Foods that might be difficult to tolerate after weight loss surgery:

• Bread products
• Cow milk products
• Pasta products
• Fatty foods and fried foods
• Candy, chocolate, any sugary foods and beverages
• Carbonated beverages
• Bran cereal and other bran products
• Corn, whole beans, and peas
• Dried fruits and skins of fresh fruit
• Coconut

Some patients find that, after their surgery, they have trouble with foods that were fine for them previously.

Foods to avoid after weight-loss surgery:
Foods that are filled with empty calories provide mainly calories with limited nutritional value (protein, fiber, minerals and vitamins). Every bite counts after surgery. Avoid foods which contain sugar. Not only will they slow down your weight loss, but they can make you sick! Sugar may cause “dumping syndrome” in patients who have had the gastric bypass procedure. Dumping, in short, is when sugars go directly from your stomach pouch into the small intestine causing heart palpitations, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Filling up on concentrated sweets and other simple carbohydrates can prevent weight loss and good nutrition. Patients who have had any type of weight-loss surgery should avoid the following: (unless artificially sweetened)

• Ice cream
• Pudding
• Sweetened, fruited or frozen yogurt
• Dried fruits
• Candied fruit
• Canned or frozen fruit in heavy syrup
• Fruit Juice
• Sugar-coated or sweetened cereal
• Sweet rolls and doughnuts
• Sports drinks
• Popsicles
• Cakes
• Pies
• Cakes and cookies
• Jellies
• Regular soft drinks/Lemonade
• High fructose corn syrup sweetened beverages
• Table sugar
• Honey
• Candy and chocolate
• Sweetened gelatin desserts
• Regular chewing gum
• Molasses
• Syrups
• Sherbet/sorbet
• Jams
• Pancakes and waffles with syrup
• Milkshakes and chocolate milk
• Sweet pickles or relish
• Rice, pasta, potatoes
• Sugared ice tea
• Snapple®/fruit drinks

Some patients find that, after their surgery, they have trouble with foods that were fine for them previously.

After weight-loss surgery you will need to make changes to your eating patterns. Your diet after surgery will progress from a liquid to a pureed diet and then from a soft to a modified regular diet. The diet progression is designed to allow your body to heal. Initially, it will help you meet your protein and liquid requirements and later, assist you in meeting your nutritional needs. It is imperative that you follow the diet's progression and adhere to this regimen to maximize healing and minimize the risk for unnecessary complications

For gastric bypass patients: The size of the stomach pouch after gastric bypass is about one ounce or one to two tablespoons. At first your capacity will be somewhat limited, so be patient. You may find that two to three teaspoons of food fill you up. This is expected. You may also find that you are able to eat more of one type of food than another. That is okay, too. Over time, the food pouch will stretch. By six months after surgery, it may stretch to hold eight ounces or one cup. Long term, the size of your pouch is likely to be eight to twelve ounces or 1 to 1½ cups. This will limit the amount of food you can eat at one time.

For All bariatric patients: One of the changes that patients often comment about is the concept of "wasting food." After surgery your eyes and head still work the same way as they did before. However, because of the new stomach pouch or band above your stomach, you will be satisfied with much less. It is critical that you listen to your body's signals of fullness and not br tempted by the food you see left on your plate.

You may also be surprised at how the surgery changes your wants and desires for certain foods. Foods you may have previously loved you may now find you are less interested in and vice versa, sometimes.

About Protein:

Our muscles, organs, heart and brain are all constructed from protein. Our bodies require a constant supply of protein-building materials to repair and replace tissues which become worn out or damaged. After bariatric surgery, the amount of food intake is reduced to a very small volume. Therefore, protein-containing foods should be carefully eaten with each meal. This is crucial to ensure that the body gets enough protein to maintain itself. If the focus of each meal is protein-rich foods, deficiency is very unlikely to occur. The primary source of your nutrition should be protein.

Here is a list of the most popular protein rich foods and their nutritional value in regards to protein:

       FOOD
• Beans, kidney, canned
• Cheese, cottage
• Cheese, mozzarella
• Cheese, ricotta
• Chicken, thigh
• Cod
• Crab, steamed
• Egg
• Flounder
• Halibut
• Ham
• Hamburger
• Lobster, steamed
• Peas, chich, canned
• Salmon
• Shrimp
• Soybeans, edamame
• Soy flour
• Soymilk
• Soy nuts
• Swordfish
• Tempeh
• Texturized Soy Protein
• Tofu
• Tuna, canned
• Turkey
• Veal
• Yogurt, plain

PORTION SIZE
• ½ cup
• ½ cup
• 1 oz
• ¼ cup
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 1
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• ½ cup
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• ½ cup
• ¼ cup
• 1 cup
• ¼ cup
• 3 oz
• ½ cup
• ½ cup
• ½ cup
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 3 oz
• 1 cup

AMOUNT OF PROTEIN
• 8 grams
• 14 grams
• 8 grams
• 8 grams
• 21 grams
• 21 grams
• 17 grams
• 8 grams
• 21 grams
• 21 grams
• 21 grams
• 21 grams
• 16 grams
• 7 grams
• 21 grams
• 18 grams
• 14 grams
• 13 grams
• 7 grams
• 15 grams
• 16 grams
• 21 grams
• 11 grams
• 10 grams
• 25 grams
• 21 grams
• 21 grams
• 11 grams

About Vitamins:

We instruct each bariatric patient to take the following for the rest of their lives:

• Multivitamin with iron daily.
• Calcium Citrate 500 mg three times daily (1500mg) for gastric bypass patients, or Calcium Carbonate as directed daily for lap-banding patients.
• Sublingual B12 weekly or monthly injection depending on your surgeon's orders for gastric bypass patients.
• Other supplements on an individual basis.

In Summary

To maintain a healthy weight and to prevent weight gain, you must develop and keep healthy eating habits. You will need to be aware of the volume of food that you can tolerate at one time and make healthy food choices to ensure maximum nutrition in minimum volume. A remarkable effect of Bariatric surgery is the progressive change in attitudes towards eating. Patients begin to eat to live – they no longer live to eat. As well, exercise must be part of your daily routine.

Protein-based foods (eggs, fish, meat, etc.) should make up 70 to 75% of all calories consumed. Carbohydrates (bread, potatoes, etc.) should make up only 10 to 20%, and fats (butter, cheese, etc.) only 5 to 15% of the calories that you eat. A diet consisting of 800 calories and 75 grams of protein per day should be the goal for the first 6 months. Protein drinks can be helpful to fulfill your protein requirements. There are many to choose from. Look for protein drinks that are low calorie, low sugar, and high in protein. You will be able to consult our nutritionist for more information as part of our program.