If you struggle with obesity, then gastric bypass can be the right solution for you. However, you still need to incorporate the right lifestyle practices to avoid overeating after your surgery during your recovery time.
Surgical procedures can help you lose weight quickly, but they can’t do everything for you. At the end of the day, you’ll be less hungry, but it’s still up to you to eat the right kinds of foods in the right quantities.
Otherwise, you could have gastric bypass stomach pain after eating. So in this article, let’s talk about how to avoid overeating after your bariatric surgery.
Overeating After Gastric Bypass: Overview
It’s very possible to eat too much food after gastric bypass surgery and it’s something that should be avoided. Your stomach could be about 75% smaller and it’ll be much thinner.
This means you’ll feel full faster. It also makes stomach stretching easier due to your new small pouch. To avoid issues, you should not overeat, even as a coping or stress reduction mechanism.
If you do, gastric bypass pain after eating is common among patients. Aim to implement meditation, light exercise, or other lifestyle habits to avoid compensating with snacking.
What Happens If You Eat Too Much After Gastric Bypass?
The consequences of overeating with your new bariatric pouch are: additional weight gain, stress on your small intestines, irregular bowel movements, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, acid reflux.
Overeating after gastric bypass has additional downsides as well:
GERD
One of the main downsides to gastric bypass is something called GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). This is where there’s too much food in your stomach to digest at one time and it spits it back up into your esophagus.
Often, you will get that feeling of heartburn. It can become manageable if you consult your weight loss doctor for preventative measures.
Reach out to Arch Bariatrics for more information on handling these symptoms after gastric bypass in St. Louis, MO.
Dumping Syndrome
Dumping syndrome is another issue that can happen if you consume too much food. This causes food to go into your intestine without being digested.
This puts a lot of strain on your internal organs and some of the side effects you may experience after that are nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, and sweat. You could even reduce your blood sugar.
How To Avoid Overeating After Bariatric Surgery
Talk with bariatric surgeons to understand how your body may recover and interact with food after your surgery.
There are some general tips to keep in mind, such as:
Slow Chewing
The slower you chew, the more you’ll enjoy the meal. It’ll encourage you to eat less food. You’ll also give your stomach time to process the food and feel full. This means you can stop before you feel bloated.
Control Your Portions
It’s a good idea to break meals into five or six meals daily. This is as opposed to two or three larger meals. This helps with weight loss.
You give your metabolism and digestion system more time to turn your food into nutrients instead of storing it as fat. Also it helps your new pouch adjust to real food intake.
Drink Plenty of Water
Staying hydrated is one of the most important parts of being healthy after your bariatric weight loss procedure. It helps everything from your stomach to your esophagus to your intestines.
Consult A Mental Health Expert
If you have psychologically related eating problems, then you should see help for this. Your surgeon can help you with some remedies and advice. But at the end of the day, if the root of the issue is mental, a proper therapist for food is the best path.
St. Louis Gastric Bypass
If you’re considering a gastric bypass surgery, you should consult a weight loss surgeon today at Arch Bariatrics. They can help you understand best practices for eating, recovery, exercise, and more.
If you’re ready to shed the pounds and regain the youthful energy you used to have, then don’t hesitate any longer. Schedule a consultation and find out your options for surgical weight loss.
