Hi, my name is Ria Thakur, and I am your dietician here at Whole Health Weight Loss. I’m so excited for you to begin your weight loss journey with us. I want you to make sure that you’re prepared for your life after surgery, so I have a couple of tips to share with you. Let’s get started. There are four non-negotiables for a life after surgery. Every day you want to make sure you drink your water, eat your protein, move your body and take your multivitamins.

After surgery it’s important for you to get a minimum of 48 ounces of water every day. Water is essential for fat-burning and to make sure you’re staying hydrated. Here are my favorite tips to make sure you’re getting your water in everyday. Number one, carry a water bottle with you wherever you go. Number two, make sure you measure your water intake. Three, if you forget to drink water like I do, set alarms on your phone to remind yourself. And finally, if you’re sick of the plain, boring taste of water, infuse it. Use frozen fruit, lemon, lime, mint to flavor your water.

After surgery, protein is so vital. You want to make sure you’re getting enough protein every day to prevent malnutrition. Also, protein helps you maintain your muscle mass while you shed fat, so let’s make sure you get your protein. How much protein should you have every day? Well, women should get a minimum of 75 grams of protein every day, and men should get a minimum of 90 grams a day. And where do you get your protein? Well, there is meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy, and eggs for excellent source of protein. And if you’re vegetarian, well there are lots of plant-based options as well, like tofu, edamame, soybeans, lentils, beans are all great options.

Let’s talk about exercise. After surgery it’s important for you to move your body every single day for 30 minutes. We want you to focus on cardio for the first year after surgery. So, essentially we’d love for you to do some fasted cardio in the morning, if you can. And fasted cardio is moving your body on an empty stomach or without consuming anything that has any calories before your workout. Some cardiovascular exercises you can do include walking, jogging, running, swimming, riding your bike or even water aerobics. The point is you’re moving your body every single day.

All right, multivitamins. Take them every day. You should always, always, always remember to take your multivitamins every day because you’re not eating as much food after surgery so you’re not getting all your nutrients. So to prevent any nutritional deficiencies, I really want you to make sure that you take your multivitamins every day. If you’re someone that forgets to take them, set an alarm on your phone to remind yourself to take them every day

Foods to avoid. So after surgery let’s avoid things that are fatty, fried or things that are high in carbohydrates. For example, avoid bread, pasta, tortillas, rice, and potatoes, the things that you know will not help you along your weight loss journey. It’s also important to avoid added sugars. So avoid chocolate, candy, adding sugar to your coffee and soda. Let’s also avoid carbonated beverages. Avoid caffeine and using straws. So straws can add air into your stomach, which can cause distress, and we want to avoid that as much as possible.

Diet after surgery. The day of your surgery it’s so important for you to stay hydrated and take small sips of water all day. You can even add things like clear fat-free broth or decaf herbal tea to make sure you’re staying hydrated. The first week to two weeks after surgery you’re only on a liquid diet. What that means is you can have water, or protein shakes, or clear fat-free broth with some protein powder added in. Again, we want to make sure you’re still getting your protein intake. By week two through four you can add in things like fat-free cottage cheese, or plain fat-free Greek yogurt. By week five we can add in things like tuna, baked fish or soft scrambled eggs.

And then by week six we can also add in things like well cooked tender chicken or turkey, or some well cooked veggies. By week seven you’ve hit your new normal way of living. What that means is you can add in new foods one day at a time. I would focus on only adding one new food every day so you know if you can tolerate it or not. And again, we want to make sure your diet is high protein, low fat, low carb. So try to make sure that half of your plate is protein and the other half is veggies at lunch and dinner.

Mindful eating habits. Make sure you take small bites of your food and chew every bite 25 to 35 times. It’s also important that you take small sips and you don’t gulp. Avoid drinking water with your meals. It’s also important that you avoid distractions while you eat. So skip the phone, lose the TV and just focus on your meal. Listen to your fullness and hunger cues. It’s important for you to not eat past fullness to avoid sickness. And finally, be conscious of every bite that you take. Become a mindful eater.

Thanks so much for watching this. I’m so excited to help you along your weight loss journey, and please feel free to ask any questions and know that we are here to help you.