Thinking about Bariatric Surgery?

This is an area that has been shown to be successful in helping people who struggle with obesity; and Dr Louisa has some special skills and strategies that can help you to get the most out of your surgery if this is an option you are considering. We have all heard that obesity is a growing problem in Australia. Research tells us that bariatric surgery can help people who have otherwise been unable to lose weight and keep it off. Of all the weight loss strategies around so far – this seems to work! Though, there are a couple of things about bariatric surgery to keep in mind. With her very practical strategies, Louisa can help you with:

Work out if bariatric surgery is an option for you
Use the surgery as one of many tools to manage weight
Tuning into your appetite, hunger and fullness.
Mindful eating
Emotional eating
Body image
Maintain weight loss

Though, there are a couple of things about bariatric surgery to keep in mind.

First, of course, surgery isn’t right for everyone and if you are still deciding about which way to go, a Clinical Psychologist like Louisa can help you to make a decision about whether it is the right option for you right now.

Secondly, overweight and obesity are complex problems (involving metabolism, hormones, brains and habits). Complex problems are never solved with a simple solution. When people think that bariatric surgery will be a simple solution it will usually not work as well as it could. It works really well when people see surgery as one of many tools that they can use to manage their weight.

Thirdly, people who eat for emotional reasons often struggle because the surgery doesn’t fixthat; people can still eat when they are not hungry, they can eat high kilojoule foods and they can still really struggle to become more physically active; all meaning that they continue to consume more than their body requires.

Many people have great success with bariatric surgery.

Yet, it is true that some people either start to regain weight, or don’t lose as much as they had hoped. This is frustrating and disheartening especially when surgery is your last hope to find health and body acceptance. With her very practical strategies, Louisa can:

Teach you strategies that will help you to rewire your brain so that you will have a new relationship with food. You will learn how to listen and respond to your appetite so that you will eat when you are hungry, stop eating when you are no longer hungry and generally not eat when you are not hungry.

Help you to be confident that you can eat the foods that you love in a way that will not cause you to gain weight

Train you in new strategies for managing emotions so that you don’t rely on eating. You may have tried this before but it will be easier after having surgery