Week 3-----Questions

[Memily 86]

So I am 3 weeks out, feeling normal. No more pain or discomfort when getting out of bed or standing up So basically I feel almost back to myself again. When is it safe to start jogging or adding core muscle workouts to your routine? I am currently just walking on a treadmill during my lunch hour at work. Also I am on the "chopped up or soft food stage". My book from the NUT says my meals should not be more than 1/2 cup or 3/4 ............I average about 1/2 cup or a little less. I have still never felt the "full" feeling yet because I am terrified of getting sick or not loosing. Any thoughts on this, I usually have a small snack in the morning and afternoon. Not to fill me up but to make sure I am getting enough Protein. Is this ok or should I try to get more in on my 3 meals. I don't want to be the snacker that doesn't loose weight.

Thank you!

[McButterpants 2,846]

I'm a little over 4 weeks.

My NUT wants 3 Protein supplements and 3 meals per day. With that and trying to get Water in - it's a full day. That's weeks 3-4 and 4-5 (3-4 is puree and 4-5 is soft foods - basically the same food, just not pureed).

A sample menu for me is something like this:

So Breakfast is 1/2 scrambled egg and 1/2 Jimmy Dean turkey sausage

snack is a Protein shake (I might do a Health Wise hot chocolate - 15 grams of protein)

lunch is 1-2 ounces of lunch meat with 1/2 ounce of cheese

Mid-afternoon - Protein Shake

dinner - 2 ounces chicken salad w/ low fat may or greek yogurt and mustard

Snack - another Protein shake

That's about 600-800 calories - I had a day in week three that I got up to 900 calories, but that day I had a long walk on the treadmill and burned over 400 calories. I was tired and hungry.

I can't tell you about exercise, because I'm still only walking. I'm going to put a call into the doc to see if she'll release me for anything more than that...I'm getting bored on the treadmill.

Hope this helps!

[southernsoul 773]

I was cleared for all exercise at 8 weeks. I also had lifting restrictions for at least the first 4 weeks, so if you're still under a lifting restriction I would say definitely don't push that. At 3 weeks out, just keep walking. You have plenty of time to work on your core...be gentle with yourself for a little longer & know that you can hit it hard later on.

As far as the full feeling goes, mine has never been quite the same as it was preop. Now I know I'm full by a hiccup, if I let it go that far. Usually, I'm pretty good at estimating the amount I will be able to eat & I stop right before the hiccups would start. One thing I had to work on around 4-6 weeks was eating in a set amount of time. I had a tendency to pick at my food for 45 min or even an hour & I think that sets up sort of a grazing mentality. I started giving myself 20 min for each meal. If I hadn't finished it in 20 min, I put it away for later or threw it out. For me, this really helped get me back in the mindset of "mealtimes" instead of perpetual snack time. Good luck!