Typical Post-Bariatric Diet

"Bariatric surgery" is a blanket term for any type of surgical procedure in which your stomach is artificially reduced in size to facilitate weight loss, according to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. After the procedure, the patient no longer is able to take in nearly as much food as before the operation, naturally regulating his caloric intake and forcing him to drop pounds. Although weight loss after this type of operation is nearly inevitable, a proper diet can help you to make the most of the opportunity.

After the Procedure

• Follow a liquid diet immediately after the surgery to give your digestive system time to recover. This means only clear liquids at first, moving to a full liquid diet when you leave the hospital. While on a clear liquid diet you should consume only liquids through which you can see (with the exception of tea), including sports drinks, water, clear sodas, jello, and the like. After moving to a full liquid diet you are able to supplement your intake with meal-replacement drinks such as Boost and Boost Plus. You should aim to drink a calorie-containing beverage roughly every half hour to provide sufficient nutrients for recovery from the operation.

Solid Food Diet

• Follow a soft-food diet as your next step toward recovery. This consists only of foods that are easy to chew and digest. The goal is to provide your body plenty of protein (to prevent muscle wasting) while minimizing your consumption of sugars, fats, and fiber. Sample foods on a soft diet include eggs, tuna, tender meats, soft cheeses, cottage cheese, oatmeal, potatoes, and pasta.

  About two months after surgery you can return to an unrestricted "normal" diet, but you are still advised to avoid sugars and excess fats, while keeping your diet mostly relegated to lean meat, vegetables, and fruit. Eat slowly at first to avoid overfilling yourself, as you will have difficult gauging the size of your "new" stomach. And be extremely careful about foods containing sugars, as they can make some people lightheaded, faint, or sweaty after bypass surgery.