You are considering gastric bypass surgery and lots of things are going through your mind. Diet after gastric bypass surgery is just one of the many things you will have to consider. Gastric bypass surgery is not a decision that should be made lightly. It is a life changing surgery, but moreover, it also takes a lot of mental preparation.

I highly recommend that anyone considering this surgery go to the lengths to get counseling or perform self-evaluation exercises that help you get to the root of why you eat. Teaching someone the correct way to eat and making them aware of the exercise that is needed is the easy part. But dealing with the mental aspects of obesity are much more difficult and these will not disappear over night.

So not only do you want to follow a proper nutritional diet, but you also want to concentrate on your mental diet. This will play a big part on how well you maintain your weight loss. Some people will never tolerate certain foods again and it will be easier for these people to keep their weight off. But if you are like me, you will get to the point where you can eat almost anything again and if you don’t make sensible decisions, you will find yourself gaining weight.

The diet after gastric bypass surgery is fairly simple. While you are in the hospital you will consume only clear liquids. From the time you go home and anywhere from 2-8 weeks, you will eat pureed and strained foods, baby food or liquid protein. After that you will begin reintroducing soft foods back into your diet. These will need to be chewed thoroughly. You should be drinking about 32 ounces of permitted beverages per day and taking liquid or chewable vitamins.

It is very important that you do not drink 30 minutes before you eat and you wait 30 minutes after you eat before consuming any liquids. You may think that drinking is harmless, but trust me when I tell you this can be a source of great pain.

Within 3-4 months, you will be eating most of the foods you ate before. You will just be eating a lot less of them. Make sure everything is chewed well. Sugar will most likely cause discomfort or dumping syndrome, especially if you had a RNY. Some people will eventually be able to eat it again.

Your diet after gastric bypass surgery will be a big change, but remember certain parts of it are only temporary. What is important is how you manage your diet after your one year anniversary. That will determine how much weight you keep off.