Gastric Bypass and the Pureed Blended Diet

Gastric Bypass and the Pureed Blended Diet

Hi and welcome back to my posts on what to eat after Gastric Bypass surgery. My previous post was on the Liquid Diet which is generally day 1-5.

This post will focus on the Pureed and Blended phase after Gastric Bypass. The stomach has been under major surgery and is still healing and so it is important to eat foods which are lump free.

Soft Blended/ Puree Diet Day 5- End of Week 4

It is still important to avoid lumps at this stage.

• Make sure foods are blended well.
• Having a blender to liquidise food is useful during this stage. Texture-wise you are aiming for yoghurt consistency.
• Have 4-6 ‘meals’ a day. Aim to have about 1-2tbsp of liquid food every couple of hours during the day.
• Start with 1-2 tablespoons per meal and increase this gradually if and when this feels comfortable (to no more than 4 tablespoons).

• Chew well and eat slowly. Stop as soon as you feel full.
• Do not drink at meal times. Wait at least 30 minutes after you eat before you drink anything.
• Try adding mint or limes to your water to add flavour and make your drinks more refreshing.

• Make sure you include a protein source at each meal.
• Meat, chicken, fish, beans and lentils are all good protein sources.
• This is important to help wound healing.
• Have 1 pint of milk a day and use this to blend foods rather than water to increase the nutritional content.

Sample Meal Ideas/Plan (Stage 2)

• Breakfast: Low fat or diet yoghurt/fromage frais Soggy Weetabix or ready brek (runny) Homemade fruit smoothie (made with yoghurt)
• Mid Morning: Blended tinned fruit (unsweetened) Low fat or diet yoghurt/fromage frais Sugar-free Angel delight/custard
• Lunch: thick, smooth soup (add skimmed milk powder if it doesn’t contain meat, fish, chicken or lentils) OR Blended baked beans and mashed potato.

Other options might include blended fish in sauce with mashed potato or liquidised meat/chicken/fish stew with liquidised vegetables and mash or liquidised pasta with cheese and vegetable sauce Mid afternoon as mid-morning Dinner as lunch

• Mid afternoon: As mid-morning Dinner As lunch. Look for nutritious high protein foods which can be blended to the consistency of baby food.

Use fruit and veg and foods full of vitamins and nutrition. You will want to get as many nutrients as possible into your diet and this will really help.

• Dinner: As lunch. Again, blend up proteins such as chicken lentils, pulses, beans and create soup like meals which are tasty and nutritious.

Some foods will work, some won't. Foods may become stuck or even come back up.

Try one new food at a time and if the food does not go down well, avoid it for a few days and try again when your ready.

My go to meal was Glorious Soup, chicken and Orzo.

It was full of nutrition and had lots of greens and protein in and tasted so good.

I just popped it into the blender and the soup really helped me get through the tough times.

This is a really tough stage following Gastric Bypass Surgery but you have this! You've got it and you can make it through!

Don't forget this is simply one plan of many and it is best to follow the plan provided by your surgery team and dietician.