Timing is critical when beginning a weight loss journey with bariatric surgery. Before beginning, you need to feel motivated to lose weight and ready to follow the instruction given by your doctors.

 

Motivation comes from many different places – family, friends or life events.

 

Whatever your goal, the important thing is that motivation comes from the inside. You need to want to lose weight for yourself and your wellbeing and not to impress or please anyone else.

 

To help you figure out whether you are at the right level of motivation to begin your weight loss surgery journey, take the test below:

 

Question 1

When you imagine life after weight loss surgery, how confident do you feel you’ll be ready to follow all doctors instructions?

1. Not at all confident
2. Wary at the idea of following the instructions
3. Fairly confident but still stressed about it
4. Quite confident
5. Completely confident and 100% certain you are ready

 

Question 2

After weight loss surgery, you need time to focus on your wellbeing. How stressful and busy is your everyday life at present?

1. Incredibly stressful, I have no time for myself, and I feel exhausted all the time.
2. Very stressful, I only get time for myself once every few weeks
3. Quite stressful, I’m busy, but I feel I manage it fairly well
4. I get stressed and busy at times, but overall I live a balanced lifestyle
5. I have a great lifestyle and feel I have time to balance self-care, social life, and work perfectly.

 

Question 3

In the past, when you have been recovering from an illness or surgery, how well have you followed the doctor’s directions? (For example, if you were asked to take a full course of antibiotics.)

1. I never follow doctors’ orders. It goes in one ear and out the other.
2. I try to follow the instructions, but I often forget
3. I am usually good with following the instructions, but sometimes I don’t follow through unless I’m really sick
4. I follow the doctor’s instructions, but over the years have sometimes dropped the ball
5. I follow the instruction to the letter and have never strayed

 

Question 4

In everyday life, how self-motivated do you feel?

1. Not at all – I feel I just do things because it’s what other people expect
2. A little bit – I think I have a lot of room to grow
3. Mostly self-motivated, but I still feel I often look outward for validation
4. Very self-motivated, I face most days feeling strong and confident
5. Exceptionally self-motivated, nothing can get in my way. When I set my mind to something, I consistently achieve it.

 

Question 5

When faced with the idea of drastically changing your diet and exercise patterns, how do you feel?

1. Incredibly anxious, I know for sure I could never do that.
2. Very anxious, I think it would be tough, and the idea doesn’t appeal to me.
3. I could possibly do it, and I feel indifferent towards the idea.
4. I am optimistic that I could do it with the proper support.
5. I feel entirely positive about the idea, and I know for certain I could do it with ease.

 

Tally up your score. If you scored:

1-15

Now may not be the right time in your life to undergo weight loss surgery, either because you feel you couldn’t follow doctors instructions because of the stress you are under, or perhaps because you want to lose weight for someone other than yourself. However, don’t lose hope. Our team has all the resources you need to get to a place where you feel confident in beginning your weight loss journey.

 

15-20

You are almost ready for your weight loss surgery journey. You just need to find a little more self-confidence and work on the balance within your lifestyle. All of the building blocks are there; you just need to decide to take charge of your self-motivation. Our team will be here to support you throughout the entire process and will help you take this first step.

 

20-25

You were ready to begin your weight loss journey yesterday. Nothing is holding you back, and you are confident that you are at a place in your life where you are self-motivated and ready to take steps toward a healthier, happier version of yourself.

 

Learn More with Perth Weight Loss and Surgery

To find out more about weight loss surgery and the support services we offer our clients, please do not hesitate to book a chat with our head surgeon Mr Siva.