You may undergo gastric bypass surgery if you are extremely obese and are encountering health complications from your obesity, and if you have already tried to lose weight unsuccessfully. The surgery itself is only the beginning of your weight loss journey, and you need to follow an appropriate diet after surgery in order to achieve your goals and stay healthy. Work closely with your doctor and a nutritionist throughout the process.
The goals of your gastric bypass diet are to meet your nutrient requirements, prevent complications from surgery and help you lose weight. Gastric bypass surgery helps you lose weight not only because it decreases the absorption of nutrients in your stomach and small intestine, but also because it shrinks the size of your stomach pouch so you are unable to eat a high volume of food at one time. If you eat increasingly larger meals and snacks after your surgery, your pouch size may increase again, and you may regain some weight.
Phases 1 and 2
Start phase 1 after one to two days without eating after your surgery, according to MayoClinic.com. This liquid diet allows your stomach staples to heal, and you can have 2 to 3 oz. at a time of broth and strained soup, juice, milk and sugar-free gelatin. After a few days, you can start to have pureed foods, during phase 2, which lasts for two to four weeks. Grind and puree a liquid, such as milk, broth or water, with high-protein foods, such as beans, fish, meat, eggs or yogurt.
Phases 3 and 4
Your doctor will allow you to progress to phase 3, which includes soft foods, when you have demonstrated that you can tolerate pureed foods. Possible foods in this phase include ground meat, canned or cooked fruits and vegetables and ripe fresh fruits. Phase 4 starts after another eight weeks, and you can incorporate most solid foods. Be wary of spicy foods and tough or crunchy foods, such as popcorn, seeds and celery, and have no more than a 1/2 cup of food at once to make sure that your pouch remains small.
Considerations
On a gastric bypass diet to shrink your pouch, eat slowly, keep your meals small, and chew thoroughly to avoid straining the staples in your stomach or stretching your pouch. Emphasize high-protein foods, and be sure to take the vitamin and mineral supplements that your nutritionist recommends, because your food intake is limited and you are not absorbing all the nutrients from your food. Dumping syndrome, or diarrhea, occurs when you eat too much fat or sugar at once.
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