle
It is important you understand that your lifestyle was the reason behind your weight gain. After the weight loss surgical operation, keep away from the certain lifestyle that can trigger weight regain. Calorie intake and alcoholic drinks are some of the lifestyles you ought to drop after thesurgery. As you make these changes, it is pertinent to watch out for changes in your body. Bariatric patients tend to have changes in their body contour. These changes can come in form of loss of muscle mass and saggy skin. The spates of these changes increase as you lose more weight. There is also the tendency that excess skin will appear on your neck and chest. Seek your doctor’s advice on the best way to remove these.
For a change in lifestyle, start with enough sleep. Catching seven (7) hours sleep each day (especially at night) is a good way to restore the body. Your lifestyle changes should extend to how you eat. Avoid taking snacks between meals. While eating, reduce the amount of liquidintake (or do not take any at all until the end of the meal).
Stay Hydrated
While drinking a few minutes before a meal and drinking between meals is not advisable, you ought to keep your body hydrated. Make this lifestyle change by drinking lots of water in the day.
Eat Mindfully
You now have a “new body” and you should work towards maintaining it. Avoid distractions while eating. Focus on the meal and do not share your attention by watching the television or surfing the internet. In addition, stop eating the moment you are full.
Step up your Activities
Your body needs to be active after weight loss surgery. Physical activities such as exercises are tools to keep you active. However, you can explore healthy diets and interactions with the community of bariatric patients. The journey to full restoration of health after bariatric surgery starts with these activities. While you are at it, make sure you keep to the specific dieting rules. In addition, remember to keep your aftercare appointments.
Weight Loss Riga is one of the clinics that offer excellent bariatric surgeries in Europe. As you embark on the life-changing process of bariatric surgery, we are committed to making yourexperience filled with positivity. From our excellent clinic to our efficient medical team, our goal is to help you lose weight faster.
