When you’re looking to the long term, is it really possible to achieve weight loss without surgery? Can you realistically control your body mass on your own or will you be doomed to watch the pounds climb and fall but never stay where they need to be?
Can Weight Loss Without Surgery Be Achieved?
Wondering if you can enjoy weight loss surgery over the long term is a difficult quandary. It’s also a very common thing to ponder. Anyone who has tried dieting on their own knows that it’s far more complex than it seems.
Yes, there are some direct, set ways that will nearly guarantee that the pounds will come away. But following those rules – particularly over time – is easier said than done. They sound simple. They sound as though they should be something anyone can do. Then, you try them. They may work for a while. You may even reach your target weight.
Then, after a while, you find yourself farther from your goal and closer to your starting point. You may even regain more pounds than you lost. This can be disheartening. It can be harmful to motivation to keep up your efforts. That said, it is possible to achieve weight loss without surgery. It is a matter of finding what is right for you and that you can keep doing over the long-term.
Steps to Control Weight on Your Own
If you’re trying to achieve weight loss without surgery and keep the results over the long term, then you can’t have a short-term plan. Remember that when you want the weight control over time, you need to make lifestyle changes you intend to maintain. Your changes can’t stop when you reach your target number on the bathroom scale.
Instead, gradually adopt healthy lifestyle habits you’ll be willing to keep up over time. Try new things and discover what works for you. Build on those areas and work on the places where you struggle. Know that your lifestyle will never fit a textbook ideal, but that you can take good care of yourself and reach a healthy body. Use these tips to help you get there and stay there:
- Involve your doctor – Whenever you make any major lifestyle changes, it’s important to talk to your doctor. You’ll be surprised at how much insight you can learn. A few simple recommended tweaks can save you a lot of trial-and-error that might otherwise harm your motivation. Start on the right foot. Remember that you’re doing this for your health.
- Focus on wellness over pounds – Your goal is long term health. While weight loss without surgery is a part of that, it’s not the whole thing. Design your healthy lifestyle around treating yourself right instead of just achieving a goal.
- Learn from mistakes – When something doesn’t work out right, it can be frustrating. This is especially true if you’ve lost a lot of time, effort or even money on it. That said, you didn’t lose, you learned. Pick yourself up, take what you learned and find a new direction to take with a greater likelihood of success.
Should This Be Your Goal?
It’s important to note that many people benefit from weight loss without surgery, but others truly can benefit from the procedure. Obesity surgery isn’t something to be faced with shame or despair. If it is what you and your doctor agree is right for you, then it can be extremely beneficial to your capacity to control a healthy body mass over time.
