Have you had or are you considering gastric band surgery? Bariatric patients have some important considerations to think about when it comes to their diet, both before and after surgery. For patients undergoing gastric band surgery, the Medifast Bariatric Plan can help ease some of those concerns.
Your doctor will have some specific instructions for you about your diet and may already be familiar with Medifast. But if not, let’s take a look at how using Medifast for your diets before and after surgery would work.
Using Medifast before gastric band surgery
Several weeks before your scheduled surgery date, it will be time to start changing your diet. In addition to taking your prescribed vitamins and minerals, you’ll need to cut back on caffeine and carbonated drinks. You will also need to cut down on fats, sweets, and high-carbohydrate junk food.
To help you prepare, your doctor might recommend that you use one of two options. For the first, the Medifast 5 & 1 Eating Plan, you would be eating five Medifast meals per day and then one meal that you would prepare yourself. For the other plan, your doctor may recommend that you follow a liquid diet, which would mean using only Medifast shakes and hot drinks, and not your other products.
Medifast after bariatric surgery
Immediately after your gastric band surgery, you will only drink clear liquids for a few days. After that, you’ll transition to low-fat liquids for (usually) two weeks. Most of the Medifast products would be suitable for this period, except for the oatmeal packets, some of the soups and of course the Medifast bars.
In the third phase of your post-bariatric surgery diet (another two weeks), you will begin eating some pureed foods in addition to liquids. At this point, you can try things like cottage cheese, applesauce, and even Medifast oatmeal.
After that comes the final phase, when you start eating normal textured foods. You will need to focus on getting plenty of protein in your diet, without too much fat. This is where Medifast meals can help, as they are all high in protein.
Of course, everyone’s body is different and patients may have different types of experiences after gastric band surgery. Therefore, you should always follow your doctor’s instructions on how you should proceed with your diet. And most importantly, pay attention to the cues your body gives you. If eating something makes you uncomfortable, then don’t eat it.