Am I Eating Enough?

[Miriam 50]

OK, I never in my life thought that I'd ask this question (I was always a huge volume eater), but here goes: Am I eating enough? I'm currently almost 12 weeks post-op, feeling quite good, losing weight, but I have this nagging feeling that I should be eating more. I have an appointment with my NUT in about 5 weeks, but in the meantime, I was wondering what others' experience has been with this.

Until now, I haven't been weighing my food, just estimating how much I could eat and usually ended up leaving some over. Today I prepared what was meant to be two meals for my working hours (I usually eat four meals a day) and decided to weight it - it came out to just over an ounce of chicken for those two meals. Other meals (egg salad, tuna, etc. sometimes with a little bit of veggies or carbs thrown in) are pretty similar in volume. So that means I'm eating around 2 oz. of food (almost all protein) a day. My NUT is against Protein shakes (don't ask) which I'm sort of ignoring, but I can't say I like them very much so I have maybe 1/4 of a cup of Protein shake (5 grams of protein) on my good days. Most days I don't have any Protein Shake at all. Once in a while (maybe a couple of times a week) I also have a cup or two of pure chicken broth over the course of the day.

That's my total food intake. As I said, I'm feeling OK, but feeling a little nervous that I should be eating a little more at this stage. (If I do, I end up throwing it all up.) What do you guys think?

[Lissa 2,631]

I think you answered your own question in the last paragraph. If you eat more, you get sick. Therefore, you're eating enough. Your capacity will increase as you get further out.

You probably should weigh your food, just so that you can track whether you're getting enough Protein every day. If you aren't, then you'll need to supplement with Protein shakes or bars until your capacity increases.

Good luck!!

[BenisaMartim4 369]

I eat about the same way you do. I worry that I am not getting enough too; but just as Lissa said, if you throw up if you eat more, then you are eating enough. We physically can't eat any more, so what are we supposed to do? I just try to eat as often as I can right now. On most days I average between 400-600 calories. I have really, really pushed it if I get any higher than that.

[Miriam 50]

I think you answered your own question in the last paragraph. If you eat more, you get sick. Therefore, you're eating enough. Your capacity will increase as you get further out.

You probably should weigh your food, just so that you can track whether you're getting enough Protein every day. If you aren't, then you'll need to supplement with Protein shakes or bars until your capacity increases.

Good luck!!

Thanks - that's a very sensible way of looking at things!

[Miriam 50]

I eat about the same way you do. I worry that I am not getting enough too; but just as Lissa said, if you throw up if you eat more, then you are eating enough. We physically can't eat any more, so what are we supposed to do? I just try to eat as often as I can right now. On most days I average between 400-600 calories. I have really, really pushed it if I get any higher than that.

Glad to know that I'm not the only one!

[MyGastricSleeveLife 180]

I would really ask your NUT how she expects you to meet your calorie and Protein goals without Protein Shakes. My dietitian and surgeon encourage eating only 3 meals per day with no actual Snacks between meals. They expect me to get all my fluids in between meals and include Protein Drinks in those fluids to get in 70-100 grams of protein & 800-1000 calories once I'm 12 weeks out.

[Miriam 50]

I would really ask your NUT how she expects you to meet your calorie and Protein goals without Protein shakes. My dietitian and surgeon encourage eating only 3 meals per day with no actual Snacks between meals. They expect me to get all my fluids in between meals and include protein drinks in those fluids to get in 70-100 grams of protein & 800-1000 calories once I'm 12 weeks out.

She told me I didn't need to worry about getting protein in at this point, because my body had enough protein stores to last me a while. I'm not too convinced about that, though. Fat? Yeah, plenty in storage - go ahead and take it all! But protein? Not so sure.

[MyGastricSleeveLife 180]

I don't quite understand that - my surgeon wanted me to start Protein right away with Isopure clear liquid and Beneprotein clear powder during my clear stage right after surgery to help with healing. However, no matter what she said in the past, I would ask again or maybe even go ahead and use Protein Shakes to get in more calories. From everything I've read and people I've talked to, it's not healthy to be around 500 calories for so long, but I'm definitely not an expert. Are you working out? Are you still losing weight well? Usually if you're working out, you really need more calories because of burning calories working out which increases your deficit overall.

[ProudGrammy 8,322]

.

My dietitian and surgeon encourage eating only 3 meals per day with no actual Snacks between meals.

MyGastricSleeveLife

Finally, someone else whose dr. only wants you to 3 meals per day with no Snacks between meals. That is exactly what my NUT has always told me. I'm 5 months out, and have always abided by this rule - going a little nuts i think, i'm getting tired of "being such a good girl"

As summer and warm weather approach, i know i will be hungry/thirsty for some fruit I don't understand why if thats planned in the middle of the day, i don't think it should be considered grazing.

I never graze, eat during the day, between meals etc. But at some point, i'm going to throw the book away - egads..... i will talk to my NUT.

Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

thanx

kathy

[MyGastricSleeveLife 180]

Kathy,

I really don't think some fruit once in a while would hurt anything. I think the thing is that they want to make sure we're not constantly grazing and that we also get all our liquids in. If we're eating more often, it's harder to get liquids in since we're not supposed to drink around meals.

[AngelaEEEE 24]

I enjoy 1 to 1 1/2 ounces of cashews or pistachios a day. This helps me to get my calories in. I am almost 9 weeks out and average about 800 calories a day. I supplement my protien with one 30 gram shake per day. Overall I get about 70 grams per day. My carbs are between 30 and 60 grams per day, and mostly come from dairy, Beans or nuts. I get all my fluids in and feel great.

[Momsie5 0]

I would really ask your NUT how she expects you to meet your calorie and Protein goals without Protein Shakes. My dietitian and surgeon encourage eating only 3 meals per day with no actual Snacks between meals. They expect me to get all my fluids in between meals and include Protein Drinks in those fluids to get in 70-100 grams of protein & 800-1000 calories once I'm 12 weeks out.

Geesh, I am definitely a grazer and that concerns me. I was told 3 meals a day, but I get really hungry every 2 hours! I just take a few bites and feel content. Am I making bad habits? Will grazing stretch my stomach?

[WhoozisAnyway 176]

I'm so confused about all of this. During my preop diet, the weight fell off me when I kept to a 1200-1500 calorie, high Protein, low carb diet. Now I'm six weeks out and have been in stalls for four out of those six weeks. The weight is coming off verrrrrrrrry slow post op. I've been trying to up my calories to 1000-1200 to get out of starvation mode, but it's a real struggle

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[Momsie5 0]

I'm so confused about all of this. During my preop diet, the weight fell off me when I kept to a 1200-1500 calorie, high Protein, low carb diet. Now I'm six weeks out and have been in stalls for four out of those six weeks. The weight is coming off verrrrrrrrry slow post op. I've been trying to up my calories to 1000-1200 to get out of starvation mode, but it's a real struggle

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Do you think that the stalls are because our bodies think they are starving?

[WhoozisAnyway 176]

Hit send too soon. Anyway, my NUT is one of those "just keep doing what you're doing" people and I'm not getting much help from her. I have to eat every few hours because I get so little in that if I only ate 3x day, I wouldn't even get 500 calories. I'm exercising, doing everything right, but just feeling frustrated and rather defeated at the moment.

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