Gastric Sleeve Diet Recipes
Gastric sleeve surgery is a big deal, but the diet you follow afterwards is an even bigger deal. The gastric sleeve diet is a low-carb, high-protein diet that can help you lose weight and keep it off for good. It’s important to find foods that are easy to make and that taste great, so gastric sleeve diet recipes can be crucial for success. Here’s what you should know about the gastric sleeve diet and recipes for the pureed and solid foods phases of the post-op diet.
Post-Op Diet Progression Explained
After the gastric sleeve surgery, you go through a series of stages. It’s important to follow them properly so that you can recover well from surgery and can set a baseline for weight loss until you hit goal weight. Then, you’ll want to keep the weight off using the healthy eating patterns that you’ve established since surgery.
Clear liquids diet
This phase is the first phase after surgery. It lasts for a day or a few days after surgery. It’s not nutritionally adequate because it’s lacking protein. Fluids here include water, flavored water, coffee, tea, broth, popsicles, and gelatin.
Full liquids diet
This phase can last for 1 to 2 weeks, or until 2 to 3 weeks post-op. It includes protein-based liquids. You might look for Protein Shakes, Protein Soups and Bouillons, Protein Pudding, and Protein Gelatin. Milk and blended pea or lentil soups can also be on this diet.
Pureed foods diet
This phase can last another 1 to 2 weeks. By the end of it, you might be 2 to 5 weeks post-op. All foods in this phase should be completely smooth. If they’re not naturally smooth, try using a blender.
The foods allowed in this phase should continue to be high in protein. There can be other nutritious foods, too. Pureed ground turkey, plain yogurt, pureed boneless fish or tuna made with broth, tofu, hummus, guacamole, pureed cooked carrots and green beans, pureed cooked yams or potatoes made with broth, pureed cottage cheese, and pureed refried beans are good choices.
The BariatricPal Store has foods you can include on the pureed foods diet. They can help you get more protein without much effort, since they’re low-carb and convenient. These are some examples.
Soft foods diet
This stage can last about 2 weeks. It includes the foods on the pureed foods diet, but you may not need to puree them until they are completely smooth. Cottage cheese, cooked fish, and well-cooked vegetables, for examples, can have chunks in them. Ripe soft fruit, such as bananas, melon, and peeled peaches, are okay in this phase.
Regular diet
This is the diet you will follow for the rest of your life! It’s high in protein and low in carbs and sugar. You might be able to add in small amounts of whole grains such as whole-grain bread and whole-wheat pasta.
The BariatricPal Store has many foods to help prevent boredom, make your life easier, and get more protein. These are some examples of low-carb choices.
- Protein Bars
- Protein Meat Bars
- Protein Cereal and Granola
- Protein Pancakes
- Protein Chips and Puffs
- Zero-Carb Bread
- Protein and Low-Carb Pasta
- Protein Cookies, Brownies, and Cakes
- Protein Entrees, such as Vegan Lentil Curry, Nacho Cheese Pasta, and Creamy Chicken Pasta
Be sure to ask your own surgeon and nutritionist what your own guidelines are for the post-op diet progression. You may have different foods allowed or the length of each phase can vary, and you need to know specific portion sizes and meal patterns to aim for.
Ideas for Gastric Sleeve Diet Recipes
Now that you know what’s on the gastric sleeve diet, it’s time to figure out how you can stick to it! Easy gastric sleeve diet recipes can also taste great. You can use simple cooking techniques to put together high-protein, low-carb meals.
These are some examples.
- One-pot meals
- Sheet pan meals
- 4-ingredient meals
One-Pot Meals
One-pot meals can be great pureed diet recipes for gastric sleeve patients. Later, you can use them on a soft foods or regular foods diet. One-pot meals can be made in a single pot, skillet, or baking pan. They should have a lot of protein, some vegetables, and maybe a bit of high-fiber carbohydrate and/or some healthy fat.
Low-carb chicken cauliflower fried “rice” is an example of a one-pot meal that can be suitable for gastric sleeve patients. Use strips of skinless chicken breast, Keto Dry Riced Cauliflower, stir fry seasoning, egg whites, and diced vegetables or frozen mixed vegetables. After cooking the chicken in a bit of sesame oil, add the other ingredients and cook.
To make this one-pot meal suitable for the pureed foods diet, you can use cooked fish, ground turkey, tuna, or tofu instead of chicken. Or, you can just skip the chicken altogether and add extra eggs. Puree everything before serving it. You may need to thin it out a bit with broth.
Other one-pot meals include the following.
- Chili with beans, ground turkey or soy protein, tomatoes, and seasoning.
- Vegetable soups with a protein, such as chicken, ground beef, shrimp, fish, or beans.
- Stews with lean beef, carrots and onions, broth, and a bit of sweet potato or potato.
- Stir fry with chicken, shrimp, tofu, or fish, plus vegetables, some sesame seeds or cashew nuts, and ¼ cup of brown rice.
- Casseroles with Protein Pasta or Low-Carb Rice instead of regular versions, plus Protein Cream Soup, and your choice of vegetables, cheese, and chicken, tuna, or other protein.
Sheet Pan Meals
Sheet pan meals are so easy. Just spray a cooking sheet, add your ingredients, and bake them. Sheet pan meals are great for the family because you can add foods that they want but that you can’t eat much of on your gastric sleeve diet. For example, if they want garlic bread, add a few slices to the pan and don’t serve yourself any.
An easy one to try is sheet pan shrimp with summer squash. Toss sliced zucchini and/or yellow squash with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Start baking them. In a bowl, toss shrimp with onion powder, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, and a bit of olive oil. Add them to the pan. If your family wants, add garlic bread to the pan and bake until the bread is toasty and the shrimp are pink.
Sheet pan meals can have a protein, vegetables, and high-fiber starch. Add some seasonings and a bit of olive oil, and you’re all set!
3-Ingredient Meals
If it’s daunting to you to use too many ingredients, 3-ingredient meals can help. They don’t have to be boring, either! Using seasoning mixes and other meal helpers, such as Protein Mashed Potatoes or Protein Pasta, can get you great taste without hassle. Serve your meal with some steamed or grilled vegetables to make it more filling.
For a delicious 4-ingredient meal, try coating chicken breast or fish filets, such as salmon or trout filets, with Pork Panko or Great Low Carb Bread Crumbs and egg whites. Bake the protein, and serve it with baked carrot sticks or another vegetable and ¼ cup of a high-fiber starch, such as baked quinoa.
Pureed Diet Meals for the Gastric Sleeve: Oatmeal for Breakfast
Pureed diet recipes for gastric sleeve patients can be easy and delicious. A great way to start your day is to make Maple Brown Sugar Protein Oatmeal. Serve it on its own or with pureed non-fat cottage cheese, plain yogurt, or unsweetened applesauce with Unflavored Protein Powder.
Pureed Diet Meals for the Gastric Sleeve: Soup for Lunch
Cream of Vegetable Protein Soup can be a meal on its own, or you can add to it. You can blend it with plain yogurt, cooked peas or carrots, and/or cooked lean ground turkey. Keep adding broth if needed to thin it out.
Pureed Diet Meals for the Gastric Sleeve: Lentils with Beef and Vegetables for Dinner
BariatricPal Lentils with Beef and Vegetables can be suitable if you puree it. Just heat this single serve Protein Entree, blend it until it’s smooth, and add broth if you need to before serving it. You can round out your dinner with Protein Mashed Potatoes or pureed cooked carrots, green beans, or cauliflower.
Easy Gastric Sleeve Diet Meal: Pancakes for Breakfast
You have way more food options once you get to the solid foods stage of the gastric sleeve diet. Protein Pancakes can be an easy breakfast in minutes. Have them on their own, or serve them with RxSugar Organic Sugar-Free Syrup, berries or other fruit, cottage cheese or yogurt, and/or scrambled eggs or a Protein Omelet.
Easy Gastric Sleeve Diet Meal: Burrito for Lunch
You can make your own burrito and save 50 or more grams of carbs compared to a fast food burrito. Your protein can be seasoned shredded chicken, shrimp, ground turkey, pinto beans, or black beans. Place it on an Eat Me Guilt Free Protein Wrap and add some Brown Rice Hearts of Palm, and shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes. Optional toppings include shredded non-fat cheese, fat-free sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. Yum!
Easy Gastric Sleeve Diet Meal: Broccoli Tuna Noodle Casserole for Dinner
Comfort food is even more comforting when it’s easy to make and on your diet. This broccoli tuna noodle casserole is both of those! Use Cream of Mushroom Protein Soup, cooked broccoli florets, canned tuna, Protein Rotini or Fettuccine, and sliced mushrooms. You can swap any vegetables you like or use canned salmon or cooked diced chicken. Top your casserole with chopped nuts or Great Low Carb Breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese.
List of Gastric Sleeve Diet Snacks
Your sleeve is pretty small. That means you can’t eat big meals. You may instead be eating snacks. It’s best to ask your surgeon whether you’re supposed to eat snacks in between meals, and if so, how many.
Gastric sleeve diet snacks need to be high in protein and low in carbs. They also need to taste great. For everyone, the snacks need to be easy to make or ready to eat, and for many of us, the snacks need to be portable.
Here is a list of gastric sleeve diet snacks that you can try.
- Protein Chips on their own or with a low-carb dip, such as hummus or guacamole.
- Protein Cereal, dry or mixed with yogurt or cottage cheese.
- Snack mix
- Fruit or vegetables with Protein Peanut Butter.
- String cheese and fruit.
- Protein Bar with all kinds of flavors, including chocolate, almond, peanut butter, coconut, lemon, pretzel, caramel, oatmeal raisin, and more.
- Protein Shakes, Protein Fruit Drinks and Smoothies and Protein Hot Drinks, such as Protein Hot Cocoa and Protein Mocha.
- Meat Bars with chicken, beef, pork, venison, and more.
- Protein Cookies and Protein Wafers.
- Whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter.
The gastric sleeve diet is key to your success in losing weight and being heathy for life after your surgery. It’s high in protein and low in carbs and calories, but it doesn’t have to be hard to follow. It can be easy, convenient, and delicious! These simple recipes can help, and so can the thousands of low-carb, high-protein products at the BariatricPal Store. Our goal is to make sure you hit your goals and love the process.
