Although lap band surgery will make your quest to lose weight easier, the procedure requires you to make significant dietary changes. Below are some mealtime requirements to keep in mind.
Immediately After Your Procedure
For the first few weeks after your lap band surgery, you’ll be restricted to an all-liquid diet. Getting an adequate number of calories a day from liquids alone can be difficult, so you’ll need to carefully plan what you eat. Clear broths or soups with a watery texture will be essential during this time, as will nutrient-dense fruit juice and milk.
After these initial first weeks, you can then move on to a diet of pureed foods. If you can stomach it, baby food can be a good choice during this time, since it’s designed to be chock full of nutrients. However, if that doesn’t sound like an appealing option, you can mash solid foods until they reach the consistency of baby food.
A month after your surgery, you can begin to incorporate soft-but-solid foods back into your diet. Even though your body may have become accustomed to a lap band at this point, it’s still important to thoroughly chew your food to avoid potential nausea or vomiting. Lean meats like fish or turkey are a good choice, because they’re easily chewable and provide your body with some much-needed protein.
Your Long-Term Diet
Once you transition back onto solid foods, don’t be deceived into thinking your diet changes are over. In order for your lap band to work like it should, you’ll need to pay attention not only to what you eat but also to how and when you eat it.
Some people recommend three meals a day, while others suggest six smaller ones. Both of these methods are acceptable, but you’ll need to find which one works better for you. Regardless of the number of meals you have each day, you should plan on taking at least 20 to 30 minutes each time you eat. During your meal times you should only eat small bites and should always chew slowly and thoroughly. Avoid drinking during meals and immediately afterwards, because excess liquid can cause nausea or vomiting.
Some common foods that lap band patient struggle with are dry meats, vegetable and fruit skins, high-fiber foods, peanut butter, pasta, and dry meats. However, this doesn’t mean these will negatively affect all patients. The best thing to do is introduce these foods into your diet slowly and in small quantities to see how your body deals with them.
