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What Do I Eat After Lap Band Surgery?

At Weight Zen, we want to be sure all of our patients are properly equipped with the knowledge they need to success both before and after surgery. But sometimes we all need a reminder about proper post-surgical eating habits.  Today, I’m going to answer the question “What Do I Eat After Lap Band Surgery?”

With any surgery, it’s important to speak to your personal doctor about what’s best for you.  Individualized care is very important. But, this plan has worked well for many of our patients and we want to share the knowledge with you.  After all, being well informed is a great tool for success.

What’s the diet progression?  Right after surgery you will eat in the following pattern:

  • protein based liquids (2 weeks duration)
    • store bought protein shakes or homemade protein shakes using water or unsweetened plain or vanilla almond milk
  • pureed foods (2 weeks duration)
    • most foods are fine, just be sure they can be pureed in a blender or a food processor – black beans, apple sauce, potatoes, etc
  • soft foods (2 weeks duration)
    • scrambled eggs, tofu, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc
  • modified regular diet 

Did you know?

  • Before surgery, the average stomach can hold up to 48 oz
  • After surgery, the average banded stomach will be able to hold just 1 oz (about the size of an egg) but over time, the pouch may stretch to 4-6 oz
  • Avoiding sugar sweetened beverages is key to keeping unnecessary calories at bay, plus the calories in drinks won’t satisfy you and can cause stomach discomfort
    • water is best, but there are plenty of sugar free options available such as Crystal Light, Propel, Vitamin Water Zero
  • You should avoid eating and drinking at the same time
    • this is because we want your stomach to be filled with food and if you drink liquids while you’re eating, the food may get pushed down, leaving you hungry soon after)
  • Hydration is very important
    • because you won’t be eating and drinking at the same time, it’s important to pay attention to what you’re drinking between meals – aim for 64 oz of water or other sugar free liquids

It’s important to slowly bring your body back to “normal” eating to allow your stomach to heal following surgery.  While the Lap Band procedure is minimally invasive, it’s still a surgical procedure that you need to heal from.  Rushing your healing process could lead to complications or prolong the recovery time, so take your time and enjoy the process! This is just the beginning.

We love hearing from you! Ask us any questions you may have – in the comment section or over the phone at (866) 429-5961.

 

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Protein Powder For Bariatric Patients

We are big fans of protein powder at WeightZen, especially protein powder for bariatric patients.  Following surgery, we encourage a gradual diet progression from liquids to purees to soft foods.  It’s very important that patients are able to add protein to (almost) all the foods they eat, even if that food does not naturally contain protein.  Yet, for a lot of post-surgical patients, in the weeks immediately following surgery, it’s hard to get enough protein onto their plates and into their glasses.  So, how do we help?

1. Set yourself up for success

  • In the weeks before surgery, taste test and purchase protein powders that you like!  It’s wasteful to purchase a huge tub of protein powder only to find that you don’t care for it.

2. Try to find both plain/flavorless and flavored protein powders

  • We like vanilla and chocolate the best, but experiment, there are so many options available!

3. Be mindful of which you are adding to what foods

  • Vanilla protein powder mixed with pureed black beans? No thank you!

4. Eat and drink your protein

  • Right after surgery, it can be daunting to try and drink or eat your entire day’s worth of protein, so split it up and do both.

5. Get creative

  • Mixing protein powder into foods you couldn’t normally add protein to can seem strange.  But, adding a little powder to unsweetened applesauce shouldn’t change the flavor profile too much and helps you meet your protein needs.

6. Read labels

  • It’s important to understand what’s in the protein powder you’re using.  Read the nutrition label to determine the serving size, calories, grams of protein as well as any added sugar.  Limit the added to sugar to no more than 7 grams per serving.

Now that you know how to use protein powder, what about which to buy? Here’s a roundup of our top picks!

Aria Protein For Women (in chocolate and vanilla, and yes – men can eat this too!)

aria protein for women

Designer Whey Fit and Trim (in chocolate and vanilla)

protein powder for bariatric surgery

GNC Naturally Unflavored 100% Whey Protein

protein powder for bariatric patients

We’d love to hear from you! Tell us what proteins you enjoy using and how you use them!

Wishing you good health,
Megan.

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Pasta Rehab: 4 Pasta Types To Get You In Those Skinny Jeans Post Surgery

Bariatric peeps, we know you love your pasta, and we want you to love your life and not give up your fave foods now that you’ve had bariatric surgery. Remember at Weight Zen we don’t believe in diets, we believe in eating – do’s so you can think of all the post-surgery food options available to you.

WHITE = WAIT
First, why you love pasta? Pasta is broken down quickly in your body, which means it spikes your blood sugar giving you a mental high right after you eat it. Think of it as a food that makes your brain laugh. The problem is that after the high, comes a low. Blood sugar spikes, then crashes. Your brain gets that high, and to avoid the crash, you do what? You eat more pasta. Pasta impacts your blood sugar because it is a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are turned into sugar in our body. In fact if you thought of white spaghetti like a bowl full of sugar strands, our guess is you wouldn’t eat so much of it so fast!

Why Brown Turns that Frown Upside Down
OK So WHY are nutritionists and doctors always saying to eat whole wheat pasta? There is fiber in whole wheat pasta. Whole wheat, means the whole entire part of the grain is used, it’s not stripped and processed. White bread, is stripped and processed, which is why it is white. There is “WHITE” whole wheat on the market, but it’s really just fiber enhanced white pasta. Listen, if you like your pasta white, try it. At Weight Zen we’re fiber fans, because the more roughage the more time take it takes to digest. Plus, fiber helps fill your tummy so you feel fuller longer.

PASTA DO’s

1. WHOLE WHEAT – c’mon you know it’s good for you. It stays in your stomach longer(this helps you feel fuller longer), it stabilizes your blood sugar, and helps you “go” more smoothly. Not potty humor jokes at Weight Zen.

2. BEAN BASED PASTA – They are rich in PROTEIN and FIBER. Double hello, thank you very much our lovely bariatric nutrition Megan swears by them. We asked her if they tasted funny and she said “They don’t, but their texture is a little bit different. They are a little chewier than regular pasta.” What do we LIKE about chewing longer? After surgery your stomach is smaller, which means you have reduced absorptive capacity. Chewing more helps your body starts the digestion process IN YOUR MOUTH, and that has been scientifically proven to help your body absorb more nutrients. We want you to have a nutrient, vitamin rich life!

3. BROWN RICE PASTA – First the taste: tastes like brown rice. No fix for that, but you can try our brown rice/white rice mix trick. If you aren’t super accustomed to the flavor, rather than even bothering to make the leap mix the brown rice pasta with regular white pasta. There is nothing wrong in the world with baby stepping your tastebuds to a healthier future. Benefits of brown rice pasta is again it helps regulate spikes in blood sugar, and it’s GREAT for people with gluten issues.

4. QUINOA – Let’s teach the world how to say the word. It’s pronounced keen-wa. Now you can sound fancy when you cook or order it. No one can spell quinoa without spellcheck, but it’s just as easy to cook as regular pasta. There’s no processing issues with quinoa, even though there are different colors, all quinoa is packing a major nutritious punch. Like sushi, it’s an acquired taste. For you sweet tooth lovers, here’s an interesting fact, this pasta-like goodness you can prepare either sweet or savory. To sweeten it up you can use some cinnamon and honey. To keep it savory use regular pasta sauce.

Finally, if you are totally saying to us, but WAIT white pasta is my favorite food ever, we don’t want you to give it up. Really. Just eat it with protein, load up on veggies, and Keep that white pasta portion small. Petite jeans on the way!

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