Creating Healthy Habits after Weight Loss Surgery

This blog is written by Kimberly H, a bariatric patient who discusses being a mother, eating well, working out, and trying to lose weight after weight loss surgery. Aside from sharing her experience with WLS, she discusses motivation, self-love, and mental health.

Creating healthy habits after weight loss surgery is by far the most important thing you can do after having a procedure. No matter what surgery you had done, it is critical that you remember the surgery is just a tool. You must put in the effort to ensure you have long-term success after bariatric surgery.

Here are some simple steps to start creating healthy habits after weight loss surgery

Track your meals

This is something I have always struggled with but I have found that during the times I am keeping track of my meals, I am so much stronger because I am keeping myself accountable. You should do this at the beginning when you are making sure you are getting in all of the protein you need and the correct amount of water, but I highly encourage you to continue this habit throughout your entire journey.

Get active

The minute your surgeon clears you, get active! This is so very important in living a healthy lifestyle. No matter if you walk, run, swim, play tennis, or whatever activity it is, start it early and truly embrace it!

Talk to someone

This journey is hard. Very hard. Don’t go in this by yourself. Find someone you trust and that whom you can be honest about your emotions throughout this entire process.

Eat on smaller plates

This will help you so much with setting the new standard for the way you look at food. It will also make you feel less deprived.

Keep trigger foods far away

You might think you have gotten to a point where it is alright for you to introduce certain foods back into your diet. If this is a food that you feel you cannot live without, I highly recommend that you don’t re-introduce it back into your diet. Trigger foods need to stay far away from you after weight loss surgery. Don’t disrupt all of the hard work and time you have put into this. Those few seconds of tastiness are not worth it! 

Follow these 5 healthy habits and you will be on the path toward success after WLS. What other healthy habits are important to you?