Post-Bariatric Living: Delicious, Healthy Snack Ideas for after Surgery By info on August 25, 2016

At Tijuana Bariatrics, our team of skilled bariatric professionals want nothing more than for you to succeed in your mission to live a long, fulfilling, and most of all healthy life. Essential to this success will be learning how to eat - and, just as importantly, how to think about eating - after your bariatric surgery. Prior to bariatric surgery, you probably had any number of ways to justify falling off the healthy-eating wagon; frankly, most people do. However, with your new, smaller stomach, you have physical restrictions that you simply can no longer ignore. If you do, you can make yourself quite sick.

The good news is that, while you will always have hard days when you want to fall back into bad eating habits, you will also discover healthy snacks after bariatric surgery that you love. Our Tijuana, BC bariatric team will support you every step of the way as you adjust to your new diet, providing you with tips, recipes, and other useful information that will help keep you on the right track. Before you know it, healthy eating habits will come naturally to you, and many of the foods you once craved will have lost their appeal.

General Snacking Advice

In general, you should try to avoid snacking between meals unless you are actually hungry. Don’t mistake a psychological craving for food for actual, physical hunger. If you discover that your craving is psychological, enjoy a glass of water. However, if you are hungry and do require a snack:

Eat your snack slowly and chew your food thoroughly.
Eat something substantial and filled with nutrients.
Don’t waste your snack on juice, soda, or a caloric drink; it won’t fill you up, and it probably won’t provide much in the way of nutrients.
A snack that is high in protein will fill you up and help you reach your protein goal for the day.

Specific Snacks You Can Enjoy after Bariatric Surgery

Again, if you are going to eat a snack, make it count. Don’t eat empty calories; bread, rice, and sugary treats, even in moderation, will fill you up only momentarily, and you’ll gain nothing in the way of nutrition. Think in terms of nuts, fruits, vegetables, and lean meats.

Good snacks after bariatric surgery include:

A small handful of walnuts or almonds
A roll-up with a slice of your favorite deli meat, a slice of low-fat cheese, and your favorite veggie
Carrots with hummus
An apple with peanut, almond, or cashew butter
Low-fat string cheese
Beef jerky
Cottage cheese with a little fresh fruit
A banana with a bit of peanut butter for dipping (don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it!)
Olives
A small bowl of lentil soup
A couple of scrambled eggs
Tuna on celery