How to Choose Weight-Loss Surgery

It is well known that maintaining a healthy weight is a key factor in leading a healthy life. For some people regular diet and exercise are not enough to shed those unwanted pounds. In some cases, weight-loss surgery (or bariatric surgery) can be a viable, even life saving, option. If you might be a candidate, here are a few things to know about choosing weight-loss surgery.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Give diet and exercise a sincere and committed try. Monitor your progress over a series of weeks or even months. If you have made great strides since beginning the program, you may not need to go under the knife after all. If you find that eating right and exercising are not yielding any results, you might want to consider consulting a doctor.

2. Check your Body Mass Index (BMI) by going online and finding a BMI calculator. Enter your height and weight. If you have a BMI of 35 or higher (considered morbidly obese), or you are about 100 pounds over normal weight, you may be a candidate for weight-loss surgery.

3. Schedule a consultation with a surgeon who specializes in bariatric surgery, preferably one with plenty of experience and who is a member of a specialized surgical organization. Ultimately, only a qualified professional will be able to tell you whether you are a viable candidate for weigh-loss surgery.

4. Attend weight-loss counseling to talk about your expectations regarding weight loss surgery. Emotional counseling is a very important step in the process, as some people believe that bariatric surgery is a magic bullet that will resolve all of their weight issues.

5. Be willing to make a great deal of lifestyle changes before and after the surgery. This means a lifetime of vitamin supplements, healthy eating habits and a commitment to staying active and exercising. Weight-loss surgery patients inevitably regain their weight if they do not make these vital changes.

Tips & Warnings

• Bariatric surgeons all agree that weight-loss surgery is merely a tool to get overweight people back on the right track. It is not a procedure that will take off the weight and magically keep it off. The patient will be responsible for maintaining a healthy lifestyle to keep the pounds off.
• Weight-loss surgery can be an expensive option. Even in cases where insurance companies cover these procedures, they rarely ever foot the entire bill. In most cases, patients can expect to pay approximately 20 percent of the expenses, including the procedure and hospital costs.

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