Diet Plan for Postoperative Gastric Bypass

Gastric bypass surgery is a weight-loss tool that helps many obese patients lose a necessary amount of weight. The diet that follows the procedure is an important part of the weight-loss plan. Gastric bypass restricts the amount of food that you can eat, but unless you make good food choices, the weight will not come off.

Nutrition After Surgery

• Immediately after a gastric bypass surgery, the diet that you can consume is severely limited. In the first few days of the diet, you will only be able to consume liquids. A solid food diet may take three to four weeks to begin after the procedure.

  You should monitor your foods very carefully when solid foods are introduced to your diet. Add a new food one at a time to test your reaction to the new food. The foods that you choose must be low in calorie and nutritionally dense. Do not waste your meals on junk foods that don't add any nutrition to the diet.

  Plan to consume four to six small meals a day in your new diet. Do not eat more than six ounces of food at each meal when you reach this stage. In the days after the surgery, your stomach is only capable of holding two ounces of food or liquid. In later weeks, your stomach will expand to hold up to six ounces.

Healthy Eating Habits

• Gastric bypass surgery provides the patient with the opportunity to learn new, healthier eating habits. Nutrition is so important on the program that not an ounce of food can be wasted on junk foods. Learn how to plan your meals and choose the highest quality foods for your diet.

  Chew your food carefully, and eat slowly after a gastric bypass procedure. Your program should space out the meals so that you do not allow yourself to become too hungry between meals. Gorging at a meal is dangerous after the surgery.

Lifelong Commitment

• Gastric bypass surgery requires a serious commitment to your diet and nutrition. You will have to take supplements for the rest of your life after the procedure. Your doctor will also require you to have blood tests once or twice a year to make sure that you are getting the proper nutrition.

  Your new eating habits do not end when the weight is lost. This new way of eating continues over your lifetime. The surgery will help you to lose weight, but it is up to you to make sure that it stays off.