Smoking and Bariatric Surgery

Smoking raises the risks associated with weight loss surgery (sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass and lap band). Smokers who undergo surgery are more likely than nonsmokers to experience anesthesia-related complications, infections, heart attack, stroke, pneumonia or death. In addition, they are more likely to have a longer hospital stay or be admitted to an intensive care unit. These risks are increased among obese or overweight individuals who undergo bariatric surgery.

Smoking makes it harder for your body to heal because it decreases the amount of oxygen available to your cells. Quitting smoking is essential to a successful bariatric surgery and recovery. You should quit smoking at least 30 days prior to your procedure. It takes at least a month for the lungs to recover.

Weight Gain after Quitting Smoking

When people quit smoking, they often gain weight. One study of prospective bariatric surgery patients found that smokers who had attempted to quit in the past had gained an average of 28 pounds. This tendency and/or fear of weight gain prevents many people from quitting.

Weight gain after quitting is probable, but it doesn’t have to be. About 70-80% of people who stop smoking gain weight. Of course, there are things you can do to decrease the possibilities of gaining weight after quitting smoking. As we all know, weight is controlled best when calories are decreased and metabolism is increased. Calories can be decreased with a healthy diet. Metabolism can be increased with moderate exercise. It is very important to talk to your bariatric surgeon before making any major changes in diet or exercise.

Talk to Your Weight Loss Surgeon

Be honest with your bariatric surgeon about how much you smoke. As your surgery date approaches, continue to keep your surgeon informed of your smoking cessation efforts. Quitting smoking is difficult, and there’s no reason to do it alone. Your surgeon can be your ally as you begin your journey toward a healthier lifestyle and happier future.

Smoking seems to make weight loss surgery more risky, particularly with respect to development of strictures and surgical-margin ulcers. Obese smokers had a four times greater risk of restriction and three times the risk of marginal ulcer in comparison to nonsmokers undergoing bariatric surgery. Smoking damages the lungs which increases the chance of anesthetic problems, surgical complications, and developing pneumonia.

Why You Should Stay Quit

You can develop serious complications if you start smoking again after bariatric surgery. Allow your body to recover and heal properly. Prior to weight loss surgery, there are five blood vessels that supply blood to the stomach. After the surgery, the number of blood vessels to the stomach is reduced. By continuing to smoke or starting up again, even years later, you may experience other complications, including:

• Scarring, leaking or bleeding

• Gastritis or heart burn

• Inflammation/swelling

• Infection

• Breathing problems and shortness of breath

So quit smoking today and never start back again. After all, the goal of weight loss surgery is to improve your health, right?

Some Weight Loss Essentials For Men from Tips to Exercises

Many people are determined to lose weight without exercise. Negative excuses are popped up and this makes weight loss very impossible. However, there are many ways for losing weight before exercise. The only way for slimming down without sweating and hard work is to eat healthily. The correct types of food must be eaten. This will keep the metabolism fast and thus fat will be burned effectively. Given below are the various ways to lose weight without exercise:

1. A fruit must be kept around so that even if one feels hungry, he can eat fruits instead of junk foods. Sometimes, one can lose up to 50 lbs.

2. One should cut down on sugar and carbs. Cutting the carbs and calories will help in losing weight. One pound of fat equals to 3500 calories.

3. One should drink plenty of water throughout the day. At least 8 glasses of water must be consumed every day. Instead of 3 meals per day, one should eat 5 meals per day.

4. There are many weight loss exercises at home. Going for a jog or a walk is the most basic and an effective form of exercises. One should follow this thrice a week. A brisk walk can be very beneficial for the heart as well. if one wants to get the best results of fat burning, this exercise should be done for 30 minutes. To make it more interesting a jog or a walk can be organized with a friend or a neighbor.

5. One of the other weight loss exercises at home includes resistance exercises. In these exercises, muscles are given resistance by using the body weight. The examples of these exercises include lunges, squats, sit-ups, push-ups, step-ups and chin-ups. No equipment is required in this type of exercise. They tone the muscles and accelerate the fat loss very effectively. Thus, these exercises should be done on alternate days. Walking should also be continued alongside. One should do 3 sets of these exercises. This workout is very fat burning and is surely the best.

There are many weight loss foods for men. Men should eat weight loss foods when they are trying to get in shape and burn fat. Natural and healthy foods must be consumed.

Whole grain foods
Whole grain foods must be added to one’s meals. Their nutritional and fiber content is very high. They can be easily added to the diet. Foods made with breads or white flour must be replaced with whole grain foods.

Protein, Lean protein
This is surely one of the best weight loss foods for men. This makes the men feel fuller. The body is kept working and the foods can be digested easily. Protein items such as fish, lean meats and chicken must be consumed. Whey protein is also a great option.

A Quick Look at Some of Today’s Most Effective Diets

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

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The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.