My Diet after Gastric Bypass Surgery

My diet immediately after gastric bypass surgery was, well, limited. Two teaspoons of clear chicken soup that night to be precise. But it tasted good and it sat comfortably in my considerably smaller stomach.

I was lucky because I felt really well after the surgery and I was one who has had some pretty horrific nightmares under previous anaesthetics. The advances that medicine had made in the last 30 years were phenomenal. I had a laparoscopic lap banding done in 2004 instead of the more radical gastric bypass because I had a choice and I wanted a way back in future should it ever become necessary.

If you have a gastric bypass done at this point in time there is no way back if you ever need to have a full-sized stomach capacity again.

After leaving hospital the following day, I was on regular hourly or less sips of water and clear fluids for the two weeks. No coffee, tea or anything that wasn't going to contribute to my nutrient intake. Every mouthful I took had to provide my body with sustenance. This is very important. Fluids were all the go because you can live without food for weeks but you only last a few days without water/fluids.

I started off on two products called Yakult and Optifast in combination with a multi-vitamin pill. I stayed on these two products for about 4 weeks. I went back to my dietician each week initially until she was satisfied that all was well with me and I settled into a monthly routine.

My dieting routine was getting up in the morning and going to the bathroom. Water out; take my multivitamin with some water. Into the kitchen to mix up my Optifast and check my Email while sipping slowly at my shake. Then it was time to get dressed and go for my hour long walk. I always walked by my watch. Thirty minutes one way, turn around and go home the same way. I never walked without carrying my bottle of water. At the thirty minute mark I always took as many sips of water as I was comfortable with. Water became and still is, my best friend.

Once a week I cooked up a batch of my 'diet' soup, put it through the blender and liquidised it and put it in the fridge. This was there whenever I felt peckish and especially if I wasn't feeling hungry which was most of the time. But I knew the importance of eating regularly as this had been driven into me by the Doctor, Dietician and Nurse.

When I got home after my walk I would put on my swimmers (bathing costume) have something to eat and then go and do my water aerobics in the swimming pool. Luckily I lived in a warm climate and we had our own pool. This would take about another hour to an hour and a half because I always ran into friends and we would sit in the sun and talk for a bit. Then it was time to shower and to eat again. Eating every hour to two hours is important.

After this I would try to have a rest for an hour or more depending on which shift I was on. At the time I was a shift worker and helping to care for my Father who had Alzheimer's.

I carried this routine through for months. My Father died before I had gained my ideal weight but he managed to say to me that he was very proud of me and asked me to promise to finish the diet and get back into shape again. I made the promise and I kept it.