Deciding to pursue weight loss surgery is a serious decision and it isn’t right for everyone. But for many people, it’s the right decision that helps them to achieve life-changing weight loss. What are the signs that weight loss surgery might be right for you?
You Avoid Things You Love Because of Your Weight
Many people who decide to have weight loss surgery describe a defining point that helped them reach the decision to take action. Often this is realizing that their weight is holding them back from living life to the fullest. Do you avoid having pictures taken because your weight makes you dislike the way you look in photos? Do you skip activities that you once loved because you can’t physically do them? Are you missing out on spending time with loved ones because you feel like you can’t keep up or you’re uncomfortable with the activities they’re doing? These may be signs that your weight is holding you back. The good news is that you have options. Significant weight loss is possible through weight loss surgery—and it can often change your entire life for the better.
Every Diet You Try Fails
If you’ve already decided that you want to lose weight, but nothing is working, it may be worth considering weight loss surgery. Many motivated people who have a significant amount of weight to lose become frustrated because nothing seems to work—diets, exercise, and pills all seem to fall flat. If you find that no matter how disciplined and dedicated you are, nothing works for consistent, long-lasting weight loss, it may be because your body has become resistant to these methods of weight loss.
The National Institute of Health Experts panel determined that long-term weight loss may be nearly impossible for many people living with severe obesity, unless they have weight loss surgery. This is because severe obesity may cause you to actually become resistant to traditional weight loss efforts of diet and exercise.
Some weight loss surgeries actually jump start your body to begin functioning in a way that promotes weight loss through hormonal changes that improve appetite regulation and make your energy expenditure more efficient.
Your BMI—From Overweight to Obese
There’s a difference in the medical definition between being “overweight” and being “obese”. Weight loss surgery is only right for people who meet certain criteria, one if which is being classified as obese, not just overweight.
One of the most reliable ways to measure whether someone is at a normal weight, or if they’re overweight or obese, is by looking at the Body Mass Index, or BMI. Everyone is unique and it’s certainly not the sole criteria for weight loss surgery, but it is overwhelmingly a consistent measure and a simple tool to evaluate how much of your body weight is composed of fat.
To determine BMI, the relationship between your weight and height is calculated. Check out our simple BMI calculator here.
If you have a BMI of 40 or higher, or if you have a BMI of 35 or more with the presence of other health conditions related to obesity, you may qualify for weight loss surgery and it may be a sign that you could benefit from it.
You Have Other Health Conditions Associated With Your Weight
Many people who are obese may be at risk to develop health conditions related to their weight. These include:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Sleep apnea
- Asthma
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Kidney disease
- Circulatory and nerve defects
- Sexual dysfunction
Weight loss surgery has been proven to help resolve a number of conditions that are comorbidities of obesity. A comorbidity is a health condition that co-occurs, or happens with a primary condition. Being obese is known to put you at risk for, worsen, or even cause the above listed conditions.
Find Out if Weight Loss Surgery is Right for You
Getting started on an effective weight loss journey isn’t as hard as you think—reach out to us and we can walk you through the weight loss surgery process. We have an enormous support system in place and a structure that has been designed to help people just like you succeed at weight loss, even if all your past attempts haven’t gotten the results you wanted.
As an Aetna Institute of Quality® Bariatric Surgery Facility, a Blue Distinction Center for Bariatric Surgery ®, a CIGNA Certified Hospital for Bariatric Surgery, an Accredited Center under the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program of the American College of Surgeons and American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and as part of the OptumHealth Bariatric Center of Excellence (COE) network, we’ve proven that we meet rigorous standards for patient care and quality.
Contact us today to discover a healthy new life through weight loss.