The lap band gastric surgery is used to decrease the size of the stomach and help patients eat less to lose weight. After surgery, the amount of food you will require to feel full is drastically decreased. While it is important to eat less, it may be even more important to choose nutritionally dense foods so that you are getting the proper nutrition after a lap band surgery.
Smaller Meals
You will feel full after eating only about four to six ounces of food with a lap band surgery. This amount of food does not occur right after the surgery and you will gradually lead up to this amount of food. Immediately after the gastric surgery, you will only be able to consume a liquid diet.
The smaller amount of food will have a dramatic impact on the amount of calories that you will be able to eat in one meal. This means that special attention must be given to nutrition and making good choices.
Nutrition
You will be able to eat the equivalent of a cheeseburger and small fries at your local fast food restaurant. These foods are not going to help you lose weight, though. The quality of the foods that you choose is very important after a lap band surgery. You must choose lean sources of protein and nutritious fruits and vegetables instead of processed high fat foods.
Limiting the amount of sugary foods that you consume is also important to your weight loss success. Junk foods do not have the nutrition that you require to keep your body functioning properly.
Behavior modification is a part of your new eating habits. Make good choices in the foods that you eat and you will feel great and lose weight at the same time. A smaller well balanced meal with lean protein complex carbohydrates and healthy fats is the best approach to weight loss. Healthy fats that you should consume are olive and canola oil or the fats in nuts and seeds.
Supplements
Patients may require supplements after the lap band surgery to make up for the nutrition that they may not be able to get with a smaller amount of food. A good quality multivitamin that contains no fillers will help you to get your nutritional requirements each day. Lower quality multivitamins may contain fillers that do not provide any nutrition. Choose your multivitamin carefully to get the very best nutrition on a smaller amount of food.
