Old habits. Eating the wrong food. Not exercising.
Which of these do you think are the most common mistakes patients make after weight loss surgery? Lovelace Bariatrics Director Dr. Duc Vuong says the answer can hold patients back from successful weight loss.
Most Important Meal of the Day
How could your first food decision of the day derail your weight loss goals? “The first mistake people make after weight loss surgery is they start eating the wrong breakfast,” explains Dr. Vuong. “This is surprising to some people.” Dr. Vuong says really look at typical breakfast foods – cereal, donuts, bagels, bacon and eggs. “These are not healthy meals. Yet we have this mentality that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is not by far. Lunch is the most important meal of the day,” he says.
Dr. Vuong says you shouldn’t have to think about what’s for breakfast. Not only does it help save time on busy mornings, but it helps you make the right food choice every day.
While it’s easy to reach thoughtlessly for a bagel and cream cheese, this is not the sort of “not thinking” Dr. Vuong recommends. “Every morning I have a green smoothie,” he says. “That’s what I teach my patients to have the rest of their life. A green smoothie is a handful of spinach, kale or greens, a banana, frozen blueberries, water and honey.” He says to use an emulsifier, like the Nutri Ninja Pro, to get the best texture in your smoothie, instead of a basic blender.
Hold that Chicken!
Secondly, Dr. Vuong says patients who aren’t losing weight have made another food choice mistake. “They start eating chicken again,” he says. Why is this a problem? “First, chicken breast is bland, so people usually add sauces or cheese to add flavor.” Chicken essentially becomes the vehicle for adding more calories and saturated fat to your diet. Before we know it, Dr. Vuong says, we are eating unhealthy once again.
“Patients need to eat fresh, leafy greens every day. I advise my patients to eat a big salad every day. The goal is to eat a 50 percent raw vegetable diet.” With a green smoothie for breakfast and big green salad for lunch, Dr. Vuong says dinner can be something simple like fish.
What is your Main Thing?
Finally, we let life get in the way of our life, he adds. “We let our old life get in the way of our new life,” Dr. Vuong explains. “The newness of the surgery wears off. We fall back into old habits.” Change is not easy. In fact, changing the way we have done things for years takes work every day. “The pull from our past is so powerful. To combat this, you have to make your life the main thing.”
He says to ask yourself: what is your main thing? If it is to be healthy this year, that needs to be the center of your focus and the center of each decision you make.
Other tips include:
- Take time to meditate each day
- Take a break from your daily routine for a walk by yourself
- Schedule time to go to the grocery store and buy fresh produce to have ready for breakfast and lunch
- Don’t forget to drink plenty of water and rest.
- Start each day with gratitude for what your body can do for you and the fact that it is changing each day.
To learn more about Lovelace Bariatrics, attend a free seminar at Lovelace Westside Hospital. Seminars are held twice each month. Click here for more information and to register.