Post-Surgery Diet Progression

Your post-surgery diet is designed to let surgery wounds heal to limit complications and promote smoother weight loss in the future. The diet gradually progresses from liquids to solid foods. These are the phases.

• Clear liquid diet (one to two days post-surgery)
• Full liquid diet (up to two weeks post-surgery)
• Pureed foods diet (three to four weeks post-surgery)
• Semi-solid foods diet (five weeks post-surgery)
• Solid foods diet (six weeks and beyond)

The solid foods diet is the long-term weight loss surgery diet plan that allows for sustained weight loss and maintenance.

Some patients move through the diet progression a little faster; some patients are a little slower. On average, gastric bypass patients take a little longer to heal than lap-band patients, and can take longer to move through the diet stages. The important part is to only progress to the next stage when you're ready. Adding new foods should be done gradually. If a food gives you a problem, wait a little longer before trying it again. Most patients are eventually able to eat most foods if they're patient, although you may remain intolerant to certain foods. Sweets are likely to cause dumping syndrome for gastric bypass patients.