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Slider foods after bariatric surgery are dangerous. They don’t provide any satiety, so you’ll consume far more than you intend, thus halting or reversing your weight loss. Remember that your digestive system is surgically altered, so you don’t experience satiety like a non-bariatric patient. one of the best ways to prepare for bariatric surgery is to eliminate slider foods. I’ve got five tips on how to do it, so don’t worry! Keep reading to learn how to live without slider foods before bariatric surgery, as this process begins long before you go under the knife.
What Is A Slider Food?
Slider foods are typically soft foods high in carbohydrates. They quickly dissolve in the digestive system, so by the time they hit your stomach, they slide right through your stomach into your intestines. For these reasons, they don’t provide satiety or restriction that bariatric patients depend on after surgery for hunger control. Therefore, you eat a lot of calories in one sitting, usually far more than you intend and don’t feel satisfied.
According to Bariatric Food Source, slider foods are usually simple, processed carbohydrates, like crackers, chips, cookies and popcorn. They provide no nutritional value. It takes tremendous willpower to stop eating these foods since they don’t make you feel full. After surgery, our stomachs can only hold a small amount of food, so the food we put in our stomachs need to count. It needs to be high in protein and fiber and low in fat and sugar. Therefore, slider foods have no place in your diet after bariatric surgery. One of the best ways to prepare for bariatric surgery is to eliminate slider foods from your diet. The less you eat of these foods, the less you will crave them.
RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!
Slider Foods After Bariatric Surgery
When you have bariatric surgery, your digestive system is altered. This alteration is what causes your body to lose weight, but it’s also why you should avoid slider foods after bariatric surgery. Obesity Help describes the differences and what it means for slider foods in this post. For example, if you have gastric bypass surgery, the pyloric sphincter is no longer present. This sphincter is a small muscle at the bottom of the stomach that keeps foods in the stomach. When you eat a slider food or food that turns to soft mush in the digestive system quickly, it just passes through the stomach and empties into the intestines.
If you have a gastric band, hunger is best controlled when it stays above the band. Slider foods will slide right through the band, and land below the band. If you have a gastric sleeve, you still have your pyloric sphincter, but food empties more quickly. Since slider foods aren’t nutrient-dense, they’re going to empty quicker, providing no satiety.
The Funnel
Obesity Help described the post-bariatric stomach in a great way. They stated in the above-referenced article to think of your new pouch as a funnel. Foods high in protein and fiber are more nutrient-dense and take longer for the digestive system to break down. Protein doesn’t begin the digestive process until it hits the stomach. Therefore, these foods are thicker when they hit the pouch or funnel, and move through slowly as they digest in the stomach. On the other hand, foods with less nutrient density like simple carbohydrates start digestion in the mouth. By the time it hits the stomach, it’s already a thinner consistency, moving through the funnel more quickly.
What all of this means is that slider foods after bariatric surgery increase hunger because your stomach isn’t recognizing them as food. It passes far too quickly through your stomach, so the hormones that send signals to the brain that you’re full are never activated. So, it’s far easier to binge on these foods and consume more calories than your body needs.
Also, remember that carbs turn to sugar in the digestive process, and when they empty so quickly into the intestines, it can cause dumping syndrome. Trust me when I say that you never want to experience dumping syndrome. It’s caused when high-sugar and high-fat foods empty too quickly into the intestines, forcing the body to draw water into the intestines to try to digest the food. This leaves you feeling sick in your stomach, hot, a fast heartbeat, and even diarrhea or vomiting.
Tips for Ditching Slider Foods
Now you know what slider foods are and why they pose a danger to you after surgery. If you have read anything else I’ve written before, you know that I highly encourage you to make changes before surgery. The most successful bariatric patients make changes before surgery and turn them into habits after surgery. Avoiding slider foods after bariatric surgery is no exception. You need to learn how to live without these foods before your surgery.
RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!
I know that these foods are delicious. I know it’s hard to give them up. However, I also know that you deserve the best chance you can give yourself to lose weight. I want you to expect weight loss, and one of the best ways you can expect weight loss is by giving up these slider foods. Here are five tips to get you started ditching those slider foods and embracing the new thinner you!
1. Food Funerals
Have you heard of food funerals yet? It’s a ritual a lot of bariatric patients have before they start their liver-shrinking diets. Food funerals are like a final farewell before you say goodbye completely to them. You don’t have to bury a bag of chips in your backyard, although you could if you think it would help you close the door on them. Instead, what you can do is get a small bag of chips, pretzels, cookies or whatever is your weakness, and savor them one last time. Notice the crisp of the chips as you bite into them. Taste their salty crunch one last time. However, when the bag is done, say goodbye.
I had a food funeral before my liver-shrinking diet. It was a cheeseburger sub and mozzarella sticks from my favorite pizza place. I ate them and enjoyed them. I haven’t had it since that day in June 2018, and I said goodbye to it because I know that if I enjoy it again, I’ll want it more often.
I even wrote in my journal what it meant to me to say goodbye to some of these foods. I described how I used food as an emotional crutch, but now it was time to stand on my own. For 30 years, I ate whatever I wanted, and it landed me in a life I hated. This time, I was going to make my life my own, and that meant saying goodbye to certain foods I love. I know it sounds wonky, but give it a try. It’s OK to grieve. You’re losing your old life. But, it’s also a new beginning and celebration of your new life.
2. Learning to Live Without Slider Foods
Life without chips? A movie without popcorn? How can it be? It’s not that bad. Honestly, the longer you go without slider foods, the less you’ll crave them. However, take it one day and one food at a time. What’s your least favorite snack? Eliminate it first. After about a month, eliminate another. Keep going until you have eliminated them from your diet. I am telling you that it will be far easier to give up these foods before surgery than it is after surgery. After surgery, you’re dealing with a whole new set of issues. Plus, no slider foods are in your post-op full-liquid and pureed diets. Choose other foods that are higher in protein and have more nutrients instead.
3. Exercise
The third tip I have for you to eliminate slider foods is to exercise. As I went through my bariatric journey, I also went through a lot of life issues: finding out about my husband’s immoral actions, filing for divorce, moving, losing my job and the emotional roller coaster that went along with all of it. My saving grace during this time (besides turning back to God) was exercise.
Exercise replaced slider foods for me. I typically used slider foods, particularly chips and sweet treats, to soothe whatever pain I was feeling. I knew that if I continued this way, I would never lose the weight required to have bariatric surgery. My ex had taken so much away from me at that point, that I refused to let him take away my surgery and a new chance at life from me too. And so, when I was stressed, angry, sad, depressed or confused, I exercised.
I know that exercise may not be fun for you, yet. Exercise can be painful, especially when starting. However, if there is one change you make in your life, it should be to add exercise to it. The physical and mental benefits of exercise are so amazing that even if you start with 10 minutes a day, I think you’ll see some benefits. To get started, check out this post I wrote about the best way to start making exercise a routine in your life. I used this DVD to start my exercise journey. Next time you start feeling anxious, sad, upset or angry, try going for a walk or doing some sort of exercise. See how it feels, and see if your desire to eat slider foods lessens over time.
4. Replace Slider Foods with Nuts
My fourth tip for eliminating slider foods after bariatric surgery is to replace them with nuts. Often, we eat slider foods as a snack between meals. If you get hungry between meals, it’s always best to eat something high in protein, like a hardboiled egg, cheese stick, Greek yogurt, protein shake, or my favorite, nuts. The thing I like about nuts is that it has a lot of the same qualities that we look for in slider foods – salty, crunchy and able to eat several at a time. However, just like slider foods, it can be easy to eat more than you intend. For this reason, I always measure out two tablespoons of nuts and portion them in containers for snacks during the week.
However, the reason I think nuts are a good substitute for slider foods like chips, pretzels, crackers or popcorn is that it gives you that same salty crunch you’re craving, but it has lots of protein to fill you up. Unlike slider foods, nuts take longer to digest, which means they’ll help with your satiety and restriction. They are also full of healthy fats your body needs, so it has more nutrients than typical slider foods.
Plus, there are so many varieties of nuts that you can mix things up all the time. Check out the bulk food or snack food section of your favorite grocery store, and see all the different types of nuts they have. Try a few, find some you like, then measure out a portion and grab those when you’re hungry between meals. For these reasons, nuts are a great way to replace the slider foods in your life.
5. Don’t Allow Slider Foods in Your Home
Your fifth and final tip to eliminate slider foods after bariatric surgery is simply to not allow them in your home. If you don’t buy them, you can’t eat them. Remember that bariatric surgery is a lifestyle change. You can’t continue the same habits you had before surgery, as these are habits that led you to your current situation. One of the lifestyle changes you should make before surgery is to eliminate slider foods from your home.
RELATED CONTENT: Want to learn the 10 changes you need to make in your life to be successful with bariatric surgery? Get our free download here!
What if you have kids or a spouse at home that aren’t doing this bariatric thing with you? I think this concern is common among bariatric patients. Here’s the thing – if you are obese, your children have a higher chance of being obese as well. If you want to spare them the pain, embarrassment and shame you have felt for being overweight, start developing these healthy habits in them now.
It’s not child abuse to not give your kids chips or popcorn. Teach them from a young age not to depend on food for emotional comfort and to reach for healthy, high-protein snacks. And try not to reward them with food either – celebrate good grades or achievement with an experience reward – like bowling, zip-lining or a trampoline park instead.
As for your spouse, it’s not going to hurt him either to eat more healthy and eliminate those snacks from your house. At the very least, have a designated cabinet just for your snacks, this way, you won’t be tempted to eat the slider foods your kids or husband are eating. But, the best way to stop eating slider foods is not to have them in your house at all.
Avoid Slider Foods Before Bariatric Surgery
Following these tips will allow you to avoid slider foods after bariatric surgery. Learning to live without slider foods after bariatric surgery begins long before you go under the knife. It’s not easy, but if you want to prevent possible regain, it’s important to eliminate slider foods before surgery. All of this preparation before surgery will serve you in the long-run. Try replacing slider foods with foods higher in protein and nutrients, like nuts to slow digestion and keep you fuller for longer.
Exercise can be a great substitute for emotional eating and can aid in your weight loss. Simply not allowing slider foods in your house will also help eliminate any temptation to eat them. Life isn’t about food. After bariatric surgery, your life is going to change dramatically, and I am so excited for you to experience freedom in losing weight. Slider foods have no place in your life after surgery, so begin eliminating them now to set yourself up for success after surgery. You can do it! I believe in you!
If this article gave you some great ideas to incorporate into your life, just imagine what other amazing strategies I have for you! Share this post on social media by clicking one of the sharing buttons, and don’t forget to join my email list! You’ll be the first to get updates, access to my new products and lots of tips, inspiration and motivation to help in your bariatric surgery journey. Just for joining, I’ll send you a free Bariatric Beginner’s Guide to get you started, as well as some other pretty awesome goodies to keep you motivated. Join today!
In Summary
A slider food is one that is typically a simple, processed carbohydrate with little to no nutritional value. Think of foods like chips, pretzels, popcorn and cookies. While these taste delicious, they begin digestion in the mouth, so by the time they hit your stomach, they are more liquid and turning to sugar. Because there’s no substance to them, they slide right through a bariatric pouch and provide no satiety or restriction. This means that you tend to eat more than you want, stalling or reversing your weight loss. There is no place for slider foods after bariatric surgery.
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