Losing weight, and maintaining any weight loss, can be incredibly difficult. Many of us face an uphill struggle to shed pounds and make the food and lifestyle choices that will help us to stay at our goal weight when we reach it.
The Gastric Balloon trains your stomach by reducing hunger, so that you eat less. It’s a proven alternative to dieting and has helped more than 50,000 people to change their lives.
But while you may have heard of the Allurion Balloon, perhaps there are some facts that you’re not already aware of. Let us fill you in…
1. It helps you lose weight without surgery
This is the first gastric balloon that doesn’t require endoscopy or anaesthesia when it’s being placed or removed. The patient simply swallows a capsule containing the deflated balloon and catheter (tube). An ex-ray is used to confirm that it is sitting in your stomach, and then the balloon is filled with water through the catheter. Finally, another x-ray is taken to ensure that the balloon has been filled correctly. It then stays in place for around 16 weeks to help you lose weight effectively.
2. All you need is a short appointment
There’s no need to spend an overnight in hospital, because placing a Gastric Balloon takes place during an outpatient visit. In less than 20 minutes, your balloon will have been placed, filled, and you’ll be ready to leave.
3. It’s more effective than dieting alone
The Gastric Balloon takes up space in your stomach, which in turn helps you to reduce your food intake. It also reduces hunger and cravings, so as well as helping you eat less at mealtimes, it may help you snack less throughout the day too.
Through eating less, you’ll naturally lose excess weight. Regular nutrition appointments can help ensure you are eating healthy, balanced meals, so you know you’re losing weight safely while maintaining good levels of nutrition. The support you receive can also help with motivation and forming good habits that you can continue to follow long after your balloon has passed. This is the key to maintaining your weight loss.
Ordinary dieting can be hard – a reduced food intake can leave you hungry and constantly thinking about food. This can lead to you essentially ‘breaking the diet,’ and so begins the yo–yo dieting cycle of losing weight, regaining it, and feeling a sense of guilt around this. The Allurion Programme can make it so much easier to stay on track on a reduced volume of food.
4. You could lose 10-15% of your body weight in 16 weeks
Having an Gastric Balloon leads to almost 2.5 times more weight-loss for patients than when they undertake intensive weight-loss strategies alone, across 16 weeks.
And studies showed that 17% of patients who undertook intensive weight loss strategies alongside the Allurion Balloon were able to achieve weight loss of more than 20% of their total body weight.
Why is Gastric Balloon so successful when compared to dieting alone? The answer is that patients feel less hungry, and feel fuller more quickly, after eating. They also don’t tend to get the hunger pangs that are a typical feature of dieting, which can make you go off track. That, coupled with expert help from our nursing and nutrition team, can be a very effective way of changing your diet and lifestyle and taking control of your weight.
5. The results can last a lifetime
At the end of 16 weeks, once your balloon passes, you should find that you’ve changed how you view food. You may have developed new food preferences, become accustomed to smaller portions, and have formed new healthy eating and lifestyle habits. All of this helps to maintain any weight loss, rather than the never-ending cycle of your weight constantly going up and coming down.
So, this 16 week programme can kick start your weight loss and help you achieve healthy lifestyle changes that can improve the quality of your health and life longer term.
Up to 95% of weight loss via the Gastric Balloon Programme can be sustained 12 months after the Balloon has passed, by taking control of how you eat.
Find out more about how the Gastric Balloon can help you lose weight and maintain it – contact us now.