Facts On Weight Loss Marlborough MA Residents Should Understand

The need for losing weight has been with man for many centuries. The oldest methods that have been used have mainly involved making changes on lifestyle behaviors related to diet and physical activity. Although these methods are effective in the majority of people, they tend to take fairly long to produce the desired effects. There are several things on weight loss Marlborough MA residents need to understand if struggling with this problem.

Lifestyle options are usually the starting point. When you first see your doctor with a weight problem, they will advise that you improve on your diet by reducing the amount of fat and protein you consume and increase the amount of fruits and vegetables. The number of servings per meal should be reduced progressively. Replace few heavy meals with smaller meals taken more frequently to avoid ending up with excess calories.

Physical exercise is the other major lifestyle intervention. Exercise helps breakdown excess calories and reduces their conversion into fat tissue. Some of the exercises that one can be undertaken include swimming, running, brisk walking and cycling. For persons that have not been exercising regularly, the activities can be started at a low intensity and increased slowly over time.

Surgery comes in when lifestyle options are not achieving the required goals. Any form of operation that is performed with the aim of reducing weight is known as a bariatric surgical operation. The type of surgery is determined by the magnitude of the problem. Examples of bariatric surgeries include lap-band gastric surgery, bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy. Each of them is associated with various benefits and side effects.

Lap band surgery is the commonest of the three because of fewer complications. The modern techniques involve the use of an instrument referred to as a laparoscope. The incisions that are made when performing the operations are smaller than those that are made when using the conventional approach. In this operation, a silicon band is used to compress the stomach and reduce its size which in turn reduces the amount of food that can be eaten in any one instance.

The manner in which sleeve gastrectomy leads to weight loss is the same as what occurs in the case of lap band surgery. The operation is performed by removing as much as 80% of the original stomach effectively converting the organ into a tubular (sleeve-shaped) organ. The main difference between the lap band procedure and sleeve gastrectomy is the fact that the former is reversible while the latter is not.

A number of other surgeries are performed mainly for cosmetic purposes but may also have benefits in weight loss. Among these procedures are tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) and liposuction. Tummy tuck involves the reduction of fat tissues found in the abdominal region as well as the tightening of redundant skin. The aim is to make the region firmer. Liposuction is done to get rid of fat found in other regions such as buttocks, the neck, face and thighs among others.

Weight loss should be considered a process rather than an event. The most effective approach is that which includes several options being tried out simultaneously. Although surgery is used at times, it should come in as a last resort. The conditions that may increase the likelihood of surgery include diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea and gastro-esophageal reflux disease among others.