Three meals a day... No snacking!?

[TheCurvyJones 721]

I'm 11 weeks out. I eat 3 meals a day and 1 or two Snacks. I can't really go that long without eating.... Jelly just won't have it. Some things you're going to have to change up, depending on your Sleeve's "personality". Jelly likes to have something every few hours and she's grumpy (spits up acid) if I don't. Even in the middle of the night. The further along you're out and the more substantial Protein amounts you can eat, the longer the food will 'last' and keep you full. I can honestly eat 3 chicken wings at 6pm on a Friday night and be fine until the next day because the chicken is dense.

[Susie1226 138]

That is what I figured. How far out from surgery are you?

I was sleeved on 2/19/13. So not quite a month yet.

[kimikat3 150]

I'm 11 weeks out. I eat 3 meals a day and 1 or two Snacks. I can't really go that long without eating.... Jelly just won't have it. Some things you're going to have to change up' date=' depending on your Sleeve's "personality". Jelly likes to have something every few hours and she's grumpy (spits up acid) if I don't. Even in the middle of the night. The further along you're out and the more substantial Protein amounts you can eat, the longer the food will 'last' and keep you full. I can honestly eat 3 chicken wings at 6pm on a Friday night and be fine until the next day because the chicken is dense.[/quote']

First off... I LOVE that you have names your sleeve!!! Ha! That's awesome!

I think everybody's input has been great. Very helpful.

Another question I have... Where is the line between eating very small portions every 2-3 hours and grazing come into play???

Is "grazing" considered nibbling on unhealthy foods in between meals? Where as eating 5 very small meals throughout the day would consist of Protein and a veggie (or carb)...???

I'm new at this and just want to make sure I understand...

[newgrandmother 725]

grazing is like eating your meal and a few min later you are picking at something else. 2-3hrs goes like this for example i ate at 915am i will eat again at 1115am if i feel hungry, if not i go to the 3rd hour and so on

[lessofmeismore 1,405]

I was told I was grazing. I would eat my small meal but not be able to finish it so I would walk away and 15 minutes later come finish it. I thought hey this is fine because I need to get in my food. My nutritionist said nope that's grazing. When your full your full and don't go back.

I was shocked. I had no idea!

I hope this helps

[TheCurvyJones 721]

First off... I LOVE that you have names your sleeve!!! Ha! That's awesome!

I think everybody's input has been great. Very helpful.

Another question I have... Where is the line between eating very small portions every 2-3 hours and grazing come into play???

Is "grazing" considered nibbling on unhealthy foods in between meals? Where as eating 5 very small meals throughout the day would consist of Protein and a veggie (or carb)...???

I'm new at this and just want to make sure I understand...

Haha. That's my girl! She has a mind of her own sometimes! I just noticed your first post and yes, my doctor does recommend 3 meals a day with minimal Snacks in general. Like I said, some people can handle that, some people can't. Adjust accordingly, but follow the rules as closely as you can in the beginning.

Grazing, to me, is eating though you're not hungry. Picking at this or that, whether it's "healthy and on plan" or not. Those calories (and carbs) do add up eventually so most people, if they see a pause in their weight loss or a gain, are encouraged to look at how much they're REALLY eating because a lot of people don't count the 'here and there' food, only the meals. I learned quickly that I can get in around 1200 calories without paying attention and I really can't eat a lot of food.......at once. Every two hours though? Yup.

Keep in mind that as you heal, your capacity for food will increase and that's why you need a PLAN. Know what you're going to eat and how much of it you're going to eat and track it, even if it's 'back of the envelope' math. Just because you CAN eat it all doesn't mean you SHOULD eat it all. As some of the veterans say, don't let your sleeve determine when you're full. You eat a set amount and then be done.

[MrsG 329]

I was told I was grazing. I would eat my small meal but not be able to finish it so I would walk away and 15 minutes later come finish it. I thought hey this is fine because I need to get in my food. My nutritionist said nope that's grazing. When your full your full and don't go back.

I was shocked. I had no idea!

I hope this helps

I'm glad you said that! I was always under the impression grazing is when you eat outside of your planned meals and Snacks. I didn't even think that it would be considered grazing to stop and finish in a few minutes! I had no idea either but it makes sense if you really think about it.

[lilbearzmom 584]

I think of grazing as a cookie here, a cookie there, a handful of crackers here or there, licking the spoon a couple of times here and there while you're cooking, finshing off your kid's last chicken nugget, just MINDLESS eating. Where you get to the end of the day and you have no idea how much you ate because you didn't measure it or it was impossible to measure. KWIM?

-Kendra

[Takingcontrol 467]

But the way the body works is think of a camp fire, the fire is burning( metabolism) you keep adding pieces of wood to keep it going(food) but you de id to put a bigger log because u r tired of feeding the fire. If u notice the log takes a long time to burn out( large meal). Do u see where im going with this. The small meal burn up quicly. Another way to explaine it, our bodies are made to go into survival mode if its not being fed it gets scared and holds the food for dear life (starving) but when you feed it every 2_3 hours it think ok I can burn this up because im getting more(weight loss)

Exactly! & when I say "snack" I dont mean a meal....I have maybe a slice of cheese, a few almonds, or a Protein ball! Just enough to keep the hunger at bay & let my body know its not strarving so keep burning!

[SMO 193]

My doctor initially scolded me when I told him I was eating "all day" until I explained that what I meant was a Protein drink at 7am, an ounce of cheese at 9am, 2 oz chicken deli meat at noon, 2oz cottage cheese at 3pm and another protein drink at 6pm. It adds up to about 400 calories most days. I find it hard to believe that I am overeating or grazing. But if I am going to get in 60grams of protein, I cannot help but eat every few hours.

[JonB 114]

I was told three meals, no snacking, except for sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles, and broth, all of which count as liquids, not food.

Most important, I have to wait 90 minutes after eating to consume any liquids. food must have time to move from the tiny stomach into the intestines.

[Takingcontrol 467]

I guess this all just proves that all of our dr's have different views on this just as on when & what to eat post-op! My lunch is 11:00, & I personally would starve by 5:00 if I didnt have a snack! I guess just do what works for you!

[Bree 65]

Recently on NPR I was listening to a talk about nutrition and how doctors actually don't know what the optimum number of meals per day for a human is. However they found in both humans and mice that giving them food contrary to their circadian rhythms resulted in obesity in the mice that ate at night versus those who ate in the day. They woke mice up and fed them at night rather than during their natural circadian wake cycle. The same is suggested for humans that eat late meals. Long story short, scientists truly don't know how many meals are optimum. If you take the total nutritional and caloric content of three meals and break it out across 6, I see no issue with this. SUPPLEMENTING your 3 meals with ADDITIONAL snacks/calories is obviously going to impact your weight loss.

I think this is the NPR program I heard it on. The topic is on caffiene but I think they touched on the circadian rhythms and number of meals as well. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/03/07/173465469/if-caffeine-can-boost-the-memory-of-bees-can-it-help-us-too

[kimikat3 150]

Wonderful information all!!! Thank you!

[kimikat3 150]

I was told three meals' date=' no snacking, except for sugar free Jello, sugar free popsicles, and broth, all of which count as liquids, not food.

Most important, I have to wait 90 minutes after eating to consume any liquids. food must have time to move from the tiny stomach into the intestines.[/quote']

90 minutes? I was told 30 minutes before and after meals...