Long term weight loss and maintenance after Gastric Bypass
This page is sort of a "user's manual" for the stomach pouch created in the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. The guide is targeted to patients who underwent GBP more than 6 months previously, but the best results are achieved by patients who begin to live by these guidelines even before the procedure.
The first year after gastric bypass is usually very rewarding, but this time can also be confusing, frustrating and frightening. The function of the stomach pouch "tool" changes almost continuously over the first six months, and continues to change periodically over the year or so. Just when the patient feels they have begun to understand the stomach pouch/tool and how to use it, things change all over again.
6-9 months after the surgery there is an especially frightening change that takes place around . The stomach pouch softens and expands slightly so that a patient regains a regular appetite and can "suddenly" tolerate a significantly larger amount of food. Patients frequently worry that something has pulled apart or broken on the inside, though this is rarely the case. This increased interest in food and increased capacity for food is a very natural and appropriate part of the recovery process after gastric bypass surgery. The reason it frightens patients so much is that they had previously felt they had control of their weight for the first time in their lives, and the renewed appetite threatens that they are losing control once again.
This page is about how to gain control of your weight using the stomach pouch "tool" and to keep control of the weight for life.
"Honeymoon" period after gastric bypass - You must realize that for the first 6 months or so after gastric bypass you did NOT have control of your weight. The pounds were going to come off almost no matter what you did
The stomach pouch can not handle enough calories to maintain weight for the first few months. syndrome, which can be shaken off by exercise.
The return of appetite and the increase in food capacity signal an end to the honeymoon period and a transition to the rest of life.
Your surgeon has created a stomach pouch that will be your tool to use to control your weight for life. We describe the stomach pouch as a tool so that patients understand the necessity that you learn how to use it, and stick with the "rules of the tool" over time. Patients who are aiming for the best long term success begin using these concepts and rules immediately after the gastric bypass.
The time to really choose your new habits is during the early recovery after surgery – this is when your motivation is highest, and the rest of your life has been thrown out of kilter by the surgery anyway. Use this early recovery period to choose your new exercise and diet habits. And even though patients lose weight "no matter what" for the first few months, use of the concepts outlined below will also maximize the weight loss during the honeymoon period – take advantage of this time so that when appetite and capacity return there is not so much further to go in achieving a weight goal.
Thanks To :
Latham Flanagan, MD. Many of the concepts and many of the terms used in this outline have been learned from him. Dr. Flanagan practices bariatric surgery in Eugene:
www.oregoncenter.com
"Rules of the Tool"
OK, here are the magic "rules of the tool" (are you ready?):
Diet and Exercise. Seriously. The good news is that diet and exercise, supported by your pouch/tool, can help you achieve your goal weight with excellent energy and without uncomfortable hunger.
SOURCE:
http://www.sabariatric.com/index.html
The Keys to Success
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