Fat2FabMyWay

So I’m 6 weeks out from my surgery and I have to admit that I had a pretty easy time immediately afterwards. After nausea the first day in the hospital, I have had no side effects - no gas pain, no more nausea, no aversion to temperature/taste/texture, etc. However, I feel like I am hungry ALL THE TIME and have found that I can EASILY eat 1000+ calories in a day. I am making sure to get all of my protein in (I average about 85g per day), as well as a minimum of 64oz of water, and I have been doing so mostly without the aid of shakes/clear protein drinks the past couple of weeks. I know that meeting that protein solely with food is part of why my calories are so high but I have tried to use shakes for meals and I am just SO HUNGRY the rest of the day when I do so (which results in my eating “bad” snack-y/trigger foods that have more carbs, such as lots of cashews) that it hasn’t seemed worth it. My weight loss has started to slow, however, and it wasn’t fast to begin with so I’m worried that I’m ingesting too much. Any thoughts? Anyone else eating this many calories this far out? It’s really worrying (to me) to see so many who are 1 year out say they can barely get 800 calories when I have no issues and could honestly eat more :-/ If it matters: I’m 37, 5’11”, and my weight on DOS was 331.8. Current weight is 313.9.

@FluffyChix “Move from sweetened beverages to pure Water, Decaf teas (unsweetened), and decaf coffee (unsweetened). I would focus on protein until you can eat 2-3ozof dry dense protein per whatever stage you are in. You may be in softs now, so 2-3oz in meatloaf muffins (bread free), or burger meat, or fill in the blank.” I’m actually not in a “soft” food phase - I’ve been on regular foods/textures since week 4. I was told to avoid caffeine, though, so haven’t been having any coffee or tea & the Powerades are to make sure I get my electrolytes in but I can try to just replace them with water, I guess. The meatloaf muffins are recipes I found on Pinterest, just slightly modified to be more my taste, so I weigh/measure every ingredient that goes in them. They do have whole wheat breadcrumbs but such a small amount that it doesn’t really add to my carbs. The birthday cake protein is a cake-like thing that I actually got from BP’s website. I’m not sure I understand why things like that (and the Quest chips) are sometimes looked down on but protein powder is okay - aren’t they basically the same thing? Especially when they’re low in carb and calories? I will try to cut out those processed meal replacements/snacks, though, and see if that makes a difference... Thank you!

Just wanted to add this last screenshot, to give more of an idea of my daily average macro-wise. I also have been walking 1.5-2 miles, 3-4 times per week, for the past couple weeks.

Thanks so much for the responses! Per my surgeon, the only restrictions I’ve had since week 4 are to stay under 40g of carbs per day, hit 70-90g of protein, and drink at least 64oz of water - no calorie guidance at all. I do eat protein first and I have stuck with lean meats (chicken mostly). I’ve also added some vegan/vegetarian options, just to give myself some variety. I log everything, including my fluid intake, on MyFitnessPal. I have only had cashews a few times because they are a trigger food for me but I’ve only reached for them at the end of the day when starving already. I definitely feel full after smaller portion sizes than before but I can easily eat 2 eggs at a time, for example, or a 1/2 cup of food. I’m going to try to add some screenshots from MFP, not sure how it’ll work so bear with me! The first is my average for the past 7 days. The next 3 are a typical day (yesterday), and the last 3 are a bad day (Monday) in which I was so hungry at the end of the day that I ended up having some Saltines for the first time since surgery. Besides the Saltines, does anything jump out at anyone? 😏

Have you tried different flavors to see if that makes a difference? I’m 6 weeks out and have just started getting nauseous after drinking the vanilla Premier Protein shakes, though I have no issues with the other flavors (and didn’t have any issue with vanilla before).

It’s nice to see so many surgery “twins” on here! Glad to see everyone doing so well and working through! @jpbronx Maybe what I’m feeling in my stomach isn’t really hunger but the gas breaking up, as you describe - I keep telling my husband that it’s weird because sometimes it seems like my stomach is “growling”, as if I’m hungry, but I don’t “feel” as if I’m actually hungry - does that make sense? Other times, though, I feel like I’m absolutely starving but I know it’s got to be in my head. Commercials are soooo tempting and, even worse, the smells around the house when my husband makes his meals (bacon TWICE yesterday!!!) are driving me insane. This is really showing me how bad my food addiction is - I’ve had a hard time falling asleep the past few nights because I just start thinking about food. Haven’t cheated or anything yet and I don’t plan to - I’m on “full liquids” until day 13, then purées for a week, then soft foods for a week, then “real” food is okay to introduce gradually, per my doctor. I just didn’t expect it to be so hard mentally, so soon after the surgery. Wishing you the best moving forward!!! We’ll get through!!

Hi everyone!! New here and just had my VSG on 12/18. Horrendous nausea the first day but have been okay since. No real pain, just what I would describe as muscle soreness around the incisions if I move weird, so I didn’t even fill my pain med prescription. I had to do Clear Liquids for the first 2 days and really struggled with it - I didn’t get anywhere near the amount of Protein or Water that I should have. Today was the first day back on a “full liquid” diet prescribed by my doctor & I was able to get the shakes, half a clear Protein Drink, and a cup of Soup in. Today was also the first day I’ve really been around other people who were eating normally and it was a real struggle. Between the smells and just seeing the food, I felt like I was starving but I know that had to just be in my head. Anyone have any tips for getting through that? I’m afraid this just means my mental/emotional issues with food are going to waylay me much sooner than I anticipated. 😏