The risks of weight gain after gastric bypass surgery must be understood well before you have your stomach stapled or banded. Few things are as disheartening to someone who has struggled with obesity than to go through surgery, recover and then discover that he is gaining weight. Reality is that this does happen—primarily when people aren't ready or willing to follow the strict dietary guidelines necessary after gastric bypass surgery.

Why It Happens
Weight gain after gastric bypass tends to occur for the same reasons we gain weight in the first place. High calorie foods, lack of exercise and unstructured eating patterns are the culprits.

One of the eating habits that is necessary during recovery can often lead to overeating and weight gain. As you first begin eating after surgery, the stomach can only handle about an ounce of food. This means, in order to get the appropriate amount of nutrition, the patient needs to eat about six times a day. As you start increasing the amount of food in one sitting, the number of meals is scaled back to three. If the six meals a day grazing habit continues with larger portions of food, there will be significant weight gain.

How to Avoid It
To avoid weight gain after gastric bypass surgery, it is critical to approach eating from a brand new viewpoint. Learn to savor each bite of food—this will go a long way toward avoiding weight gain after gastric bypass. Strive to get every morsel of flavor out of each taste so you are satisfied with a smaller amount of food. Even the strongest cravings will subside after the first bite of anything if you really savor the flavor.

The other critical piece of not gaining weight after surgery is to add exercise to your daily routine. Without participating in regular physical activity, your body will begin to revert to your pre-surgical state. Try different hobbies or activities until you find something you enjoy—this is a lifestyle change, so make it a pleasurable one. As you increase your physical fitness, you might be surprised at how many new activities you enjoy.

Bariatric surgery is a big step; you owe it to yourself to do everything you can to achieve the success you desire.