The gastric sleeve, a procedure that reduces the size of your stomach, limiting the amount you can eat before feeling full. This process allows you to begin taking control of your weight. As your stomach has shrunk, we can ensure you can’t overeat or indulge in foods the way you may have been before. However, your diet after this bariatric surgery is still vital for managing your weight. As your food intake is limited, you need to make sure you are getting enough nutrients to remain healthy day-to-day, for your overall health. If you continue to overeat gradually, your body may negatively react whilst risking gaining weight over a longer period. Here are some of our recommended tips to ensure you manage your weight appropriately with the gastric sleeve.
Eat and drink slowly
Your body reacts a lot better when you eat slowly. This is because it can absorb the nutrients from the food, meaning you will benefit more from the food you eat. Furthermore, your body digests food better when you eat slowly, allowing the nutrients absorbed to help your energy, growth, and cell repair. If your body digests your food better, you will be able to notice when you are full, reducing the chances of you overeating and overindulging. Eating slowly also helps you on your weight loss journey as it also increases “the level of gut hormones” that control whether you feel full (Healthline).
Make time to eat
As previously mentioned, taking your time when you eat is important for your weight loss journey. However, this is difficult to do every day if you have other commitments or work that requires you to focus on things outside of your meal plan. This can especially be a problem as your stomach is now smaller, and you may need to eat more frequently to consume enough calories for the day (our meal guidelines). For this reason, Healthier Weight recommends you set aside time to eat. This can be set times in the day or blocking out at least 20 minutes per meal to eat. By doing this, you can ensure you’re prioritising your nutrition and staying a healthy weight. By having specific routines, you are more likely to stick to a plan whilst ensuring your goals are realigned to the results you want to see on your journey.
Portion control
Another way you can ensure your weight decreases or maintains after the sleeve is by ensuring you have portion control. Although you are limited to the amount you can eat, it’s still vital you are eating the correct amount of food. This is because size matters, it is possible to slowly increase your portion size and re-stretch your stomach, although it is much more difficult once you have the sleeve. By having smaller portions, you are able to eat the correct amount of food whilst still being satisfied. we recommend using a side or portion control plate so that your plate is still full and you don’t feel as though you are missing out.
Small bite sizes
With this being said, when eating your meal, we recommend eating smaller 20-pence-sized bites with your food. This is because studies show that when you eat less and take more bites, it feels as if there is more to enjoy, still giving that satisfactory feeling. Therefore, avoiding the chances of you attempting to binge eat, causing you to be ill or gain weight.
With all this being said, it’s important to remember that every journey will have ups and downs. It’s not realistic for you to continuously lose weight and stages such as stalls happen. Your gastric sleeve is there to help you live a healthier and happier life, so make sure you are still having fun and making the most of the new life your bariatric surgery has allowed you to have.
If you are interested in a gastric procedure such as the gastric band, gastric sleeve, gastric bypass or ESG. You can contact our expert team today and book a free consult with one of our weight loss surgeons.
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