News, Updates, and Blogs in Weight Loss

Can I Regain My Weight After Bariatric Surgery

Some patients may regain weight years after bariatric surgery. This article highlights how to avoid weight regain and how we can help you achieve and maintain your weight loss goals.

May 08, 2008

         At present, no one knows the exact percentage of patients who regain weight following bariatric surgery for several reasons. First there is no universally accepted definition of a successful result or a failure. More importantly, many patients do not follow up with there surgeons after the first several years and especially those who regain significant weight. In spite of these limitations, we estimate that 80% of our patients (those who had their surgery at the Advanced Bariatric Center) maintain their weight loss while 20% regain significant amounts of weight.
       The 80% of patients who succeed have one thing in common: they have changed their lives completely. These patients understand that obesity is a long-term disease and that the surgery provides them with a very powerful tool to fight that battle – but it is only a tool. The outcome you get at the end is related to the work you put into it. The patients who succeed make healthy food choices, exercise regularly (30-60 minutes / day moderate intensity exercise) and weigh themselves daily.
Of the 20% who regain weight, most go back to old habits. They snack between meals, they graze at work, they drink high-calorie energy-dense specialty coffees every day, they return to junk food, and they deal with their stresses, anxieties and depression by running to the pantry. More than likely it is not that the surgery has failed, but the patient does not use this “powerful” tool to its capability. So what do you do?
      The first step is to come for an office visit. We will quickly determine what your weight loss goals are, whether the surgery has actually “failed”, and we will measure your resting energy expenditure (how many calories your body burns in a day) and compare that with your caloric intake. If you have appropriate “restriction” which means that you get full after you eat a correct-sized meal portion, then the tools are working. We will need to set up a nutritional plan, fitness program and help you get back on track to meeting your weight loss goals.
      After bariatric surgery, always remember five things: 1) eat slowly, chew carefully and stop eating when you are full; 2) stop snacking and grazing as you are keeping a steady stream of food going down without getting full; 3) separate your liquids from solid foods by 60 – 90 minutes; 4) reduce your net carbohydrate intake to under 25g and have fresh vegetables and fruit be the source of your caloric intake; and 5) begin a regular exercise program that consists of 30-60 minutes of brisk walking 5-6 days per week. We will begin a closer follow-up program until you achieve your weight loss goals and only then return to the standard annual post-surgery follow-up schedule.