The Last Resort
The Last Resort: Weight Loss Surgery
We hear about people having weight loss surgery, lapband,
having their stomach stapled, and etc. It sure sounds scary.
What could drive someone to surgery? For most people, if their
weight is not too severe, it is better to control their weight
through diet and exercise rather than resorting to surgery.
A small percentage of people, though have already ‘tried
everything’ and still overweight despite their best
efforts. And the problem of obesity goes far beyond the aesthetic,
being morbidly obese is as fatal as deadly. It puts you at
risk of having a heart attack or other type of cardiac disease.
You might be at risk of contracting adult onset diabetes.
These conditions are deadly. So, if you are very overweight
and have literally ‘tried everything’ to lose
weight, then you might want to enquire about weight loss surgery.
However, you should not confuse this as cosmetic surgery
such as a tummy tuck or liposuction, which physically removes
fat from your body to make you look leaner. Weight loss surgery
is designed to ‘make’ you lower your food and
calorie intake. Basically, there are two types: one type of
weight loss surgery makes the stomach cavity smaller, so,
you feel faster and that your stomach can’t hold the
amount of food that it used to. Another type of weight loss
surgery interferes with the absorption of food after it is
eaten. During digestion, most of the absorption of fat and
calories happens in the small intestine. If there’s
no absorption, then you will not gain weight from the food
you it. But, it also means that you don’t benefit from
the nutrients in the food. But if part of the small intestine
is surgically bypassed, then less fat and calories are absorbed
regardless of the amount of the food you eat.
These sound like major surgical procedures, and, in fact,
they are in their own way. Fortunately, they no longer leave
scarring or require long stay in the hospital. Some weight
loss surgery can now be done through a laparoscopy, which
is a tiny incision through which surgical instruments are
introduced and used. Because this means less actual cutting,
the recovery time is a lot shorter, too.
If you have always struggled to lose weight, then you might
be tempted to undergo the weight loss surgery. But, most doctors
won’t even consider doing weight loss surgery unless
you fit their set of criteria, you must be severely overweight,
not just slightly overweight. There must be a medical reason
for doing the surgery, like your obesity is endangering your
health. Besides, you must have a willingness to change your
lifestyle and habits.
This last item may surprise you if you think weight loss
surgery is the answer to avoid having to change your lifestyle
and habits! No such luck. To a certain degree, having the
surgery can help you to alter some certain habits, especially
if you and your doctor opt for shrinking the stomach cavity.
Having the surgery done also means that you have to be careful
about what you eat. Since now your stomach is now smaller
than it used to be, you will have to limit your intake of
liquids, especially carbonated liquids. You will have to make
sure that the food you do eat is of high quality since you
have to get all the nutrients your body needs from a decreased
quantity of food. Ultimately, you still have to exercise to
boost your metabolism, because eating less food over a long
period of time could cause your metabolism to decrease, putting
you back at square one.
As a conclusion, weight loss surgery can be a very helpful
tool but of course it shouldn’t be the ‘final
solution’ to your weight problem. Having the surgery
indicates that you are committed to your weight loss, and
that you are willing to modify your lifestyle and diet for
good.
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