You didn’t choose to become overweight, but you should choose to do something about it for the sake of your health. Obesity can lead to a number of different health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. If you’ve tried diet and exercise without success, it may be time to consider bariatric surgery, such as the Lap-Band®.
Dr. Robert Snow at Snow Bariatric Center in Fort Worth and Flower Mound, Texas, can help you finally get the body you’ve been dreaming of through weight loss surgery. Dr. Snow offers many different types of bariatric surgery, including gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, the Obalon® Balloon System, and Lap-Band surgery, to help you lose weight for good.
Lap-Band surgery is a type of bariatric surgery that Dr. Snow uses to help you lose a large amount of weight. It’s been around since the late 1990s and has helped many people conquer obesity.
So, how exactly does the Lap-Band work? For the procedure, you’ll be under anesthesia so you don’t feel anything. Dr. Snow uses minimally invasive techniques to make a few tiny incisions near your stomach.
Using small instrumentation, Dr. Snow places the Lap-Band around the upper portion of your stomach, dividing it into two sections. The upper section is the smaller of the two and the part that helps you lose weight.
Once the procedure is over and you’ve recovered, the Lap-Band helps you lose weight by making you feel fuller with a lot less food. The smaller portion of your stomach becomes full quickly, allowing you to be satisfied with a fraction of the food.
The great benefit of this type of surgery is that it doesn’t alter the way your food is digested, and it’s adjustable. The Lap-Band can also be removed if you’d like, meaning it’s not a permanent procedure.
The amount of weight you lose after surgery varies and depends on you sticking to the post-surgical eating plan that Dr. Snow recommends. Because your stomach is smaller, you should be able to feel full or satisfied with a great deal less food than before.
Less food in your stomach means fewer calories and less fat, which in turn, leads to weight loss. In the first few months following surgery, you’ll likely lose weight relatively quickly — up to three pounds a week in some cases.
However, as time progresses, the weight comes off more slowly, and after about a year or two, it stops completely. This, of course, is if you watch what and how much you’re eating. It also depends on your body and if you’re adding in any physical activity as well.
In many cases, you can expect to lose about 40% of your starting body weight after a successful Lap-Band surgery. This is usually the case after the first year post-surgery. You may lose an additional 10% or so of the remaining weight in the second year, and then plateau and maintain for as long as you continue eating smaller amounts of healthy food.
However, losing all the weight you want is totally up to you. While the surgery does provide you with the means, you need to put forth the effort to ensure that you drop the excess weight for good.
The trick to keeping your weight off after Lap-Band surgery is to stick to eating smaller meals throughout the day. While the weight drops significantly in the first year, it doesn’t mean it can’t be gained back with bad habits or overeating.
You want to keep all of the weight off to avoid dangerous medical problems, but also to feel self-confident as well. To do this, there are some steps you can take to ensure you keep the extra pounds away for good, including:
Don’t be alarmed if you gain a few pounds back — but do reach out to Dr. Snow if you notice that you’re having trouble following your diet plan or you’re struggling to shed pounds.
When you’re ready to schedule your Lap-Band surgery, don’t hesitate to call one of our convenient offices in Texas. You can also request an appointment online using the booking tool on our website.
