How To Combine Bariatric Surgery With Fitness Training

Bariatric surgery (weight loss surgery) can be the key to long-lasting weight loss and a healthier future. Here’s how to combine it with fitness training to maximize results.

People who are medically obese and have struggled to lose weight on their own are ideal candidates for bariatric surgery.

When you choose to have weight loss surgery, you are making an investment in your health and in yourself. But surgery won’t guarantee you a healthy lifestyle.

Combining bariatric surgery with a renewed dedication to fitness can help you create the body you have always wanted.

The Types Of Weight Loss Surgeries

The most common types of bariatric surgeries are as follows:

1. Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: This procedure involves creating a small stomach pouch and rerouting the small intestine to this pouch, reducing the amount of food that can be eaten and the absorption of calories.
2. Sleeve Gastrectomy: This procedure involves removing a large portion of the stomach, leaving a narrow “sleeve” of the stomach in place, limiting food intake, and reducing hunger hormones.
3. Adjustable Gastric Banding: This procedure involves placing an inflatable band around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch that restricts the amount of food that can be eaten. The band can be adjusted to control the amount of restriction.
4. Biliopancreatic Diversion with Duodenal Switch: This procedure is similar to gastric bypass, but it involves bypassing a larger portion of the small intestine and rerouting it to a smaller part of the stomach, leading to significant weight loss but also a greater risk of malnutrition and other side effects.
5. Intragastric Balloon: This procedure involves the placement of a soft, silicone balloon in the stomach, which takes up space and helps people feel full faster.

Remember that, whatever type of weight loss surgery you choose, to make it work, you’ll have to change your lifestyle forever.

So if you’re planning to have gastric banding in the UK, US, or wherever you live, the bariatric surgeon will (recommend) ask you to get into a healthy lifestyle as early as possible, even months before the surgery.

Now let’s see what kind of lifestyle changes you’ll have to make for this procedure to be a success.

Bariatric Surgery And Fitness

Dr. Jan McBarron, co-host of Duke and The Doctor, shares tips on ways to combine bariatric surgery with fitness training in order to achieve your ideal body:

1. Change Your Lifestyle Before Bariatric Surgery

When you are planning to have bariatric surgery, it is smart to get into healthy habits ahead of time.

Many physicians will not do weight-loss surgery until you have lost a certain amount of weight before the procedure. So try to lose all the weight you can through diet and exercise.

Being in the best shape you can before surgery will help you rebound from the effects of the procedure and will set you up for success.

2. Treat Underlying Conditions

Before having surgery, your doctor will help you make sure that all of your pre-existing conditions, like Diabetes and Hypertension, are under control.

Your doctor may do extra tests before surgery to make sure that your body will be able to handle it.

Bariatric surgery is routine for many doctors, but it is still a complex procedure which some patients have difficulty recovering from.

3. Take It Slow After The Bariatric Surgery

Don’t rush into a new fitness routine after surgery. Especially if you have been sedentary, it is necessary to work fitness into your life in a slow and measured fashion.

This can help you avoid the chance of burnout from pushing yourself too far, too fast.

Even though your body will change rapidly, it is smart to take fitness one day at a time.

4. Do Exercises For Overweight People

When you are overweight, you need to approach fitness with a different mindset than you would at a normal weight.

The best way to start is to increase the amount of activity you do each day. Take the stairs, take walks around the neighborhood, and park further away from your destination.

If you have a BMI that is greater than 35, try to avoid exercises that will put a strain on your joints. These include jumping, contact sports, and jogging. It will help you avoid injury and keep your weight loss going.

When you are exercising, it is smart to exercise for a longer duration rather than a higher intensity. Gradually, you should increase your level of physical activity until you are working out 6 days a week for 60 minutes.

Strength training is also important for overweight people. Use light to moderate weights. Your goal is not to bulk up, but to create lean muscle and maintain it.

5. Post-Operative Restrictions

Bariatric surgery is generally well-tolerated, but it can cause complications. Make sure that you follow your surgeon’s recommendations for activity after your surgery.

If you had laparoscopic surgery, you will be able to return to normal activity at an earlier date than if your surgery was open. You should be cleared to start exercising as soon as 2 weeks after the procedure.

Exercise up to the pain threshold and not beyond. If you have any pain in your incision or in your joints, stop exercising and talk to your surgeon before you proceed.

If you had open surgery, there are more restrictions. Do not lift over 15 pounds for the first 6 weeks. And do not do any abdominal exercises for at least the first 8 to 12 weeks. This will help you avoid causing an abdominal hernia.

6. A New Eating Plan

After surgery, your calorie intake will be greatly restricted. Most doctors recommend eating no more than 500 calories for the first several months after surgery. This helps the body to jump-start weight loss.

Your calorie intake will gradually be increased to about 1,200 to 1,400 calories six months after the surgery.

This is one of the most difficult parts of bariatric surgery, but you can be assured that your new eating plan is helping your body recover from the dangers of excess weight.

7. Planning Your Surgery

If you are interested in bariatric surgery, you should talk to your primary care doctor and get a referral to a bariatric specialist.

Consultation with a qualified bariatric surgeon and a thorough evaluation of your medical history is necessary to determine the best course of action.

Don’t worry, the surgeon will inform you of everything you need to know and do before and after the weight loss surgery.

The Takeaway

Bariatric surgery can be a vital part of reclaiming your good health and moving forward with your life.

It requires a long-lasting and permanent change in your exercise and diet habits, but it will help you feel better about yourself.

Keep in mind that this kind of weight loss procedure is not instant and in some cases, it takes years of dieting and exercising to reach the desired health level.