There can be little doubt that life and weight loss after gastric bypass surgery can be difficult. For the person going through it, it’s probably the most dramatic change in their entire life, and support on all levels can make the difference between success and failure.
Gastric bypass surgery, after all, isn’t a magic pill.
Bariatric Vitamin Supplements, Malabsorption and Malnutrition
On the purely physical level, gastric bypass surgery is going to be difficult on your body. Between eating much less than you used to and malabsorption being a new reality, you need bariatric vitamin supplements to prevent malnutrition.
Make no mistake, if you don’t eat right and use the right vitamin supplements, you could literally starve to death, no matter how much weight you have (or haven’t) lost!
Quite often, doctors will merely suggest that you take chewable or prenatal vitamins as your vitamin supplement. This is a dangerous practice, since you’re simply not able to absorb them nearly as well as you would before your weight loss surgery. Besides, they weren’t terribly absorbable to begin with. Much of the vitamin and mineral content is just wasted in these supplements.
Bariatric Weight Loss Demands Exercise
Another necessary part of bariatric weight loss is that you have to exercise. Aside from the well known benefits of accelerating weight loss and lowering blood pressure, exercise will help you on many other levels.
Depression may or may not have been an issue for you before your surgery, but it can often become a feature now, even though you’re on the path to losing weight.
The thing of it is, your body is going through a lot of chemical changes after your surgery. Add that to your dietary restrictions and the fact that you’re still overweight. Support from your friends and family is a great benefit, but if you’re not feeling good enough to be receptive, their support can fall on deaf ears.
Exercise is also a key element here, as it releases endorphins in your system, which generally makes you feel better about yourself.
Gastric Bypass Surgery Results in Eating Less
The most obvious and dramatic of the gastric bypass surgery results is that your stomach is smaller–much smaller.
Perhaps before your surgery, you dealt with boredom, depression or loneliness by eating. Now you find that this is not a viable way to deal with these problems, both psychologically and physically.
This is where leaning on your family and friends for emotional support can come in. It’s also a good idea to join a support group and pick up a hobby.
Support groups can help you process your feelings in a way that family and friends often can’t. Regardless of what your relationship with your family and friends is, the people in a support group have been in your situation, and can help you deal with the unique emotional situations that arise.
Hobbies are the best way to deal with boredom. Watching TV is a bad option for many reasons, not the least of which is that it doesn’t occupy your hands. As long as your hands are occupied with something, they’re not putting food in your mouth. It may sound too simple, but it really works.
