Managing Holidays after Bariatric Surgery

With Labor Day just around the corner, many Americans and especially those who have had bariatric surgery will be struggling with the question of how to eat and drink in moderation during their time off. The temptation is to allow our diet and exercise regimens to fall by the wayside for one day and pick back up tomorrow. However, it doesn’t take much for one day of indulgence to turn into a week or a month. Having to fight back the extra pounds is far more difficult than prevention in the first place.

In order to help ensure that you are able to stay on your dietary track this holiday we have a few tips and tricks:

• Drink a few glasses of water about an hour or so before you arrive at your event. Consuming water will ensure that you are not dehydrated and make you feel just that little bit more full.

• Eat slowly, take a small portion of food, enjoy it and spend the next 20 to 30 minutes speaking to friends, colleagues or family members at the party. Taking this downtime between portions can allow your body’s fullness trigger to catch up with the amount of food you actually eat.  Remember to keep food out of your hands, if you are holding food for long periods of time, you will likely eat more.

• If possible, attend your function with a friend or support group partner that is on a similar diet. Having others around you eat in a similar way can make it much less daunting.

• Finally don’t shy away from a little bit of dessert. Having a couple spoonfuls of a delicious treat is much better and probably more satisfying than having a second portion of food or having an extra glass or two of an alcoholic or sugary beverage.

The idea for Labor Day is not so much to set aside all the culinary enjoyments that lie in front of you. Rather, it is to moderate your consumption so that you do not overindulge, but you also enjoy these wonderful end-of-summer festivities.