Nutrition Counseling

"The way one would eat to lose weight without surgery is exactly how someone who has surgery would eat to lose weight."

Bariatric surgery is a tool:

Understanding how to eat and what to expect after bariatric surgery will help pave the way to weight loss success.

Someone who has had bariatric surgery has the benefit of an added tool. That helps one get satisfied quicker, with less food and stay satisfied longer. It doesn't, however, take the place of healthy eating habits.

Healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices are key:

It is important to remember that the surgery alters the size of the stomach; but, it doesn't change food preferences or desires. It is likely that you will be able to eat most of the same foods post-surgery as prior, but that doesn't mean it is always appropriate to do so. Since surgery will change the amount of food you will eat or "how much" you can tolerate at each sitting, it is important that you not rely solely on your food intake for weight loss. Changing the "what" you eat is equally important. Your team of registered dietitians at North Jersey Laparoscopic Associates is always available to help you make new nutrition and lifestyle choices and help you eat for a healthy lifestyle and an improved quality of life.

Meeting with our Team:

With a renewed sense of self we encourage meeting with your registered dietitian regularly to learn and establish new habits that will support a healthy lifestyle. Together with your team registered dietitian, you will learn the skills and the principles necessary to help you along your weight loss journey. For many, this is a time of self-exploration. Our patients gain a great sense of empowerment by making healthy choices, being dedicated to their new lifestyle and committed to change. Nutrition and lifestyle choices aren't the only things you will learn; you will learn that patience, dedication and resilience are also learned traits that will help you lose weight and in all other areas of your life.

At North Jersey Laparoscopic Associates we understand that learning new behaviors and turning them into habits is a process that takes time, education and support. Appreciating this, we believe strongly in nutrition and behavioral counseling.

Do we expect that the learning stops here?

Not at all, this is just the beginning. Once you have progressed through the 5 stages of the post-surgical diet we strongly encourage that our patients continue meeting with their team registered dietitian, especially during the first 3 to 6 months. Surgery helps re-set the stomach; however, we need to re-train the brain as well. Meeting with our registered dietitians provides our patients with the tools, wisdom and understanding how to approach food, eat and enjoy life with a whole new perspective, without the need to "diet."

At North Jersey Laparoscopic Associates, we don't only aim to help you lose weight; we aim to help you keep it off.