October 2018 - VIDA Bariatrics

Exercising After Bariatric Surgery: Stay Healthy & Tone Your Muscles

Having Bariatric Surgery is a significant part of your weight-loss journey. The word journey is something that, as a bariatric patient, you need to remember, because life really changes after weight loss surgery.

Here, at VIDA Bariatrics we have been lucky enough to guide thousands of patients through their bariatric and post-bariatric journeys. One of the things we always remind them of is: your body will change. The way you eat and exercise after bariatric surgery must change as well. Ready for the next chapter? the one that starts the morning after the surgery.

From experience, we know that as a patient, if you are committed to it, life after bariatric surgery definitely changes for the better!

Our VIDA Bariatric surgeons always encourage patients to think of weight loss surgery as a new beginning, a new chance at being healthy and happy. If you’ve been struggling with obesity, surgery alone will not give you the results that you want. Any weight loss procedure you get is just one ingredient for progress.

How to Lose Weight After Bariatric Surgery

Do you want to know how to lose weight after bariatric surgery? The most important thing to keep in mind is that proper nutrition and working out after bariatric surgery is as important as going into the OR! We also understand it can be intimidating having to keep up with all the things you now have to change and adjust. In reality, with easy-to-follow lifestyle changes and the right support team (Us!), you can expect some amazing results.

Today we want to share with you some valuable information and tips on exercise after bariatric surgery, so you’re better prepared for your new beginning: weight loss, self-love, and wellness.

Exercise and Bariatric Surgery

You probably have a lot of doubts regarding exercise following your weight loss surgery. It is a surgical procedure after all! Some of the questions we get from patients revolve around the right time to start doing physical activity and the best exercise after bariatric surgery.

Incorporating sweat-inducing activities into your post-bariatric routine has tremendous benefits, not only for your weight loss goals but for your health in general. Exercising after bariatric surgery will help you:

Boost your metabolism.
Strengthen your joints and bones.
Reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
Lose pounds and keep them off.
Reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer.
Improve your mood.

Working Out After Bariatric Surgery

What else do our bariatric surgeons want you to know? Be kind and patient with yourself! Your doctor will tell you exactly when you can start working out. High-intensity cardio and weight training after bariatric surgery will be off the table from anywhere to 6 weeks for patients who had laparoscopic surgery to 10 weeks for patients who had open surgery. But there are other things you can do in the meantime. Read more here on what to do after weight loss surgery.

Exercise for bariatric surgery patients: step by step

Literally, step by step! The first physical activity your surgeon will clear you to do is walking. Walking after your surgery is a simple, yet effective way to kick-start your post-bariatric fitness journey.

Always go with what your body is telling you. While exercising does require effort, you should not feel sick, dizzy, or in pain, particularly in the first few weeks after surgery. So, the first week, stick to walking. You can start to walk around your house, try to resume your daily chores and take a short walk around the block. Slow and steady, nothing too strenuous!

As the amount and type of exercise you can do increases, don’t stop walking. We always encourage patients to aim for 10,000 daily steps.

Post-Bariatric Surgery Exercise Plan

When you exercise after your procedure, start off slow and steady, and as your doctor allows, you can incorporate more exercises such as swimming, dancing, and biking. Try and find something that you enjoy too or ask your loved ones to join you for a quick power walk! A couple of weeks following the procedure, you should start to focus on your flexibility and strengthening your muscles as well. As a post-bariatric patient, you can do yoga, ballet, aerobics, or pilates. A good combination of aerobic exercise and weight resistance training will give you the best post-bariatric results!

Toning exercises and building muscle after bariatric surgery

Adopting a new workout routine should always be done under professional guidance. We believe that joining a gym is great and can be very motivating, but always remember that as a post-bariatric patient, slow and steady is rule #1. Set yourself up for success by trying some of these tips:

Don’t lift weights that are too heavy. Start with few reps and light weights, and slowly build up to that muscular guy working out next to you. Do what feels best for you!
Body weight exercises can be just as effective. If it’s been a while since you’ve worked out, avoid injuring yourself. Start doing toning exercises such as squats, lunges, and sit-ups with no additional equipment. We cannot stress this enough, be patient and you’ll get stronger.
Looking for an additional challenge? Try using resistance bands to perform exercises such as biceps curls, squats, and leg raise. Those stretchy little things are seriously effective.
Always dedicate several minutes to warming up before your workout session and make sure to stretch afterward.

And most importantly, enjoy your workout. You are doing something great for your health and body! It is good to remember that saggy skin can only be toned up so much, so you could always consider post-bariatric plastic surgery to help. Ask your surgeon for more advanced exercise program recommendations so you can tone your muscles better.

Contact any of our experienced bariatric surgeons with questions or concerns regarding bariatric surgery, post-bariatric exercise guidelines, diet recommendations, and anything in between. Call VIDA Bariatrics at (619)610-1667.

Bariatric Surgery & Diabetes 101

Can bariatric surgery help in remission of diabetes? It is highly likely. Weight loss surgery offers an extraordinary opportunity for patients with type 2 diabetes to improve their insulin production, in some cases, merely days after getting the procedure. If you have type 2 diabetes, you probably know by now the importance of losing weight in order to help your pancreas function and improve your insulin sensitivity. However, when losing weight through diet and exercise alone, it can take you years to improve your condition, and probably never with the level of effectiveness achieved through surgery. For some patients, losing weight by traditional means simply does not work. It can be a frustrating and a vicious cycle: patients are told to lose weight in order to manage their diabetes. They can’t lose weight and they cannot beat diabetes so they lose hope.

Now thanks to weight loss surgery, when combined with diet and exercise, most patients are finally able to lose weight effectively. Bariatric surgery for diabetics is a total lifesaver, read along to discover why. Here at VIDA Bariatrics, helping patients beat obesity and obesity-related diseases is something we do on a daily basis, including diabetic patients. Let us tell you what bariatric surgery can do to the remission of diabetes.

The basics of Bariatric Surgery and Diabetes

The most popular types of bariatric or metabolic surgeries performed to help diabetics are:

Gastric Bypass: A procedure in which the bariatric surgeon separates the top part of the stomach, leaving you with a small stomach pouch and jumps or bypasses up to 3 meters of the intestine. This approach has a positive metabolic effect on patients!

Gastric Sleeve: One of the less invasive metabolic surgeries, your doctor will remove the majority of your stomach, leaving you with a small tubular stomach “sleeve” that restricts the amount of food you can consume.

Duodenal Switch: one of the most common procedures for diabetic patients, during a duodenal switch the stretchable portion of the stomach is removed and around ¾ of the upper small intestine is bypassed. It’s similar to a combination of a Gastric Sleeve and Gastric Bypass, offering a beneficial metabolic effect for patients.

Bariatric Surgery for Diabetes

How else can any of the bariatric surgeries help you cure diabetes? Besides leaving you with a smaller functional stomach, or a “stomach pouch”, metabolic surgeries dramatically decrease the appetite-inducing hormone, ghrelin. Feeling less hungry and being able to less food, combined with dietary changes, will lead to weight loss and make the manageability of type 2 diabetes more manageable. But what makes the surgical approach truly magnificent is that even before any weight loss happens, patients are going into diabetes remission merely days after bariatric surgery. How is this possible? Hint: the answer is not in your stomach!

With a Gastric Bypass and a Duodenal Switch, both procedures in which portions of the small intestine are bypassed, doctors observed that the small intestine increased its production of GLUT-1, a molecule that optimizes the use of glucose in our body. This has enabled some patients to stop taking medications days after leaving the hospital.

Another benefit of metabolic surgery is that by following a healthy diet, most patients will rapidly improve their metabolic profile, accelerating weight loss even more!

Am I a candidate to get bariatric surgery for type 2 diabetes?

There are several things you have to check with your doctor in order to determine if weight loss surgery is the best approach to help you treat diabetes. While most doctors won’t perform surgery on patients with a BMI lower than 40, having an obesity-related disease such as type 2 diabetes changes things.

Diabetic patients who have struggled for a long time to lose weight and have a BMI of 35 or higher are considered candidates for metabolic surgery. Your doctor will also talk to you about the importance of changing your exercise and dietary habits. When considering metabolic surgery, you should keep in mind that following a pre-bariatric diet is required to prepare you for surgery. And in order to lose weight and keep it off, you also need to consider the commitment and adjustments you’ll need to make to your lifestyle habits after the surgery. Our VIDA Bariatrics surgeons always remind us that there are many factors to determine what is the best bariatric surgery for diabetes, including your commitment to changing your lifestyle.

Are you looking for an effective alternative to treat diabetes? Bariatric surgery could be for you! There are so many unrivaled benefits of bariatric surgery for diabetes, let us help you. If you want to determine if you could be a candidate for metabolic surgery to treat Type 2 diabetes, call us now at (619)610-1667.

Read our recent post on Gastric Bypass vs Mini Gastric Bypass

Gastric Sleeve vs Gastric Bypass Surgery

Bariatric Surgery Diet: Prepping for Your Surgery

Thinking about Bariatric Surgery? Nothing is more gratifying than the moment when bariatric patients reach their target weight, are back to feeling content and healthy, and obesity is nothing but a closed chapter in their lives. But, as any bariatric surgeon can tell you, the procedure itself is only one component in your weight loss journey. The key to being a healthy, successful bariatric patient? Your diet! No bariatric surgery results can be sustained without a healthy bariatric diet, both before and after the surgery.

The expert bariatrics and nutrition team at VIDA Bariatrics got together to explain the importance of following a healthy diet before the surgery, so you get a better idea of the process you are about to go through. Never forget though, this is going to be an incredibly fulfilling journey!

Start off right with a Pre-bariatric surgery diet

If you qualify for any of the following procedures: a Gastric Bypass, a Lap Band or a Gastric Sleeve, you should know that healthifying your dietary habits is the key to losing weight and regaining your health. We can never stress this enough: for any bariatric surgery, diet and exercise are as important as the procedure itself. Being healthy must be a constant goal, and if you put in the effort, your VIDA Bariatrics team will be here to guide you and help you finally beat obesity!

Once you are ready to schedule your surgery, ask your doctor what you need to know about the pre-bariatric surgery diet. While the specifics will vary from patient to patient, we want to give you a comprehensive guide so you can be better prepared!

Best way to prep: a healthy diet and a pre-bariatric meal plan

For most patients, the specific date when they need to start following a pre-bariatric surgery meal plan is 2 weeks before the scheduled surgery. Although our experts recommend that from the moment you start to consider bariatric surgery, you should stick to a balanced meal plan and lose a bit of weight. This will make you healthier for the actual surgery, substantially decrease your risks during the surgical procedure and post-operative complications, and speed up the recovery process. Do you need more reasons to start eating better before surgery? Think of nutrition as the foundation for the procedure itself: following a healthy diet designed specifically to prep you for your surgery will ensure that all your meals are balanced, include all necessary vitamins and decrease the amount of fat in your liver. Before going into the OR, doctors want you to follow the right bariatric meal plan in order to have your body at its healthiest!

A Pre-bariatric surgery timeline

Before your doctor clears you for surgery, anywhere from 1 to 12 months can pass. During that time, you should try to follow a healthy routine. These are some simple pre-bariatric eating tips that will help you accomplish your goal:

Limit the number of processed foods you eat. Start planning portions and preparing your meals. This habit will also be incredibly valuable after having bariatric surgery. Meals made at home make it easy for you to control the quality and quantity of the ingredients you eat.
Eliminate saturated fats and sugary foods or drinks, like juices, energy drinks, and sodas.
Avoid alcoholic beverages, simple carbs, and caffeinated drinks.
Quit smoking as soon as possible. Not strictly a diet issue, but when surgery time comes, the less time you’ve been a smoker, the better. Two weeks before the procedure, smoking is completely prohibited.

What to Expect for Your Bariatric Diet

The weeks leading up to the surgery are an active part of the operation, and just as important as a skilled surgeon or an experienced anesthesiologist. These last few days before the big day are the culmination of your efforts!

Between 14 to 7 days pre-op expect your surgeon to put you on a special diet. Depending on the type of surgery you’re getting and the progress you’ve made so far, most patients can expect to follow a soft or liquid diet before bariatric surgery, although this might sound intimidating, your meal plan will be balanced and include a variety of beverages and liquids that will satisfy your appetite, such as fresh protein shakes and cozy soups or broths, consuming an average of 800 to 1,200 calories per day. Just keep in mind that the 800-1200 calorie pre-bariatric surgery diet is only a guide, your bariatric surgeon will tailor the meal plan to you, so you won’t miss out on vitamins and nutrients.

What to Eat Before Bariatric Surgery

The night before the surgery, follow your diet and consume your last meal when instructed by your doctor. This might be anywhere from 12 to 8 hours before getting to the hospital. The day of your surgery, do a total fast. Don’t drink or eat anything unless your surgeon tells you otherwise. Going into the operating room with a full stomach can even force the doctor to stop the procedure and reschedule you.

Bariatric Surgery Diet Sneak peek, Recipes and more.

Your bariatric surgeon will try to give you as much variety as possible, so you will consume different meal replacements and liquids throughout the day to make you feel satisfied. Look at this daily meal plan example from one of our patients!

MEAL PLAN EXAMPLE

Before starting your liquid diet and after you have completed your post-surgery dietary adjustments, you can prepare delicious recipes that are healthy and will support your weight loss efforts. Some of our favorite tips?

Veggie everything: stir-frys, salads, and smoothies. Time for dessert? Blending ½ cup of bananas with ½ cup of frozen strawberries for a yummy “nice” cream. Craving Mexican? What about preparing tacos with a lean protein such as chicken breasts? Contact our registered dietitians to help you get started on delicious recipes and a sustainable bariatric meal plan!

Our biggest tip? Be patient with yourself and your process. Eat better to feel better, getting ready to have bariatric surgery takes time and compromise, let us help make this simple. Contact us now at (619)610-1667 to get you bariatric surgery ready!

Plastic Surgery After Bariatric Surgery: Jumpstart Your New Life

There is one thing that always makes all of us at VIDA Wellness and Beauty Center genuinely happy: post-bariatric patients who have changed their bodies, reached their target weight and are excited about their post-bariatric life. What’s next? We’re sure this “new you” has opened up new possibilities! Let’s talk about having cosmetic surgery after bariatric surgery, the final step of your weight loss transformation.

Post-Bariatric Cosmetic Surgery

Thanks to bariatric surgery, patients can lose up to 80% of their body weight. This is a definite success, however, after losing that amount of weight it’s natural to be left with heavy, sagging extra skin folds all over your body. The good news? Post-bariatric cosmetic surgery can help you say goodbye to that last reminder of your heavier self.

What better way to celebrate beating obesity than by looking better than ever? Our team of dedicated plastic surgeons offers procedures specifically designed to help post-bariatric patients make the most out of the weight they lost.

Plastic Surgery for Bariatric Patients: what diet and exercise can’t do for you.

What our doctors understand, and you should too, is that getting bariatric surgery is going to change your body and the way you feel about it! At VIDA Bariatrics we love seeing our patients rediscover self-love and pride about the way they look and feel. Post-bariatric plastic surgery is the cherry on top: the culmination of your dedication and effort, of going through a procedure and following a diet plan, of changing your habits.

Post-Bariatric Surgery Plastic Surgery

These are some of the most popular post-bariatric surgery plastic surgery options that should be on your radar:

Body Lift: Sometimes separated into lower body lift and upper body lift, these are a combination of post-weight loss plastic surgeries carefully tailored to your body. Your plastic surgeon will customize your body lift procedure with you, employing procedures such as tummy tucks, butt lifts, arm or thigh liposuction, and a breast lift. The results are even better than you’d imagine:

Tummy tuck: Having a tummy tuck after bariatric surgery is one of the most sought-after procedures by post-bariatric patients. When there are sagging skin and stubborn pockets of fat in our abdomens, there’s little diet and exercise can do. An expertly performed abdominoplasty is the most effective way to remove excess skin in your stomach.

Breast surgery: breast lift or breast augmentation. Bariatric patients can be left with sagging breasts. Give your chest area extra help with either a breast lift, an augmentation with implants or a combination of both. A breast lift for bariatric patients will give you a more youthful appearance, removing or reversing the effects of massive weight loss and gravity! Just look at this amazing transformation:

body lift and breast lift — Body Lift & Breast Lift

Sound too good to be true? Have a look at more of the amazing results from our patients’ plastic surgery pictures, or our patients’ success stories. As our surgeons like to put it, the combination of plastic and bariatric surgery is an invaluable medical tool to give you your life back: decrease obesity-related diseases, fall in love with your body again, wear the clothes you want…enjoy this new life, because truly, you’ve earned it!

Our team of VIDA surgeons will help you determine if you are a good candidate for post-bariatric plastic surgery, by looking at factors such as your weight and the stability of it, how your health has improved after bariatric surgery, and how well you have followed up on your commitment to following a healthy lifestyle.

Yes, the next great success story of the patient who beat obesity could be you! Wondering about what comes after bariatric surgery? What plastic surgery might be the best for you? Then, what are you waiting for? Call us at 619 610 1667 or email us at info@vidawellnessandbeauty.com to schedule a free consultation with our expert plastic surgeons. Let’s finish sculpting that body you’ve worked so hard for!

Learn about some of our Plastic Surgery Travel Packages

Exercising after Weight Loss Surgery

Dr. Gabriela Rodriguez specializes in General and Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery. She brings to VIDA Wellness and Beauty a wealth of experience in bariatrics.

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Start Your Weight Loss Journey with Bariatric Surgery in Tijuana, Mexico

To schedule an appointment with our bariatric surgeon to learn more about the advantages of bariatric surgery in Tijuana, México, contact VIDA Wellness and Beauty by calling 1-619-313-6435 (toll free) and start your weight loss journey!

Weight Loss Surgery vs. Diet and Exercise: What You Need to Know

Have you been struggling with obesity for a long time? If you have tried to lose weight and had little to no success, it can be very frustrating. You can follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Or, you can consider Bariatric Surgery, one of the most effective options that could be a total life changer for the right candidate. Which approach to dealing with obesity is better? Is weight loss surgery vs. diet and exercise a fair comparison?

A healthy diet and an exercise routine seem to be the easiest, simplest methods for losing weight. But if you are reading this, you’ve probably tried a diet program or two, signed up at your local gym, and still haven’t been able to make progress. What added benefits does bariatric surgery have? And, are the benefits worth it? Is Bariatric surgery more effective than regular dieting and exercising?

Our expert bariatric surgeons shared with us some of the pros and cons of both approaches and offered some advice on how to decide if weight loss surgery is for you.

Bariatric Surgery vs Natural Weight Loss

First, no bariatric surgeon underestimates the benefits of following a healthy lifestyle. Apart from maintaining a healthy weight, it can help prevent many diseases, improve your mood and boost your energy.

Some of the pros of exercising regularly and eating healthy foods are: Increase your metabolic rate; improve your circulation, heart, and lung function; sleep better; decrease your risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure; decrease the risk of certain cancers; prevent brain disorders and mental conditions. Furthermore, doing these as part of your daily routine means developing healthy habits for life. A major con to choosing only diet and exercise is that your progress might be incredibly slow. And your metabolism might not respond to this “natural” weight loss approach.

“Following a balanced diet and exercising regularly are the most valuable habits anyone can have in order to live a long, fulfilling life. It is a mistake, however, to think that Bariatric Surgery is opposed to this,” explained Dr. Oscar Lumban, one of the Bariatric Surgeons at VIDA. “A healthy diet is vital, whether you are dealing with obesity or not. The same goes for exercising. But, it’s an unfair misconception to assume that these alone will help people beat obesity for good. Some patients have success with a new diet at first, but end up stalling or gaining the weight back. Patients who are obese need extra help, and that is the biggest advantage of choosing weight loss surgery.”

Patients who don’t respond to diets can find unrivaled benefits in a bariatric procedure, either a Gastric Sleeve, a Gastric Bypass, or a Lap Band.

“I always remind patients that weight loss surgery does not undermine their efforts to eat healthily and be more active. On the contrary, they complement each other. One couldn’t be successful without the other! And, for most of my bariatric patients, the weight they lost after having surgery and committing to living a healthy life, is priceless,” adds Dr. Rodriguez, who for years has been helping patients get their lives back through Bariatric Surgery.

Is weight loss surgery more effective than diet and exercise?

Weight loss surgery actually makes diet and exercise effective for those who have been battling obesity for years but haven’t thrived on conventional methods. If your BMI is over 35, you diet, lose weight, and gain it all back within months, then bariatric surgery might be for you!

The biggest con our doctors hear from their patients is that bariatric surgery is risky and recovery might be uncomfortable. While any surgery does have certain risks, the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Our bariatric doctors opt for a laparoscopic method, making surgery and recovery less invasive and less uncomfortable for patients. A little discomfort and an adjustment period are expected post-bariatric surgery, but for patients, beating obesity is finally possible. These surgeries, when paired with a balanced diet and exercise, will improve their quality of life indefinitely.

Do you think you may be a candidate for bariatric surgery? Is this something you have explored with your physician? Call us now at 619 610 1667 and let’s finally beat obesity, together!

VIDA Bariatrics

Monthly Archives: October 2018