Success is ultimately in your own hands. Those that choose surgery to achieve permanent weight loss are choosing to make significant long-term lifestyle changes, as well. Those who commit to these changes, prior to having their surgery, achieve the best results.  Good dietary habits and exercise prior to surgery will limit your risk of post- operative complications, as well as, provide you with a plan already in place after surgery. We keep the guidelines to follow after your surgery relatively simple. These guidelines were developed so that you will not need to count another calorie, fat gram, or carbohydrate again. Follow these guiding principles faithfully, the weight will come off and stay off. Break them consistently and you will gain weight. Your surgery is a “tool” to be used in conjunction with these simple rules.

The Keys To Success:

• Eat no more than 3 meals per day. The body does not need more than three meals a day. Many bypass patients only take one or two meals per day. Listen to your hunger cues, not the clock.

• Eat protein first, every meal  - Protein meets the valued nutritional needs of your body, as well as, the staying power within your pouch that gives you the longer feeling of satiety. The solid consistency of protein does not move out of the pouch too easily, resulting in less volume of food consumed.

• Drink water (64 oz./day minimum)  - Drink water, not tea, coffee, soda, or juice. Flavorful liquids in between meals can cause snacking. Avoid drinking any liquids with calories. Protein shakes recommended by us are exception to this rule. Avoid drinking 30 minutes before and 60 minutes after each meal. This will help the solid food stay longer in your pouch.

• Exercise regularly – Exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. Exercise starts out gradual and should increase in intensity over time, as your body begins to heal itself and feels more energized.

• Absolutely no snacking – Anything flavorful or that contains calories eaten between meals is considered a snack. Our brain lives off of glucose (sugar) and oxygen. Our brain remembers how good it felt with a shot of glucose it would get from a snack. It will continually send you messages to snack again. Snacking will actually make you hungrier! Don’t open the door to snacking. It will slow down and even stop your weight loss and can cause weight gain. If you must eat something, it should be of nutritional value such as a protein choice or fruit. NEVER feed your body with empty worthless calories again. Your surgeon has altered your digestive tract, not your eating habits.