Typical Meal?

[Chelley 0]

I'm curious what a typical meal is for those of you who have been banded now for several months and have restriction. The nutritionist at my doctor's office recommended the plate method where you divide your plate in 4's: Protein, green veggie, fruit, and carb. I can't eat meat as a protein source unless it is boiled very tender. As a result of not getting enough protein, I'm loosing my hair. I take a multi vit daily and 1000 mcg Biotin and have started using a special Shampoo for Hair loss to try to combat hair loss. I have started drinking Protein shakes for Breakfast also. The thing is, I'm not loosing any weight. I lost 17lbs and I've been stuck at 210lbs for the last 2 months now. I'm so discouraged. My hair really is one of my best assets and now that it's falling out to drain clogging proportions I'm totally freaked out. This is how a typical day of eating goes for me... if any of you have suggestions, please let me know!

Breakfast - Low Carb Slim Fast - 20grams protein per serving

lunch - 1 cup taco Soup - PB'd on the last bite

snack - 1/2 cup dry Cherrios

Supper - 1/4 cup tuna, 1/2 cup green Beans - PB'd the green beans

Snack - 1/2 c no sugar added vanilla yogurt

Water - Consumed 4 16oz bottles today between meals/snack times

This food consumption is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy less than what I could eat before, so why do you think I'm not loosing weight? Why is my hair falling out????

Chelley

[gonnabethin 10]

I preband but have met with the nutritionist twice, and based on what her expectations are- the cherrios have to go. They need to be replaced with a Protein of some sort: drink, tuna, bar, The general rule from her was: Protein first, veggies, fruit, avoid processed carb b/c of increased appetite they cause. Yeah I know they are whole grain- but you have to get protein first. Aim for 60+gm protein per day.

Im sure you will get help from the experienced banders but I was on and though I would share what Im being taught.

Good Luck!!

[puddin 7]

Holy cow, woman, you really don't eat a lot! The fact that you're PBing on the last bite is strange. I usually only PB on the last bite when I've eaten too much. Sounds like you're eating solids (like tuna and green beans), so maybe you just need to slow it down. Also, are you eating ENOUGH? I bet that calorie content is less than 600. I'm not going to throw out the whole starvation mode thing, because I really don't believe in it generally, but with less than 600 calories, consistently, per day, this could be a possibility for you.

You were only banded in April. My hair started to sort of fall out at about 4 months after my surgery, which is consistent with what my doc told me the anesthesia might do to me. The Hair loss only lasted a couple of months and now it's just fine.

A lean cuisine or Smart Ones frozen dinner usually will satisfy me for a couple of hours, but not for too long. I have to have a snack mid-day and in the evening to be satisfied. I am full when I've had about 1.25-1.5 cups of solid food (we're not talking mashed potatoes here).

My calorie consumption is usually between 1,100 and 1,400 calories. My doc told me to get at least 70 grams of Protein in each day, so I try to hit that. I've been curious about what others can eat as well. It seems like other banded people eat a lot less than I do. It could be unrelated to your hair loss or even weight loss, but it still looks like you're not eating enough to me to stay active. I HAVE to eat 1,100 just to get enough energy in each day. Believe it or not, I burn more calories by eating more in that respect.

[Kat817 19]

I know many will not agree with me, but I don't think the Protein is the issue with the hair. I was on Atkins, and eating massive amounts of protein, and my hair fell out as I suddenly began losing weight. Now, I am beginning to see it falling out again. I do know it will come back, it did before. Now when it happen before, I attributed it coming back to the fact I went off of Atkins, and was eating a balanced meal. Now I am reading from people it will begin growing back around 8 months out, as suddenly as it began falling out. The timing is about the same as I experienced before. I am concentrating on eating a healthy balance of foods. I have reached serious restriction with my last fill, so I am eating much less. Let's see today I had...

Breakfast--about 1/3 of a cup of a skillet breakfast I made for my DH, with potatoes, sausage, and green chile with eggs on top. I just slid a few bites into a bowl. I would say I ate about 1/3 of a cup of the mix.

Snack--handful of popcorn

lunch--piece of ham rolled up and snacked on, I was not hungry

dinner--1/4 of a salsbury steak, 1/4 c. mashed potatoes & about 1 Tbsp. gravy, 2 bites of fried zuchini. Could not eat any more. I even made a cheescake for desert, and am still full so cannot eat any!

I drank several cups of Water, and lots of ice tea, not sure of exact amounts. I added some Protein Powder to my gravy I put on my potatoes, but not enough!!! I did not eat well today!!

I can eat so little now, I concentrate on eating mostly protein, I eat a lot of fish. Then I try to add some veggies. If I have any room, I will eat some of the starchy sides if we have them, which we don't usually!!! I put roast in the crock pot, or do things like the salsbury steak, and as I say a lot of fish. I try to make some sort of protein I can eat. I also keep a pot of Beans cooked, so I can eat them when I need something quick for lunch and do not want to cook. They are high in protein.

Theonly other thing I can think to ask, is if you are getting enough exercise? You may need to bump it up to boost the metabolism. My DH just had heart surgery, so along with my own workout I do, we walk 3 times a day now--it has really helped A LOT!!!

Good Luck to you!

Kat

[marys 2]

Hey Chelley,

mary s here - I just saw your post...girl are you eating enough calories - yeah i know you can't put it in when you are having a day of pbing But your memu looked really teeny - it looked like 600 calories to me. Do you think you might not be eating enough - maybe your body is in that starvation mode and holding onto your weight? Also, it didn't look like enough Protein - i'm sure dr. miranda can address that better than me...

do you like cottage cheese and milk - they are easy to eat and i like mixing yogurt with cottage cheese (approx 28grams of protein/1 cup) - it makes it more substantial. Best of all - good Protein sources.

Also fish and Beans are good protein sources - i cook black Beans until really soft and the blend them - healthier refried beans and pretty easy to get down (though don't go crazy they are still thick).

i know others have addressed the hair loss before and I'm sorry abbout that - i'm sure that sucks. I hope you get some good advice/relief with that.

lastly my favorite protein shakes are EAS myoplex lite - they ae a bit higher in protein than slimfast and you can mix with milk or Water. The premixed ones are not as good so less convenient than slimfast - you need the blender but the choc and vanilla - killer and tropical flavors really good too.

Take care, mary

[Jachut 487]

Hmmm, what have I eaten today...?

Breakfast - a piece of wholegrain toast with crunchy Peanut Butter

lunch - a McCain Healthy choice meal - a vegetable tagine thing with brown rice, normal small serve that you get with those meals. And an orange.

dinner tonight is in the slow cooker as I type, fragrant chicken curry (with lentils and LOADS of spinach in it) with more rice (but only a tiny serve).

Yesterday I wont mention, ugh. Mainly chocolate.

Day before:

Breakfast - Allbran with canned peaches

lunch - a chicken and avocado sandwich on wholegrain bread

Afternoon - a tim tam and a cup of coffee (you dont have tim tams there you poor things)

Dinner: chicken stirfry - chicken, mixed Asian vegetables, blackbean sauce, hokkien noodles.

Those are average days for me. They usually total about 1200 calories (serving sizes are small but I eat real food). No hair loss, slow weight loss, feeling great!

I also dont believe Protein has anything to do with hairloss, I think its more to do with sudden calorie restriction and overall malnutrition. YOu need to eat a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. I get nowhere NEAR the amount of Protein a lot of you seem to eat, and whilst I had a few months of increased shedding a while ago, I have no real Hair loss.< /p>

[sunsett 2]

It sounds to me like you need more protien thats the main thing they told me that if you have less than 60 a day your body will not lose.

[puddin 7]

It sounds to me like you need more protien thats the main thing they told me that if you have less than 60 a day your body will not lose.

Sunsett, I don't know where you're getting that information. Protein does a lot, but lack of it doesn't keep us from losing weight - unless over a long period of time we haven't gotten hardly any and can't feed the muscles that we have so our bodies burn our own muscle for energy instead of fat. It would take awhile to get to the point where we've starved down our own muscle to the point where our metabolism will only burn 600 calories per day and we maintain at that.

[FunnyDuddies 6]

There are hormones stored in our fat cells, and when we lose weight we get an influx of these hormones. That is a lot of times what causes Hair loss. I get 100 g of Protein a day, and my hair is still falling out. Its because I am losing weight at a fast and steady pace. when my weight loss will level out, my hair loss will too.

[JulieNYC 4]

I'm down at least 1/3 of my hair and I'm not in one camp about what causes it other than weightloss (surgical or nonsurgical -- both seem to have it) and that I don't believe it's Protein (mine has been consistent pre-post band as I'm vegetarian -- I just eat much less in carbs now).

I just started taking Biotin yesterday, as well as a chewable multi Vitamin. We'll see if there's any improvement. I'm not hopeful, but I do believe I must be near the end of the shedding as I've lost so much. I'm thankful I had a lot to begin with.

As for the calorie intake, I eat around 800 cals per day and it works well for me. Then once every other week or so, I eat about 1200 cals for 2 days or so (usually because I've gone out to a restaurant or had a few meals I couldn't fully control due to social obligations) and I always seem to break a plateau by eating a little more. I don't believe in starvation mode (because my surgeon and his nutritionist don't and I chose them because I trust their medical skill and advice) but I do think there's something to mixing things up with your body once and a while to make things move.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll be losing in no time.

[KariK 0]

I believe in the starvation mode thing, for a few days I only ate between 8-900 calories and my body would not let go of one ounce. Then I increased to 12-1300 calories and a pound just dropped right off. Im now trying to maintain that range daily. Everyday im down a few ounces now it seems. Try eating more mushy foods if you can't get enough of the solids in for awhile. Or get a slight unfil maybe? I haven't had my band long enough to an expert at all though. Yet still im compelled to give my oppinion lol.

Yesterdays meals:

Breakfast: Atkins shake + One scoop of protien powder (Unjury), SF chocolate pudding cup.

Lunch: 1/2 can tuna, 3-4 T. Miracle whip, 1/2 Avacado cubed and mixed in with tuna mixture, 15 Kashi crackers.

Supper: Crock pot cooked Pork roast 1/2 cup, 3 baby red potatoes, 2 bites or so of cooked carrot, a few bites of boiled onions.

Water: more than 80 oz., liquid multi Vitamin, Calcium chew, 1500 mcg Biotin.

All of this was between 12-1300 calories.

[mousecrazy 2]

There are so many explanations for plateau's (did I spell that right?). For me, I noticed that during the past year, there were two times that I stayed at the same weight for two month periods...and I believe it is a normal process of adjustment to new weight set-points. I chose not to worry about it too much, tried to stay steady on the course, and used those times to coast a little. Hair loss has happened to me after both surgeries I've had in the past 4 years, so might be a reaction to body trauma.

My meals yesterday:

Breakfast: Slimfast drink

Snack: fruit and nut mix

Lunch: strawberry/banana smoothie

Dinner: 4 chicken wings

I am not a perfect bandster...yesterday was a pretty good day, though!

[Loving-It 0]

I eat pretty much anything I want but I eat the Protein part of my meal first. Scrambled eggs, baked Beans, fish. The key is small bites and eating slowly. I do not eat boiled meats. I can't eat roast beef or steak but I eat pot roast. It's pretty juicy if you cook it right and it shreds. Hamburger patties without the bun. If you put some salsa on top it's quite nice. tuna salad, chicken salad. I will cook up some sausage and break it down, like ground beef, and then put it in with some baked Beans cooking it until it's nice and soft. Spicy sauage makes it nice. I have salads with croutons. I do Protein shakes if I think I need it but I don't have them every day. I stay away from breads, sticky rice, but I do eat some noodles. I have to otherwise I'd wig out. But I have some after my Protein is gone.

I'm not perfect, I ate some pop tarts last week and was sick out about it, but I just hopped back on track and try, try, try. Everyday I try to make good decisions. I'm still losing and that's the important thing.

[Chelley 0]

The scale is stuck at 210lbs.... but it always has been. Whatever weight loss attempt I've made it seems I can't break the 200lb barrier, so I'll take your advice and consider that this is a plateau and hope for the best. My hair loss is slowing and I think it is the Biotin, multi vit, protien shake, and this Shampoo kit Nutri-Ox that is a 3 step program.

I've been trying to eat sensibily and as recommended by the doctor and nutritionist with protien first ... but it is hard when I slime. I've gone back to using a baby spoon and fork to make sure I'm not taking in too big of a bite and I now count how many times I'm chewing before I swallow and it has made a small difference. There is just some stuff that won't go down though and the more I try to swallow it the bigger it gets ... so I slime until I PB.

I'd like to thank you all for your replies. I was feeling very depressed and alone in this and with the help of this forum I realize these are just some of the struggles one goes through with the band. Thanks!

Chelley

[mousecrazy 2]

Good for you! You are going back to the basics, and that's the way to go.

You are most definitely not alone, as you can see. We all have our struggles. You are doing great, just keep after it!