The most common difficulties after having bariatric surgery according to my clients
You think- I’m ready to do it! You go through all this pain, discomfort, doubts, judgment and you realise that it’s harder than you anticipated! You cannot physically eat (as much as you would love to) and you realise that you relied on food not only for nutrition but as a coping strategy. Does it sound familiar?
If that’s you, what you are feeling is completely normal. Surgery brings a lot of changes and it takes time for our brain to adjust to them. The most common difficulties include:
- emotional eating- not being able to eat for comfort, to manage stress and or boredom
- a constant feeling of failing and not being “enough”. This is often accompanied by the annoying thought of : “I should be doing more; I should be exercising more, I should be eating healthier”
- guild when you eat something “not that nutritious” ( I’m not calling it “bad” food on purpose here 🙂
- questioning if it was the right decision
- compering yourself with others (“my friend has lost much more by now, what’s wrong with me!?”)
- worrying about the speed of your weight loss
- worrying about loose skin and physical changes
- worrying about what will people say when they find out- should I tell or not tell?
- hair loss
- cravings and or not being able to eat certain foods