Getting through the liquid stage…

The first two stages of the bariatric diet right after surgery are called the clear liquid stage and the full liquid stage. During both of these stages which can last up to 2 months…or longer, depending on how your surgeon has your diet set up; is where you will lose a huge majority of your weight. Yes, it continues, but your stomach and esophagus are so delicate you can’t really consume anything especially consistently. For one, you’re extremely delicate, and two…you’re never hungry or in this case thirsty. A majority of the time you will have to force yourself to drink. Personally, I had to set alarms on my phone to remind me to even take a sip of something. During these two stages, all I did was sleep. Even when I went back to work exactly six weeks later, as soon as I got back home I went right to bed. Pre-surgery, you may or may not have to do a liquid diet. It’s easy to struggle and to be completely overwhelmed during this time because your stomach is still at the size it’s been used to being while you were overweight. Struggling through a pre-surgery liquid diet will make you question how am I going to be able to do this for a couple of months or longer after surgery? After surgery…you will still have these thoughts mainly because you will be hungry. Trust and believe…there’s no way possible to eat anything else unless you force yourself to eat things you’re not supposed to. The consequences of this can be horrible and will completely defeat the purpose of surgery. Just DON’T DO IT! It’s not worth it! Physically you will only be able to consume liquids, unlike pre-surgery, so it’s really not that bad. Just mentally you will be F’d up.

During this period is also where depression sets it. It’s real! It’s also called the “mourning food” period. The main reason for this is you will start to crave real food again because you never lose that…not even surgery will take the cravings away, especially so soon after surgery. Laying around after I got home and watching TV all day long (unless I was sleep), I honestly felt like I had never seen so many fast-food commercials and EVERYTHING looked just wonderful. Prior to surgery, I rarely ate fast-food and now I wanted any and everything that came across my damn television screen. Because things like this will happen during the recovery period, it can easily depress you. It’s almost like food is playing with your mind. Then you start to feel sorry for yourself. You’re nauseous, can’t do hardly anything, tired all of the time, off work, can’t eat or drink…that’s a lot going on in such a short period of time. Honestly, there’s no cure for this. You just have to ride it out. Yes…you can go seek help, but during this time, there’s really nothing you can do.

Also, during this period, there’s a high risk for dehydration which is not only miserable but can also be terrifying. During my six weeks off of work, I was hospitalized twice for dehydration. I wasn’t getting enough liquids in at all. I could hardly finish a 16 oz bottle of water within a day. I was thirsty, my mouth was dry and everything else; but for one I couldn’t keep anything down and two, I was so scared to ingest anything because I felt that I would take in more than I should. At the time, I didn’t fully get how all of this worked. The other thing that was preventing me from getting my daily recommended liquids in was that I was suffering from severe acid reflux. This was another reason why I couldn’t keep much down. So beware and vigilant of possible depression and dehydration.

Prior to surgery, I tell everyone to stock up on these things for phase 1 (4 oz max at a time):

• Water
• Broth
• Chrystal Light
• Sugar-free popsicles
• Sugar-free jello
• 100% Juice (during this phase you will want to dilute with water at least 50/50

Other things that you may want to get for phase 1 is (4 oz max at a time):

• Protein Water
• Fairlife or Skim Milk
• Decaf Coffee
• Decaf tea
• Sugar-free kool-aid
• Sugar-free lemonade

Phase 2…usually starts 3-4 weeks after surgery and can last up to another month. This is what I recommend for phase 2 (4 oz max at a time):

• Cottage cheese (not for me, but if you like it…this is a great choice)
• Skim, 1% Milk or Fairlife Milk
• Yogurt (Fat-free, no-sugar)
• Sugar-free pudding
• Sugar-free fudgsicles
• Low-fat soups, cream soups
• Oatmeal, cream of wheat and grits
• Sugar-free hot cocoa
• Protein powder
• Already mixed protein shakes

Good luck and Enjoy!