A gastric bypass is a weight-loss tool that won’t give results single-handedly. It would help if you blended it with good health and lifestyle habits.
Remember, your stomach is a muscular organ that stretches in response to food consumption.
Consequently, you might notice weight gain later when already done with your bariatric surgery.
Weight regain is nothing to worry about since you can successfully restart a weight loss plan after gastric bypass surgery.
The pouch reset is one way through which you can manage long-term healthy eating habits.
What is a gastric bypass?
A gastric bypass is a surgery meant to come up with a stomach pouch that links directly to the small intestine.
This way, most parts of the digestive system around the stomach are removed. The pouch is smaller than the stomach and the consequence is absorption of lesser food than before.
Gastric bypass is an effective weight-loss tool that helps you feel fuller by eating smaller portions of food.
What causes a stretched pouch after gastric bypass?
Your gastric bypass surgery could yield the desired results. But along the way, the pouch might start stretching again.
Usually, the stomach stretches naturally as a muscle and can accommodate as much food as possible.
When this happens repeatedly, the blood vessels around it cause a permanent stretch on the pouch.
The pouch might stretch because the surgery left an opening or fistula. As a result, extra food traces might find their way into the pouch, stretching it.
On top of this, the pouch might feel intact and tighter immediately after the surgery, thanks to the stitches. As the scars heal gradually, the pouch starts feeling loose and stretchable. In such cases, you’re forced to eat more food before you feel full.
Why you may regain weight after gastric bypass
A gastric bypass facilitates weight loss since it reduces food portions absorbed by the small intestine. More often than not, this surgery gives the desired results in the long run if the diet rules are followed.
In some cases, you might regain weight after gastric bypass if, for instance, you don’t follow the diet plan provided. The diet needs to be primarily proteins and vegetables but not snacks and sugary foods.
A sedentary lifestyle without exercises such as walking and staircase climbing might also cause weight regain.
You may also regain weight months after gastric bypass if the pouch wasn’t fixed right. For instance, the pouch may be wrongly estimated according to your stomach size.
In such a case, the bariatric surgeon may fix a bigger pouch that eventually stretches too much. That way, you’ll need to consume more food to feel full, which will lead to regaining weight.
If you fail to follow up with a professional nutritionist to know whether you are on the right track, you may experience weight regain.
Follow-ups are good for pointing out poor diets or unhealthy lifestyles that may hinder weight loss progress.
Restart your weight loss journey with a pouch reset
You might be wondering whether your stomach can stretch after gastric bypass. The answer is a resounding yes. Post the bariatric surgery, you might notice a gastric bypass stretched pouch.
Even after adopting a healthy lifestyle and focusing on a low-calorie diet, you may still be needing to eat more to feel fuller.
This is when a pouch reset can help you achieve the desired effect on your weight loss journey.
What is a bariatric pouch reset?
A bariatric pouch reset is a tool designed to shrink your stomach to the normal size it was after the bariatric surgery.
Sometimes weight regain happens after 8 to 12 months, and this is when a pouch reset matters. The aim is to make you eat less while still keeping it healthy.
How does it work?
It involves gastric pouch reduction to the extent of accommodating only smaller food portions.
Usually, a pouch reset imitates the post-bariatric surgery diet plan, only that it takes fewer days compared to the post-bariatric diet. You’ll need to take only healthy foods as the diet plan dictates.
Before you start the five-day pouch reset diet, make sure you consult a bariatric surgeon or a dietician to guide you on doing it right.
How to do a pouch reset (Keto-Style)
Choosing the proper diet helps with your pouch reset efforts, which only requires five to eight days.
The meal plan starts with taking clear liquids until the last stage when you can eat healthy foods.
Ideally, doing a pouch reset involves reducing the calorie intake while adopting healthy eating habits for the rest of your life.
General guidelines
- Consume smaller food portions
- Cut down on carbs
- Eat proteins
- Avoid caffeine
- Drink plenty of water but not while taking meals
Day 1: Clear liquids
Taking clear liquids on an empty stomach helps clear all the residues in the digestive system from the start. The clear liquids help you begin the reset on the right note.
Take either;
- water,
- unsweetened tea,
- broth (chicken, vegetable, beef),
- sugar-free drinks (ice pop),
- cranberry apple juice,
- decaf green tea, or
- white grape juice.
Day 2 and 3: Full liquids
Your pouch isn’t ready for vigorous digestion, so thick and protein liquids would be a great choice. This is what you can incorporate into your diet:
- Three protein shakes each day
- Vegetable soup
- 64 ounces of water
- Yoghurt
- Apple sauce
- Sugar-free pudding
- Light oatmeal
Day 4 to 6: Pureed foods
At this stage, you can add common foods, but they must be in a smooth consistency. Therefore, you must puree those protein shakes, protein soups, and protein gelatins.
Great choices for pureed foods include:
- Scrambled eggs
- Fat-free cottage cheese
- Hummus
- Pureed turkey chili with beans
- Chocolate salted caramel protein pudding
- Pureed vegetable protein omelette
- Strawberry banana protein smoothie
Day 7 to 9: Soft foods
At this stage, most cooked foods are okay. Also, ripe fruits would do a perfect job.
Here are the soft foods to consider:
- Mashed fruits and vegetables
- Steamed white fish
- Soft cereals
- Chicken with pasta protein soup
- Cheese stick
- Honeydew melon or peeled peaches
- Honey nut protein cereal
Day 10 and beyond: Healthy foods
The last stage involves taking solid and healthy food. Don’t include sugary or caffeinated drinks. Make sure proteins and vegetables are your priority.
- Some healthy foods to incorporate
- Blueberry protein pancakes
- Peanut pretzel protein bar
- Banana with peanut butter
- Barbeque soy puffs
- Roasted chicken breasts
What to know before you do a pouch reset
Sticking to an overall healthy diet is the most significant factor that influences weight loss. Even if you’ll opt for a pouch reset, ensure that your diet stays in check.
It would be best if you understand that sometimes weight gain is inevitable even after a pouch reset. Since the pouch might stretch along the way, you might find yourself eating more, resulting in weight gain.
Remember to stay focused on a healthy diet even after the pouch reset plan elapses. Healthy foods result in weight loss in the long run.
It’s essential to seek a professional dietitian’s help to help you with the right diet plans and motivate you in adopting a long-term weight loss diet plan.
How to lose weight after gastric bypass stops
Gastric bypass helps in weight loss, but you can still shed the extra pounds after you’re done with it. These tips will help with losing weight:
- Reach out to your bariatric surgeon if you realize you are obese. You ought to start a weight loss journey with them to stay healthy.
- If the weight starts creeping in, seek advice from your bariatric team. These professionals will diagnose the problem and offer help where possible.
- Stick to the diet plan offered to you to avoid unnecessary calorie intake.
- Look for a bariatric team with peers to walk in the weight loss path together.
- Do away with snacks and carbonated drinks to keep the calories in them at bay.
Gastric bypass revision surgery
Losing weight through gastric bypass is possible as people with obesity are believed to achieve 60-80% of weight loss post-surgery.
However, the surgery fails to work in some patients, or they regain weight after some time. On top of this, some people may not lose enough weight may be because of medical complications.
In such cases, it’s essential to do the gastric bypass revision after discussing the outcomes with your bariatric surgeon. A revision surgery aims at giving the desired results not achieved in the initial surgery.
Takeaway
A gastric bypass is a weight-loss tool everyone should consider if exercise and diet don’t do the trick. It’s also handy for people with chronic diseases such as blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
For gastric bypass to achieve the desired results, you must eat the proper diet and adopt an active lifestyle.
In case gastric bypass fails, you can opt for a pouch reset whereby your stomach shrinks into its initial size right after bariatric surgery.
Through a five-day diet plan, you can transform your eating into consuming smaller portions of food. This way, avoiding calories becomes easier as you don’t need much food to feel fuller.
- Tips for Losing Weight After Weight Loss Surgery (January. 03, 2020). verywellhealth.com/post-weight-loss-surgery-tips-3156808
- Your Guide to the Gastric Bypass Diet (Aug. 24, 2020). healthline.com/health/digestive-health/gastric-bypass-diet-plan
- What is Bariatric Surgery and How Does it Work? (Dec. 27, 2016). nytimes.com/2016/12/27/health/what-is-bariatric-surgery.html
- How to Restart Weight Loss After Gastric Bypass (March. 11, 2021). perfectketo.com/how-to-restart-weight-loss-after-gastric-bypass/
