Bariatric surgery is a certified and effective procedure to treat obesity. It can be performed through the use of gastric balloon or gastric sleeve, or through a more complex procedure such as gastric bypass. These types of anti-obesity treatments have a fairly high percentage of weight loss, and even help prevent diseases related to overweight.
In the case of the gastric sleeve, you can find quite a lot of information if you are planning to undergo this type of treatment, and you can even learn about some of the mistakes after the intervention, or what not to do after the gastric sleeve.
Requirements to consider the gastric sleeve
First of all, to be considered as an ideal bariatric patient, you must be:
- Between 18 and 65 years of age;
- BMI (body mass index) greater than 35-40;
- Metabolic syndrome or diseases related to overweight.
Patient errors after undergoing the gastric sleeve procedure
After undergoing an intervention to counteract obesity, it is quite common to make certain mistakes, that is why you should take into account the most common ones to help the process to be the most satisfactory for you and your health.
1. The operation does everything for you
One of the first mistakes of any patient is to think that just by undergoing a procedure to lose weight is enough, which is totally false. Once you undergo a bariatric surgery you must also commit yourself to improve your lifestyle and have healthier habits, you can have favorable results.
At the beginning you will need much more effort and recurrent work in the nutritional, psychological and physical activity areas to obtain the changes you desire. After a while, these habits will become part of your habits and therefore easier for you to progress.
2. Obsessing about weight
Although logically you want to know how much weight you have lost, it is not healthy to control it obsessively.
The higher the percentage of patients who binge eat or feel frustrated, the more they control their weight to the point of obsessing over it. Live the process of losing weight calmly, taking it as an improvement for your life, not as an obsession,
3. Strict diets
During the first months of the treatment you must follow a liquid diet for the first weeks, until you include more solid foods, but once the time is over, you should not submit yourself to a restrictive diet, which is not really the objective.
The purpose of the gastric sleeve treatment is to reduce the size of a portion of the stomach, therefore you will eat smaller proportions, so you should mainly focus only on a healthy and balanced diet.
4. Not including exercise
It is important to include some physical activity to your habits, especially after undergoing bariatric surgery.
It is crucial that you consult what type of physical activity would be appropriate for you, because if it has a large percentage of weight initially it is not advisable to do high intensity aerobic exercises to reduce the risk of injury.
You can implement resistance bands, swimming, spinning, weights, any type of physical activity that helps you feel better, accompanied by proper nutritional guidance.
5. Comparing yourself to other people
Every body is different, and the results may be subject to different parameters, so comparing yourself with other people or with the results of other patients is one of the most critical mistakes you can make.
In this type of treatment against obesity influences:
- Age;
- Physical constitution (genetics) and height;
- Sex;
- Weight loss requirement;
- Type of physical activity;
- Type of anti-obesity treatment.
6. False expectations
The age and the organism is a crucial factor in the results, if you are a patient who is in middle age, you do not have the same percentage of results as a much younger patient.
It is essential that if you want to undergo this surgery you have in mind that as time goes by your body does too, so you should consider that:
- Metabolism slows down;
- Changes in your physical activity;
- Pregnancy;
- Pathologies that affect your weight.
In summary, the results of the gastric sleeve intervention are not the same in a body after 40 – 50 years old than at 20 years old.
7. Failure to continue with routine follow-up
The results of bariatric surgery are incredible, not only considerable weight loss but also obesity related diseases. A common mistake is not to continue with routine follow-up, not only with the physician who performed the procedure, but also with the multidisciplinary team that includes nutritional and psychological support.
There is a high probability that if this is the case, the risk of gaining weight again is elevated losing all the progress that had been achieved.
What happens if weight gain occurs after sleeve gastrectomy?
After a while, around 5 years after the procedure, you may gain weight again, since this type of procedure is not a definitive solution, rather it is a tool to make the task a little easier if other methods have not worked for you.
If you do not change your bad habits, and adapt a healthier lifestyle, you can gain weight again, even in a shorter period of time, especially because the volume of the stomach can increase, causing you to need more food to feel satisfied.
There are cases where patients do not reduce the expected weight, so you need another intervention, or the application of another procedure or a combined technique. At Innova Weight Loss Solutions, we offer non-surgical bariatric revision for patients previously treated with sleeve gastrectomy.
Finally, whatever your case is, the most important thing is that you commit yourself to change your lifestyle because the intervention by itself is not miraculous, and of course you do it accompanied by a qualified team that will support and guide you during the necessary time.
If you wish to learn more about endoscopic revision, or you consider that you may be a suitable candidate for this procedure, contact Innova Weight Loss Solutions or you can go to our New York City office at 60 Gramercy Park North, Suite 1B New York, NY 10010 or you can send us your phone number to coordinate an appointment, also you can call us at 787-946-5215 or 787-925-2225.