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About Us Services Patients Providers |
Life After Surgery
Although gastric bypass surgery is the only proven effective way for morbidly obese patients to lose weight and keep it off, surgery is only a “tool”, not a “magic cure” for this problem. Recognizing and accepting this enables patients to use the gastric bypass to achieve the goals of weight loss and maintenance. With this sustained weight loss comes unlimited benefits - the most important being improvement or elimination of medical problems related to obesity. In order to achieve these goals, patients are required to comply with a rigorous recovery, followed by lifetime changes in behavior. Obesity surgery doesn't mean that you don't have to diet anymore. What it means is that if you adhere to the prescribed diet for the rest of your life, you'll lose the weight and keep it off. If you ever go off the diet, you'll gradually begin to regain lost weight. We want you to implement this diet even before surgery. Weight loss before surgery helps the surgeon by making the laparoscopic approach easier and safer and increases the likelihood that your surgery can be completed laparoscopically. Other dietary requirements are basic ‘common sense’ eating. With sensible eating and exercise habits (three sensible meals a day with healthy snacks), the weight loss can be easily maintained after surgery. The long-term goal of weight loss surgery is to lose approximately 70 to 80 percent of your excess weight. The end result of gastric bypass surgery is that you will continue to require only small portions of food, but usually will be able to eventually tolerate all types of foods. You will be satisfied with the smaller amounts of food that you eat and will not have continued cravings for larger quantities of food at mealtimes. Please remember that you may not progress from one diet plan to the next in the time frame given. It is an individual process, a learning process to adapt to foods. Also remember that it takes approximately six months before you can tolerate all types of foods, especially meats, and there may also be foods that you may not tolerate eating again.
Phase I Diet
Suggestions at this time:
If unable to tolerate liquids as instructed, please call our office at 319-356-7694 Phase II Diet
During this period, you will only need to eat one meal twice a day. Initially 1 to 2 tablespoons of food may be all you are able to tolerate. You must remember to chew foods slowly and thoroughly. It is helpful if your meal is eaten in a relaxed setting, slowly and without repeated interruption. It is also suggested to use a small saucer or a child-sized cup to measure food. Fill this only 1/2 full of food. Do not drink liquids 30 minutes prior to eating and for at least 45 minutes to 1 hour after eating. Phase III Diet
Please remember that this phase may not develop until 4 to 8 weeks after successfully completing Phase II. Remember to stop eating when you feel full. All foods must be cooked without added fats. Bake, broil or poach meats, fish, and poultry. Season vegetables with herbs or spices instead of fats. Eating Tips Avoid overeating! Overeating may cause you to vomit or stretch your pouch and decrease the effectiveness of your surgery. Indications of fullness are:
Chew foods thoroughly before swallowing. Eat slowly—30 chews per bite. Use small plates and bowls; you may want to try a baby spoon. Put your fork or spoon down on the table between bites. STOP eating as soon as you feel full. Drink five to six cups of liquids per day between meals. Recommended liquids are water, broth, low-calorie beverages, tea, or coffee. Sip all beverages slowly. Don't drink high-calorie drinks such as milkshakes, soda pop, beer, and other alcoholic beverages. By sipping on such liquids during the day, many calories can be consumed without feeling full. This will result in a poor weight loss record. You may supplement with diet soda and other drinks that do not have many calories. Don't forget to take a liquid or chewable vitamin supplement with iron daily. Woman over 40 should use calcium supplements daily. Don't eat high-calorie and low-nutrient foods such as cakes, cookies, pies, candy, pastries, gravies, jellies, jam, honey, sugar, ice cream, etc. Bake, broil, boil, or steam foods instead of frying to cut down on empty calories. BEWARE: you may also have problems tolerating high fat, greasy foods after surgery. Though probably difficult for you now, this will become part of your daily routine as you lose weight.With weight loss, patients have less joint pain, less shortness of breath, and more endurance. We encourage all patients to adopt an exercise regimen such as walking, swimming, aerobics, or any other form of physical fitness. This not only increases caloric expenditure, but metabolism as well, thus helping with weight loss and maintenance. We also suggest weight training since building muscle tissue (muscle tissue burns calories 24 hours per day) increases and helps maintain maximum weight loss. In addition to changing eating behaviors, we also require lifetime vitamin supplementation, including multivitamin, iron, B12, and calcium. Occasionally, others (vitamins A, D, and/or E) are required as well.We monitor blood work on a yearly basis to determine appropriate doses of these vitamins. Your ability to resume pre-surgery levels of activity will vary according to your physical condition, the nature of the activity and the type of weight loss surgery you had. Many patients return to full pre-surgery levels of activity within six weeks of their procedure. Patients who have had a minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure may be able to return to these activities within a few weeks. It is strongly advised that women of childbearing age use the most effective forms of birth control during the first 16 to 24 months after weight loss surgery. The added demands pregnancy places on your body and the potential for fetal damage make this a most important requirement. Althouh the short-term effects of weight loss surgery are well understood, there are still questions to be answered about the long-term effects on nutrition and body systems. Nutritional deficiencies that occur over the course of many years will need to be studied. Over time, you will need periodic checks for anemia (low red blood cell count) and Vitamin B12, folate and iron levels. Follow-up tests will initially be conducted every three to six months or as needed, and then every one to two years. Potential problems following gastric bypass and suggested dietary modifications:
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| Last modification date:
Wed Dec 13 14:11:55 2006
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