Bariatric surgery has helped thousands of people get their weight under control. Often stigmatized as taking ‘the easy way out’ in order to shed pounds, bariatric surgery comes with its own unique challenges and risks that individuals should be familiar with.
Before signing up for this weight loss solution, get to know the different options available with bariatric surgery, as well as some ways to help improve outcomes and create healthy habits post-surgery.
Different Types of Bariatric Surgery Options
There are many types of procedures that fall under the category of bariatric surgery. The three most common types of bariatric surgery are gastric bypass surgery, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric band surgery.
While each procedure has a slightly different strategy for adjusting the digestive tract, their overall approach to affecting weight loss is the same: influencing hormones and appetite in order to reduce the amount of food the body can consume comfortably. This ultimately restricts caloric intake, leading to weight loss.
Bariatric surgery is rarely recommended as a first option for addressing obesity. Rather, it is often proposed when an individual with a BMI over 35 fails to respond to other treatment methods, such as working with dieticians and personal trainers to adopt a healthier diet and exercise routine.
Dealing with Stigma: Bariatric Surgery is Far from the ‘Easy Way Out’
One of the unfortunate realities is that individuals who get bariatric surgery are often faced with a social stigma that suggests they ‘took the easy way out’ to lose weight, rather than dieting or exercising. This stigma emphasizes the idea that bariatric surgery patients are ‘lazy’ or ‘undisciplined,’ which can be incredibly damaging to a person’s emotional wellbeing.
In reality, bariatric surgery is sometimes the most appropriate solution, and it can be recommended by doctors for many different reasons. Serious medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or metabolic syndromes may increase the urgency of weight loss, causing doctors to recommend surgery sooner rather than later.
Regardless of an individual’s motivations for choosing bariatric surgery, it’s important to recognize that this weight loss strategy is far from being an easy fix for obesity. In addition to a hefty price tag that can range from 7k-30k or more, individuals typically need to undergo a monitored diet for up to 6 months, clear lab tests and heart evaluations before getting approval, meet with a therapist or mental health professional, refrain from alcohol and cigarettes, and adhere to a liquid diet before surgery.
And that’s just the beginning of prepping for bariatric surgery.
How to Improve Outcomes with Bariatric Surgery
Bariatric surgery is an invasive procedure, which means it comes with many different risks associated with undergoing a major surgery, including blood clots, infections and scar tissue. To put yourself in the best position for a safe recovery with a positive outcome, here are some tips:
- Follow a pureed food diet for several weeks post-surgery.
- Reduce intake of fat and sugar.
- Limit alcohol – or eliminate it altogether.
- Reduce stress and anxiety as much as possible.
- Exercise daily once cleared by a physician.
- Most importantly, work on long-term behavior change around your relationship with food!
For some, bariatric surgery is a reasonable option for combatting severe obesity. Be sure to discuss the options with your doctor and make sure you’re tending to your whole health – physical, mental and emotional.
If you are ready to take on this big step, feel free to contact me for a bariatric surgery psych evaluation.
