Weight Loss Surgery Forums

At Goal - Don't Abuse Your Tool

As Spring rolls around everyone is looking at their New Year’s Resolution and wondering if they accomplished their goals, or if they should give up.

For patients with weight loss surgery, this is usually a fun time  because it represents one of the few times that weight loss goals have been met, and one of the few times that weight loss happened over the holiday season!

But this is not the time to sit back—in fact, this is the time, more than ever, to focus on behaviors and routines that will promote progress moving forward. For this, there are a few things to remember:

(a) Do not get too dependent on your weight loss surgery.  The surgery is just a tool  - and while early on it appears that weight falls off magically, as time goes on this will not happen. (b) Remember there is NO surgery that will allow you to “eat anything you want? and lose weight. While it may seem so in the early stages, this is not an ongoing process. (c) You have control over two important things: what you eat, and how much you eat. Focus on these.  What you eat is critical. Early on in your weight loss journey, remember how you drank a lot of fluids, tried hard to get protein in and lost weight? As time goes on things change.  It is easier to get a lot of food in. So, go  back to basics. First, healthy food - the junk food never helped you.  When eating out, forget those places that didn’t provide you with good nutrition. Second, and just as important, focus back on the amount that you eat. Early on this was never a problem. You almost needed more protein than your stomach would let you have. Remember, portion control is still a key of weight loss.  Do not let your stomach (whether it be stapled, banded, or bypassed) decide when to stop eating.  Twice a week, plan on measuring out a portion of food- and eating that and no more.  Learn to eat less and once you find out you are satisfied, keep up with those portions. Weight loss surgery is a gift, but it is just the start of a journey.  The surgery is not meant to be a collar that keeps you from doing things. The surgery is meant to be a tool to be used.  Don’t abuse that tool. Learn to use it well! Terry Simpson, MD, FACS is a bariatric surgeon in Phoenix, AZ.  He has authored three books. For more information visit: www.doctorsimpson.com and yourdoctorsorders.com.