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The weeks before and after surgery are an important time to build the habits that support long-term weight loss. By practicing healthier eating patterns, structured exercise, and other behaviors before surgery, patients can begin adapting to the changes that come with life after surgery.
People don’t arrive at obesity along a single path. Genetics, metabolism, environment, food access, stress, sleep, medications, physical activity, eating patterns, and countless other factors all influence body weight. By the time someone considers bariatric surgery, they may have spent years trying to change some combination of these factors.
Bariatric surgery is a powerful tool, and the physical changes are only one part of what happens afterward. Patients also have to adjust to new ways of eating, moving, thinking about food, and caring for their health. We encourage patients to use the time surrounding surgery to not only prepare for the procedure, but also take the opportunity to prepare the mind for the changes ahead.
What is the Perioperative Phase?
The perioperative phase, which is several weeks before and after surgery, begins with preparation for the procedure and continues through the early stages of recovery.
This is a crucial period because so much is changing at once. Eating patterns will change significantly, physical activity has to be adjusted while the body heals, and patients begin developing routines that will eventually become part of their long-term weight-management strategy.
When you go through the perioperative phase, which is several weeks before and after surgery, you use that time to train your brain to leave off those bad habits that brought you to the party in the first place.
Instead of thinking about these changes as a list of rules you have to follow after surgery, it’s helpful to think of the perioperative phase as practice.
You’re not waiting until surgery to start your new life. You’re rehearsing for it.
Practice Makes Progress
Your brain is remarkably adaptable. Repeated behaviors become familiar, and familiar behaviors require less conscious effort over time. They begin to be automatic. You can’t think yourself into losing weight, but practice and diligence in staying consistent with things like diet, exercise, and sleep hygiene will become so normalized you hardly think twice about them. That’s what will help you lose the weight and keep it off.
Starting healthy habits before surgery gives you a chance to practice them while you still have time to adjust, make mistakes, and figure out what works for you.
Diet is one obvious place to start. Rather than focusing only on what foods you need to eliminate, focus on building eating patterns that can continue after surgery: eating regular meals, prioritizing protein and nutrient-dense foods, slowing down while eating, paying attention to hunger and fullness cues, and getting comfortable with appropriate portions.
The next step is getting more active with structured exercise. Your activity level will need to be adjusted around surgery and during recovery, but developing a routine beforehand can make physical activity feel like part of your normal life rather than something you have to start from scratch after surgery. Doing it beforehand will make jumping back into it feel more natural.
One thing we tell patients is that they need structured exercise once they’re fully recovered and as long as they aren’t having joint replacements or experiencing other reasons why they cannot exercise.
When you decide on bariatric surgery, you’re committing to a lifestyle overhaul. Getting adequate sleep, staying hydrated, taking medications and supplements as directed, keeping medical appointments, and finding ways to manage stress are all part of a new routine that supports long-term weight management. These things are all connected and will amplify your efforts.
“Habit stacking,” attaching a new behavior to something you already do consistently, is another tactic that can support the changes you’re aiming for. You might add a short walk to your lunch break, stretch while waiting for coffee to brew, or prep snacks for the week after unloading groceries. You’re trying to make the new behavior easier to remember and eventually more automatic.
New routines aren’t perfect at first; they take time to develop, and there’s usually some tweaking involved. The point is to start building the routines you will rely on afterward. Every time you practice a new behavior, you’re giving your brain another opportunity to make that behavior familiar. Over time, the repetition adds up to a lifestyle that feels normal.
At SAMPA, the surgical team is there for more than the procedure itself. Ongoing follow-up, guidance, and support are part of the process to help patients navigate the changes that come with bariatric surgery and stay connected to lasting habits.
Surgery can change the physical conditions that make weight loss possible. What you practice before and after surgery can help determine how those changes become part of your everyday life.
