How will Your Life Change after Lap Band Weight Loss Surgery?

If you have thought about having weight loss surgery, and have chosen the Lap Band procedure for yourself, you will have to think of the changes that you are going to have to make in your life afterwards.

The main thing is that you are going to have to watch what you eat. You will not have to concern yourself so much about calorie intake, as you will not be able to take in much food to start with. You will need to be concerned about the kinds of food you are taking in. Since you are only going to be taking in a small amount of food, it needs to be quality food. You need to be sure to start every meal off with your protein, then vegetables, and then any starch or carb foods.

You will find that there are certain foods that are no longer easy to eat. A big change for most people following Lap Band surgery will be that they can no longer enjoy bread the way they used to. You have to be careful also with white meat chicken. If it is too dry, it will get stuck, and you will have to make it come back up. When food gets stuck, it can be very painful.

One thing you should always remember is that if some food is stuck, do not drink water thinking that it will make it better. This will only make it worse. The only thing you can do in this instance is to wait for the food to make its way through the opening, or, without getting too graphic, make the food come back up.

Once you have had a few experiences of “stuck food”, you will learn what you can and cannot eat. Other than the learning curve on what to eat, there are really no lifestyle changes to be concerned about. You can do everything you did without the Lap Band, only now you will most likely be doing more, because you will weigh much less, and be a much healthier person. For further information, consult our New Jersey Lap Band center or view our bariatric surgery FAQs page.