faithstar

I'm over 6 weeks out and was not ever told to drink Protein shakes. I live in the uk and my nutritionist told me to drink slim fast, which has around 25 carbs in each bottle. She wrote for me to drink it 2 or 3 times a day. So I am quite confused as I have been given NO information on grams of protein, carbs, simply was told to eat 'balanced' meals and have veg, protein and carb at each meal, except for Breakfast where I am mean to have carbs. I'm actually not even managing 35g of protein and I'm thinking of buying some Protein Shakes, maybe from ebay so I can help achieve some goals. Most of the information I have learnt is from here and I am a bit peeved at how behind my nutritionist is with things. I had a conversation with her about calories and asked her: "I'm aiming for 600-800 calories, Is that enough?" and she just looked at me and went, "Don't worry about calories, nobody else does". ( As in no one from that support group.) I seem to be the only one concerned with writing things down and counting calories in that hospital group, most people just 'eyeball everything' and where that's fine eventually, I need to know calories...at least so I know if it's enough/too much! Anyone know of any good protein shakes II can buy on ebay? I literally no NOTHIING about them

thank you so much, that's so sweet of you to give me all that information. I'm blown away every day by how kind and forthcoming everyone is on this forum- couldn't do without you. thanks xx

sorry I put this on pre op, rather than post op questions- my bad! x

I've had 600 calories today at 6 weeks out and I stretched out a meal over 50 minutes today. It's the first and last time I'm going to do this, as I normally have a meal within 20 minutes but today, I took my tuna (one can) It's the small can- not a mini one but the small one, I think around 4oz of tuna. I took the oil out and ate it on it's own on my little baby plate lol. I ate what I could and left the plate for 10 minutes and went back to it, finishing it in 50 minutes. Well, I know I'm paranoid, but reading what other people can eat I feel it might be too much! But then I thought, maybe it's because I didn't do my normal thing of setting a time limit. I can not eat chicken in this way so I suspect it's the fact that it's soft Protein, that enables me to eat a little more of it. I'm nervous my sleeve has stretched but logically I'm thinking, how has it stretched? It's just I compare myself to so many others with what they can and can't eat. I know I sound SO paranoid but I'm scared to ruin my sleeve. Anyone else get this fear? Saying that, I have to try and get to 600 calories a day, or I would comfortably stop at 300. I've always been more of a volume eater than a grazer and nowadays, I get bored with eating my meals. The portions are so tiny I have to have 6 meals to get to at least 600 calories so I guess today I put the tuna on my plate and thought I would eat it slowly. Lesson learned! back to 20 minute little meals! It made me feel a bit too full for what I would aim for and probably went over with a spoon or two extra.

I have been trying to keep my carb count low and realised, I'm pretty much avoiding carbs and trying to eat mainly protein, dairy or fruit but not things like toast, pasta, rice or potatoes. Well today I had NO energy and felt dead and thought, I will have my toast and put a tiny spread of jam on it, since I haven't been eating any bread at all. Well I had half my toast and was CONSUMED with guilt. now this can't be normal because, logically it was a healthy brown bread piece of toast with minimal spread on it. But for some reason, I can't help feel like I've somehow failed myself or let myself down. It's like I'm expecting myself only to eat fruit, protein, etc and any little sweet or tasty food and I feel bad. I'm aware how stupid this sounds and I wouldn't tell anyone else to feel bad if they ate this but it's a very strange emotional response that's entirely personal to me. I'm stupidly obsessed and in fear. I'm seeing an eating disorder specialist at the end of this week and will discuss these fears. It's worrying me and I think it's because I'm trying to be 'perfect.' I'm setting the goal post high and trying to count everything immaculately and it's sending me into a bit of a frenzy. I've been crying all day today and feeling so low and I'm terrified I will somehow not be able to keep this up and will go back to eating chocolates and sweets. I'm terrified of returning to my old ways. But this fear is consuming me.

by the way I just heard biotin makes ALL hair grow and as a Greek cypriot lady, I have enough arm hair to keep me warm in the winter- just hoping I won't get more growth in unwanted places! lol

I live in the uk and haven't heard of biotin and not sure if its available here but I'm going to order it on ebay anyway, as I heard from some great people on here that it's amazing for hair loss. I just noticed it comes in tablets and shampoo and also in different measurements and amounts. What's the best type of product and amount of biotin for me to start with? Let me know if it has helped any of you with hair loss as my hair is beginning to fall out a bit/

I had two glasses of orange juice the other day but I have to say I don't often drink it at all. I presume it is the high quantity of acid that can cause tummy upset. I didn't have any issues with my orange juice, after two glasses and I have bad acid reflux. Oh! and I didn't realise how much sugar and carbs are hidden in orange juice! Actually in manufactured smoothies and juices there can be a lot of hidden sugars and it's best to limit these. I've started to swap my juices for pure water as I'm fine with it and soya milk is amazingly low in carbs and higher in protein so this is a bonus.

The scale will sort itself out. There was a girl from youtube who gained 20 pounds in her first week! But guess what? In the next weeks or two, she lost that PLUS 11 pounds. The body does retain a lot of fluid from hospital and the weight loss varies between each person because of how our bodies heal or react but your scale will show your weight loss very soon. Just keep doing what you are doing and keep positive and it WILL come off! :D

I feel like I've been posting a lot recently so apologies if I'm driving you all nuts, lol! I just wondered if what I'm doing is considered 'normal.' I'm finding I eat 6-8 tiny portion sized meals a day, that usually add up to 600 calories. If I eat only 3 meals I can only seem to get in 300 calories or so a day. My food today included: raspberries, soya milk (2 glasses today), tuna, 1/2 an avocado, i salmon stick and one or two parsnips. I'm counting a glass of soya milk as a part of my 'meal' here- basically adding it on to my daily calorie intake. I think it's probably the same amount you could put in 3 slightly bigger meals but because I'm kind of stretching the meals out, so I can achieve at least 600 calories I'm eating my meals 6-8 times. I'm finding myself stuffed in the morning and it's so hard to eat more than a spoon or two of something so sometimes I leave it for 20 minutes and go back to it. I am finding I will have maybe half and avocado and 30 minutes later sit to eat a bit more but still be full from before if I eat too much so I need another break again. It's hard work now reaching at least 600 calories! lol. Would this be considered snacking or grazing? I was sort of thinking snacking and grazing would be something you do in between your recommended meals, so eating 3 good sized meals and then eating little bits here and there in between.

Thank you for your responses! I'm 6 weeks out at the moment and trying to have between 600-800 calories and nothing below that really. Mostly I'm around the 600 or 700 mark. I think because we eat so little at this stage, I am basically splitting my meals into two times, and rather than extending the time to say 45 minutes around the food, I'm eating and waiting until my body is ready to eat again and will have another small portion. So I might eat and then 1-2 hours later have another tiny portion of what I could have eaten with the meal before. I've just heard so many people saying their doctor's tell them to eat only three times a day; perhaps this would be a better aim for me when I am further out and can eat the right portion? For one or two days I had 3 meals and it equaled 250 calories, which was a bit worrying, so this is when I had to start eating more frequently.

I was just reading something and it mentioned that when we go under 1200 calories, our bodies hold onto our fat reserves as it thinks we are in a famine. I knew this before and most people term this as the starvation mode. My question then is, how have most of us managed to lose the weight faster than with our previous diets, which ranged from 1200-2000? In my experience, I ate 1400 calories on weight watchers and lost half of what I have now that I am on half the calories. And does our body quickly come out of this starvation mode when it realizes we are continuing to eat as we are?

thank you so much!! I will give those a go xx

I think each doctor has a different recommendation, so just follow what your doctor has told you. It's similar to what I was eating and I could have yogurts and soups almost immediately and these still go down very easily. It's funny because my first ever craving out of surgery was also cheeseburgers! Maybe there is something to be said about the meat? I'm not sure... I also felt hungry on liquids and my NUT said it's normal on the liquid stage as liquids go right through you and your body is telling you that you want some more food. Sometimes it's head hunger, or the fact that the nerves from our stomachs need time to heal and sometimes its acid. Other times it is genuine hunger and this often goes when you move onto solid foods and eat a little more regularly. The food will stay in your stomach longer and keep you fuller. I find eating more Protein helps. I had the same concerns/issues as you and I'm on week 6 and hardly hungry. If i feel hunger it's at night and I know it's my acid reflux talking. Don't forget, you might think you have authentic hunger but the brain is so much more powerful than we imagine and can mistakenly give false hunger signals even when we are simply thirsty or tired or because we have been so used to eating for comfort. I can get these authentic seeming hunger sensations and I'm so SURE I'm hungry, then I go to eat and my stomach tells me I'm full! So watch for other things like acid, thirst and false readings.

thanks for the feedback. I'm definitely tracking calories every day but sometimes I can get a little obsessed with it. I average around 500-800 calories and my main diet consists of raw vegetables, tuna, fish and if I have toast I have a small amount of whole grain brown bread and low fat cheese or jam as my 'treat' lol. I've had toast twice since surgery. I do feel I make very healthy choices and it's also easier to make these choices but at times, I have to watch I don't eat too many sweet low fat things like mousses as they will make me crave more so I try to limit that. I think as time goes on it becomes easier to eat the wrong types of food and that's why it's a great thing to make the changes to our diets now. I found eating a low fat chocolate mousse gives me a flavor for chocolate so I eat maybe one once or twice a week. Mostly I will have a smooth yogurt to get in my calcium and soya or skimmed milk. Chicken and other meats can be heavy on me but I'm loving tuna and avocados are my favorite. They are around 300 calories each so I have half of one when I have a taste for it. I'm really enjoying eating these healthy foods and my body is thanking me for it. This is the best thing I've ever done for myself.

I live in the uk and haven't heard of biotin and not sure if its available here but I'm going to order it on ebay anyway, as I heard from some great people on here that it's amazing for hair loss. I just noticed it comes in tablets and shampoo and also in different measurements and amounts. What's the best type of product and amount of biotin for me to start with? Let me know if it has helped any of you with hair loss as my hair is beginning to fall out a bit/

I have TERRIBLE insomnia and had it before my op but it has since become worse. I am almost 6 weeks out and when it's time for bed, I lie in bed and find my brain is still too active or my body is restless and then I get anxious. I end up going to sleep around 4 or 5am every night and it's really impacting on my exercise now, as I have no energy to move. I'm getting a little worried and the last week I have lost no weight. During the night, sometimes my legs and feet feel a little swollen too. I used to have terrible pms but for 7 months didn't have a period because I put on weight pretty fast. At the moment I feel like my body wants me to have a period because I'm so bloated, emotional, hot at night and have cramps and this has been going on for 2 weeks. I'm not sure if it is going to start or not and it's getting me down a bit. I feel like I'm sort of waiting for something to happen. Has anyone else had problems with insomnia and irregular periods that stopped for a while?

Today, I came home from the doctors and fancied some raspberries, so I got a 150g pack and popped them in my mouth. They slid down VERY easily and I finished them off. For a few moments, I felt like I was back to my normal sized stomach! I know that's not the case but I think I'm expecting the magic sleeve fairy to pop out and let me know it's still little. The only confirmation I have, apart from my own logic and stitches, is the sense of fullness I get... I'm nearly 6 weeks post op. With Protein it's another story! But I'm guessing raspberries would go down easier as they are watery so possibly slide through? It's just I felt practically no restriction on them, just well satiated. And I know I should have ate them slower but I ate them in a bit of a rush...I'm just shocked I managed to get in a whole pack of them. I suppose you can easily make a fruit smoothie out of them and that would go down quite easily as they are very watery...

I'm a little concerned as I seem to only be able to eat very small amounts and I'm having around 350 calories on week 5. My NUT gave me a general sheet of guidelines to follow with no mention of weighing anything or counting calories. She just mentions 3 small meals and what I can eat and a couple of snacks in between IF i want. She has written for me to have an omelette with 2 eggs and low fat cheese and I made an omelette with one egg and cheese and had a quarter. For dinner I have a couple of spoons, if that and I'm done. I wouldn't say I'm STUFFED but I'm full and can feel the food sitting in my throat and I don't want to push it. I'm worried my weight loss will slow down if I don't eat enough and on top of that I feel a bit depressed. How much should I be eating at this stage?

I have recently been feeling sickness in my stomach, that feel like emptiness from my throat down to the tummy. In the past, this was my hunger signal and it went after I ate. I was sick a few days ago and am on fluids for a few days and ever since, I have a huge emptiness in my stomach. I feel physically hungry and it's very confusing. It's the kind of hunger that really rises up your throat...and I can't sleep at night as it's keeping me awake. It's like a sick/painful/empty feeling and constant rumbling of the stomach. It's do annoying as I don't know what this is supposed to mean for me..??

Yes I take 2 tablets daily that have lanzoprazole. I'm not sure if that's good or if I should be on something else...

I've lost 19 pounds in almost 4 weeks and I actually think it is a LOT. I think people are expecting it to all drop off suddenly and it is dropping off pretty fast. But it's also perspective. I look at someone who lost 18 pounds in a month and think wow. But reading other people dropping 30 pounds in a month will heighten expectations. They may lose slower the next few months. Let the body do it's own thing as long as you are doing yours, be happy with it! who would lose 18 pounds in a month on weightwatchers? Hah, not me! The thing is, we often think we stall around week 2 or 3 but I think that's because our bodies are adjusting to surgery and the sudden 1st or 2nd week of massive weight loss. The body thinks "woahh, slow down a bit" and then it's off again. Be positive and look to the future, don't get stuck on numbers cos in the long run, this will be but a distant memory!

couldn't have said it any better myself.

I have been losing weight fairly consistently and this week am stalling. I'm not overly concerned as I think I may know the reason. It has coincided with a terrible stomach bug I have, when I have not been able to keep anything but water and some fluids down, so I suspect the small amount of calories going into my body may have shocked it into holding on to the water. I so want to be able to eat my calories and it's just not staying down; I feel incredibly sick and I didn't have any trouble beforehand. My periods have stopped since about 7 months ago and this is because of drastic weight gain. I was overweight and put more on in a quick and short space of time. I'm now actually starting to get sign of pms, like cramping, swelling in stomach and in my fingers and my hormones are all over the place. Yesterday I cried during an advert. It was pretty sad though but I'm crying at everything. Anyone who looks sad and I'm crying for them. I'm turning all mushy and emotional. I guess I've always been an emotional person but I'm feel like I'm feeling people's pain more now...

I am just over three weeks post-op and have been following my NUT guidelines to a tee. For lunch, it says 1 scrambled egg, one tablespoon of vegies and one tablespoon of Pasta. Well on my plate it looked a bit much for me but I tried to eat it. I had some egg and took a break and continued. I then felt sick and the food basically slid up to my throat and I was sick. There was no excessive pain or nausea but I was scared I stretched my sleeve, I know it's probably not the case but I'm still worried. This evening, I took one tiny spoonfull of mushy meat and chewed really well and it came up again. I called the nurse and she said she was surprised I can eat a whole egg as she can't (she has had the bypass surgery.) So I worried about that, even though it was in my nutritional guidelines... I've been feeling faint today and sick from last night. I have basically had a small, half cup of Soup, one egg and a small spoonfull of meat so it doesn't seem I have overeaten. I just feel like I could have prevented this and am a bit worried. Have any of you had similar experiences and is this the norm? I ate fairly slowly and took little breaks and it may be the egg was too heavy but it felt like I had just that one bite too much and maybe didn't listen to my full signals enough. I hope this is redeemable and that no damage has been done as I would be really devestated if that was the case. When the food came up it sat in my throat and I just gentlyy pushed my throat and it popped up, as it felt dense. Sorry for the info there but that made me paranoid too, as I kept thinking, I shouldn't have pushed it, I should have tried to swallow it down and was anxious about that. I have ocd and anxiety, so a lot of my thinking can be obsessive and I am a complete perfectionist so sometimes it can be hard and I feel I fail when things seem to go wrong.