Bariatric Portion Sizes

Tiny Tummy Tips, Issue #12 -- Bariatric Portion Sizes

In This Issue

…”It Depends!”

And it depends on a FEW factors.

Texture

The TEXTURE of food is just ONE factor that affects portion sizes.

Liquids and soft mushy texture foods are easier to eat than hard, solid, dense textures:

• This means you can eat a larger portion of cottage cheese (soft) than chicken (dense).
• You may be able to drink an entire protein shake (liquid) but only eat ½ protein bar (solid).

In the early stages after surgery, this is a good thing. It allows you to enjoy protein shakes, yogurt, cottage cheese, soups, etc… as you recover. It’s impossible to eat very much of solid dense foods like chicken or meat right out of the gate.

But as time goes on, liquid and soft mushy foods go down more easily, and your portion sizes therefore become larger. Six months out of surgery, the “right” portion size of cottage cheese may be 4 ounces, whereas 1 month out of surgery it's 2 Tablespoons.

However, once you’re able to eat solid dense foods (chicken, fish, lean ground meats, vegetables, fruits), these become the better choices in the long run. Because of their solid TEXTURE, they fill you up quickly and the portions sizes remain small without you having to weigh and measure.

Slider Foods

Slider foods are exactly what they sound like. They sliiiiiiide down very easily. You can therefore eat A LOT of them. Translation: larger portion sizes:
• Chips
• Crackers
• Popcorn
• Pretzels
• Cereal
• Processed packaged snack foods

You may have gone into surgery vowing to never eat these foods again. If they’ve crept their way back in, you probably notice you can eat a lot of them. (So throw them out!)

Other Factors

Want to know the OTHER factors? Read about them here:
portion-sizes-after-gastric-sleeve.html

Need Help Picking the "Right" Foods?

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In Health,