No matter the type of bariatric surgery you have (gastric sleeve surgery, bypass, or laparoscopic surgery), the recovery period looks pretty much the same. You must ease into eating solid foods, take care of yourself, and allow your body to heal. On top of that, there are several other things you need to know, many of which our experts will go over here.
After all, you don’t just bounce back from a major surgery like this. It takes time, so you’ll need to be patient, but in the end, the results are well worth it.
Recovering from Bariatric Surgery
The total recovery time after bariatric surgery depends largely on you. The sooner you get out of bed in the hospital (under supervision, of course), the faster it will be before you go home. That said, you can expect your hospital stay to last anywhere from a few days to a week, depending on several factors.
Once you get home, the recovery continues. It could be anywhere from several weeks to a month and a half before you’ve fully recovered and can handle your regular activities again. Of course, this depends, and no one recovers at the same rate, so don’t worry if you aren’t feeling like yourself again automatically.
On top of general physical recovery, plenty of other factors are involved, such as eating solid food and ensuring that you get all the nutrients you need.
What Can I Eat After Bariatric Surgery?
It’s normal to feel nauseous after any type of weight loss surgery, be it gastric bypass surgery or sleeve gastrectomy. After all, your stomach and intestines need to adjust to their new arrangements, having been moved around a bit and shrunken (in the case of your stomach.)
This is why you need to be on a liquid diet for the first few weeks after your surgery or until your doctor clears you for soft foods and then regular meals (although a smaller amount of food). According to experts and dietitians, the best thing to do is drink water if you're feeling nauseous.
They recommend that you take small sips and make it a goal to drink around two liters of water per day. This will keep you hydrated, as well as keep the short-termside effects at bay.
As far as food is concerned, your eating habits will look like this:
- Post-Surgery – After your surgery, you’ll be on a liquid diet. You’ll have to drink broths, plenty of water, and anything else that fits into this category. This will give your new digestive system time to adjust and prevent you from feeling nauseous.
- Soft Foods – Once you’ve graduated from liquids, it’s time to focus on eating soft foods. At this point, you can enjoy things like Jell-O, soups with noodles, protein shakes or smoothies containing plenty of added nutrients, and more.
- Regular Foods – Your doctor will give you the “okay” to eat regular foods once you’ve been on soft meals for some time. At this point, you can eat things like chicken, fish, rice, noodles, and more again, although you need to keep an eye on their nutritional content. You don’t want to eat anything with too much fat or carbs, lest you upset your stomach. In addition, you’ll need to eat small meals, as your stomach is now a portion of the size it used to be.
How long it takes to progress from a liquid diet to a solid one depends on you and your doctor and how well they feel you’re healing. Overall, the process can take anywhere from weeks to months.
Can I Exercise Post-Surgery?
Not only do you need to adjust your diet after bariatric surgery, but you also need to start an exercise routine that’s easy to adhere to. As with all surgeries, this isn’t something that you should jump into immediately after arriving home.
Instead, you need to slowly ease into your normal activities to avoid injuring yourself. Here’s a quick breakdown of the process:
- Immediately After Surgery – Once you come out of surgery while you’re still in the hospital, starting with some very small movements is a good idea. Focus on sitting up; after you feel comfortable with that, begin standing and taking small, slow steps. This will help your recovery process and get your muscles used to moving again.
- Start Slowly – After arriving home, it’s time to slowly start an exercise routine. Make sure to spend some time on your feet, even walking up and down your street slowly if you feel up to it. You don’t want to move too fast or do any heavy lifting for several weeks after surgery. Otherwise, you might injure yourself.
- Ramping Things Up – With your doctor’s permission, you can ramp up your movements after a few weeks have passed. You can now walk further distances at a slightly faster pace and do some bending and stretching movements. Be careful about lifting heavy things or strenuous activity until your doctor gives you permission, as you don’t want to burst any of your inner or outer stitches and incisions or further injure yourself.
- Hitting the Gym – At this point in your recovery, your doctor has given you clearance to do more strenuous exercises. Now, you can lift weights, within reason, bend, stretch, and tackle more movements than you have in the past. Feel free to get a gym membership and start spending some time on the treadmill or exercise bike to get in some cardio and lift weights to build up your strength.
Not only does exercise after surgery help with your recovery, but it will also assist you with your weight loss efforts. The more you move around, the better you’ll feel. You will talk more with your healthcare provider in follow-up appointments to ensure you are healing at the pace you should be.
Focus on Nutrition
Another important thing to focus on while recovering from weight loss surgery is your nutrition. How these types of surgeries rearrange your digestive system means that your body won’t be able to metabolize many of the vitamins and minerals that it did beforehand.
Because of this, you’ll need to take several supplements, such as Vitamin D, calcium, iron, folate, Vitamin B12, and more. These supplements, taken with a doctor’s orders, will make up for any gaps in your overall diet and ensure that your body has all the micronutrients it needs.
In addition to taking supplements, you’ll also need to keep an eye on what you eat. Your diet should consist of numerous small meals eaten over the course of the day. Since your stomach is much smaller than it used to be, eating larger meals will lead to vomiting, reflux, nausea, constipation, and pain, none of which you want to deal with.
Foods that you should eliminate from your diet include those that are extremely fatty, as they can cause stomach pain, gas, and other issues as your body tries to digest them. You also need to limit the number of sugary and carb-filled foods you eat, as those can also be tough to digest.
Plus, the entire goal of weight loss procedures is to lose weight and lower your BMI (body mass index), and all of those sugary treats can have the opposite effect.
Realize Your Self-Image Will Change
Your bariatric surgery caused several changes, both mentally and physically. Most people focus on the physical ones, not realizing that mental changes are important as well. These changes include feeling better about your body image and gaining that confidence you lacked beforehand.
Keep in mind that these changes don’t just pop up overnight. Immediately after the surgery, you may feel slightly down and depressed due to the many lifestyle changes you need to make. Add in the fact that surgery is tough on the body, and it’s no surprise that the adjustment period is a bit longer than normal.
If you start feeling depressed or anxious post-surgery, see a therapist or psychiatrist. They can help you stay on the right track and ensure your transition to your new lifestyle goes as smoothly as possible.
Recovering from Bariatric Surgery
Bariatric surgery is designed to help people lose weight and essentially save their lives. The surgery can reduce the chances of ending up with diabetes or heart disease, and it can add years to your life. However, recovering, which can last for weeks or months, requires a lot of patience since your entire lifestyle needs to change.
To make life after bariatric surgery as smooth as possible, focus on your bariatric surgeon’s advice, see a therapist if you need to, and keep in mind all of the things you need to know about recovery, including dietary changes and the need to incorporate physical activity.
Have questions about recovering from bariatric surgery? Contact us!
Sources:
Long-term Study of Bariatric Surgery for Obesity: LABS | NIDDK
About Author: Mario Mendias
