Keep fluids calorie free. Your surgery restricts calories from solid foods by limiting the amount of food you can eat at one time. It is not good at restricting calories from fluids. Sipping on higher calorie fluids can derail your efforts. 100% fruit juice, if consumed, should be limited to 6 oz. a day. Milk and/or protein drinks count as a meal or snack. Sugar sweetened beverages should be strictly avoided. Alcohol can also contribute significantly to caloric intake and may slow weight loss or cause regain.
Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery News and Info
Be in the know. Make education a top priority. You’ll need knowledge and skills to make changes in the way you eat, think and live for best results from your surgery. Barix Clinics offers many educational opportunities; follow up appointments, in-person support groups, a Facebook support group, monthly newsletters, and tips sheets. You can sign up to receive emails when the newsletter and tips are available or access past editions at barixclinicsstore.com. Being part of the online or in person support groups helps you to stay informed and motivated.
Track. If you monitor specific behaviors, you’re more likely to be successful at keeping them up.
- Take and record your weight on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Understand that it is normal for your weight to fluctuate by a few pounds, but have an upper weight flagged as a warning sign. If you weight creeps past that warning flag, it’s time to take action.
- Keep a food log. Using a website or phone app will make keeping a food log much easier. You’ll be able to see that you’re meeting your nutrition goals and if there are shifts in your eating behavior. You’ll be able to easy see the number of calories you’re consuming and how this impacts your weight. This single act will make you very aware of and help you to control your food intake.
- Find one or more ways to measure your exercise efforts. It may be the number of steps you take in a day or week; the pounds you can lift for a variety of exercises, or the number of cycling classes you take in a week. We all have great intensions, but it’s important to tract the efforts that we are actually able to make.
