Bariatric 4-Phase Post-Op Diet

Immediately after surgery, you’re instructed to follow some form of a 4-phase diet. The 4-phase diet is designed to walk you from liquids to whole foods slowly after your surgery so you get the nutrition you need while allowing your stomach to heal.

It looks like this:

Phase 1: Liquids only
Phase 2: Pureed foods
Phase 3: Soft foods
Phase 4: Whole foods + supplements

Phase 1
1-2 oz every 15 minutes

Only Liquids:
Protein Shakes
Water
Sugar-free Jell-O and popsicles
Sugar-free drinks
Fruit Juice diluted 50:50 with water
G2 & Powerade Zero
Skim Milk, 1% Milk
Light Soy Milk

Phase 2
1.5 oz per meal

Only Protein Foods:
Low fat cottage cheese
Greek yogurt
Scrambled eggs
Beans (black, pinto, kidney...etc.)
Fish & seafood
Moist chicken or turkey
Morningstar Farms & Boca Burgers

Phase 3
2-3 oz per meal

Mostly Protein Foods:
Add soft veggies and fruit (non-starchy)
Ok to have ground beef
No other red meats
Avoid starches

Phase 4
4-6 oz per meal

Full Bariatric Diet:
Add everything else including starches
May try firm meats - chew well
Eat protein first, veggies second, starches last

Weight maintenance - you and your dietitian are happy with your current body weight and you don’t want to lose any more weight, but you also don’t want to gain weight. Normally your goal weight is in line with “Ideal Weight.” Bariatric clinics will usually use the Metropolitan Life height-weight tables to determine what your goal weight should be.

Weight Maintenance Diet after Bariatric Surgery

See the Meal Plans

Once you reach your goal weight you don’t have to worry about losing any more weight. You can be more relaxed and increase your calories slightly, but you still have to be focused. After all, you don’t want to wake up 6 months later with 10, 20, 30 lbs added on the scale.

In order to successfully maintain your hard-earned weight loss you must, I repeat, you MUST consistently eat roughly the same amount of calories as you burn.

This doesn’t mean that you have to count every single calorie that you eat, but it doesn’t absolve you of having to comply with the law of energy balance.

The good news is that in many ways, maintaining your weight is easier than losing weight and it lets you focus on other parts of your life, but you have to reach your goal weight first. Which brings us to the weight loss diet.

Weight maintenance is the ultimate goal after bariatric surgery.

Bariatric Maintenance Diet Guidelines:

Get adequate protein: 60-100 grams for women; 100-150 grams for men
Keep calories between 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day for adult men
Emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
Limit saturated fats and trans fats
Keep sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day
Watch your added sugar: no more than 100 calories per day, or about 6 teaspoons of sugar. For men, 150 calories per day, or about 9 teaspoons.

Understanding Energy Balance

Out of everything that you can learn about dieting and losing weight, the #1 thing you need to understand is the concept of Energy Balance.

Simply put, if you ignore energy balance and focus on other aspects of dieting like food selection, meal timing, macronutrient composition (how much protein, carbs and fats you eat), you’ll be lost and confused about why your diet isn’t working.

What is Energy Balance?

Energy balance is the relationship between the number of calories your body burns and the number of calories that you feed your body.

So it’s the classic equation of calories in vs. calories out.

There are only 3 different scenarios when it comes to energy balance:

You consume fewer calories than your body burns - This results in weight loss over time
You consume more calories than your body burn - This results in weight gain over time
You consume the same amount of calories as your body burns (more or less) - This results in no weight change over time

Supplements

Supplements alone cannot give you the results that you need. Serious weight loss only comes with consistent and proper diet and exercise.

However, supplements can help you fill in the nutritional gaps that your diet leaves unaccounted for.

The word supplement means:

“Something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.”

So protein supplements are intended to help you get enough protein when your diet alone isn’t quite getting you to your daily goal of 60-100 grams, not be your sole source of protein. Add a protein shake or a protein bar if your calories allow for it. That’s the proper usage of a protein supplement.

Vitamins

It’s not possible to get the number of vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy after bariatric surgery.

Per the ASMBS:

“Vitamin and mineral supplements will be a lifelong requirement.”

While you will be told to take something from your surgeon or dietitian, it’s ultimately up to you to educate yourself on what you need after surgery.

A vitamin routine that meets or exceeds the ASMBS Guidelines is where you should start. These guidelines have been studied and researched to determine the nutritional needs of bariatric patients.

Here is a free copy of the ASMBS Guidelines

Download the Worksheet

This is what makes BARIATRIC VITAMINS special and unique and why your OTC vitamins from the drug store are inadequate.

Assembling a full vitamin routine from scratch with the help from the ASMBS Guidelines above is definitely possible. But it’s going to be difficult, expensive and impossible to follow long-term.

Imagine having to open 3-5 different bottles every single day and spacing them out evenly as to not “interfere with absorption.”

The Best Bariatric Vitamins

Bari Life Complete Bariatric Formula Tablet

Bari Life Complete Vitamin Formula Tablets

Bari Life’s Complete Bariatric Formula meets or exceeds every single ASMBS Guideline for RNY Gastric Bypass, Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy and Duodenal Switch patients. In one single bottle you get ASMBS recommended values for:

Multivitamin
Iron
Calcium

By combining everything into one bottle you simplify your regimen which makes it much easier to stick to and you’re guaranteed to get all of the nutrients you need to prevent vitamin deficiencies.

Bari Life All-in-One Formula Tablets are best for long-term use. Chewables and powders and liquids - anything with a flavor - can get old quickly. Even if you LOVED the taste of your chalky chewables at the beginning of your journey, the chances are that you're sick of them getting stuck in your teeth, the flavor and even the smell.

Bari Life's tablets have a mild vanilla scent so you aren't overwhelmed with that "vitamin" smell every time you open the bottle, and they are swallowable tablets, no taste or texture that you have to endure. Patients prefer this for long-term and sustainable vitamin supplementation.

Learn More Here

Just One + BariBurst Calcium Duo

Another option is the Just One + Bari Burst Duo. The combination of a once-daily multivitamin with iron and a separate calcium citrate supplement delivers all of the ASMBS recommended values for Gastric Bypass and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy patients.

Each supplement provides ASMBS recommended levels for:

Just One:

Multivitamin
Iron

BariBursts Calcium:

Calcium Citrate
Vitamin D

If you hate taking several pills per day you need to try Just One, since it's only one pill per day it's something anyone can stick to. The Calcium Soft Chews are delicious and they can be spaced out throughout the day. Just 3 soft chews, one vitamin pill and you're done and meeting the ASMBS Guidelines.