Most bariatric surgery patients lose almost half of their excess weight in the first year after surgery. Results are different for everyone, and surgery does not guarantee a certain amount of weight loss.

Bariatric surgery is a tool that can support weight loss and may help improve health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea.

However, it's not a quick fix or cure. Long-term success will require a commitment healthy eating, regular activity, and lasting lifestyle changes.

The first year after surgery is a critical time that must be dedicated to changing your old behaviors and forming new, lifelong habits.

This is where you have control.

Successful habits that promote and maintain weight loss include the following:

• Eat three small, well-balanced, protein-focused meals and one to two snacks a day, each day.
• Avoid carbonated, caffeinated, or sugary beverages and alcohol.
• Increase exercise to a goal of 60 minutes total throughout the day for five to seven days per week.
• Follow up with our bariatric clinic on a regular basis and attend our regular support group.

Patients who understand that maintaining their weight is their ongoing responsibility and that surgery alone is not a permanent fix will maintain a healthy weight, succeed, and do better in the long-term.

Bariatric surgery changes the way you digest and absorb food, so you must carefully follow the recommendations outlined in the bariatric surgery guide for the rest of your life to maximize weight loss and to stay healthy.

Patients who eat larger portions, graze throughout the day, consume high-fat and “junk” foods, or drink high-calorie beverages tend to gain weight back.

Patients who do not add in consistent exercise to their daily routine tend to have problems maintaining their weight loss.

A program of regular exercise is very important to losing weight and keeping the weight off. More than 50% of patients achieve good-to-excellent weight loss following bariatric surgery.

Lack of exercise, poorly balanced meals, constant grazing and snacking, and drinking calorie-containing beverages are the basic causes of gaining weight back. You have control, but you don’t have to do this alone. In fact, it’s better to do it together!

Regularly attending support groups and workshops will help you maintain a healthy post-surgery lifestyle and greatly increase your odds of following the recommendations for optimal weight loss and maintenance.

The average expected weight loss from bariatric surgery is 55% to 75% of the excess weight. Patients who participate in support groups and follow up with their bariatric clinic regularly have been shown to lose more weight.