Your Post Op Diet: How Much is an Ounce?
After you are released from the hospital following gastric sleeve surgery, you will have a lot going on. You will have to follow all of your doctor’s orders. You will have to make sure you drink 64 ounces of noncaloric fluids (water, decaffeinated tea or coffee, broth, ice chips). You will have to count grams of protein. You will have to recover from surgery. You will be thinking of all the benefits gastric sleeve surgery will have on your life, including weight loss, improved mobility, improved glucose levels, and improved blood pressure among a host of many other possibilities. The last thing on your mind might be converting ounces to tablespoons. Yet, you will have to think about it.
Your gastric sleeve post op diet enters stage 3 when you get home from the hospital. This is where you begin adding pureed foods in small 1-2 ounce portions in addition to your protein shakes and water. Good examples of high protein foods that are or can easily be pureed include Greek yogurt, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, tuna, eggs, or ground chicken or turkey. Using a food scale can be very helpful in this stage of your post op diet. But, if you don’t have one handy, a good rule of thumb is that one ounce is the equivalent of 2 leveled tablespoons (2 ounces would be 4 tablespoons). These are leveled tablespoons, not heaping tablespoons. Using a measuring tablespoon as opposed to a dining tablespoon can be helpful. Use a knife or fork to level off the pureed food from above the rim of the tablespoon to make sure you aren’t going above or below the tablespoon measure.
The above is offered by Dr. Shillingford, M.D., P.A., a Center of Excellence surgeon specializing in advanced laparoscopic and obesity surgery. His gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and lap band patients often find that their successful weight loss helps in other areas of their health, including reducing blood pressure, reducing cholesterol levels, improving diabetes, improving breathing, and reducing the need for medications and thus alleviating the burden of their side effects. Dr. Shillingford’s bariatric surgery patients often come from Boca Raton, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale for his expertise in affordable gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and adjustable lap band surgeries.
