Controlling Obesity With A Bariatric Diet
Article by Flor Serquina
You’re mall-hopping and was really surprised to meet a long-ago classmate who used to be the class “giant” with her bulges. Used-to-be because now she’s in those fashionable slim jeans and figure-hugging tank tops. Being a little overweight yourself, you could not help but ask how she did it. The answer: bariatric surgery. Should you need go under the knife? What about bariatric diet?
For some, surgery is the quickest, most convenient (at least in terms of sacrifice and curbing your urges) way to reduce weight and achieve that perfect figure. Bariatric surgery, under that branch of bariatrics medicine which deals with obesity, is available for those who have reached a level wherein it is no longer possible to treat their obesity with simple diets.
Bariatric surgery comes in several options, together with the attendant pros and cons and side effects. There are malabsorptive procedures, banded gastroplasty or stapling, gastric band, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy. For those who undergo the surgical procedure, a bariatric diet is recommended because the procedures require adhering to strict standards in food intake.
There are several studies on the use of gastric-bariatric surgery for worst-case obesity. The National Institutes of Health have several publications on this, and you can check them out to find out for yourself if you have to undergo bariatric surgery. You need to understand the operation first, and the changes demanded of your lifestyle should you opt for surgery.
But before you go ahead with the bypass, you ought to know that complications arise, such as reflux, diarrhea, vomiting, surgical leaks (at the re-connections of gastric organs), hernia of the abdomen and infections. These are documented in studies made by the Agency for Healthcare Research and the National Institutes of Health. And they say that complications still come and tend to increase over time, partly resulting from the patient’s inability to adhere to strict conditions set for post-surgical dieting and lifestyle change.
Diet Instead of Surgery
For the not-so-extreme obesity cases, a bariatric diet can still be helpful to ensure a successful weight loss program so that surgery is not resorted to. Bariatric diets are high-protein diet plans that involve not only the food intake diet, but also an exercise regimen. Sometimes, behavior therapy is included in the program together with vitamin and medication supplements to ensure weight-loss success.
Initially, you can consult your physician before you embark on a bariatric diet. Thereafter, you can consult other experts, even online ones, on bariatric diets that cover not only basic meals but also complementary meals from protein-rich fruit and vegetable shakes and drinks, protein bars, soups, cakes and pastries sans the fat and cholesterol, low-cal and low-carb desserts, soya-based or whey-protein-based snacks, and other in-between-meals items.
Some websites provide free sample diet and meal plans for pre-bariatric and post-bariatric-surgery cases. You can see for yourself a variety of main meal diets, supplementary protein rich drinks, multi-vitamin supplements, fruit purees and a lot of other bariatric diet recipes. The Med Diet site offers diet tips, surgery tips, new products, tailor-fitted products from bariatric health professionals.
If you would want ready-made bariatric diet plans and kits, you can visit e-shopping sites like the Bariatric Choice, which provides starter diet plans and sustained plans. They also offer bariatric food preparations that you can order online and have shipped to you directly. They also have vitamins that are meant to supplement the kind of bariatric diet you subscribe to.
Your Diet, Your Call
Whichever option you take, surgery or strict diet, remember that it is not a one-time deal. Bariatric diet or diets, for pre or post-surgery, are combinations of continuing food plans, supplementary medication, exercise therapy and ultimately lifestyle-changing activities. It is your call which ones you choose to go through.
Visit The-Good-Diet.com for useful information and resources about bariatric diet, free diet programs and free online diet plans.
Question by gret: I need to lose about 15 pounds and am thinking about the Bariatric Diet. Is this a healthy way to lose weight
I’ve heard alot about it and it sounds like you lose very quickly. I have always heard that it is not a good idea to lose weight fast because you will gain it back just as fast.
Best answer:
Answer by Andrew
Hmm. I’ve never heard of the bariatric diet, but I’m guessing it relies on eating very small amounts of food (i.e., deprivation). On the other hand, bariatrics are known for eating a mostly high protein, low carbohydate diet – with minimal, if any, refined sugar – so in that sense it can be healthy. Just make sure what you are eating is a balanced diet – don’t neglect carbs entirely, and also don’t forget about healthy fat consumption and of course protein is important. But you are right, it’s not good to do anything radical to your diet such that you lose weight at a crazy pace. This will only slow your metabolism, and as soon as you return to more normal eating habits – the weight will pack itself back on like you wouldn’t believe
Add your own answer in the comments!
That’s true. If you lose it fast, you gain it back fast… plus a few more pounds. To lose weight and keep it off, modify your diet, and exercise…. meaning burn more calories than you take in. Exercise can be anything, including fishing, gardening, or bowling. There is no magic pill for true weight loss.
Weight Watchers is the best I found and I have been on diets for 30 years, off and on. This one really works and it is healty unlike many.
You never want to lose more than 2lbs a week. This is the ideal. If you try to lose more you take the chance of really messing up your metablolism and it is hard to fix once you do.
Your body goes into starvation mode and trys to retail as many calories as it can. It thinks you are starving and your caveman style “says eat or die”. This saved many a caveman by allowing all they ate to store up to get them through times of no food.
If you lose it slowly your body has time to adjust. And your mind can get used to the smaller you. Our minds play tricks on us too if we get small to fast. Your mind can even still think you are fat.
This is not healthy. Since you only have 15 lbs to lose it should not be that hard. The last 5 lbs is always the hardest. If you cut out soda, fast food, and high fat foods you should be able to accomplish this rather easily unless your metabolism is messed up. Eat smaller portions too.
Good Luck
Diets are okay and everything, but they can decrease your metabolism, causing your body to conserve fat. What you really need is some long, slow aerobic exercise. Go for at least 12-15 minutes or more per day of walking, jogging, running, cycling, or some other kind of exercise such as these, and don’t stop doing this once you get rid of the weight you want to get rid of. Another thing to keep in mind is that weight really isn’t the problem; fat is the problem. Weight and fat are NOT the same thing. Muscle actually weighs almost 7 times as much as fat. So don’t pay too much attention to your weight; instead pay attention to how thin you look and how good you feel.