After your bariatric surgery, it’s important to think about how you will accomplish your goals. Whether you receive a sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass, revisional surgery, adjustable band, duodenal switch, or gastric balloon, there are others like you who are working to reach similar goals.
How will you connect with others on the same path as you?
Try Instagram! Searching for #fooddiary on Instagram will give you around 3.5 million results. Searching #bariatricsurgery will give you over 300 thousand results!
Instagram supports interactions with strangers. While your inner circle might not always understand your weight-loss journey, someone else will!
According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, 196,000 people received bariatric surgery in 2015 alone.
Instagram is a great way to find others like you!
Using social media platforms allows bariatric patients to:
1.Gather information:
Patients share their solutions to obstacles!
Others can learn what to avoid which eliminates some of the hassle of trial and error time.
Sharing everything from a quick and easy workout routine to your favorite bariatric-friendly recipe can help others. Your zucchini noodle recipe could help someone stay on track to their weight-loss goals!
The notion that healthy foods are tasteless or unappetizing simply isn’t true. Check out the hashtag #bariatricfood on Instagram. You’ll find ten thousand tasty options!
2.Stay accountable:
When you photograph everything you eat, staying on track and staying honest in your food diary can become easier!
Rather than ignoring your midafternoon snack-pack of M&M’s, snap a picture of it. Create a photo bank to fill in your food journal and assess your calories at the end of the day.
Have you overindulged your sweet tooth and ignored your healthy habits? Reflect on your old posts. Check how great your bariatric-friendly meals have been in the past, or see what others in your support system have been eating.
3.Gain emotional support:
Using hashtags isn’t just for millennials anymore! Hashtags can help you find others on the same bariatric journey, and help them find you. Build your Instagram network; they will be there with support!
Using Instagram gives a social aspect to your food diary: you aren’t alone!
Taking a photo and popping it on Instagram can make your food tracking quick and easy. While Instagram can’t completely replace the benefits of a food diary, it can be a great tool to add to your tracking system.
At University Bariatrics, our team is passionate about helping you achieve success in your weight-loss goals! Our resources are built to help our patients at every step of their bariatric journey to achieve long-term success.
Check out the resources we provide by visiting https://www.universitybariatrics.com/.