There many ways that can help you lose weight before surgery and maintain a healthy weight after it.
Being overweight or obese can increase the risk of complications associated with surgery such as poor wound healing, higher infection rates, and postoperative clots. Losing weight before your plastic surgery helps decrease these risks and improve your cosmetic results.
A healthy diet, a regular exercise routine, weight-loss medications, and bariatric surgery are all options that can help you reach a healthy weight before undergoing any kind of surgery, especially plastic or cosmetic surgery.
Dr Jeremy Hunt is specialist plastic surgeon in Australia. He has helped thousands of patients safely sculpt and contour different parts of their bodies following massive weight loss and pregnancy.
It is often necessary for patients with a high body mass index (BMI) to lose weight before surgery. Being overweight or obese puts you at a higher risk of developing complications related to your surgery.
Overweight and obesity can increase the risk of several health problems, including:
Additionally, having a High BMI at the time of your surgery can:
Moreover, cosmetic surgeries, such as a tummy tuck/ abdominoplasty, liposuction, or body lift surgery, remove excess skin and fat from different areas of your body to reshape and sculpt your body.
That’s why weight loss is important before body contouring surgeries- it allows your plastic surgeon to remove as much extra fat and skin as possible. Therefore, the closer you are to your ideal weight, the more likely you’ll get the optimal aesthetic results from your cosmetic surgery.
To sum it up, reasons to be at your goal weight before plastic surgery include less surgery time, less risk of surgery complications, and better cosmetic outcomes.
Losing a significant amount of weight can be challenging, especially if you’re starting from a high body mass index.
There are several effective ways that can help you lose weight safely before plastic surgery. The journey toward a perfect body weight almost always starts with a method we all know – dieting.
Following a low-calorie diet can help you start losing weight before your abdominoplasty or post pregnancy surgery in a healthy way. A way to reduce your calorie intake is to focus on eating more:
And limit your intake of foods rich in:
A healthy diet usually consists of:
Eating healthy is all about balance. You should still be able to enjoy your favourite types of food, just keep the servings small. Sticking to a balanced diet even after your surgery can help you keep the weight off and maintain your aesthetic results.
Regular exercise is one of the ways to lose weight and maintain weight loss before your thigh lift or breast reduction surgery.
Combining a healthy diet with regular physical activity can help you improve your overall health, reduce your risk of serious disease, and improve the outcome of your cosmetic surgery.
You can start by exercising moderately and then move on to a more vigorous workout routine.
Examples of moderate-intensity physical activity include:
Examples of more vigorous physical activity include:
Sometimes, no matter how hard you exercise or how long you go on a diet, you’re still not able to lose enough weight before your body contouring surgery.
In these cases, your doctor might prescribe a weight loss medication or pills to help you lose weight and keep it off before your liposuction procedure or abdominoplasty.
Most weight loss meds work by decreasing your appetite, increasing your feeling of fullness, or both.
You may be prescribed weight-loss medication in case:
In general, weight-loss pills or injections are not recommended if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to get pregnant.
Studies show that if you combine weight-loss medication with a healthy diet and a regular exercise routine, you can lose up to an extra 7% of your total body weight.
Weight-loss drugs don’t work for everyone. Some people are able to lose some weight with diet pills and exercise, but they’re still not able to get close to their goal weight.
Sometimes bariatric surgery is the only way to lose enough weight before your body reshaping surgery.
Different weight loss surgeries, known collectively as bariatric surgery, can get rid of extra fat that couldn’t be lost by workouts, diet, or weight-loss meds. These include:
Weight loss surgery can help you reduce your total body fat and decrease your calorie intake. After bariatric surgery, your body will start using your stored fat as a source of energy.
The right way to lose body weight before plastic surgery is different from on person to another depending on:
If you’re close to your ideal weight but you still need to shed a few extra pounds, a healthy diet and a regular workout routine can be the perfect way for you to lose weight safely before your plastic or cosmetic surgery.
In case diet and exercise don’t work out for you and you still need to get rid of extra body weight, diet pills or injections can help you lose weight and keep it off before your body lift or tummy tuck/ abdominoplasty surgery.
If diet pills don’t work for you, bariatric weight loss surgery can offer you a way to reach a healthy body weight before undergoing plastic surgery.
Whether it’s by diet, exercise, diet drugs, or weight-loss surgery, losing weight can significantly improve your health, protect you from serious health problems, and give you excellent and sustainable aesthetic results following your body contouring surgery.
Dr Jeremy Hunt is specialist plastic surgeon performing breast, body, face and nose surgery in Australia. He is a member of FRACS & ASPS and has over 20 years of experience providing cosmetic and plastic surgery in Sydney.
Careful, considerate and honest, Dr Jeremy Hunt works with you to find a solution that is optimal for your body and your lifestyle. Every patient is unique and, through his guidance, can achieve good results.
Dr Hunt’s personal, one-on-one service and attention to detail has given thousands of women and men from the Sydney & Wollongong NSW area and across Australia the aesthetic results they desire.
Dr Jeremy A Hunt MBBS FRACS graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Sydney University in 1990 and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and member of ASPS – the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons. He completed a Fellowship at the prestigious University of Texas in the United States, where he learnt from some of the world’s very best plastic surgeons.
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If breast reduction is something you’re considering, Dr Hunt can thoroughly explain all the options to you in a one-on-one consultation.
Any surgical or invasive procedure carries risks. Before proceeding, you should seek a second opinion from an appropriately qualified health professional.