Does anyone have a surgeon/nutritionist who allows you to use real food as soon as possible post-surgery? I understand that my stomach would be healing at first and I would need to be on a Clear Liquids diet for a few days, but I really don't want to lose the weight by eating processed shakes and bars.

Before I decide whether or not to have this surgery, I'd like to see if there are options that will allow me to consume mostly whole foods, from bone broth to kale/fruit smoothies to small portions of meat and tofu. Does anyone have a post-op diet like that?

I figure I will have to add Protein powder to my smoothies at first, but don't want to be stuck taking Vitamins and minerals and supplements forever when there are so many good foods that supply the same nutrients.

Thanks!

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I'm three months out and have yet to eat a Protein bar or a "ready to drink" shake. For the first two weeks when I was on liquids only, I did use a whey isolate Protein powder added to either Water or skim milk. Once beyond two weeks, I was able to start pureeing real food to eat (still had to supplement with a shake a day for a while). All surgeons have different plans for the progression from liquids to food.

The Vitamins and mineral supplements are needed because you can only consume very small amounts of food and there is no way you could ingest enough fruit and vegetables to get all the vitamins and enough meat/dairy/vegetables to get your protein amounts as well. At least initially. I do know some sleeved patients who are down to taking only one Multivitamin a day and no other supplements once they are a year out and their labs come back fine.

I would suggest you meet with several bariatric centers in your area and discuss your wants and see whose plan best matches what you want.

The challenge immediately post-op is being able to get enough Protein when we can't consume a large volume. That is why protein supplements are critical early out. Also, it is why relying on vegetables for enough protein can be nearly impossible early out.

When you are able to consume a large enough volume of food to reach your protein targets there is no reason to use protein supplements other than preference and/or convenience.

For me, to get in my 100 grams of protein, during my clear and full liquid phases, protein supplements were critical.

Getting in enough protein is critical for healing and weight loss.

Eating whole foods too soon after surgery can be dangerous and life threatening. I had 2 weeks of liquids, week of piree, then soft foods and regular solids at 5 weeks. Liquids aren't forever but meeting Protein and Water goals are. Vitamin supplements are necessary until you can eat enough to get them naturally which could take a long time.

Definitely shop around with surgeons but you have to be willing to make some changes to be successful and healthy.

I was on full liquids for 1 week immediately after surgery, which meant Protein shakes. I used commercial (yes, "processed") protein powders and added them to my preferred brand of milk.

After that, I was told to move on to pureed and soft foods for the next two weeks. Beans, soft fish, tofu, soft cheese, any meat that was soft and "juicy."

After those 2 weeks- have at it.

So it was really only a 7 day period post-op that I was heavily restricted. I did continue to use Protein Shakes through the soft food period because I had surgeon mandated protein targets that I personally could not have hit without them.

I'm 10 weeks post op now, I don't even remember the liquid phase at this point. It flew by.

Some surgeons have less conservative plans than mine, some have more. You'll see a big variety on the board.

Also- some people have difficult recoveries and have great trouble swallowing for some time post-op and have to stay on liquids. Something else to keep in mind.

I've reviewed a zillion post-op diets to compare them to my own, and not one has mentioned real food right after surgery. They all differ when it comes to pre-op diets but not the post-op diet for obvious reasons of safety. The removal of 80% of your stomach, the staples... Etc. is no minor surgery. Eating too soon would create catastrophic and grave consequences.

@@anonmom

Most plans aren't going to allow you meat or solids until week 3 or 4. If you are willing to live on broth and unflavored Protein powder, you can easily live on "real" (I mean protein powder isn't real, it is processed) food. My Dr pushes real food ASAP and is against processed foods.

I was over 3 months when I had a Protein Bar, and I am not a fan of them at all, they are fake frankenfoods. IMO, Protein Bars are for emergencies, not a part of a daily diet and even the meathead guys at my supplement store agree. A piece of steak or chicken is always a better option.

If you like seafood, then this can be really easy for you. soft baked fish, you can eat pretty soon because it literally turns to mush in your mouth.

I skipped purees because I am really weird about food textures, and just did an extra week of liquids.

Good luck! It is nice to see someone posting interesting in actually eating healthy!

so the practice I use wants us off Protein shakes as an every day product as soon as possible.

I was on Clear Liquids in the hospital. Full liquids for two weeks, then soft foods (refried Beans, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, soft flaky fish - this kind of thing) and then at one month begin introducing regular foods - ground meat, crock pot chicken breast, that sort of thing, adding veg as tolerated. As tolerated is going to depend on how quickly your swelling goes down. but I was on 90% regular food by 6 weeks out. I have a Protein shake (I like the unjury chocolate powder with fairlife milk and Fiber added) when I need a grab and go Breakfast, or if my protein total is low due to a busy day, and I have a protein bar I like (power crunch triple chocolate) when I am wanting a candy bar or chocolate. but most of the time it is all real food.

Thanks for all the replies! It helps to hear what different people are eating at different points in their healing and weight loss processes.

I definitely get the need for Protein powders at first when you can barely eat anything, but need protein for your body to heal. I actually just bought a hemp protein powder to add to my morning smoothies to see if I liked it, and it is pretty good. But it is just 1/4 cup of powder mixed in with a bunch of real food (soy milk, kale, frozen fruit, nuts, seeds, a banana, etc.).

I guess I'm not too worried about directly after surgery when everything is swollen and it is hard to eat anything. I know there will be lots of bone broth and smoothies during that part and not much else.

I just don't want to take this drastic step if it will prevent me from being able to meet my body's nutritional needs naturally in the long term.

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I was sleeved and at my year follow-up was advised I could drop all the extra vitamin supplements and just take a daily multivitamin. If you get a sleeve you should be able to get all the nutrition you need from food eventually. Bypass folks need to supplement their vitamins and minerals for life.

My program (Kaiser Northern CA) is absolutely opposed to protein shakes and powders. We are only supposed to eat whole foods (plus vitamins) from the very start of orientation and throughout. Even the pre-op meal plan is all whole foods. Post-op foods are obviously appropriate to the stage (I.e. bone broth on stage one, yogurt/split pea soup stage 2, eggs/cheese/ground meats/soft veggies stage 3).

Edited September 21, 20169 yr by perspectiveiseverything

I'm only a few days out but I did Clear liquids with low sodium chicken broth, Water, tea, and Jello. My surgeon called and gave me the approval for Protein shakes so I've recently added those in too. And honestly, you eat so little (only 2-3oz) that eating real food doesn't even come to mind. I mean yeah you think about how you miss it but I haven't even thought about actually eating real food. And also, cold things tend to bug my stomach. I don't like warm drinks but if I add ice it gives me really bad stomach cramps. So I just refrigerate my drinks.

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I'm all for as much of the dirt coming from whole real unprocessed foods as possible and so are my doc and RD. That said I wasn't able to meet my Protein goals without supplementing with Protein powder for two years. And still use it several days a week, my restriction is that tight. (I also likely have a higher protein goal than most due to my endurance athletic activities--marathons and triathlons-- and yoga schedule)So just be open and flexible in order to meet your goals.

I would also caution against too much fruit in the smoothies because of the sugar-- especially bananas. Choose lower sugar fruits like berries and such at least during the losing phase.

I also am down to one Multivitamin and one Vitamin D per day for supplements. The rest I get from a variety of whole foods in my diet.

Just an update: the first practice I was considering (Fairview U of MN) told me I was not a candidate for surgery because they do not operate on anyone with borderline personality disorder, regardless of that person's stability and support systems. So I moved on to another practice on my list (Alina Abbot Northwestern) and right away the focus in their introductory videos, etc. was on building a sustainable, healthy post-op diet of whole foods. I'm feeling like this will be the right practice for me!

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