Not getting enough calories

[ASM 4]

I am 17 days post op. I'm on mushies and doing pretty good. I know when I have had one bite too much, I get pressure. I had a Protein Shake for Breakfast, but I hate them, so I only use 1/2 cup skim milk so there is less of it to get down. For lunch I had a yogurt that takes me 30 min to an hour to eat. One snack was 1/2 cup no sugar applesauce the other was SF Jello, dinner was about 6 bites of refried Beans with cheese, and later more of the same. I also had a Protein shot with 42 g protein mixed with Crystal light.

There is no way this is 800 calories, which is what I was told was the absolute minimum. But I just can't eat anymore. Any suggestions? I don't want to eat empty calories, but the nutritionist said less than 800 calories would cause me to go into starvation mode and not lose weight.

[neenee717 37]

I was told don't worry about that 1st few weeks after surgery buy focus more on making aure u get Protein which was essential to healing and also weight loss. 1st wk I was lucky if I ate 600 calories. My nutritionist had me use EAS Protein Shake ready made as base then mix Protein Powder with it. I'm 4 wkd post op and believe u me u will eat your calories cause appetite came back with vengeance once I really started raking. Doc told me I felt reatricted and ate less initially due to swelling that comes with surgery, sutures, port and band setting in place.

[Herraven 0]

I found the most wonderful whey Protein crisps. They look like rice crispies. One scoop is 28g of protein so I usually eat a scoop with some milk like Cereal. It's yummy.

[samomom 19]

I'm 15 days post op. So far I have eaten hard boiled eggs, thin sliced turkey, tofu, cheese, 1 shrimp, Muscle Milk chocolate shakes, refried Beans and a spoonful of Peanut Butter. I ate the Peanut Butter tonight for some calories, fat and a little more Protein.

I was doing the 42 gram Protein Shots, but those were getting old. If you can stomach them, I think you will be better off. That is more than half of your daily Protein right there plus 180 calories.

Give yourself a few more days and I bet your stomach will heal up and you wil get an appetite. It's a crazy concept for us to nee dmore calories isn't it!

[ASM 4]

thanks for responding, everyday seems to be different. Usually better. Yesterday was good, everything went down easy, I ate well about 800 calories. Today not so good, I woke up feeling pressure and it just won't go away. So, I'm not eating and hardly drinking.But I'm sure it will pass and I will eat when it does.

I'm just reminding myself that I had surgery less than 3 weeks ago and still healing and getting better everyday.

[Twinkles 7]

I was in the same boat, well, kinda still am..

I was banded on 7/29 and for the longest time, only getting about 250-300 calories. I started adding in 2 - 4oz servings of Nestle's optisource Bariatric High Protein Drink. strawberry, they are WONDERFUL and 100 calories, 12 grams of Protein per servings.

With that, I'm getting about 600-700 calories per day and 60-80 grams of protein. But as the others say, it does get easier, but I still for the life of me can't figure out how to eat 800 calories in a day. However, both nutritionist and Dr's office have said that as long as I'm feeling fine, not losing hair, etc., to not really worry about it.