We want you to experience successful weight loss with improved health and quality of life. What you eat and drink is going to dramatically affect your outcome after bariatric surgery. You are going to learn new ways to nourish your body and change your relationship with food.
If your insurance requires it you will begin working on a healthy eating program prior to your surgery. This will be accomplished by participating in a medically monitored weight management program, called "Lighter Lifestyles" at Halifax Health Medical Center. A few weeks before your surgery, we will place you on a high protein, low carbohydrate, low calorie diet to help prepare your body for surgery. Right after your surgery, you will be placed on liquids, next on pureed food, and then transitioned back to solid food. There will be an emphasis on eating adequate protein, avoiding sugar and high carbohydrate foods, taking specific vitamins and minerals and consuming beverages at certain times in order to maximize your health and avoid complications.
The reason why there is an emphasis on eating protein, is because your body cannot make its own protein. There are essential amino acids (which are building blocks of protein) that can only be obtained from food. Your stomach will be very small after the weight loss surgery…so you will not be able to eat much food. This means that whatever you eat, it must be very nutritious. Eating a minimum of sixty grams of protein per day will help minimize or prevent muscle loss or wasting. If you were to fill up your stomach pouch with high carbohydrate foods instead of protein, much of your initial weight loss will be muscle loss. Losing muscle will decrease your metabolism and may delay or prevent you from reaching your weight loss goal.
We will be working with you before, during and after your surgery, and need you to attend the pre-operative education classes, as well as the one month, three month, sixth month and one year post-operative nutrition classes. You are going to learn a tremendous amount of information about what to eat at all of these classes. Even though you may think you are "doing just fine" after surgery, we find that it is difficult for most people to remember everything that was taught. Reinforcement of your health plan will not only help you achieve your weight loss goal, but help ensure that you keep the weight off long term. The nutrition classes will also allow you to interact and share ideas with other people who are going through the same thing as you, as well as have professional guidance from a registered dietitian trained in bariatrics.
Setting a goal is one thing but achieving that goal requires the synthesis of all of the four components that make up a human life: lifestyle, physical state, mental state, and spirituality. At East Coast Bariatrics, we are here to assist you in developing an exercise lifestyle that is consistent with these human life components.
With routine exercise comes structure and discipline and this, in turn, strengthens all areas of our lives. Without self-discipline we end up with chaos and dysfunction that will eventually be manifested in one or more areas of our existence -- whether it be in our spirituality, physical state, mental state or lifestyle in general.
To begin the endeavor of incorporating exercise into your lifestyle, it is important to evaluate the type of lifestyle you have. Many of us have hectic, fast-paced lifestyles that leave us with very little time for extra-curricular activities. We will assist you in setting realistic goals, as we work together to design your exercise program. Our exercise team will use a holistic wellness approach and incorporate three primary components of exercise: strength, flexibility as well as cardio respiratory activities from the start. These are the keys to a well-rounded fitness program that will be essential to your success.
Committing to exercise on a regular basis is very important. We all have obstacles that prevent us from committing. Working around those obstacles is just a matter of conviction and discipline. You will need to determine which time of the day best suits your schedule and lifestyle. Put aside one hour to accomplish the activity. This may mean waking up one hour earlier, although it does not necessarily mean you will be exercising for that length of time initially. It is important to give yourself enough time so you are not rushed.
As the days and weeks progress, the structure you have defined for your exercise will slowly evolve into other avenues of your lifestyle. Exercise is a great source of mental cleansing from the stresses of the day and great way just to get out and enjoy the fresh air. As you move closer to and closer to achieving your goal, you will begin to possess mental freedom and that feels really good! Your body will respond with physical strength and stamina you never thought possible. Spiritually you will experience a higher sense of being and a stronger sense of comfort with yourself and others.
For questions:
Dietician, Diane Allen: Diane.Allen@halifax.org
Dietician, Michelle Swords: DMichelle.Swords@halifax.org
Dietician, Stacey Scrabis: Stacey.Scrabis@halifax.org
Exercise Physiologist, Anna Slavich: Anna.Slavich@halifax.org
