5 Ways To Get Back On Track After Bariatric Surgery
November 12, 2018Have you been overindulging? Are your “cheats” becoming more frequent or have your portions gotten bigger? Are you eating food from your kid’s plate and not really “counting” it? Have you been slacking on exercise? Or are you exercising, but not seeing results? Be honest with yourself. Even seemingly small changes in diet can make a difference, and exercise becomes even more important after the first year post-op. Find out the ways to get back on track.
5 Ways to Get Back On Track After Bariatric Surgery
1. Make a Plan
Plan and prepare your meals in advance, and eat only at scheduled times. The biggest downfall for many people is that they don’t have a plan for their food, so they will grab whatever is convenient, which is not usually the best choice. The time between meals should be used for drinking non-calorie fluids, preferably water, and meals should not last much more than 30 minutes. A meal schedule that consists of 5 meals daily spaced about 3 hours apart is ideal. In order to keep your metabolism from slowing down, it is important to have smaller, more frequent meals and to eat within 1 hour of waking up in order to “break the fast.” Even if you are “not a breakfast person,” do make an effort to have something small with protein.
Remember, protein satiates us more, so we eat less and don’t get hungry between meals.
Starting a meal plan can be daunting. The best place to start is to carve out some time to look for recipes. Do an internet search for bariatric recipes or look on Pinterest. Think of some easy snack options that require little-to-no preparation, such as Greek yogurt or part-skim mozzarella string cheese.
Next, make a grocery list. (See a list of apps to help with meal planning and shopping at the end of this article.) Add containers to your shopping list if you don’t have enough already. Make sure to get plenty of 4-ounce containers, as well as some bigger ones (for salads, etc.) and smaller ones (for condiments and more calorie-dense foods). Zip-top plastic bags can be useful as well (especially the snack size). Use your weekends or days off to shop and prepare your meals for the week. You may also need to have a mid-week prep session, or even better, do a little meal prep on a daily basis to get back on track.
2. Keep a Food Log
The best place to start is to start keeping a precise food diary. This means you need to measure your portions, as we all tend to underestimate the amount when we eyeball it.
A food scale is an important tool for measuring proteins, and there are many inexpensive scales available. Also, it is important to include all ingredients, including butter or oil used in food preparation and any condiments, sauces or dressings added. Only foods with a trivial amount of calories, such as lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, spices, and herbs do not need to be included.
Keep in mind that calorie and nutrient amounts may not always be precise. For this reason, it is best to stick with foods that you prepare yourself or that are packaged with a nutrition facts label.
Herbs and spices without salt added, vinegars, and lemon or lime juice need not be included. It is best to use an app on your devices. Even if you’re not a high-tech person, phone apps have become super easy to use. Some, such as MyFitnessPal, even allow you to scan bar codes, so the nutrition information of a product will automatically populate into your food diary. Just remember to adjust the portion size! (See a list of apps at the end of this article.)
3. Use Protein Shakes as Meal Replacements
Especially if you are pressed for time in the morning, you may find that starting your day with a protein shake is the easiest solution. If you have “protein shake burnout” from your early post-op days, try a different brand or jazz it up with different flavors. Some people like adding their protein shake to coffee or blending it with a small amount of frozen fruit. Measure ½ cup of fruit, and remember to include the fruit in your food log. Frozen berries are best. Also, adding ice can help to dilute the sweet taste and add volume without calories at the same time.
Limit meal replacements (shakes and bars) to no more than 2 per day.
4. Exercise...
When a person regains weight after WLS, it’s almost always because either they are exercising less frequently or have stopped altogether. However, we have to remember that as we lose weight we burn fewer calories doing the same activities; therefore, we need to increase the amount of time we are exercising, exercise more days per week or increase the intensity of exercise – or a combination of all of the above.
If you have completely stopped exercising (and walking doesn’t really count), then you just have to get back into it. Signing up to work with a personal trainer is one option that is worth the investment, but if you can’t afford that, you could make a plan to attend classes or get a friend to go with you. In some cities, there are “class passes” that give you access to a variety of types of classes. This way, you are not committing to one type of exercise; rather, you have the opportunity to try different classes and not have to commit to one type of exercise. This can be a great option to get back on track. If you decide to go to a gym, make sure that it is convenient to either your workplace or home. If the gym is too far away, you’re less likely to get there.
It is important to do a variety of exercises, including aerobic or cardiovascular exercise, as well as weight-bearing exercises and stretching or yoga.
Remember, your body was used to carrying around a lot of weight, so to keep it challenging you’ll need to add more weight or increase the intensity.
If you have a physical impairment or injury that makes exercise difficult or impossible, speak to your doctor about what exercises may be appropriate. Many bariatric patients have knee or back issues, in which case some low-impact activities such as swimming, Pilates or yoga may be possible. If you are recovering from an injury, follow your doctor’s orders and get back into some type of exercise as soon as possible. For example, arm weights may be an option.
5. Get Support
Seek help from friends, family members, your dietitian or other health care providers who you trust. It helps to be accountable to someone, and that person should be someone supportive and trustworthy. Unfortunately, friends and family can become critical and unhelpful, even though they mean well.
A bariatric support group can be helpful and a good way to find a “buddy” who understands your challenges. If you are not a group person (or even if you are), it may be helpful to see a psychologist. For many people, there is a stigma attached to seeing a psychologist. You may think of it as a sign of weakness. However, psychological therapy is extremely helpful with any major life change and can help a person deal with the emotions and issues that have been buried from years. A psychologist can help you identify your emotions and issues and deal with them in a constructive way.
It is helpful to keep a journal not just of your food, but also of your exercise, weigh-ins (once or twice a week is enough), waist measurements and whatever you feel is important. It may be helpful to write about feelings, cravings or events in your life that may help explain your eating habits. Life is a challenge, and we learn from our mistakes. So don’t beat yourself up if you mess up. Instead, think about what you can do to improve in the future and find ways to get back on track!
5 Ways To Get Back On Track Helpful Apps/Websites
www.myfitnesspal.com
www.loseit.com
www.sparkpeople.com
www.anylist.com
 | ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mimi Harrison is the Clinical Nutrition Coordinator of the Division of Metabolic, Endocrine and Minimally Invasive Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She provides nutritional counseling to patients before and after weight loss surgery, and runs the Mount Sinai Weight Loss Surgery Support Group. Mimi is also a Registered Dietitian, holds a Certification in Adult Weight Management, and is licensed in New York State as a Certified Dietitian/Nutritionist. Prior to joining the team at Mount Sinai, Mimi worked in both inpatient and outpatient settings. |
