What are some of the best choices we can make as bariatric patients?  How do we know what to eat?  Who do we listen to?  Which is the next best diet that we need to be following?

How did all of this get so confusing?  There is so much information and one thing contradicts the next.  One person says to eat more protein and the next person says to go vegan. Sure, they can both work but you need to also find out what works for you as a biochemical individual.  What works for you doesn’t necessarily work for everybody.   

I want to make things simple and to give you a realistic nutritional plan that you can follow each and every day.  That’s what I strive for.  I strive to bring good nutritional advice to you and to educate you about the things we all should do to stay healthy, lose weight, maintain our goals and how to reach our best health yet.

What about “diets” ?  Is there a specific diet we should be following as post op bariatric patients?  After the initial post surgery phase of liquids and purees and soft foods, once we are past that – our diet should look like real food.  We should be eating plenty of vegetables and berries, nuts and seeds, protein and healthy fats.  We should be eating whole, fresh, live, good quality, real food. 

If it comes in a package, put it down and find the fresher version.  Shop on the outside of the grocery store.  Read labels.  Stay away from sugar.  Stay away from processed foods.  Become a BOSS in the kitchen.  Purchase your groceries and then take the time to do a food preparation.  Make your meals simple.  Add a serving of protein and two vegetables with a healthy portion of fat.  Plan a few days in advance.

Forget diet “labels” – Paleo this and Vegan that – treat yourself to real food and you won’t need to worry about dieting.  Sure, I am a fan of the ketogenic lifestyle and I love a good detox but if you look at what foods are on these “diets”, you will see that they contain “whole foods”.  They are not filled with canned food or boxed food or frozen meals.  

2019 is the time to take your nutritional needs seriously and to work at cleaning up your diet so that you can feel better, increase your energy levels and stabilize your blood sugars.  Let’s move towards a simple, clean diet of real, whole foods and let’s make our kitchens a place where we get serious about our health.  This is the year of the “un”diet and the movement this year will see us healthy, and happy and glowing with energy and stamina.

We’ve got this.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

What does it take to be a bariatric success?  As an RHN who specializes in bariatric nutrition, I have heard this question many times over and I wish I had the exact right answer for you.  There is not a “one size fits all” way to respond to this query.  It is more about the journey and learning about yourself and what works for you.  It is about making important changes to ensure success and not just doing the same thing you were doing before surgery.  The surgery is the tool but we need to learn as much as we can about how use this important tool to achieve our short and long term goals.

What I do know for sure is that we all need to find what works for us as biochemical individuals after weight loss surgery.  This is where you need to discover what this very personal journey is for you and means to.  What works for you?  Does drinking protein shakes for breakfast with added avocado keep you full and satisfied until lunch?  Does taking a walk after dinner curb the cravings to eat something sweet?  Does going to bed earlier help to keep the nighttime munchies at bay? 

You will experience good times and bad times along the way. These are the ups and downs of bariatric surgery.  During the bad times, you need to get up, dust yourself off and just keep on moving forward.  You need to make a commitment to yourself and also to your health.  Set goals for yourself.  Make long term and short term goals.  Reach for those goals each and every day.

Support during this journey is key to short and long term success.  If you can find an at-home group or an online group, please do so and stick close to them.  They are a valuable part of your journey and they will help to keep you on track and to keep you accountable.  

Write everything down.  Keep a food log and a journal and jot down everything you eat and drink. Make it a habit to write down your feelings and your plans as the days go by.  Writing things down make you accountable to yourself.  This is a way to stay on track even when it get tough and you feel yourself slipping.  Taking a moment to write things down enable you to better understand yourself.

What does food mean to you?  I think that a very important change that needs to be made to ensure success post surgery is the way we think about food.  It is important to learn about proper nutrition and not just do the same things we were doing prior to surgery but on a smaller scale post surgery.  Why should we stay away from refined carbohydrates and what is a refined carbohydrate?  These are the things we should be learning early on in order to understand and think differently regarding food.  

Congratulations  – for taking your own health into your own hands.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.

Bariatric surgery is like a “new beginning” or a “fresh start” and it is a super exciting but also a super stressful experience for those going through it.  Patients spend a lot of time prepping for surgery and they have maybe even spent years researching their procedure. Bariatric surgery is a life-changing journey and can have some amazing long term effects on a person’s life.

I totally understand how patients can feel once they hit their first weight loss plateau.  That’s the place where the scale stops moving.  That’s the place where no matter what they do, and no matter how perfect they are following the bariatric rules, the scale will not budge.  

Why does this happen?  The patients are not doing anything wrong so why does the scale plateau approximately 3 weeks after surgery?  

Prior to surgery our patients need to follow a pre.op diet.  This is to shrink the liver and make the surgery safer for them.  The pre.op diet varies from surgeon to surgeon but in general they all follow some sort of rules such as: only liquids or low in carbs or high in protein or low in calories.  

It is perfect to have a tiny shrunken liver prior to surgery but in general, the body does not want to maintain this small liver.  It wants the liver to go back to the regular size.  Our livers are so important, and have so many functions so the body wants to get the liver back to its regular size post surgery. How long does this take ?? You are right – it takes approximately 3 weeks.

Sometimes this plateau occurs a little bit before or a little bit after the 3 week mark and sometimes it lasts a few days or a few weeks. What’s important during this plateau is to continue following all of your post op guidelines.  

It takes time to lose all the weight after any bariatric procedure.  Try to stay focused on a slow and steady weight loss.  In the beginning it comes off quickly and then it tends to slow down.  When this happens, try to do the following:

Don’t step on the scale 3 times a day.  Check your weight about two times a week.  When the scale is not in use, hide it in your closet to be sure you are not constantly stepping on it.

Put your focus on super clean eating and learning about food and what is good for you to consume post surgery and why that food is good for you.  These new eating habits are what will ensure success, short and long term.  Be kind to your new tummy and enjoy your new healthy lifestyle.

When you look at your weight loss, it will look more like a set of stairs… drop, plateau, drop, plateau.  You are going to lose weight on some days and on other days you will plateau.  This is a normal part of the weight loss journey post bariatric surgery.

When you do hit that 3 week plateau, don’t fret.  Take this like a regular part of your bariatric journey.  Don’t be hard on yourself.  Be proud of yourself.  Enjoy your journey to health and wellness.

If you have specific questions, please reach out directly to me.  I salute you on your journey to health and wellness. info@bariatricfoodexpert.com 

Congratulations  – for taking your own health into your own hands.

About the Author: Sheri Burke is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Bariatric Surgery Coordinator at International Patient Facilitators in Tijuana and Cancun, Mexico. She has worked with bariatric surgery clients for over 10 years and especially enjoys providing nutritional guidance to pre and post bariatric clients.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two teens and cooking up a nutritional storm in the kitchen.

Eat Like a Bariatric Expert with our Nutrition Plans.

Feel free to share your victories and struggles in our Facebook Group. I would love to connect with you.