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 After weight loss surgery, most patients go through "stages" of returning to eating. Different bariatric surgeons use different protocols, so the stages that one patient goes through will not always be the same as that of another patient. Some surgeons start patients out on clear liquids for a week to two weeks while other surgeons may send their patients home with direction to begin eating pureed foods. It is important that patients follow the directions and plans given to them by their surgeon. Listed below, you will find suggestions for foods that may work during various stages. These suggestions come from post-operative patients. Everyone needs to be sure that a food meets the requirements given them by their own surgeon so as not to be told they have not been compliant with their program. These are meant ONLY as suggestions to help you think of new food ideas that may not have come to mind already. Please speak to your own surgeon, nutritionist, or dietician if you are unsure whether a food is okay on your own program.
Once you are released to eat most foods (whatever you can tolerate), you can add other items such as the following: cooked lean meat, fish, and poultry non-pureed items such as beans, peas, and other cooked vegetables raw, leafy vegetables such as salad greens raw fruits such as apples, pears, strawberries, grapes dried fruit whole grain breads and cereals whole wheat or soy pastas whole wheat tortillas whole grain crackers nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc) popcorn Foods you may want to avoid for life due to common issues with tolerance: high fat items coconut tough meats fruits with membranes such as oranges and grapefruits fruits with a peel that is normally eaten (grapes, apples) as skins can be hard to tolerate fibrous vegetables such as corn, celery, and sweet potatoes (blending can make these more tolerable) fresh bread (can form a "dough ball" in stomach) fried or very spicy foods high calorie snack foods concentrated sugars (such as desserts and candy) It is important that you begin logging or journalling what you eat and drink each day after you get to the point that you can eat somewhat normally. For most, this is about the 3 months post-operative point. Track the amount of fluids/liquids you drink as well as the total calories, total carbohydrates, and total protein eaten each day. Tracking what you eat can be a very valuable tool in seeing what is working best for you as well as being helpful at seeing what may be slowing down your loss at times. There are many internet sites that allow you to create a free account and track your intake online. Many of them (fitday.com for example) also allow you to enter your daily exercise into your log. There are also several sites online where you can look up nutrition information for various food items--including restaurant foods. Below are links to some of these sites! Online Sites for Logging Food/Liquid Intake http://www.fitday.com/ (free and premium
versions) http://www.sparkpeople.com/ (free and
premium versions) http://www.medabolix.com/online_mgmt/index.html
(monthly fee) Some
Nutrition Sites: http://www.nutritiondata.com/ Stalls and Plateaus Stalls and plateaus are very normal during the weight loss surgery journey. A "stall" is a period of time when you lose NO weight, but you do continue to lose inches. A "plateau" is when you lose NO weight AND lose NO inches for more than 4 weeks. Some WLS patients experience their first stall within the first few weeks of their post-op life. It can be as early as 2 or 3 weeks after surgery or can take as long as 6 to 8 months before the first stall occurs. When it occurs, you often must do something to "shake up" what you've been doing. The first suggestion you will get when talking to other WLS post-ops is to increase your protein and fluid intake. And, you will often be told to take a look at your carb intake and determine whether you are eating too many carbs each day. Carbs are converted to glycogen in your system and glycogen holds up to 4 times its weight in water--meaning that for every pound of carbs you store, you store 2 or 3 pounds of water too, resulting in a total gain of 3 to 4 pounds for every pound of carbs/glycogen stored. You can often break a stall or plateau by changing your exercise routine. This may mean adding extra time to your workout, changing HOW you work out, or even adding additional workout sessions each day or week. Exercise is often the key to weight loss as it helps you expend more calories than you are taking in. If you feel you've reached a true plateau, there are several WLS post-ops who will suggest the "Plateau Buster Diet." This diet is not a balanced daily diet as it has a very strong emphasis on protein only. During the time that you follow the Plateau Buster Diet, you will be eating less carbs and burning off some of your stored glycogen and, thereby, losing some water weight as well. However, when you return to "normal" eating again, your body will usually replace those glycogen/water stores and you may see that lost weight return. If you are still interested in reading the Plateau Buster Diet, you can find this information via many Obesity Help message board discussions like the following ones: Plateau Buster Diet New, Improved Plateau Buster Diet Are you stalling or even gaining? There are also numerous web links where you can read about weight loss plateaus. Try the following links! Weight Loss Plateaus and Pitfalls Understanding Weight Loss Plateaus Overcome Your Weight Loss Plateau At A Standstill--Weight Loss Plateaus Weight Loss Plateaus (from WeightWatchers.com) Overcoming Fat Loss Or Weight Loss Plateaus |
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