This educational writing will cover an overview on my recommendations for diet after cosmetic surgery or post cosmetic surgery diet. Also. this includes post tummy tuck diet, liposuction nutrition, and liposuction diet plan. As discussed before, there are no tricks or fad diets that work well. Diet after cosmetic surgery or diets in general are hard work and require effort. As I have said in a prior writing, I recommend strong attitude and continued effort to achieve the best weight loss and diet. Exercise regularly and don’t eat crap! This is a good overall motivating phrase. As part of a comprehensive cosmetic surgery nutrition plan, this writing will give sound tips and things to avoid to help you. Please also see the liposuction before and after photos on the web page.

Why the focus on fat?

There are two main reasons for this. Fat has 9 calories per gm of food. Protein and carbs have about 4-5 calories per gm. This means you have to burn off double the amount of calories for fat as compared to protein and carbs! This is a huge difference. If you eat 100 gm of pure carbs, you will have to burn off about 400 calories to stay even. Eat 100 gm of fat and you have to burn off 900 calories. This is why fats are so important to monitor in any diet after cosmetic surgery.

Another reason is that diets focused on fat reduction have been shown to have high and long term success. Like Weight Watchers and LA Diet programs, counting of calories and fat can really “work” for the long run. “Fad” diets often have high rebound weight gain after short periods of time.

Overall, keep in mind wise and intelligent advice for proper nutrition and diet.

Eat and drink smart.
Watch out for poor foods high in calories. Be careful of too much alcohol, soda, and other high calorie drinks.
Exercise regularly.
Regular exercise burns calories and promotes health. It is good for the heart, blood pressure, and just about everything else. Mental health is dramatically helped by regular exercise.
Get educated on food.
This educational writing is done to help you with this process. It is actually easy. Soon you will know what to look out for and what is good.
Try and try again.
Like quitting smoking, keep up the effort to lose weight. Don’t give up. With perseverance most people will succeed.
Doctors and programs.
There are doctors who do nothing but help you with diet and weight loss. Programs are readily available which will increase your chance of success.
Watch these misleading things that can trick you. A tummy tuck diet plan or a liposuction diet plan should focus on learning information to recognize things that “aren’t” correct and are “not” good nutritional advice. Here are some important ones.

Antioxidants.
This has been a big advertising campaign from many food sellers. From green tea to certain nuts, diets high in antioxidants are claimed to be healthy and promote longer life span. A recent major medical study was published in The Journal of Epidemioloogy. The study showed long term antioxidant supplementation has “no” effect on health related quality of life! It is just food companies wanting to make money. We get all the antioxidants we need with a normal diet. Extra is not beneficial!
Zero gms of trans fat.
Advertisements for food and labels can be misleading. The idea is that lower levels of “bad” fat are better. Trans fat or saturated fats are less healthy than unsaturated ones. However, this doesn’t mean the fat content isn’t high. Some foods are horribly high in fat, but low or zero in trans fat. These foods are not health and you should not be tricked by it. Look at total fat content. This is the key number.
Two examples:
Cheetos – zero trans fat. However total fat is 24gm or 48% of daily recommended!!
Lays chips – zero trans fat. However total fat is 27gm or 54% !!
Beware of low or fat free food advertisements.
Similar claims to number 2 above. Fat is important but calories can make you fat. For example, Soda, beer, alcohols, and pasta can add significant calories. They have little to no fat. Remember, Cows get fat on grass.
Watch snacks.
Potato chip and tortilla chips have a high fat content. Some have 1 gm per chip. Think how many chips you might eat. If you eat 10, this is 10 gms of fat = 20% of daily recommended fat. And it’s just the snack!!!
Watch out for most fast foods and fried foods.
The foods at fast food restaurants often are extremely high in fat and calories. A hamburger and French fries can be over 1000 calories and over 100% of fat for the day. It’s only one meal!!
Low carb diets often don’t work well.
Stick to diets that count total calories and fat. Carbs should make up about 40-60% of your diet. Low carb diets are not recommended by me, and they can be nutritionally unwise with deficiencies. Also, they tend to be part of “fad” diets that don’t work well or maintain benefits of weight loss. Total calories are the most important to count.
Try to cut refined sugars or carbs.
Coke, sodas, candies, and cakes are almost pure sugar. They are empty calories with little nutrients.
Remember these five facts to help with general health, cosmetic surgery nutrition, and diet after cosmetic surgery.

Watch soda!
High in calories and without any nutrition.
Cut fast foods and eating out!
High in calories and fat. Many hidden calories.
No super sizes and watch out for large portions!
Guaranteed to get way too much fat and calories.
A large French fries at Mcdonald’s is 500 calories and 25 gms of fat!
Minimize snacks!
Potato chips, cookies, dips, and many snacks are fat promoting.
It also is a bad habit or “eating behavior.” See below.
Get moving.
Exercise! Burn calories. Be healthy.
Eating behaviors.

Good habits are important to learn. Bad habits are tough to break!

Don’t eat and watch tv. Eat at the table only.
Eat slowly.
Don’t buy “bad” food items. i.e. (potato chips, candies, fatty foods)
Buy good snacks and small sizes.
Plan meals.
Watch urges.
Say no! You don’t need the second margarita or that dessert.
Keep a food and exercise journal.

This is extremely helpful to help figure out if your diet and exercise program are working. Record everything. This allows adjustments to allow better weight loss and stability.

Record diet and exercise.
Develops control- “not eating or refraining.”
Prevents forgetting what has been eaten.
Motivates.
To begin a diet after cosmetic surgery or to begin any nutritional diet plan, we start with total calories and total fat goals. I like starting with 1500 calories and 50 gms of fat for women. For men, i recommend 2000 calories and 50 gms of fat. 50 gms of fat is a great number because the amount eaten in a meal or snack can be doubled to give an easy percentage that shows how much fat there is. For example, if you eat large french fries at McDonald’s, you eat 25 gms of fat. Double this and you find that you have just eaten 50% of your daily fat!
The 1500 calories is a starting point. It can be adjusted up or down depending on your results. Your journal should cover detailed exercise as well. If you exercise more- than calories allowed will go up.

Remember: Eat like a queen for breakfast, a princess for lunch, and a commoner for dinner. Studies have shown that late night meals and big dinners are associated with signifiant weight loss. Eating earlier in the day allows for your body to more naturally burn off the calories and leads to weight loss.

People interested in tummy tuck, liposuction, nutrition after tummy tuck, post tummy tuck diet, liposuction diet, cosmetic surgery nutrition or other topics about cosmetic surgery in Delaware or Pennsylvania should please call the office for an appointment.

Dr. Saunders is a board certified plastic surgeon who practices exclusively cosmetic surgery. Also, please come in for a complimentary consultation to learn about your choices and options!