Question:
How Long is the average wait to add solids to your diet after RNY?

My insurance would only pay for a general surgeon. Therefore, I am not getting the wonderful nutrition advice that a specialist would have offered. I have received a lot of great information from supporters on this site. However, I would like to know approximately how long doctors have suggested before adding solids.    — LaNora L. (posted on July 24, 2000)

July 23, 2000
Answers to this question will probably vary significantly since each surgeon/nutritionist has their own opinion and regimen. Following a lap RNY, my surgeon recommended the following: clear liquids for the 2 day hospitalization; full liquids (milk products, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes, blenderized soups, etc...) for the following 3 weeks; then soft diet (nothing "hard and crunchy", no high fiber/high residue foods like beef or pork)for the next 3 weeks; and finally at 6 weeks post-op, regular diet as tolerated. At the 3 week point, I added salads without the "hard" vegetables (celery, radishes, carrots, etc..), as well as poultry, ground beef, fish and shellfish. The instructions were to take small bites, to chew until the food was a "mushy consistency, and to eat slowly (20-30 minutes per meal). The only problems that I had initially were some occasional bouts of nausea/vomiting and some periods of real discomfort just behind my breastbone which were associated with NOT following those instructions. It's difficult at first not to regress back to our old eating habits of not chewing well and eating too fast...but the discomfort involved with that will reinforce your new habits very quickly, proving that you indU
   — Diana T.

July 23, 2000
Answers to this question will probably vary significantly since each surgeon/nutritionist has their own opinion and regimen. Following a lap RNY, my surgeon recommended the following: clear liquids for the 2 day hospitalization; full liquids (milk products, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes, blenderized soups, etc...) for the following 3 weeks; then soft diet (nothing "hard and crunchy", no high fiber/high residue foods like beef or pork)for the next 3 weeks; and finally at 6 weeks post-op, regular diet as tolerated. At the 3 week point, I added salads without the "hard" vegetables (celery, radishes, carrots, etc..), as well as poultry, ground beef, fish and shellfish. The instructions were to take small bites, to chew until the food was a "mushy consistency, and to eat slowly (20-30 minutes per meal). The only problems that I had initially were some occasional bouts of nausea/vomiting and some periods of real discomfort just behind my breastbone which were associated with NOT following those instructions. It's difficult at first not to regress back to our old eating habits of not chewing well and eating too fast...but the discomfort involved with that will reinforce your new habits very quickly, proving that you indeed CAN teach old dogs new tricks! The other important instruction that I was given was to develop the pattern of drinking ONLY before meals, never during the meal, and only resuming drinking 45 minutes to an hour after any solid food intake. Initially this was the hardest habit to "relearn"; we grow up drinking with our meals, and we're just sure that we have to do that. It took me a few weeks to get accustomed to a new way of doing things, but now I never think about it any more. The rationale behind this is that your new stomach or pouch is so small that your food intake is very limited and should consist of as much protein food as possible. That food needs to stay in that area for up to an hour to start maximum absorption and utilization of the protein. If you drink during or immediately following the meal, the liquid will fill you up too rapidly and also "flush" that meal out of the stomach area too soon. Be warned also that in the first weeks, you will only be able to sip, sip, sip those liquids...if you drink in gulps the way we did pre-op, it'll just end up coming out your nose! The pouch is too small to accomodate large amounts of liquid, so if you forget and drink too fast, it's going to reverse its course and also cause some significant discomfort. Again, this is only one person's experience and one surgeon's guidelines. The important thing is to follow your own surgeon's instructions to the letter...that way, if problems arise, you can honestly say that you did exactly as you were told...then it's up to the surgeon to determine the best solution to the problem. Best wishes!
   — Diana T.

July 23, 2000
LaNora...I am on blenderized foods for 8 weeks. After that I will move to soft foods, and then slowly introduce regular foods into my diet.Hope this helps. 17 days post-op down 29lbs YIPPEEE
   — STAR W.

July 24, 2000
We do 4 weeks on clear, then 2 weeks on puree, 2 week soft and gradually move into the hard core food. We start vitamins and protein supplement on Day 7. We never ever do milk or milk products (but we do cheese-no lactose) or sugar. Milk has almost no food value for RNY, but we do aborb 100% of the high sugar in it. Since we shoot for 100% wt loss, we skip the "fatten up the baby" portion of the usual post-op diet.
   — vitalady

July 24, 2000
Each doctor is different but my doctor had me on liquids 10 days, puree until week 4, and solids after that (Afraid I cheated tho and started solids at week 3!). I had no problems with any foods and have lost 70 pounds to date..
   — Alicia B.