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Your Nutrition After Weight Loss Surgery
What you eat, how you eat and how much you eat are the major changes you need to make after bariatric surgery — surgery
that alters the anatomy of your digestive system to promote weight loss.
When your stomach pouch is reduced in size, you'll need to follow an eating plan that include less food and an elimination
of high fat and high sugar foods. This new diet tells you what type and how much food to eat with each meal and the required
consistency and texture of the food. The diet helps you maintain good nutrition while losing weight.
After surgery: The first three months
You will most likely be restricted to a liquid diet for the first week or two following your surgery. If you’ve had
gastric bypass surgery, you will remain on a liquid diet longer than if you’ve had lap band surgery. Then you consume
specific foods according to a diet progression. The purpose of the diet progression is to allow your stomach time to heal
and adapt to processing food. The diet also allows you to begin lose weight while maintaining good nutrition.
The following are common phases in diet following gastric surgery include:
• Liquids. Foods and fluids that are liquid or semi liquid at room temperature and contain mostly water, such as broth,
juice, milk and cooked cereal. In most cases, you stay on a liquid diet for a short period of time. During this time you
may instructed to include a protein drink several times a day.
• Pureed foods. Foods with a consistency of a smooth paste or a thick liquid. Pureed foods contain no distinct pieces.
The length of time you need to remain on a pureed foods diet depends upon the type of surgery you’ve had. Typical the
gastric bypass patient remains on modified consistency progressions longer than other gastric surgeries.
• Soft foods. Foods that are tender and easy to chew, such as finely diced meats, canned or soft, fresh fruit, and cooked
vegetables. You usually eat soft foods for eight weeks before progressing to regular-textured foods, or as recommended by
your dietitian.
During the diet progression, you eat many small meals a day and sip water frequently. You might first start with six small
meals a day, then progress to four meals and finally, when eating regular foods, decrease to three meals a day. Each meal
should include protein-rich foods, such as lean meat, yogurt and eggs. When you are on just liquids, your protein drink will
be your source of protein rich food. Be sure to pick a whey protein product for this purpose. Protein is important for maintaining
and repairing your body after surgery.
How quickly you move from one step to the next depends on how fast your body adjusts to the change in eating patterns and
the texture and consistency of food. In most cases, people start eating regular foods two to three months after surgery.
Making Lifelong changes
Once you are eating regular foods, expect to eat three small meals and three small, healthy snacks a day. Your meals typically
include lean sources of protein (such as poultry without skin or low-fat cottage cheese) fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Avoid high-sugar, high-fat foods, which provide many calories but few nutrients. In addition to possibly causing you to feel
sick, choosing “empty calorie” foods adds to your total caloric intake. This of course, defeats the purpose of
having the surgery.
The surgical changes made to your digestive system restrict the quantity you can eat and drink with each meal. To avoid problems
and to ensure you're getting all the nutrients you need, use the guidelines below:
• Eat small amounts. After surgery, your stomach holds only about 1 ounce of food. Your stomach stretches over time
to hold more food; however you won't be able to eat more than 1 to 1 1/2 cups of food at meals. Eating too much food adds
extra calories and can cause pain, nausea, or vomiting. Make sure you eat only the recommended amounts and stop eating before
you feel full.
• Eat and drink slowly. Eating or drinking too quickly, especially high-sugar foods can cause dumping syndrome —
this happens when foods or liquids enter your small intestine more rapidly than normal. Dumping syndrome causing nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea, dizziness and sweating. To prevent dumping syndrome, eat your food and sip your beverages slowly. Take at least
30 minutes to eat your meals.
• Chew food thoroughly. The new opening that leads from your stomach into your intestine is very small and large pieces
of food can easily cause a blockage or vomiting. Take small bites of food and chew them thoroughly. Some people find foods
such as red meats difficult to chew or swallow and may elect to avoid them entirely.
• Drink most of your fluids between meals. Drinking beverages at mealtime may leave you feeling overly full and prevent
you from eating enough nutrient-rich foods. Expect to drink about 6 to 8 cups of fluids a day to prevent dehydration, but
work on this throughout the day.
• Introduce new foods one at a time. After surgery, certain foods may cause nausea or vomiting or may block the opening
of the stomach. To find out which foods are OK to eat and which cause you trouble, try one new food at a time. Foods that
commonly cause trouble include tough meats, bread, raw vegetables and carbonated beverages.
• Take recommended vitamin and mineral supplements. After surgery, you run the risk of nutritional deficiency because
of decreased stomach capacity. If you’ve had gastric bypass, you body is less able to absorb nutrients because part
of your small intestine has been bypassed. To prevent a vitamin or mineral deficiency, always take vitamin and mineral supplements
regularly. These may include a multivitamin and mineral supplement, calcium, vitamin B-12 and iron supplement.
Weight loss and weight gain
Within the first 18 months following surgery, you can expect steady weight loss, if you maintain the dietary and exercise
recommendations. If you continue to follow these recommendations, you can keep most of that weight off long-term.
If you return to your old eating habits, you may gain back a fair amount of the weight you've lost. People who regain weight
after bariatric surgery usually are consuming too many high-calorie foods and don't exercise enough. Some people begin to
graze, meaning that they eat food all day long. This eating pattern will likely result in weight being regained.
If you aren't losing weight or are regaining weight after surgery, discuss you eating habits with your dietitian. You will
need to identify the old habits you have resumed.
Weight loss surgery can result in significant weight loss when other methods have failed. Its success depends on your willingness
to maintain healthy eating and exercise habits for the rest of your life. Like all methods of successful weight loss, gastric
surgery involves work and commitment on your part. The rewards of weight loss and your improved health are well worth these
efforts.
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