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.

Gastric Bypass Complications

Gastric bypass is an extremely radical surgical procedure and one that I would not recommend. Instead the modern method of laparoscopic lap banding does the same job with fewer of the potential complications.

Some of the potential complications from Gastric Bypass could include post operative shock because it is a very invasive surgical procedure; staples pulling out if the stomach was stapled or you may have had the gut cut to bypass part of your stomach altogether and rejoined into your intestine. There are several procedures that they could do but none of the above are reversible.

If in later years you became terribly ill and needed to have the capacity to have a 'normal' stomach again, by having a gastric bypass you will never again have a normal stomach capacity. This, to me, represented the most serious potential complication.

The other complications that are increased from gastric bypass surgery because it is such an invasive surgery are lung problems, pneumonia, blood clots and because you are already in a dangerous situation by being so overweight, you increase the risk of all potential complications. Only your Bariatric surgeon can advise you what your personal situation is likely to be. This is why you have to be 'straight-up-honest' with him/her.

That isn't to say that there is absolutely no risk with laparoscopic lap banding either because as with any surgery there is always the potential for complications and a degree of risk.

I was made well aware by my bariatric surgeon and his staff that laparoscopic banding complications could arise during and after surgery. By law, here in Australia anyway, they are obliged to make you aware of any possible downside to the procedure. This was back in 2004 and the law could have changed since then but it is part of your 'due diligence' procedures to find out anyway for your Country.

The surgery where I had my lap banding surgery performed was here and if you want a good website to find out more information from, I would recommend you check them out.

I chose the lap banding procedure over a gastric bypass for several reasons.

1) It is considerably less invasive surgery because it is done by laparoscope surgery.

2) They had an excellent back up team in place

3) Dr Layani was an experienced surgeon.

4) I spoke with a few of his patients and they were all extremely happy with the treatment and the follow up programme.

5) If the worst happened and complications arose the procedure was and still is, reversible.

After having the lap banding done you really need to stay in touch with the back-up team and make sure that you attend every appointment. That way if there were any problems coming up you will be on top of them before they become major ones.

Now its five years on since I had my lap banding done and I've had no complications or problems. I went back to doing "as I was told" and am now back within 5 kilos of the weight that my Dietician originally advised. I feel great and I’ve come to terms with what I can and can't do.

Now I listen more carefully to my body, I eat proper food at regular times, I exercise regularly, and I never allow myself to get hungry because this does cause me a problem.

If I get hungry I tend to eat too fast. This means I don't chew my food as well as I should and I end up with a too-full stomach. This is very uncomfortable and needs to be released. So I end up taking myself off to the nearest bathroom and losing everything. This is not good for me or my diet. That is the only lap banding complication that I've ever had and its one that I cause for myself if I do the wrong thing.

Gastric Bypass Diet

Gastric bypass is an extremely radical operation for weight control so I chose to go with the laparoscopic lap banding instead of the gastric bypass for a number of reasons. Both operations achieve the same result. Whichever method you personally choose, a Dietician needs to be involved.

Your Dietician will advise and monitor you on your gastric bypass diet. After you have had a gastric bypass or a lap banding you will be put under the care of a Dietician as part of your back-up team. Your Dietician will have met with you prior to surgery (well, here in Australia where I had mine done at John Flynn Hospital on the Gold Coast they do) and as it is a fairly radical method of weight control, I believe they probably would do anywhere in the world.

My strong suggestion? Listen and follow your Dieticians advice about your gastric bypass or lap banding diet! Follow it precisely and you should have no problems and believe me, you won't feel 'hungry'.

Initially after my surgery, I was given some very weak chicken soup. I had a couple of teaspoons and that was all I wanted. Immediately following the surgery you have to take in minute quantities every couple of hours so you don't become weak or vitamin and mineral deprived. This is important for the first month or so and then everything settles down into a much more regular pattern. It is essential that you don't miss meals and that you do eat the prescribed foods.

As the weeks turned into months and the weight went from the hundred plus kilos into much more acceptable figures (and figure) I worked out my own meals using the Dieticians advice. I found myself wanting lots of protein so I had this magic formula that I used to whip up for lunch of yoghurt, banana, mango and a spoon full of protein powder. It was absolutely yummy and so filling.

I also had my "diet" soup which was made up of green vegetables and it was super filling. I could eat as much of that whenever I wanted. The more I ate of this soup, the faster my weight came off because it takes calories to digest food. I was virtually exercising my stomach to lose weight. Absolutely magic!

After following this lap banding diet for three months I went shopping.

My greatest surprise was finding I could actually wear something from off the ‘normal’ sizes rack that actually looked nice on me. That was a real incentive to stay with the Dietician's advice.