Managing Your Expectations When Choosing Bariatric Surgery

Success is in the eye of the beholder, and bariatric surgery is no different. A certain amount of weight loss may be incredible for one patient. At the same time, others will set their expectations so high that their goal is virtually unattainable, and their bariatric journey will inevitably end in disappointment.

This is especially common in bariatric surgery because patients’ results vary dramatically. It’s important to state that bariatric surgery is not a magic bullet. It is not the answer to all weight loss problems. It is simply a tool to help get the patient where they need to be, health, and weight. Since so much is left up to the patient after surgery, their dedication and focus will determine how much weight they lose and how successful they will be.

As a rough guide, duodenal switch patients will typically lose the most – up to 80 to 90% of their excess body weight, respectively. In comparison, gastric bypass and gastric sleeve patients are more likely to lose 70 to 75% of their excess body weight. But when a patient is suitably motivated, those numbers go out the window. After all, we can only use averages when we discuss expectations.

Patients may believe that they can lose the entirety of their excess body weight right after the procedure. Of course, this is a great goal we wish every patient could reach. However, those expectations going into surgery is a setup for failure. In other words, if the patient doesn’t get a milestone quickly enough or if they find they do not have the motivation and dedication that they thought they did, they may give up when in fact, they may be doing very well!

How do you correctly set your expectations for surgery?

First and foremost, setting expectations must start with honesty. How much can you honestly say you will dedicate to your health and weight loss. If you are going into this process thinking that the weight loss journey will be easy, you should probably reconsider bariatric surgery altogether. If you aren’t ready to make significant changes to your diet and exercise, you will certainly not maximize your weight loss potential.

Secondly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with developing ambitious goals. That ambition will keep you pushing throughout the weight loss process. But you can’t simply have an end goal of a certain amount of weight loss. There must be interim goals to score smaller wins before you get to the victory.

It would help if you also used different metrics for goalsetting. While most of us fixate on the number of the scale, there are other (frankly, more important) benefits of bariatric surgery, including the improvement or resolution of diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), sleep apnea, and GERD. Waist size is an excellent measure of success, and a smaller waist often means a lower risk for heart disease. Fitting into new clothes and before and after pictures, how you look in the mirror…These subjective measurements are also necessary. These are reasonable goals to strive for that have nothing to do with a number on a scale.

In the end, setting expectations is an integral part of the pre-op process. You will speak to your bariatric surgeon about what you can honestly consider a benchmark for success. You can then decide if that’s acceptable. Most importantly, take the time to evaluate your expectations and make sure they align with what surgery and your postoperative dedication can offer.

Of course, the first step is to make sure that you qualify for bariatric surgery. So, if you’re considering having a surgical procedure, we encourage you to contact us to learn more. You can also attend our weight loss surgery seminar to understand the different methods, how they are performed, and expectations for weight loss.