Your Diet Before and After Weight Loss Surgery

If you are considering bariatric weight loss surgery, you have already realized that it’s time to make a drastic change in your life to deal with obesity. You know that obesity is a debilitating, life-threatening condition, and you want to be able to live a long, healthy, and normal life. Moreover, you have probably tried to lose weight before through diet and exercise, but you recognize that you may need the extra help that only a board-certified bariatric surgeon like Dr. Shyam Dahiya can provide.

Starting Your Weight Loss Journey before Bariatric Surgery

In order for your weight loss surgery to be successful in helping you achieve your weight loss goals, you must be committed to living a healthy lifestyle long before your actual bariatric surgery procedure. If you have ever watched The Biggest Loser on television, you already know the intense commitment and dedication it takes to overcome obesity. While bariatric surgery can make it easier to lose weight, it is no substitute for that commitment and dedication.

Once you are ready to make the necessary change in your lifestyle, you can come into our office in Lakewood, California for your first bariatric surgery consultation. We will measure your weight and Body Mass Index (BMI), and then our board-certified bariatric surgeon will go over your weight loss surgery options and explain which may best suit your needs. When you are sure about your decision, our nutrition specialist Dr. Jose Mari-Elacion will help you understand the lifestyle changes you need to make and start you on a pre-surgery diet plan.

Before you can undergo bariatric surgery, you must show that you are committed by sticking to your pre-surgery diet plan. In fact, some insurance companies even require six months of working with another medical doctor before they decide that your health insurance covers weight loss surgery. In addition, if you smoke or use tobacco, you absolutely must quit for at least three months before your weight loss surgery because tobacco use increases the risks and complications of bariatric surgery.

Eating and Living after Weight Loss Surgery

For a while after your weight loss surgery, you will be on a liquid diet with plenty of protein to protect your digestive system from damage while it heals. Next, you will move on to soft foods and eventually resume eating normal, solid food.

Bariatric surgery significantly changes the way your body processes food, helping you to feel full after eating less and stay satisfied longer. However, these changes also affect your body’s ability to absorb nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Dr. Mari-Elacion and our professional weight loss team will help you plan your diet to ensure both adequate nutrition and portion control to help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

If you undergo bariatric surgery, but continue your previous unhealthy eating habits, your stomach will stretch back to its original size. This completely undermines the effectiveness of your weight loss surgery, leading you to regain the weight you’ve lost and possibly requiring revision bariatric surgery. To prevent this problem, you will check back in with us each month for at least a year after surgery so that we can reinforce the diet and exercise aspects of your post-surgery weight loss program, making any changes as needed.

If you are committed to living a healthier lifestyle and are ready to consider bariatric weight loss surgery in Los Angeles, please contact our board-certified bariatric surgeon Dr. Dahiya to schedule your bariatric surgery consultation at our Lakewood, California office.