What is the Best Tummy Tuck Diet [Before & After Surgery]

A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is a surgical procedure that involves tightening separated abdominal muscles and removing excess skin and fat from the lower abdomen and hips. Patients often ask if there is a specific diet, or dietary recommendations, that will help speed up their recovery from surgery and give them the best final results.  The answer is a definite ‘YES’.

Pre-Tummy Tuck Diet Recommendations

First of all, patients should not try to “lose a quick ten or fifteen pounds” prior to their planned tummy tuck surgery in order to get “better results”. Patients are best served by continuing with their current diets and starting to make the slow and gradual changes that will help them move towards a more “healthful” long-term diet, including:

• Reducing highly refined and processed carbohydrates (chips, candies, sodas, etc.)

• Adding complex, nutritious carbohydrates (fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.)

• Incorporating more high-quality protein sources

• Incorporating high-quality dietary fats (omega-3’s, MUFA’s, PUFA’s)   

Crash diets can all produce dramatic weight losses on the scales, but far too much of the weight being lost consists of the lean body tissues that are so responsible for long-term weight loss success. Extreme low carb/keto diets and low-fat diets are dead-ended metabolic traps. 

What to Do Before Your Tummy Tuck

Prepare yourself for the stresses of surgery by doing the following:

1. Keep yourself well hydrated. The body is amazingly more efficient when hydration is optimal.  Start several days prior to surgery with electrolyte replacement fluids (PowerAid, Gatorade, Pedialyte, etc.) and continue these (along with liberal water intake) for at least a full week after your procedure.

2. Optimize your protein stores. Proteins are crucial to wound healing and scar formation. Increase your protein intake prior to (and after) surgery by incorporating healthy high-protein snacks and high-protein shakes into your daily diet.

3. Optimize your energy stores. Your body’s most important metabolic fuel is glucose. Make sure your body has enough of it on board by eating enough complex carbohydrates prior to surgery. (Now is not the time to deplete your glucose/glycogen stores by living the keto life). 

4. Shift your body to an anti-inflammatory state. Inflammation is the enemy of healing and optimal scar formation. Reduce the intake of pro-inflammatory foods (refined carbohydrates, omega-6 and saturated fatty acids, etc.) and increase the intake of anti-inflammatory foods rich in antioxidants (fresh fruits and vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, etc.).

5. Maximize your GI health (which can be disturbed post-operatively by prescribed antibiotics) with probiotics. These can be in the form of yogurts with active cultures (Activa, et al.), active culture drinks (Kombucha, Kefir, et al.), or supplements (1MD Complete Probiotics Platinum, et al.). 

A recommended schedule for incorporating these dietary changes before and after surgery can be found below.

Post-Tummy Tuck Diet Plan Recommendations

After the tummy tuck, you should advance your diet slowly and carefully as tolerated.  Drink water, Ginger Ale (that has been allowed to go flat), and electrolyte replacement drinks to maintain adequate hydration. In terms of solid foods, start with bland crackers (saltines, Belvita, et al.) and then advance to more substantial intake as tolerated.  
If postoperative oral antibiotics have been prescribed, it is especially important to maintain gut health with probiotics, so start these as soon as possible.  They can help re-establish populations of healthy bacteria and yeasts within the GI tract for proper digestion and absorption.
Finally, get up and moving as soon as possible following Abdominoplasty.  Regardless of how much protein is being taken in via the diet, muscle wasting can be significant with immobility (total inactivity can lead to a 10-20% decrease in muscle strength over the course of just a week). Furthermore, early mobilization is essential to preventing the development of potentially dangerous blood clots in the legs.

Long-Term Recommendations

Abdominoplasty surgery is not a substitute for a healthy diet and exercise.  Conversely, diet and exercise alone often cannot correct the mechanical problems (separated muscles, stretched out skin, deposits of hormonal/diet-resistant fat cells) that are so bothersome to the patient after pregnancy or after significant weight loss. In fact, the two often work synergistically with one another, not exclusively with one another. 

Eating a “healthier” diet can mean many things. In broad generalities, however, it most often means:

1. Eating better quality complex carbohydrates (more fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, etc.) and less refined carbohydrates (chips, candies, sodas, processed foods, etc.).

2. Eating better quality fats rich in omega-3 fatty acids (olive oils, salmon, walnuts, soybeans, etc.)

3. Eating more high-quality proteins (fish, poultry, lean meats, dairy products, nuts and seeds, lentils and beans, etc.).

4. Eating only the quantity of calories that you actually need.

A great starting point for most patients would be to become acquainted with the so-called Mediterranean Diet, which is not a diet at all, but rather a way of life. This does not mean that someone must learn to eat hummus, whether they like it or not.  It means that highly processed, refined foods will be replaced with fresh, wholesome foods that do not come out of a bag, box, or drive-through window. It means that portions will be smaller, yet more satisfying. It is all about increasing nutritional quality while decreasing caloric quantity.

Get ready for your surgery by starting to eat smarter and healthier. Implement these diet guidelines before and after your tummy tuck procedure to ensure a sustained lifestyle that can help you get the most out of your abdominoplasty procedure!

Contact Stephen Lober Plastic Surgery in Athens, GA

Contact Stephen Lober Plastic Surgery to learn more about abdominoplasty in Athens, GA, and the surrounding areas. We’re happy to answer all your questions about your tummy tuck diet or set up a consultation.