Nutritional evaluation

You’ve probably dieted for years, and you may even know so much about nutrition that you could write a book. Why do you need to see a dietitian?

Well, denial is a part of recovery. A dietitian identifies the type of eating behavior you have.

She can instruct you on the major changes you need to make after surgery. As you describe your eating pattern and verbalize your relationship with food, you help to identify potential danger zones after the surgery.

Most people turn to food for support, stress relief, comfort, and many other reasons. Right after the surgery, your emotional or situational triggers cannot be relieved with large quantities of food.

Your surgeon will refer you to a dietitian who is familiar with weight loss surgery patients. This person is a valuable source of information for what you can expect and the amount of food you can eat after surgery. She has a wealth of information on what other patients have experienced with their diets. So be sure to pay attention during this evaluation. The dietitian will give you helpful tips on what types of food to eat throughout the entire course of your recovery. She can also tell you how to eat after the surgery, how much to chew, and what to avoid.

With time, you may be able to eat more and turn to food for all the wrong reasons. A dietitian can help not with therapy but with good food choices and eating behavior tricks to prevent yourself from regaining weight after your surgery. The bottom line with weight loss surgery is that healthy choices keep your caloric intake to a minimum, and this is an important component of maintaining your weight loss.

When you reach a plateau in your weight loss, the dietitian may have tips on how to kick-start your weight loss again.

Keep a food log for several days and be perfectly honest. Include not only the foods you ate, but the quantity as well as the time you took to eat it. Go over this with your dietitian and identify areas that need work. Remember:
You’re a work in progress, and you should call in consultants when you need them.