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Protein is IMPERATIVE to bariatric patients. And the great thing is we have so many options!


Once upon a time it was nearly impossible for a bariatric patient to keep their protein counts up. We were taught to only eat certain foods and to avoid others. Chicken breast, lean beef, and fish was the rule of thumb. The problem with these foods was that several people had problems eating, swallowing, and digesting them. And we were told that once we hit a certain point, to avoid protein drinks as we needed to be eating our protein rather than drinking it.
Isn't it nice to know that times have changed? New research and information has given the bariatric patient so many more options on foods we can eat now to keep our protein levels where they should be. We are no longer restricted to the leanest cuts of meat, but are encouraged to try other cuts such as dark meat chicken, 80/20 or 90/10 ground beef, and (a personal favorite) BACON. Additionally, we are encouraged to eat eggs and shrimp, salmon and pork. And protein drinks (when done RIGHT) are no longer a no-no!
How Much Protein Do We REALLY Need and Why Is It So Important?
According to most surgeons and nutritionists, we need about 65-70 grams of protein daily. That goes up a little bit if you're recovering from surgery or are sick or pregnant (to about 85-90 grams). Protein is an essential building block of our bodies. When we're losing weight, especially, protein is one of the hardest working macronutrients on the planet. Beyond muscle building, it also helps strengthen our immune system, rebuilds tissue, and can even improve brain function. Additionally, when we lose weight, our bodies burn protein. When we're not getting enough protein, our body takes it from wherever it can get it - typically our body muscle. What's more, it can actually take muscle from our cardiac system!
How Can I Get My Protein?
Focusing on protein is the #1 concern of many bariatric patients. Of course, eating your protein is the very best bet. Focusing on protein foods with a high protein to fat ratio is the very best bet. Some of the best protein foods are egg whites, chicken breast, and shrimp. Although other meats, poultry, and seafood are also good options. Cheese is another great choice as are nuts and seeds. Beans do give some protein, but many bariatric patients have issues with digesting them.
Another good option is the protein drink. Once only encouraged in the early phases after surgery, now many nutritionists and dietitians are encouraging the bariatric patient to include protein supplements in their daily diets. Most contain high (35+ g) amounts of protein, and leave you free to consume other healthy (and needed) foods later on such as vital fruits and vegetables.
The #1 suggested protein drink that nutritionists suggest is whey protein. It is, by far, the most digestible and assimilated protein on the market (that means your body can use it a lot easier than other kinds). Sadly, many people can't tolerate whey or stomach it. If this is the case, there are other options available that are almost as easily digested such as egg white protein or vegan (brown rice, pea, and hemp) proteins.
If I'm Focusing On Protein, I Don't Have Room For Other Foods, HELP!
VITAMINS! You remember those vitamins and fiber supplements the doctor sent you home with? TAKE THEM. It's true that we often have to forgo fruits, vegetables, and whole grains when we're focusing on protein. That's why these supplements are so important to our lifestyle.
Remember The Basics!
The basics of our lifestyle don't change with time. We still need to remain focused on protein, water, and our vitamin supplements. Keeping these three things at the forefront of your mind will help ensure you successful weight loss, successful maintenance, and a successful lifestyle overall!

It’s often quite a surprise to learn how slowly you really need to eat after surgery. For those of you that have had surgery, you know that even one very small bite too many can be painful or lead to vomiting. Before surgery, we encourage you to eat slowly to learn that it takes about 20 minutes of slowly eating before your brain recognizes your stomach is full. After surgery it may only take a few bites to begin feeling full.


It’s often quite a surprise to learn how slowly you really need to eat after surgery. For those of you that have had surgery, you know that even one very small bite too many can be painful or lead to vomiting. Before surgery, we encourage you to eat slowly to learn that it takes about 20 minutes of slowly eating before your brain recognizes your stomach is full. After surgery it may only take a few bites to begin feeling full.
The first step in slowing down your eating is to chew your food to applesauce consistency. A lot of our patients find success by making each bite last 25 chews. Chewing to applesauce consistency works better when you take a very small bite. Think of a bite of food being about the size of a pencil eraser or the size of the tip of your pinky finger. Use smaller utensils like the salad fork or teaspoon or even toddler or baby spoons and forks.
Speaking of utensils, put them down between bites which helps you slow down your eating. A lot of us already have a bite of food loaded on a fork or spoon ready to put in our mouth immediately after swallowing bite of food. Use a saucer or salad plate to reduce portions so you have less food in front of you.
No seat, no eat. Sitting at a table without distractions around you will help you focus on business of chewing. Remove distractions from your eating area. Eating while standing at the sink, driving, watching TV, working on the computer, answering texts or e-mails, reading, making “to do” lists or doing another load of laundry are common distractors in our busy lives.
When you are able to start eating food you can chew foods like cottage cheese or scrambled eggs, start with eating 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) every 10 minutes. Discover your “I’m just about to get full” signal. Our patients report they will hiccup, sneeze, sigh quickly or just realize that next bite of food really isn’t going to work. Focus on the enjoying the few bites you are able to have. Concentrate on the flavor and texture of the food. Many of our patients discover that chewing food well often results in finding out that the foods they really liked before don’t taste as good as they remembered.
If you are eating with others, focus on the conversation and people at the table. Many of our post-surgery patients report that the focus of the meal becomes the conversations, enjoying the company and socializing rather than the food. Learning to slow down your eating will be a difficult skill to master, but is an essential skill to have successful surgical outcomes.

You’re tired of your old body – the fat one that’s caused you so many problems – but are you ready to move into a new one?


The idea for this article came to me in a dream.
It was what I call an anxiety dream, in which I’m trying to accomplish something important but encounter obstacles everywhere I turn. That’s kind of a parable of life itself, isn’t it? When I wake from a dream like that, I feel frustrated because I didn’t get to finish my dream task, but at the same time I’m relieved to be released from the endless struggle.
So in this particular dream, I was moving into a new, multi-story house, kind of like the old tenement buildings you see in dying New England mill towns. It was essential that I quickly locate and organize all my belongings so that I could use them to start an urgent and important project. Every time I carried something into another room to put it away, I would find other people there, already moving my stuff, wreaking havoc on my carefully ordered household. When I went back outside for another load of stuff, more people would be poking through it as if it was so much garbage left out to be collected and buried at the dump. These interfering people ignored my pleas to leave my things alone. For every armful I took into the house, they carried out ten.
Then my husband started a load of wash in the laundry room a few feet away from the bedroom, and the sound of the washer’s spin cycle woke me up. Thank God.
I trudged off to the bathroom, pondering the meaning of the dream. I haven’t moved into a house for 14 years, so why was I having a dream about moving house? As I made the bed and thought more about the dream (which didn’t want to leave my head just then), I suddenly knew what it was about.
My big moving project for the past 6 years hasn’t involved moving into a new house. It’s involved moving into a new body. Like any move into the unknown, it’s been both exciting and scary. I no longer have a jumbo, custom-built pantry to hold 50+ years’ worth of bad habits and warped beliefs about myself. I keep forgetting where I’ve put things, and have sabotaged my own efforts numerous times. At times, circumstances beyond my control have put my new “home” into disarray, but I’ve kept working at it, carrying things in, bringing things out, rearranging things…a seemingly endless task.
I think I’m pretty much settled now. I watch elderly people who have to work so hard to accomplish the simplest tasks – sit down, get up, button a shirt, open a jar – and remember my mom talking about the way her body had betrayed her as she aged. I suppose that could happen to me sooner or later. But for right now, I’m in a good place: my new body - the home I carry with me everywhere.
As you continue on your weight loss journey, please take good care of your body. You may not like it much now, but it’s your home. Your very own home. As it changes, you will have to learn its new floor plan. When you go to a closet to fetch a size 16 dress and find only size 18’s, you may feel so disoriented that you forget the size 20, 22 & 24’s you took to the Goodwill Store last week. As you pass through the front hallway of this new home and see yourself in the mirror, the person you see might look like a complete stranger. What’s she doing there? She’s fat, I’m not, so why is her reflection all I can see? Where did this mirror come from, anyway, the funhouse at a circus?
Don’t give up. One day you’ll have all the curtains hung, the walls painted, the furniture arranged, a fire burning in the fireplace, and you’ll think, “I’m so glad to be home.”