Gastric bypass surgery is a weight loss procedure that has been around for about 50 years. It involves removing the section of the stomach that makes you feel full and connecting your small intestine to your new smaller stomach.
Can you gain weight after gastric bypass? For most patients, this surgery delivers massive weight loss that sustains long term. However, others find that they relapse a few years in or never experience significant weight loss at all.
How can this happen? And what can you do to avoid this? Let’s dig into the reasons why you might regain weight after having gastric bypass surgery.
Sometimes, Surgery Simply Fails
Unfortunately, gastric bypass surgery is not a magic bullet for weight loss. In some cases, the surgery simply doesn’t work; patients may regain all of the weight they lost or more.
There are many reasons why this might happen. One reason is that the surgery may be unsuccessful in reducing the size of the stomach. As a result, patients may still have a large appetite and struggle to eat smaller meals. Additionally, sometimes food moves too fast from the stomach into the intestine, causing you to never feel quite full and fueling overeating. In other cases, the surgery doesn’t limit nutritional intake the way it should, preventing you from processing fewer calories.
While surgical failure is a concern, it isn’t the most common reason patients gain weight after gastric bypass. Rather, patient errors are the biggest reason for post-surgery weight gain.
Not Following the Post-Surgery Diet
Another common reason people gain back weight after a gastric bypass is that they do not follow the post-surgery diet.
In some cases, this happens because patients are simply too hungry to stick to a strict low-calorie diet for an extended period of time. In others, it can be caused by inadequate nutrition or poor dietary choices as a result of drinking alcohol excessively or eating out at restaurants frequently. It is also possible that you’re consuming more calories than you think; if your mouth isn’t properly attuned to how food tastes after surgery, then you could end up with larger portions and gaining back weight as a result.
While your stomach cannot grow back after gastric bypass surgery, it is common for patients with eating disorders to stretch out their new stomach and increase its capacity. They may also find workarounds that allow for overconsumption, such as consuming liquid calories. For surgery to be successful, you need to alter your relationship with food.
Not Exercising Enough
Finally, another reason why people gain their weight back after a gastric bypass may have nothing to do with surgical failure or dietary indiscretions but rather a lack of exercise. However, in order to maintain your weight loss long-term, you need to keep up your healthy habits, including regular physical activity, and starting yoga after surgery can really help with this process.
If you’re struggling to lose weight after gastric bypass in Tijuana, it’s important to explore all potential reasons why this might be happening. Talk to your doctor about dietary changes you can make and whether there is additional support you can receive to help you meet your goals. Remember that weight loss after surgery is not easy; it takes hard work.
Are you struggling with a newer food addiction? Read: How to Stop Overeating During Quarantine.
