During the six month period the ORBERA® intragastric balloon is in place you will meet regularly with your team to monitor your progress and receive education and training. These important educational aspects of the Program involve the nutrition and lifestyle changes that you must follow in order to achieve long-term success. Your regular meetings with the support team will continue for six months after the intragastric balloon is removed.
Exercise is critical to success
Too often we do not think we have time to exercise, but all those little activities we do can really add up. Taking the stairs, walking around the mall and parking further from the store all equal a healthier lifestyle. Book your exercise activity into your week first! By planning for exercise instead of just hoping that you will find the time means that you will have both the time and the energy to do it. It is too easy for our schedules to fill up so that we end up neglecting ourselves. Make that appointment with yourself and stick to it. You’ll be amazed how much you can put around it if you just put it there first.
Have a back-up activity plan
Sometimes we have all the good intentions in the world but other things get in the way, such as when pouring rain halts that walk we had scheduled. When that happens, think of an alternative – do a few laps of the stairs at work or get out and walk around the shopping centre. Or keep a spare gym bag in the car. If you find yourself with an extra 30 minutes in your day, get out and get active. When you plan ahead you’ll never have an excuse for not getting enough exercise.
Record your efforts
In your day planner or on a calendar, record the time and days that you are planning to be active, and then record the result. Be honest about this. The only person you will be cheating is yourself. Look back over each week and month and see how you are doing. If there is a time (and there will be) when you find you miss a day or two, commit to making it up the next week. If you have to miss the week, then commit to making it up over the next two weeks. Stick to the commitments you have made and you will thank yourself for it in the end.
Reward your efforts
Most of us will focus on goals and not the actions that achieve the goals. Instead of focusing on a goal of losing 2kg, turn your focus to the actions that will get you closer to that goal. For instance, plan to be active for a minimum of 30 minutes at least 12 times this month. When you focus on making the actions happen, the results will follow. When you do follow through on your planned activities find some non-food ways of rewarding yourself. Book a weekend getaway, or a spa day, or buy some new clothes. This will be a huge motivator on those days when the exercise just seems like too much work.
the six month mark
This is the home stretch, as far as the intragastric (inside the stomach) balloon is concerned. You’re losing weight. You’ve adjusted your eating habits and established a realistic exercise regimen in partnership with your support team.
