Dieting After Surgery?

It’s not a good idea to start a low-calorie diet immediately after surgery. Your body needs macronutrients to heal from your surgery.

The metabolic demands of healing from a surgery are also very, very real. Your body is working HARD to heal.

Does that mean you can’t improve your nutrition right after surgery? Absolutely not.

Here are some things you can work on besides starting an aggressive diet right away (or ever):

• Increasing fiber intake to 20–30 g/day once your post-op digestion allows

• Getting enough protein for your body size and activity level

• Eating 3–4 servings of veggies per day

• Building a meal prep routine

• Addressing emotional eating

• Learning new recipes

• Reducing ultra-processed foods in your diet

The harms of aggressive dieting early in your healing include:

• Slowed metabolism

• Muscle loss

• Increased cortisol → belly fat gain, even if you’re losing weight

• Decreased immune function

• GI distress: alternating constipation or diarrhea

• HPA Axis Dysfunction (burnout, in other words)

• Drops in hormone production

• Trouble recovering from exercise when you start back up

• Joint pain and injury risk

“Early in your healing” depends on the details of your life and overall health status. For most people, the best time to start a “cut” or calorie deficit is 8–12 weeks after surgery. People with more weight to lose may be able to start sooner if they desire.

When I’m working with someone in their recovery and they’re anxious to diet, we look at things like heart rate variability, resting heart rate, overall activity level, soreness levels, and sleep quality to decide if they're ready to diet and, if so, how strictly to start.

Questions? I’d love to hear from you!