Following a Proper Diet after Liposuction

The surgeons at Jefferson Plastic Surgery may recommend a liposuction procedure for those patients who wish to remove small, stubborn pockets of fat that have not responded to regular exercise and a balanced, low-fat diet. The procedure is designed to help you put the finishing touches on your body so you can proudly show off the results of your hard work to family and friends. It is not meant to be a weight-loss procedure. That being said, it is important to be diligent about diet following liposuction in order to get the best benefits from the procedure.

Why Is Proper Diet Important?

You will need to watch what you eat following a liposuction procedure, so as to keep at a relatively constant weight, rather than having it dramatically fluctuate. This may call for tweaking your diet so that you will maintain the best possible results from your liposuction procedure. It will also help your body heal more quickly from edema (swelling), one of the more common side effects of the procedure. Finally, changes in your diet after liposuction will allow your body to increase metabolism, so as to burn off fat more efficiently. Specifically, you are looking to increase your “good cholesterol” (high density lipids, or HDLs), and decrease both your “bad cholesterol” (low density lipids, or LDLs) and triglycerides.

Include

Food: You should increase your water intake to at least 64 ounces per day. This will help flush out any toxins and reduce the duration and amount of swelling following liposuction, as well as regulate your digestion, which is particularly important if you have undergone abdominal liposuction. Herbal tea and black coffee are acceptable in moderation. You can also consume mineral water, and fruit and vegetable juices with no added sweeteners or salt.

Beverages: Focus on lean white meats, such as skinless, white-meat chicken and fish, for your protein, keeping to approximately 3 ½ ounces per day (approximately the size of a standard deck of playing cards). Most fresh fruits and vegetables are generally acceptable. Focus on complex carbohydrates found in whole-wheat grain products. Low-fat or non-fat dairy products are acceptable in moderation. You can eat egg whites, but not the yolks.

Avoid

Drink: Keep soda consumption to a minimum. Fruit juices with added sugar and vegetable juices with added sodium should be avoided. Use only nonfat dairy products in coffee and artificial sweeteners in tea.

Food: Avoid fatty meats, such as pork products (bacon or sausage) and marbled red meat, as well as fatty fish, such as mackerel. Also avoid any fried meat. Any fruit you consume should not have added sweetener or sugar. Refined grain products, such as white bread, should be avoided. Keep any sodium intake to only 3 grams a day by not using table salt and avoiding high-salt products such as soy sauce and many salad dressings.

It is important that the goal of this post-liposuction diet is to help you maintain your results from the procedure for as long as possible. If you are already following a healthy diet, these changes should not be difficult to make, and the results will be worth it.