Bariatric Surgery Support Group: Life After Surgery
Bariatric surgery – or just surgery in general – can create a lot of added stress and anxiety as you recover from something that is quite traumatic to your body. One of the boxes you can check off is ensuring that you have a support system in place that helps you stay motivated in your journey and in good mental health.
So, what can you do to ensure you have a quality support system in place?
Make sure you surround yourself with people who are on board with your transition. This means making connections with family members and supporters who want to see you succeed in your journey and promote the healthy habits you need to do so. Sometimes this means distancing yourself from those who promoted or enabled you to make decisions that were detrimental to your health before surgery. The Obesity Action Coalition recommends that you maintain relationships with those who are willing to talk to you about your body change, make sure you’re taking the proper medications, provide access to healthy food choices and support and encourage you in an exercise routine.
Many health professionals recommend that you seek out and attend meetings through support groups with people who have gone through a similar life change. According to Bariatric Surgery Source, those who attend weight loss surgery support groups lose 12 percent more excess weight on average and maintain better mental health over time. Quality support groups provide a good source for education both pre and post surgery, help you learn how to cope with the world and relationships in your new body and help you deal with depression or anxiety related to the massive changes your body is going through. BSS says quality support groups are typically run by a medical professional, have regular meetings, encourage participation among all attendees and have an optimistic outlook on the experiences their attendees are dealing with.
Make sure your work is on board in supporting you through your change. The OAC recommends that you contact the human resources department at your work to get information about healthy food options available at around your job site. They also recommend you ask if your work provides discounts to gym memberships or offers incentives to those who stay healthy.
Remember that a quality multivitamin is absolutely essential to maintaining your health post bariatric surgery. Vita4life Multivitamins provide many key vitamins and minerals needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Make Vita4life Multivitamins apart of your health regimen today!