Set short-term and long-term goals.
What’s your weight loss goal? Did you achieve it? Where are you on your journey?
Let’s talk goals today. I think it’s important to have goals along the way when starting out on your bariatric journey. I think that having clear cut goals, is an important tool.
Write down those goals and put them in a spot where you see them often. Maybe you can put a list on your fridge door, mirror in your bathroom, screen-saver on your phone. Celebrate every goal you reach with a small gift, a massage, an appointment with your nutritionist, a day at your local spa, a new book, a new hair product etc.
Failing to plan is planning to fail. Let’s plan on not only putting goals down on paper, let’s plan to revisit those goals frequently and update them as we move through this process called bariatric surgery/ life.
You may have originally started out at 230 pounds with the goal of reaching 180 pounds. When you get to 180, you may revisit your original goal and change it to 160 pounds.
You may have originally had the goal of going to the gym 4 days a week. What happens when you’ve accomplished that goal and you have been working out for 6 months. You may decide on a new goal. You may want to run a 5K or swim in the local club. I think we need to keep updating our goals.
What happens when we are at our goal weight? Does the journey end there? I think that when we reach our weight goal, we need to start over again with some new goals.
How is your diet? Are you eating sufficient protein/ fibre/ healthy fats? Maybe you would like to spend more time in the kitchen creating new meals?
What about sleep hygiene? Is there something you could do to improve your sleep patterns?
Stress? Do you have a plan in place for stress control? Breathing exercises etc.
How much fluid do you drink each day?
I believe that the journey to a healthy lifestyle never ends. We need to be working hard on improving our over-all health in all different areas.
Do we volunteer some time each week to helping others along the way? We, as bariatric surgery patients, can always “pay it forward” by answering others with bariatric questions, or by volunteering some time to our bariatric groups by posting our experiences. This protects us from going back.
Goals are important. Revisiting goals can keep us moving forward.
No slowing down. You’ve got this.
Healthy Hugs.
About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.
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