DRASTIC LIFE CHANGE AFTER BARIATRIC SURGERY

After Bariatric Surgery, life changes drastically by making few adjustments. The biggest thing one will have to do is to keep a check on calorie intake. If one is accustomed to eating anything he/she want, bariatric surgery will change that. Your stomach will be reduced in size, so one will only be able to eat small and frequent meals.

Don’t eat too much in one sitting

Don’t eat too much in one sitting, chew your food properly instead of gulping or eat food that is rich in proteins. One will start with liquid protein shakes, move to puréed foods and then re-learn how to eat soft foods like poached eggs, Khichri, etc as you recover. Eventually, one will be able to eat regularly again, with a focus on high protein diet.

There is a lot more good than bad about weight loss surgery. One important thing that one will live longer. Severe obesity contributes to life-threatening diseases like diabetes type 2, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and much more. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) states that patients who undergo bariatric surgery will reduce their risk of pre-term death by 30 to 40 percent.

Bariatric surgery makes weight management much easier

Once the body mass index (BMI) is 30 kg/m2 or more, it becomes much more difficult to lose weight without taking outside help. If one is struggling with weight gain, “dieting” is completely ineffective because of lack of willpower and hunger hormones.

Fortunately, hunger hormones go down after the Bariatric Surgery. Mostly, the patients maintain a weight loss of 50 percent or greater after years — unlike keeping a check on the calorie intake, which sees most dieters regain the lost weigh and then some over the same time-period. One still have to do regular physical activity and watch regular calorie intake even after the weight loss surgery.

Weight Loss Surgery improves the quality of life physically because an individual will become more mobile. It will help one regain the freedom, improves breathing, increases energy and stamina, and lowers the joint pains caused by excess body weight. Other benefits of Weight Loss Surgery may include improved physical appearance and a better state of well-being, which can elevate the lost confidence and improves social group. Non-clinical depression may also ease.

Family and peers will also benefit from the surgery – an improved mood, elevated energy levels and increased mobility will allow one to spend more quality time bonding with the people around you. Your healthy dietary and lifestyle changes will likely make your peer group motivated – and that’s a win for all.

Dr. Vivek Bindal

Dr. Vivek Bindal Director & Head -Institute of Minimal Access, Bariatric, and Robotic Surgery