OK, so Dr. Jacob recently performed sleeve gastrectomy surgery on you. You’re now fully recovered, and you’ve worked through the special diet used to let your stomach heal as quickly as possible. About one month has passed, and you now feel like yourself again, and you’re ready for what comes next on your weight loss journey.
So, now what?
At NYC Hernia, our patients can be a little intimidated moving forward. They hope they can maintain healthy eating habits, but they’re a little bit unsure. In this late summer blog for NYC Hernia, let’s get into some methods to help you adapt and thrive in your new slimming body.
Success rates and tips
“Success rates” for bariatric surgery are usually defined as the patient achieving a 50 percent loss or more of excess body weight and maintaining that level for at least five years. Most patients tend to lose weight rapidly and continue to do so until 18 to 24 months after their surgery. Patients may lose 30 to 50 percent of their excess weight in the first six months, and 77 percent of their excess weight as early as 12 months after their surgery. And with Dr. Jacob’s patients we have an excellent record of maintaining a 50 to 60 percent loss of their excess weight for the long term.
But it’s not a cakewalk. These are life changing procedures with Dr. Jacob, and to be successful for the rest of your life, you need to live and eat in a new way. Here are a few tips to help you do just that.
- Schedule regular visits with us — When you’re healed, we don’t turn the page. We want to keep seeing our patients so we can help them stay on track with their new healthy lifestyle.
- Drink water — Drink lots of water for hydration and to help create a feeling of fullness.
- Avoid snacking and grazing — Especially in the past year’s work from home environments, people found themselves grazing whenever passing through the kitchen. This just accumulates calories, but you never feel full.
- Follow your nutrition plan — Our plans are designed to help you lose the weight and keep it off, all the while ensuring your body receives the vital nutrients it needs. If you’re finding yourself straying from the plan, call us and we can set you up with a support group.
- Stay active — Exercise doesn’t need to feel like a chore. Find things you like to do to make use of your muscles and elevate your heart rate.
- Don’t be embarrassed if you gain some weight — This is a journey, not a one and done. If you’ve gained a few pounds that is not unusual. Just give us a call and come in. We have methods to help you get back on track.
If you are morbidly obese and want to do something about it, give Dr. Jacobs a call at NYC Hernia, 212-879-6677, and schedule a consultation for a sleeve gastrectomy.
