Is stretching out a meal considered grazing/snacking?

[Kris 78]

Hi everyone,

I am sure it has been addressed before but I couldn't find a recent discussion on it. My surgeon advised to eat only 3 meals a day while trying to lose -- no Snacks. And to limit meals to 30 minutes. Maybe in a few months that will be feasible, but I'm just finishing up the liquids stage (start mushies tomorrow, hallelujah!!!) and it talkes me a lot longer than 30 minutes to finish my current "meals" (aka Protein shakes/smoothies and blenderized soups). I'm not talking big portions either -- Protein drinks have 8 oz. skim milk and a little ice; Soups are 1/2 a can or less (so about 8 oz -- 1 cup). yogurt is one small container, ditto with Jello sf pudding. I am still having trouble even getting 400 calories a day. So I admit, I have been stretching out many of my "meal times" a lot ... maybe an hour or more. Sometimes I have to reheat the Soup because it gets cold before I'm even halfway through. I have tried on a few occasions to stop after 30 minutes and consider the meal done, but usually within a couple of hours I want to finish my unfinished meal. I really personally don't think extending a meal a long time can be considered grazing (unless of course it was a really huge meal, way more than a normal serving).

So, is it wrong to just finish the meal, even if it takes 1 hour or longer? If I truly stopped eating after 30 minutes I don't see how I would be able to get more than 400-500 calories a day in -- my surgeon said shoot for 600 - 800 calories a day. I figure if I'm having trouble finishing meals w/in 30 minutes now, it will only get worse with mushies. My energy level is improving but still not where I want it to be and I think part of that is the ultra low calories I've been having the past 3 weeks since surgery. So basically I want some validation here that as long as I am staying within my daily calorie range and am not giving myself abnormally high serving sizes, there is no problem stretching out mealtimes until my sleeve is more healed up and able to handle a bit more food in a bit less time than currently.

What say you? Has anyone else done this and later regretted it?

[Rootman 1,101]

No, stretching out a meal with properly sized controlled portions is NOT grazing. Eating the meal then snacking all day is. A cracker here, a piece of cheese there, a handful of nuts - it all adds up. While a few Snacks are good just watch the TOTAL caloric intake to make sure you are not pushing it was up.