You’re considering gastric sleeve surgery and have chosen Turkey as your destination. An excellent choice! But as you make this life-changing decision, it’s crucial to understand what you can and can’t do post-surgery. Let’s get you prepared.
Why Turkey for Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Turkey has become a popular medical tourism destination because of its affordable healthcare and highly skilled surgeons. With state-of-the-art hospitals, Turkey provides high-quality gastric sleeve surgeries at a fraction of the cost of other countries.
The gastric sleeve Turkey surgery isn’t a quick fix. It requires long-term lifestyle changes to ensure successful weight loss and maintenance.
What You Can Do After Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Healthy Dietary Changes
The surgery physically reduces your stomach size, limiting how much food you can consume at once. This becomes an excellent opportunity for you to make beneficial changes to your diet.
Portion Control: It’s crucial to pay attention to portion sizes post-surgery. Eating several smaller meals throughout the day rather than three large meals is recommended.
Even healthy foods can contribute to weight gain if consumed in large quantities.
Nutrient-Dense Foods: Since you’ll be consuming less food overall, maximizing the nutrients in your diet is vital. Opt for foods rich in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Include lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Consult a dietician to create a balanced diet plan tailored to your needs.
Physical Activities
Adopting an active lifestyle is a must after Turkey gastric sleeve surgery. Regular physical activity aids in weight loss, strengthens your heart and muscles and improves your mood and energy levels.
The Role of Exercise: Incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Start with light activities such as walking, and gradually increase the intensity and variety as your body adjusts and strengthens post-surgery.
Suitable Exercises Post Surgery: Aerobic exercises, strength training, and flexibility exercises can all form part of your workout regime. Aerobic activities, like walking, swimming, or cycling, are great for your heart health. Strength training helps build muscle mass, and flexibility exercises keep your joints limber.
Psychological Support
Undergoing a significant physical change can affect your mental health. It’s necessary to address these changes to ensure your overall well-being.
Joining Support Groups: Connecting with others who have undergone the same procedure can provide emotional support and practical tips for adjusting to your new lifestyle. There are numerous online and local support groups where you can share your experiences and learn from others.
Psychological Therapy: Therapy can provide tools to cope with emotional eating, body image issues, or feelings of anxiety or depression that may surface post-surgery. A mental health professional can guide you through these challenges and equip you with strategies.
Regular Medical Check-ups
Keeping up with regular medical check-ups post-surgery is an essential part of your new routine. These check-ups allow your healthcare team to monitor your weight loss progress, nutritional status, and overall health. They can also help in early identification and management of any potential complications.
What You Can’t Do After Gastric Sleeve Surgery
Foods to Avoid
Post-surgery, your diet will differ, and certain foods should be avoided to ensure optimal recovery and successful weight loss.
- Highly Processed Foods: Foods high in sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, such as fast food, ready meals, and sugary snacks, can slow weight loss. They may also lead to uncomfortable digestive issues due to your smaller stomach size.
- Sugary and Carbonated Beverages: Avoid drinks high in sugar, including soda, sweetened tea or coffee, and fruit juices with added sugar. Carbonated beverages can cause discomfort and bloating and might stretch your stomach over time.
- Alcohol: Alcohol is high in calories and low in nutrients. Moreover, with your smaller stomach, the effects of alcohol can hit harder and faster. It’s best to avoid alcohol, especially in the early days post-surgery.
Unsuitable Physical Activities
Physical activity is a crucial part of your new lifestyle. However, it’s essential to know the limitations.
- High-impact Activities: Immediately after surgery, you should avoid high-impact activities like running, jumping, or any sports that may strain your abdominal region. As your body heals and adjusts, you can slowly reintroduce these activities under your doctor’s guidance.
- Heavy Lifting: Avoid lifting heavy objects in the early postoperative period. This can put undue pressure on your abdominal muscles and potentially lead to complications.
Habits to Drop
Certain habits can compromise your recovery and long-term success post-surgery.
- Alcohol and Smoking: As mentioned earlier, alcohol can have a more profound effect on you post-surgery and can also contribute to weight gain. Smoking can slow your healing process, increase the risk of complications, and negatively impact your overall health.
- Skipping Meals: It might be tempting to skip meals to lose weight faster, but this could lead to nutritional deficiencies. Instead, focus on eating balanced, nutrient-dense meals at regular intervals.
- Overeating: With your reduced stomach size, overeating can cause discomfort, nausea, and even stretching of the stomach. Learn to listen to your body’s hunger and fullness signals to avoid this.
Post-surgery, you can expect continual support from medical professionals in Turkey. They will guide you through your new lifestyle, ensuring you’re on the right path towards a healthier life. Remember, your health and happiness are paramount. Choose wisely and live healthily.