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Today on Reverse the Post-Op Regain, I am discussing three simple changes that you can start making to your lifestyle that will have a huge impact. Now this is for anyone in that early post-op phase, just about to have the surgery or even after the surgery, years beyond. This information is applicable no matter which stage of weight loss surgery you're at. So let's get started. Welcome to Reverse the Post-op Regain podcast. I'm your host, Suraya Nikwan, a weight loss surgery dietician and I am excited that you're here today. This
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podcast is for anyone struggling with nutrition and weight years after bariatric surgery. You might be feeling confused, overwhelmed and not quite sure what your body needs after that first year post-op. This is where I can help you. Join me every week where you'll leave supported and motivated to take the next step in your nutrition journey. Thank you for being here with me today, now let's get started. I do want to mention that sometimes we do find ourselves in a bit of a state of overwhelmed. Now after the surgery it can be quite overwhelming to worry about
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your protein, your fiber, your fluids, your movement, your vitamins, all the other medications that you may take, not to mention all the life stuff that happens. I hear you, it's a lot. Sometimes when we are going through the journey and we are in those early stages post-op or we might be struggling with weight regain, it's really important to take a look at those day-to-day habits, those day-to-day things that we do, and if we do them well and do them consistently, they will come off with the big results. Now it's not such a great way of touting something as being the one thing that will help you
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lose weight and that doesn't really sell in the nutrition space, definitely not in my field. In my field of dietetics, it's not trying to sell you a fad diet, it's trying to make sure that you can take these habits, implement them really well and make sure that they are sustainable for you so that you can ultimately get the result later down the track. It's that delayed gratification that is often overlooked in my space which is the most important and I'm a really big fan of this book by Jeff Olson, The Slight Edge, and it's that 1% rule.
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So try to do 1% each and every day. You'll ultimately get further along than if you did something one day, fell off the track for a week and then tried to pick it up the next week. Just that little consistent effort each and every day helps you get closer to your goals. Now having said that, these three simple changes today are actually quite simple but you do need to focus on them. So the first one is meal spacing.
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Weight regain is very, very common for people who graze. Now grazing is when you are eating sooner than three hours between meals or snacks. So for example, someone might come to me and they're having their breakfast or their morning coffee which has protein powder in it, technically could be classed as a morning tea. Then a couple of hours later or even an hour later, they're having an egg on wholemeal fins. Then they might be having another latte coffee at nine o'clock which would be about two hours after their breakfast, then they're having quote-unquote morning tea at 10 o'clock or 10.30, then they're having their lunch and so on and so on.
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So what you can see in that pattern is that they're eating quite regularly and what we want to do is we want to space out those meals or snacks to every three to four hours. Now grazing in and of itself basically leads you to be eating more food than you need to for that entire 24 hour period. We often aren't really concerned about it in the moment but it makes a huge difference and I've seen this time and time again. When we space out the meals to at least three to four hours, three is like the baby step, four is the ultimate and I've seen one patient do really well by having six hours between meals, five to six hours between meals I should say, but that was difficult to get to and she's more like five years down the line so she can actually
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eat more of a substantial meal when it is her meal time. Now this may not be your journey in terms of that, but it's a pure example of how you can simply shift your mindset and your behavior around food which will lead you to reducing the weight regain or starting to make sure that you're getting into those good habits to prevent weight regain in the first instance. So meal spacing is the simple change number one. Keep three to four hours between meals and snacks. A caveat here, I do count a latte or a store-bought cappuccino as a snack because it's a full
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cup of milk and I do count the protein coffees because they've got the protein powder in it plus often milk. They do count as a quote-unquote snack as well. So bear that in mind. If you work really hard on this habit you will see improvements in your satiety between meals because you'll be picking food options that help you last between meals. You'll also notice that you have more energy and you're less sluggish or weighed down, you're not riding that sugar roller coaster and ultimately this non-grazing habit leads into the next point of sleep. If you eat well-structured, well-balanced meals, it helps the circadian rhythm, which
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then helps your sleep. So the simple change number two is to really, really focus on getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Now, I've done an episode of this before on sleep. Now, sleep, the lack of sleep, leads you to feeling tired, lethargic, down, and more stressed. So the body releases more cortisol when it's not rested and that leads you to picking more unhealthy food choices particularly in that afternoon period. So it's important to realize that the sleep that you have the night before has a big driving factor in your ability to make healthier food choices that next day. Now you can do all you can in terms of packing a healthy lunch box, making sure
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you've got your snacks and new meals prepared, but sometimes just that willpower is overtaken by genuine fatigue and that need for that carbohydrate or that sweet to make sure you can get through the second part of the day. So if you aren't a good sleeper at the moment, start by dialing your bedtime window back by 15 to 30 minutes each night until you get to a time where you're actually sleeping seven hours of a night. I like the rule 3-2-1 before bedtime, so three hours before bed, no more food or alcohol. Two hours before bed, no more work. And one hour before bed, no screen time.
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So turning off all your phones, your TVs and your computers. What you'll find is that you should feel more rested if you're reading or you're doing some gentle stretching or you're having a shower and winding down for the night. So you're telling your body that it's time to sleep. You should find you're able to get into that sleeping state a little bit more effectively than if you're on your phone scrolling and scrolling and scrolling until you're like, oh, it's like 11 o'clock, I need to go to sleep. Then your body is not as rested in that time than it is if you've made some active preparation beforehand.
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You don't want to go from watching a video that sort of initiates some stress hormones and makes you feel a little bit anxious to trying to fall asleep the next second. It's not going to work. So try to put yourself in a good mind frame prior to getting to sleep because the preparation really creates those good results to get a deep rested sleep so that you can make better food choices that next day. If you have something like sleep apnea or you have poor sleep consistently, consider getting checked out by your general physician.
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There may be some underlying reason as to why you can't sleep, so it's best to get that investigated. The final simple change to focus on is to drink enough fluids. It's really important that we get enough fluids every single day to make all of the digestive juices, the enzymes, help with blood flow, help with your saliva, let's just say every single part of the body. So if you are drinking enough fluids, you'll feel well hydrated, you won't have a headache, you won't have that foggy head, you'll have enough energy to get through the day.
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It actually is really important, but it is something we so often forget after the surgery. So if you are struggling with your fluid intake, really try to hone in and focus on that more consistently and you will notice a big difference. You'll notice better bowel motions, you'll feel more awake and alive and alert, you'll feel less of that brain fog, you'll be able to get through the day without that lingering headache or that fatigue that comes in that second part of the day when you are struggling in that afternoon period due to the fact you haven't drunk enough fluid. You should also notice that you're less bloated and less likely to retain fluid because your
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body is able to trust that you're getting more fluid for that day. It is helpful to make sure that you are drinking enough fluids daily and start small. If you're only drinking one bottle of water, try adding another half a bottle of water on top of that or a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, something to make sure that you are getting more fluids in and then build on that. Rome wasn't built in a day, you can't eat an elephant all in one go, so you've got to take little bites each time to make sure that you get to that overarching goal. Today I went through three simple changes that you can implement to improve your journey
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after weight loss surgery. As a summary, there were meal spacing, so minimizing grazing. Number two, getting enough sleep, getting a good seven to nine hours of shut eye every night, and number three, making sure you're drinking enough fluids. I hope you found this helpful. As always, please leave a review if you found this helpful and share it with a friend that might benefit
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from this as well. Follow me over on at the Bariatric Collective on Instagram for more helpful tips. And if you're interested in one-on-one coaching, shoot me an email or send me a DM on Instagram. I'd love to work with you. That's it for me today. I'll see you next week.
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Thank you for joining me on Reverse the Post-Op Regain podcast. If you would like to learn more about what I do, head to at the Bariatric Collective on Instagram or Facebook or visit us online at www.thebariatriccollective.com.au and reach out if you need support reversing weight regain or anything related to bariatric surgery. I'd love to hear from you. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, I'd love for you to take a moment to review the show if you found it helpful or share it with a few friends. I look forward to chatting with you next time.
Transcribed with Cockatoo
