This is one of the great concerns of all people who have had recourse to so-called bariatric obesity surgery: the fear of gaining weight. Today, we are talking more specifically about limiting weight regain after a sleeve . As you will see, there are solutions .
No magic, but a real revolution in your behavior
Many people think that the sleeve and all obesity surgeries are miracle procedures … We are a long way from reality. They are in fact a weight loss aid, a tool, nothing more!
To hope to lose weight in the long term it will be necessary to modify the whole of the relationship that one maintains with food … Otherwise, the weight loss risks being less and the rapid recovery of weight. To avoid this, you must be prepared to apply certain rules
What is a sleeve gastrectomy?
The sleeve is one of the most practiced interventions to lose weight. Obese people resort to it after multiple diet-related failures . The intervention lasts about two hours but is far from trivial. Many of you have testified on this subject.
It actually involves cutting off part of the stomach to remove two-thirds of it . The stomach looks like a kind of tube with a volume of about 15-20 ml.
sleeve gastrectomy
As a result, patients eat less because their stomachs are quickly full . On the other hand, the part of the stomach that has been removed produces ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite. Patients are therefore less hungry.
However, if a certain number of dietary rules are not respected, weight regain after a sleeve can be rapid.
How not to gain weight
Prepare before the procedure
It is essential to put in place a certain number of things so as not to gain weight after a sleeve. For this the ideal is to be well prepared before the intervention.
Indeed, the worst thing would be to say to yourself that it is time to take advantage of it BEFORE the intervention to eat everything that you will no longer be able to eat afterwards!
This is also one of the criteria that can help you choose the team to which you will entrust the intervention, which must be multidisciplinary, as recommended by high health authorities.
This is the time to work around eating disorders if you have them and to meet dieticians, psychologists, etc., in order to find the necessary help.
After the intervention, you will eat differently, it is necessary to anticipate it to avoid the shock … And the possible fast resumption of weight.
For this, some tips :
split your meals,
eat slowly,
avoid carbonated drinks (which make you swell).
During the week preceding the intervention , it is also essential to rest your liver so that it is a little smaller to facilitate the sleeve.
After the procedure
Immediately after the sleeve and for about 3 weeks, you will eat mixed and in very small quantities .
Gradually , you will switch to a less mixed diet to start eating “normally” again after a month and a half… But in very small quantities.
We have to be prepared because we know that we don’t always eat because we are hungry , but also when we are depressed, to cope with stress, loneliness or an emotion … It will be impossible, so we will have to find a solution to “replace the blanket effect” of food with something else… Or, even better, so that you no longer need it.
What you have to understand is that the sleeve is a tool to initiate weight loss … Not a definitive solution. It is indeed very easy to eat a little more each day, or over time and suddenly to distend the pocket of the stomach, which will allow you to eat again as you did before… And therefore to gain weight again.
You can also eat only high-calorie foods and thus circumvent the effects of the sleeve and gradually regain weight.
At the same time, maintain sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals to avoid deficiencies .
guide to obesity surgery
The guide to obesity surgery to be found on Amazon.fr from 10 to 16 €.
To accompany you, you must of course be surrounded by a medical team, but you can also get help through certain books such as “The guide to obesity surgery” by Élodie Sentenac and Magali Walkowicz that we recommend.
The most important thing is of course to understand that the sleeve, like other obesity surgeries, is not a miracle operation and that in order not to gain weight, you will have to completely change your diet in the long term. Otherwise, weight regain after a sleeve will be almost inevitable!