Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery – on paper, Weight loss might look very easy to you. You just have to eat in a calorie deficit and perform regular exercise, and you will start losing your extra body fat.
Well, things are not as simple as you might think for every person in the world. Most people are able to lose weight using calorie deficit and regular exercise combination, but there are some people who might not even respond to the best-in-class diet and workout routine.
In those scenarios, where people are not responding to diet and exercise, and they are struggling with physical problems due to their overweight body, doctors might prescribe some medical treatments, which include surgeries.
What is Gastric Bypass Surgery?
Gastric bypass surgery is a type of weight loss surgery that involves creating a small pouch from the stomach and connecting that pouch directly to the small intestine.
After the surgery, food swallowed by the person will directly go into this pouch of the stomach and Fall into the small intestine. Usually, doctors do not recommend gastric bypass surgery to every person trying to lose weight as it is just recommended for people who are not responding to diet and exercise.
A lot of times, being overweight can become a life-threatening condition where a person is already struggling with severe cases of heart diseases, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, and infertility.
Your doctor can prescribe gastric bypass surgery if you have already tried every single weight loss procedure.
Long Term diet plans After Gastric Bypass Surgery
After gastric bypass surgery, it doesn’t mean that you will stay fit and lean all year long. You must focus on your diet for long-term benefits. Usually, your doctor will recommend you to follow a specific diet plan, but sometimes people have to adjust their diet depending on their current situations.
For example, you were eating specific foods which are not available while you are on vacation, or you have recently shifted to a new location. In cases like that, you have to adjust your diet according to the general guidelines.
General Guidelines for Diet
Rather than focusing on a specific diet recommended by your healthcare professional, you should take a look at the general guidelines for a long-term diet after gastric bypass surgery.
These general dieting guidelines will help you create your own diet and select food as per your choice. In case you do not create your diet on your own, then you have to rely on the food selected by your dictation or health care professionals.
- As per the general guidelines after gastric bypass surgery, a person should eat balanced meals with small portions. You should avoid eating heavy and big portions of the meal.
- At the same time, you should be following a diet that is low in calories, fat, and sweets.
- You should keep a record of your daily food portions and your choice of food. While tracking the food, you should create an analysis of overall protein intake and calories.
- Kindly eat it slowly and chew small bites of food thoroughly. As food is going to be bypassed, You should not try to eat big bites.
Foods to Avoid
Now, let’s take a look at the food items which you should be avoided while you are on a long-term diet after gastric bypass surgery.
Your doctor might also provide you with a list of food items that you should be avoided after your gastric bypass surgery. That list might include food items given below.
- Rice
- Bread
- Raw vegetables
- Fresh fruits
- Meats that are not easily chewed
- Pork and Steak
- Stay away from straws
- Do not drink carbonated beverages or chew ice
- Sugar
- Sugar containing drinks
- Sugar containing foods
- Concentrated fruit juice
Apart from these general food items, there might be several food items that you should not be eating, and your doctor will also provide good insights about these food items.
For example, carbonated beverages or ice can create air in your pouch, which will cause discomfort. In order to save you from any trouble, your doctor will recommend you avoid these kinds of food items.
Apart from that, you should not exceed the maximum calorie intake on a daily basis which will be recommended by your doctor. Usually, doctors do not allow anyone to exceed 1000 calories in a day, even after surgery.
Fluid Rules
There are some rules and regulations regarding fluids, and your health expert will introduce you to these guidelines.
- For example, your doctor will recommend you to drink extra water and low-calorie fluids between meals to avoid dehydration. You should avoid any caffeinated beverage.
- You should be shipping One Cup of fluid between each small one, and in total, you should have 6 to 8 cups a day.
- It is recommended that you should eat at least two liters of fluid a day, but you can also start with one letter.
- Kindly do not drink any alcoholic beverage after studying, as alcohol is absorbed into your stomach much more quickly than anything else.
Protein Rules
In order to preserve your muscle mass, you should have protein-rich food items. Usually, doctors recommend everyone to include egg, fish, seafood, poultry, soy milk, tofu, and yogurt in their food items.
Apart from that, you will also be allowed to have dairy products. As a regular goal, you should have at least 65 to 75 grams of protein each day, and you should not be worrying about the target if you are not able to achieve it for the first few months after surgery.
Supplements
There is a long list of supplements that will be recommended by your doctor. As you are going to avoid a huge list of food items, including fresh foods, you might require some supplements. Apart from that, 1000 calories are not enough to achieve the complete list of micronutrients.
Kindly remember you should be crushing or cutting your pills into six to eight small pieces. Your new anatomy might not be able to pass the whole pill through your digestive system.
First of all, your doctor will suggest you start having multivitamins which will also contain several supplements. You are required to have at least 18 milligrams of iron a day which can only be achieved through supplements after the surgery.
Another supplement you should be focusing on should be calcium supplement. You are required to take around 1200 to 2000 milligrams of calcium on a daily basis to prevent any type of calcium deficiency. Apart from that, your doctor might also ask you to take the supplement in two to three divided portions to enhance absorption.
Diet Over the Period of Time
Your diet is going to change over the period of time after your surgery. For example, immediately after your surgery, you will be only on a liquid diet, and gradually the liquid will get thicker, and you will get discharged from the hospital.
The food choices are going to change by the time after your surgery. Even after six months or one year of surgery, you should be focusing on small portions and less calorie diet foods.
Diet in the Hospital
Your doctor will ask you to focus on your diet as soon as you get the surgery, and dying in the hospital is going to be the first step.
After the surgery, your doctor might allow you to have clear liquids such as juices, jello, and broth as your first meal. Even though your doctor will ask you to avoid any kind of sugary beverages and food items, the portion of these food items is going to be very small, and it is not going to harm you.
Diet for the first two Weeks
The first two weeks after the surgery are going to be very crucial as you will only rely on liquids. Your doctors and dietitians will keep adding thicker liquids that are high in protein and low in fat and sugar to your diet.
You will also be recommended to use some high protein powders, which are going to be very low in calories. They are going to help you meet your protein requirements.
The diet goal for the first two weeks is going to consume small portions that will empty easily from your pouch. At this stage, your overall calorie intake is not going to be more than 400 calories.
- Your doctor will recommend you to use nonfat or 1% milk only if you can tolerate milk.
- Another popular beverage for the first two weeks after surgery is lactose-free or soy-based low-calorie drinks.
- Sugar-free pudding and sugar-free nonfat yogurt Are also very popular.
- Your diet will also include Low-fat cottage cheese and blended broth.
Diet of 3rd to 4th Week
Similar to the first two weeks, the 3rd and 4th week after your surgery is also going to be very important as you will start having small portions of nonliquid food items. Even though your food items are going to be in very small bites, it will be the first time you are going to have solid food. Doctors are going to recommend you to go for the below-given food items.
- Yogurt
- Cheese cottage
- Well-cooked pureed vegetables
- Hot cereals
- Mashed potatoes
- Noodles
- Scrambled eggs
- Canned fruits
- Canned tuna fish
- Tofu
- Lean fish
- Lean ground meats
Diet Plant till the 2nd-Month Post of Surgery
Once you have successfully completed the first four weeks post-surgery, you will be switched to a monthly diet plan, and it is going to stay there till the second month of your post-surgery.
No, your doctors are going to increase your overall calorie intake from 400 calories a day to 500 calories a day. They will also ask you to divide your 500 calories food items into 6 to 8 meals throughout the day.
- For breakfast, few might recommend going for ¼ cup of oats cereal made with nonfat milk.
- For the mid-morning snack, you will be required to have half a cup of nonfat milk.
- The late morning snack is going to include two scrambled egg whites.
- For lunch, you will be required to have half a cup of low-fat chicken noodle soup.
- In mid-afternoon, you will be required to have 1/4 cup of low-fat cottage cheese.
- For a late afternoon snack, you will have a ¼ cup of sugar-free nonfat yogurt.
- As a dinner, you will have two ounces of lean ground meat and ¼ pureed or well-cooked vegetables.
Diet Plan from the 2nd-Month to 6th-Month Post-Surgery
It is the last step of a long-term diet after gastric bypass surgery. One of the biggest reasons you should be focusing on your diet from the second month to the 6th month of surgery is that you will consume 900 to 1000 calories. You will also have to focus on maintaining your overall protein intake for the day, which is going to be around 65 to 75 grams.
Even after six months of your surgery, you will have to follow a similar calorie intake and protein intake, but you have to decrease your overall meals of the day.
Similar to the previous plan, you have to divide your whole day’s diet into 6 to 8 small portions, and later, you can reduce it to four to six.
- In the morning, you will be required to have one egg or ¼ cup egg substitute along with a half cup of hot cereal.
- As a mid-morning snack, you will require to have half a cup of nonfat milk.
- In the late morning snack, you can have half a cup of chopped melon.
- For lunch, you will require ½ cup of low-fat chicken noodle soup along with two saltine crackers.
- As a mid-afternoon snack, you will require to have ¼ cup of low-fat cottage cheese along with ¼ cup of canned fruit packed in water or juice.
- For the late afternoon snack, you can have 1/2 cup of sugar-free nonfat yogurt.
- As a dinner, you can have two answers of lean meat or fish along with ¼ cup of mashed potatoes and ¼ cup of pureed or well-cooked vegetables.
- Before bed, you will require to have half a cup of nonfat milk.
Can I include fast food in a Long Term Diet After Gastric Bypass Surgery?
No, you cannot add fast food items to a long-term diet after gastric bypass surgery. You should be focusing only on quality food items recommended by your dictation or health care provider.