Bariatric Surgery Diet

Understanding the latest information in nutrition and how it affects long term surgical outcome.

This bariatric surgery diet overview is designed to educate you and will pertain to most bariatric surgeries. Depending on whether you are getting a gastric sleeve procedure or a full bypass surgery, you must follow your doctor’s fitness and nutritional guidelines and strictly follow their prescribed diet plans.

Many bariatric surgeons work with full time dietitians to supplement their knowledge of proper nutrition and to provide better patient coverage for the dietary portion of the surgery. It is important that you understand how your food choices and fitness habits will need to change both pre and post bariatric surgery. A thorough understanding of the operation as a whole will make the entire process much less stressful both emotionally as well as physically.

Food management is perhaps the key determining factor for long-term success after a bariatric surgery. Your weight loss depends on adapting new lifestyle choices. If you continue to make poor meal choices, eating junk food and other high fat foods your results will be hindered severely. Discussing your diet with a nutritionist prior to your gastric surgery is also a good idea as you can prepare your body for the procedure in a healthy fashion.

Strictly following your doctors dietary plan will also ensure you lose excess body weight faster. You will be losing weight rapidly, and a healthy diet will ensure you are getting the correct nutrition. This will go a long way to help minimize some of the common negative side effects of gastrointestinal surgery, which are: difficulty in maintaining lean body mass and retaining your skin elasticity. Proper diet (particularly lean protein) has also shown to help prevent post surgery hair loss. Let’s take a look at an overview of your bariatric surgery diet over a two year period.

Bariatric diet plan- menu

  • Week one: All liquid diet, no exceptions
  • Week two: All liquid diet
  • Week three: Transition meal plan between liquid only diet and a pureed, or very soft food meals
  • Week four: Mostly pureed meal plans
  • Week five: Mostly pureed meals with small additions of solid foods.
  • Week six: Regular foods in small quantities at one sitting.

Note- Special care must be taken to chew food very well.

Year one to year two dietary overview

Reduced calorie diet plans are continued during the first two years, generally in the 700 to 900 calorie range. It is in these initial years you will be expected to have your greatest weight loss to occur (approximately 70 to 80 percent of the total for most surgical weight loss patients). This time from is based on your BNI (body mass index) or how obese you were prior to the bariatric surgery.

Year two and after dietary overview

After achieving the weight loss goal that was originally set out by your surgeon and yourself during your consultation prior to surgery and depending on how well you have stuck with your bariatric surgery diet you will have your meals plans adjusted to the 1,000 to 1,200 calories per day range.

Vitamins for bariatric surgery

Most surgeons will recommend that you take a multivitamin with iron, calcium, and depending on which gastric surgery you have undergone additional supplements may be needed for vitamins B12, A, D, E, and K. The supplement is dependent on your personal medical history and the type of gastric procedure you had (for example, example a full gastric bypass is a malabsorptive procedure, which hinders your body from getting proper nutrition from your food and requires a lager supplement regime). Pre existing conditions can make other nutritional supplements necessary as well, consult with you surgeon in detail on this subject.

Meal plans for post surgical weight loss surgery

These first two weeks typical diet plan is for a post bariatric surgery patient in more detail. During this initial period, patients report not feeling minimal hunger in general, but they still must adhere to a very strict regime which requires attention every 15 minutes or so. This is, however, only for the first two weeks!

First two weeks meal plan, broken down into one hour segments, as it is repeated every hour.

  • 1.00 p.m : Approximately two fluid ounces of a low sugar protein shake, completely mixed.
  • 1.15 p.m: Approximately two fluid ounces of water or zero calorie liquid
  • 1.45 p.m: Approximately two fluid ounces of broth (Chemical free variety)
  • 2.00 p.m: Diluted juice (no sugar added variety)

Then the meal plan starts over again. This is only during your normal waking hours for the first weeks. You don to have to wake up to continue the process in the night. Most patients actually feel full from just the liquid intake. Talk to your surgeon or the dietitian if you have any special concerns about this portion of the bariatric surgery diet.

 

by

Related Posts

  • Post Image

Social Icons