Life After Your Procedure

Living with a bariatric procedure requires lifelong responsibility and a commitment to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I know at times it seems like a balancing act, especially when you have a family to take care, a job and other commitments. Remembering to take daily bariatric multivitamins and calcium and ensuring a protein rich diet is not always easy. Sometimes we fall off the wagon. We put ourselves and our health last on the list of priorities. I think that our lives get so busy and move so fast that sometimes we un-knowingly slip back into our old habits. We stop taking inventory of what and how much we are eating. We don’t have the time in our schedule to exercise. We start using food to soothe and cope again with all the ups and downs of life. Before we even realize we have regained some of our weight back. Then the shame and guilt set in and we feel like we are right where we were before surgery feeling helpless and like a failure! I am here to tell you right now, you are not alone in feeling this way. Whether you are months out from surgery or years out from surgery, we have all been here. I understand that once you find yourself here it is hard to admit you need help again. You don’t want to be asked difficult questions or made to feel like a failure more than you already do. That is why consistent follow up is so very important. Obesity is a disease and just like any disease you need support and accountability to beat it. Just like an alcoholic goes to meetings the rest of their lives, we must make follow up appointments and check in with our bariatric team. Remember they are here to help you succeed. They are here to help address our eating and exercising habits, our lifestyle choices and our emotional health. Not to mention nutritional guidance. Sometimes they are the very thing that helps us lift the fog and see the light in order to get back on track. You are so worth making a commitment to being the very best ‘YOU’ you can be and living a healthy lifestyle! If it has been a while since you have been in, pick up that phone and schedule yourself and appointment. Even if you think you are doing great it is so important just to get labs done and make sure your insides are matching your outside!