Montana
New Member
This is what I got today with regards to what diet to follow after the op, thought it may be useful for people not as far down the line to see as an example. Those that have already had the op should continue to follow the advice of their own team though 
Stage 1 - Liquids - 2 weeks
Now aim for 3 meals a day. In the first few days/weeks, you may want to also have a 1-2 small snacks if your portion sizes at meal times are very small. The aim is to have 3 tea plate sized meals a day, without snacks.
You will probably not be hungry due to changes in hormone levels resulting from your operation. It is important to still have 3 meals a day - you need the nutrients! It might be tempting to skip meals if you aren't hungry as a way to speed up weight loss but this will result in you becoming malnourished. One of the common symptoms of this after bypass surgery is hair loss. This is usually a sign of general malnourishment as opposed to specific vitamin or mineral deficiency.
If you are struggling to eat all of your meal, eat the protein portion of the meal first, then the carbohydrate portion followed by the vegetables.
If you don't tolerate a food try it again in a few weeks time. There is a lot of adaptation int he first few months. It is highly likely you will manage it with time.
Possible problems after a bypass
Vomiting
You should not expect to be sick after a bypass. If you are, it is likely you have either:
Dumping syndrome
If you experience this (nausea, sweating, feeling faint, diarrhoea, cramping) after eating you should sit or lie down until the symptoms pass. The symptoms can be made worse by drinking with meals or having foods with a high fat content.
Constipation
If you are suffering with this, check you are drinking enough fluid. Try to choose more high fibre foods such as wholegrain products, fruit and vegetables. You can safely take laxatives such as Resource Optifibre, milk of magnesia or senna. Do not take fibogel.
Hope this helps!
H x
Stage 1 - Liquids - 2 weeks
- All drinks should be smooth (no bits or lumps) and be able to be sucked through a straw
- Start with sips and if these feel comfortable, gradually increase the amount you take in one go
- Aim to have a minimum of 2.5 litres (4 pints) each day to avoid becoming dehydrated
- Avoid all fizzy drinks
- While it is fine to drink tea, coffee, squash, water etc you should make sure these are in addition to any drinks with a nutritional content, not instead of.
- Skimmed or semi-skimmed milk fortified with skimmed milk powder added (1-2 table spoons per 200ml)
- Build-up, Complan (or own brand equivalents)
- Slimfast
- Smooth soup (homemade or tinned) fortified with 1-2 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder
- Smoothies (fruit blended with milk). Homemade as shop bought will be too high in sugar.
- Unsweetened fruit juice (limited to 1-2 small glasses a day)
- It is still important to avoid lumps at this stage. Make sure foods are blended well.
- Texture wise you are aiming for yogurt consistency.
- Have 4-6 'meals' a day.
- Start with 1-2 tablespoons per meal and increase this gradually if and when this feels comfortable (to no more than 4 tablespoons)
- Chew well and eat slowly. Stop as soon as you feel full.
- Do not drink at meal times. Wait at least 30 minutes before you drink anything.
- Make sure you include a protein source at each meal. This is important to help wound healing.
- Have 1 pint of milk a day still. Use this to blend foods rather than water to increase the nutritional content.
- Breakfast - virtually fat free yogurt/fromage frais, soggy weetabix or ready brek, homemade fruit smoothie (made with yogurt)
- Mid morning - blended tinned fruit (unsweetened), virtually fat free yogurt/fromage frais, sugar free angel delight/custard
- Lunch - thick, smooth soup (add skimmed milk powder if it doesn't contain meat, fish, chicken or lentils), blended baked beans and mashed potato, blended fish in sauce with mashed potato, liquidised meat/chicken/fish stew with liquidized mash and vegetables, liquidised pasta with cheese and vegetable sauce
- Mid afternoon - as mid morning
- Dinner - as lunch
- The texture you are aiming for now is mashed food you could eat with a fork or spoon.
- Lumps are now allowed! It is important you chew all food well and take your time.
- You should reduce the frequency of meals to 3-4/day (or 3 plus a snack) and avoid eating in between.
- Continue to seperate drinks from meals.
- Scrambled eggs
- Baked beans
- Minced meat or turkey e.g cottage or shepherds pie, bolognese sauce
- Fish in sauce/fish pie
- Soft ready meals e.g. cauliflower cheese, lasagne, macaroni cheese
- ....with soft (overcooked) pasta, cous cous or mash potato
- ....and soft (overcooked) vegetables
- Rice pudding, yogurt, fromage frais, stewed or soft tinned fruit, sugar-free mousse/whip/custard
Now aim for 3 meals a day. In the first few days/weeks, you may want to also have a 1-2 small snacks if your portion sizes at meal times are very small. The aim is to have 3 tea plate sized meals a day, without snacks.
You will probably not be hungry due to changes in hormone levels resulting from your operation. It is important to still have 3 meals a day - you need the nutrients! It might be tempting to skip meals if you aren't hungry as a way to speed up weight loss but this will result in you becoming malnourished. One of the common symptoms of this after bypass surgery is hair loss. This is usually a sign of general malnourishment as opposed to specific vitamin or mineral deficiency.
If you are struggling to eat all of your meal, eat the protein portion of the meal first, then the carbohydrate portion followed by the vegetables.
If you don't tolerate a food try it again in a few weeks time. There is a lot of adaptation int he first few months. It is highly likely you will manage it with time.
Possible problems after a bypass
Vomiting
You should not expect to be sick after a bypass. If you are, it is likely you have either:
- Eaten too much
- Eaten too quickly
- Not chewed the food enough
- Had a drink too near the meal
Dumping syndrome
If you experience this (nausea, sweating, feeling faint, diarrhoea, cramping) after eating you should sit or lie down until the symptoms pass. The symptoms can be made worse by drinking with meals or having foods with a high fat content.
Constipation
If you are suffering with this, check you are drinking enough fluid. Try to choose more high fibre foods such as wholegrain products, fruit and vegetables. You can safely take laxatives such as Resource Optifibre, milk of magnesia or senna. Do not take fibogel.
Hope this helps!
H x
