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The new year brings resolutions and fresh starts. But any significant changes need to be researched and examined, especially in the specific areas of weight loss that involve lap bandsurgery or liposuction.

There's some little-known information on the struggles that an obese person deals with before, during and after lap band surgery that need to be considered.

A regular contributor to Monsters and Critics, board-certified Dr. Carson Liu, Santa Monica, CA, a specialist in bariatric surgery, constantly hears his obese patients tell him that the hardest thing they ever did was to pick up the phone, make the appointment and then actually show up at his office to explore weight loss surgery.

Why?  There is a pervasive perception that obese people are simply lazy and all they need to do is stop eating so much and start exercising to lose weight. Further, when they choose to have lap band surgery they are simply taking a short cut or easy way out.

In reality, Dr. Liu , an expert in obesity, its causes and solutions explains that once you become morbidly obese, it is almost impossible to diet and maintain the weight lossover a period of time.

In fact, not only do these patients eventually regain the lost pounds, but often regain even more weight.

Further, lap band bariatric surgery is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an easy way to lose weight.  It is a rigorous process of re-learning (or learning for the first time) how to eat..chewing and swallowing food slowly…taking them twice as long to finish a meal or they regurgitate; how much to eat, what to eat, how to prepare nutritious meals, and of course, the magic of incorporating some form of exercise into daily life.

Following bariatric surgery, patients physically have to eat slower, and must forgo eating bread, rice and similar food that either won’t go down to the stomach or takes a long, uncomfortable time going down. The lap band, as opposed to being the easy way out, is a powerful tool that forces patients to learn and continually utilize all these new skills because of the actual physical repercussions from not following healthy eatingpatterns.

In addition, the successful patients attend regular support groups to get help dealing with the vast physical and emotional changes they undergo following the surgery. Although education, support groups and dietary instruction are all important, frequent adjustments to the band are more critical for weight loss than any other component.

The lap band is a difficult decision, but a rewarding one done with the right surgeon. "There is hard work involved," says Dr. Liu. "But the trials and tribulations that the patients go through to reach their goal is a journey that I take with all of my patients."

Original Article