Stress and The Vicious Cycle of Obesity
In a world where stress is as common as the air we breathe, the impact on obese individuals is undeniable. The vicious cycle of obesity often starts with stress, triggering unhealthy eating habits. The added weight leads to a sedentary lifestyle and further worsening physical limitations. The person living with obesity begins to feel overwhelmed by even more stress. The cycle often continues until patients hit rock bottom or decide to address it comprehensively and aggressively through diet and exercise, weight loss medications, or bariatric surgery.
How Often Do I Have to Exercise to Lose Weight?
How and how often do we need to exercise? These are age-old questions that nobody seems to have a definitive answer to, as evidenced by the thousands of social media influencers that have their take. If you go online, you’ll find many so-called experts contradicting each other and even themselves. Unfortunately, the Internet is rife with misinformation, and we must extract the truth and use it to our advantage.
Your Expectations: What Bariatric Surgery Is and Isn’t
As you have probably inferred from the above, bariatric surgery is an option for patients living with obesity and who may not be able to lose enough weight with diet and exercise or weight loss medications alone. While surgery may seem extreme, bariatric surgery isalso very safe, with complication rates right around those of a routine gallbladder removal.
How The Small Intestine Can Start Producing Ghrelin and What To Do
Several bariatric surgeries, especially the gastric sleeve, offer benefits in addition to the mechanical shrinking of the gastric pouch/stomach. These secondary benefits often excite patients the most and represent an additional layer of weight loss potential. In the case of the gastric sleeve, when the outer portion of the stomach is removed from the body, the central hunger hormone production center, known as the fundus, comes out with it. The lack of ghrelin reduces appetite and cravings, which helps patients feel less hungry and ultimately lose weight.
When You Need a Conversion or Revision to Your Bariatric Procedure
Dr. Chang believes in a 100% commitment from his patients, just as he gives 100% of his passion and dedication to them. For most, this works well because weight struggles are lifelong. Without accountability, it’s easy to lose focus and motivation and gain back significant weight. Fortunately, good patient selection, education, and working on your habits keeps most of our patients on the right track. We rarely have to worry about bariatric revisions or conversions among our patients.
Does Long-Term PPI Use Increase the Risk of Dementia?
A recent study has shed more light on the potential risks and complications of long-term proton pump inhibitor or PPI use, showing that long-term use may increase the risk of dementia by over 30%. The study followed patients over 45 who took PPIs for more than four years. The results add to the list of potential side effects of using these drugs past the amount of time indicated.
Will I Regain Weight After a Gastric Sleeve?
When considering bariatric surgery, weight regain is at the top of many patients’ minds. After all, the whole point of surgery is to drop the pounds, get back to a more normal weight, and improve or eliminate the diseases associated with obesity; there are horror stories on the Internet discussing significant regain and reversal of the benefit achieved through surgery. It is one of the issues that stops most common issues stopping patients from getting surgery.
Let’s discuss weight gain and whether you should be worried about it now that you are considering bariatric surgery.
Can You Enjoy Alcohol After Bariatric Surgery?
Bariatric patients must make significant changes in their lives after their procedure. Most welcome these changes knowing the goal is worth the sacrifice. With many of our celebrations revolving around alcohol, it can be difficult for bariatric patients to reconcile the prospect of a life without a drink here or there. Fortunately, alcohol consumption is a nuanced but ultimately acceptable option after bariatric surgery, with a few rules and caveats. So, let’s jump into how exactly a bariatric patient (and especially a gastric bypass patient) can and should consume alcohol and some of the potential problems and pitfalls that go along with it.
Managing Excess Skin After Weight Loss
Whether you’re losing weight using weight loss medications like Wegovy® and ZepboundTM or off-label like Ozempic® and MounjaroTM, or if you’ve had bariatric surgery, excess skin is a concern. Most bariatric patients should expect to develop some loose skin after their procedure. At their highest weight, they may have stretched their skin. The good news is that the skin can shrink back down with proper exercise and proper weight loss. However, we have seen some patients with remarkable little loose skin but these patients were very discipline with their eating and exercise.
Is An “Ideal” BMI Real?
Almost everything we discuss with bariatric surgeons revolves around BMI or body mass index. While BMI is a handy tool for measuring whether a patient is at an appropriate weight, it is somewhat inaccurate or at least doesn’t consider differences in body types. Very muscular people (for example…a professional football player), may have a BMI that is considered “obese”. However, their muscle mass accounts for their high weight. Further, it doesn’t consider that many patients may be of average BMI, yet they have a significant risk of weight-related medical problems because they have not built proper musculature – a phenomenon known as “skinny fat.”
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