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Seven Things Not To Do After You've Undergone A Gastric Sleeve Procedure

After patients undergo the gastric sleeve procedure, they need to avoid certain behaviors and habits. Certain behaviors can compromise a patient's chances of reaching weight loss goals after gastric sleeve surgery and make it more difficult to achieve optimal health.

The following are seven things patients should not do after undergoing the gastric sleeve procedure.

Being impatient

The gastric sleeve procedure can potentially make it significantly easier for patients to get their weight under control. However, it still takes time to drop weight even after the procedure.

Patients need to be patient and understand that they'll need to be persistent if they want their procedure to end up being successful. 

Drinking alcohol

Drinking alcohol after the procedure is a bad idea for numerous reasons. For one thing, alcoholic beverages tend to be high in calories and can cause weight gain.

It's also important to note that alcohol has a tendency to stimulate the appetite so that it's more difficult for patients to stick to their dietary regime if they drink alcohol. 

Reverting to old eating habits

Gastric sleeve surgery alone won't necessarily lead to weight loss. Patients need to change their eating habits to lose weight and keep it off after the procedure. They need to make changes to their eating habits permanent or the procedure won't be successful long term. 

Swallowing food before chewing it long enough

Some patients experience side effects like nausea and vomiting while recovering from the surgery. This happens because the stomach might at first struggle to digest food effectively. When patients chew their food very thoroughly, the stomach's job is made easier so that nausea and vomiting become less likely.

Neglecting to exercise

In addition to eating healthy and reducing caloric intake, patients also need to exercise to lose weight after their gastric sleeve procedure. Patients can start exercising after the procedure as soon as their doctor lets them know that they have adequately healed for physical activity. 

Forgetting to take medications that they've been prescribed

Patients may be prescribed certain medications after gastric sleeve surgery such as pain medications. It's important that patients take any medications prescribed by their doctor to ensure that their recovery goes as smoothly as possible. 

Failing to take in all the necessary nutrients

Patients tend to eat less while recovering from gastric sleeve surgery because they have less of an appetite. This makes it important for patients to track their nutrient intake and make sure that they're eating nutrient-rich foods to meet their needs with a smaller quantity of food.

In many cases, doctors recommend that patients take multivitamins or supplements to be certain that they are getting adequate nutrient intake while recovering. 

For more information on gastric sleeve surgery, contact a doctor near you.


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