Help! I don't want to fail at this-STRUGGLING

[Stayc_b_me! 5]

I had Surgery 12/28/15 so going on 13 post op. I am having a difficult time trying to change old behaviors and get over my food addiction. I am on the purée stage of my diet. I find myself grabbing some of the things I can tolerate and feel like I am over doing it. For Breakfast I am having 1 scrambled egg, 2oz of no sugar apple sauce, and a laughing cow light cheese. For lunch I had 2 oz of tuna with a little light mayo, another laughing cow light Swiss, 2oz mashed cauliflower, and 2 oz of apple sauce. For dinner I had 2oz of finely cut up boneless skinless chicken breast, 1 oz mashed potatoes, another laughing cow cheese (I am addicted to this stuff) and 2 oz of no sugar added apple sauce. In between I an drinking an Isopure and Water. Tonight I found myself grabbing another laughing cow cheese, spoon of Peanut Butter, and sugar free popsicles. I am only 13 days out and scared to death that I can eat this much and not feel full or miserable. I feel I am eating way more than I should. Are we able to still have sugar free Popsicles at this stage or was I suppose to leave that with my liquid diet stage? Please anyone, help??? Am I stretching my pouch??? Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

I had my surgery the same day and am still on full liquids.< /p>

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

Popsicles are here to stay at every stage

[dhrguru 1,238]

What's is you Protein count at? And Water? It doesn't sound like you drinking enough. Are you on plan with with your surgeon requires you to be at this stage? Those are the important questions.

Your concern shouldn't be with stretching your pouch. In reading your post, I'm more concerned with you being fixated on certain foods. To me that classic head hunger. And unless you are adding Protein powder, the applesauce is a useless.

Protein is the key, at this stage every bite you take should be for the purpose of meeting your daily goal.

[esskay77 785]

So, first I agree that Laughing Cow cheese is awesome and kept me sane! But... you don't seem to be eating enough Protein. You should always focus on Protein first and make sure you are tracking (on paper!!!! it's magical when you do that!!) grams of protein. Protein is what you need and also keeps you more full longer and satisfied longer.

And don't forget to chew a lot, don't drink anything with your meals or even until 30minutes after you finish your meals. This will keep you full and satisfied longer, too.

you need to keep a food journal. And start to attend support groups for food addiction. A lot of what you are talking about is head hunger (as someone else mentioned) and that is the type of hunger that can do you in.

One trick that I learned from weightwatchers years ago (that I need to get back to--lol) is to write down what you plan to eat for the week, ahead of time. What do you want your food journal to look like? Once you have it actually written down, then follow it. It's very easy to do. Well, the hard part is writing it down.

Best of luck.

[Threetimesacharm 1,400]

Yes I do think you are eating too much and not having enough Protein probably in the form of a shake. Drop the applesauce no Protein here. Laughing cow cheese are good however they do not contain a lot of protein for the size of the wedge. You probably shouldn't be consuming more than 2-3 ounces of pureed food at a time. You are not healed yet from surgery so your stomach is not yet able to give full signals. Start having meal shakes and 2 ounce food snacks; no need to rush this process you will be doing it for the rest of your life.

Oh at this stage I could barely eat one scrambled egg.

[Djmohr 6,965]

Did your surgeon give you a meal plan? 13 days out from RNY I was still on full liquids. I started puréed foods in week 4 and remained on puréed foods until week 8.

Every surgeon is different, but I would be very concerned that you are pushing too much into your new pouch before it has a chance to heal in the hopes of feeling full.

You should not feel hunger at this point at all. You could literally survive for several weeks on nothing but liquids.

I know that probably isn't what you want to hear but it is the truth.

If your doctor gave you a food plan you must follow it, if he/she didn't. Call them immediately and get one.

I would hate to see you have a serious complication because you are pushing too far too fast.

Oh, and you do need Protein. Applesauce is not worthless but must be eaten with the right other foods. My puréed diet included a balanced approach which actually included applesauce. Your doctor needs to provide you with specific instructions.

Call them a sap.

[James Marusek 5,244]

Immediately after RNY surgery, the three critical requirements are meeting your daily Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fats into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. But you also need to limit yourself to the plan's meal volume limits, and types of foods. You are exceeding those volume limits and also transitioning to solids way too soon. Your stomach needs some time to heal before you transition to solids. So if you want to achieve the weight loss goals, you need to follow the plan.

For the first few months after surgery, I was on 3 Protein shakes per day. Later as I transitioned into larger meal volume, I was able to back off this requirement because I focused on high Protein meals. Generally Isopure has more protein than the normal Protein Shakes, but your body will absorb only so much protein at any given time. So I recommend you concentrate on the protein, either 3 protein shakes or 3 Isopures per day. This should also help you take the edge off the hunger. Eat all the sugar free popsicles you want.

[Stayc_b_me! 5]

Thank you so much to each and everyone of you! This forum has really helped me thus far through my journey and I want to thank you for all the support and feedback. I did fail to mention I do have a plan I was given by my surgeon. It indicates on the 2nd week home to start purée diet. It allows me to pick items off a very small list Breakfast: 1 off list A 1 off list B and for lunch and dinner 2 off list A and 2 off list B. No sugar added apple sauce is on my B list. Also, In between I am suppose to drink Protein and Water. For protein I drink my Isopure which is 40 grams of protein. I do the fruit Isopure premade drinks because I really like them and easy way to get in my liquids and some protein. I have found the Protein Powder makes me gag and sometimes I can't. Keep down. I think I am going to go back to the previous stage for a few days to get refocused. Also, has anyone found any premade Protein Drinks they really like besides the Premier Protein? I found and fell in love with the new Slim Fast high Protein 20g protein 1g sugar Carmel Latte. Unfortunately, the make my stomach go into a volcano and give me diahera so I had to discontinue. Thanks again everyone for all the feedback I am going to try and really focus on getting more protein in. You all are super AWESOME and I am grateful to have found this forum.

[annam1130 40]

@Stayc_b_me! My surgeon stressed that I should only take in Protein at that stage. No veggies, no carbs (applesauce and potatoes naturally have carbs even without sugar added), no fruit, etc. cheese is not a puree. I was told to wait until I was advanced to soft to eat cheese.

I would highly recommend plain Greek yogurt with stevia drops, low fat ricotta cheese with stevia and an extract of your choice (lemon, vanilla, almond), blended cottage cheese with a hint of pepper.

At 13 days I was forcing myself to eat. I actually cried when the clock said it had been almost 5 hours since my last meal and I had to go eat again.

I agree with @@Djmohr that you should call your surgeon's office right away tomorrow morning to discuss your intake and their guidelines. I was very well educated on the guidelines and expectations prior to my surgery. Hoping you have great success through this journey. Counseling may be beneficial to help you sort out head hunger versus what you need to be giving your body.

I was not allowed sugar free Popsicles until after surgery. They do count toward your Fluid intake. Same as sugar free Jello. Are you stopping drinking 30 minus before each meal and waiting 30 minutes after your meals to drink again?

[Soexcited 64]

Oh I agree, your eating too much, stop eating and ...... Call your doctor!

[winklie 518]

Well first off, welcome to the rest of your new life!

With that statement comes a great number of changes, mental and physical. First, I would say you are eating too much, however, I too had issues soon after surgery. Do not get me wrong, I am just now 3.5 months post-op, but down 70 pounds. Weight loss is 'strange' after surgery, especially in the beginning. I really set the bar high, and decided long before surgery that I was committing to a complete lifestyle change, and I am living it today. As mentioned earlier in this post, tracking your food is very important. This is one of the three reasons I recommend a Fitbit to everyone, you can track your food/water/protein input with the Fitbit website (or MyFitnesspal.com), secondly, you can track your activity, and lastly and this is a biggie, you can see your heartrate. Why is this so important? One of the very early signs of dumping is Tachycardia, and elevated heart rate. So, you are chowing down on a new food and you start to feel a bit strange. Am I eating too fast? Am I going to dump? Does this not agree with me? A quick glance at your heart rate is a great tool to determine why you are feeling the way you are, and more importantly to prevent dumping. I have had three such incidents now, where I was juuuuuuust on the border of dumping, but I began to feel odd, checked my heart rate, saw it in the upper 80s' low 90's and realized I was about to dump. I stopped eating the suspect food and within 20 minutes I was fine.

Why is food tracking so important? One word, accountability. I look at my food intake every day. I log every single thing that touches my lips. My weight loss never surprises me. I know when I was adding new foods, or ate 'heavy' foods and lowered my expectations for the week. Tracking with software allows you to see, how well or poorly you are doing in a given day, and to evaluate the prior day once it had concluded. HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE.

Activity. Let's face it, weight loss is really as simple as burning more calories than you take in. You need to be able to determine how many calories are being burned and a Fitbit does a great job at this. No it is not perfect, but it is better than guessing. No matter how obese you may be, you can walk. I do. In fact, I am up to 8 miles, 5 days a week. I am a full time student, so I have the two hours to dedicate. Many do not. Track your activity, and HOLD YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE.

Pro tips:

-Do not drink 30 minutes before a meal and for 30 minutes after a meal.

-NEVER eat while distracted. NO EATING IN FRONT OF THE TELEVISION!!! Sit at the table, without distraction and slowly eat your food. FEEL what your body is telling you. Savor every bite.

-Remember calories are not all created equal. I have gone to a rather extreme diet, but I like low carbing, I like the energy and the overall great feeling. Thus, I do not imbibe anything solid and white (fat free cheese is the lone exception), no Sugar, Flour, Rice, Pasta, bread or Potatoes. There are only two things you are concerned with at this stage, really, two. Water intake and Protein. And your body will punish you for failing to take in enough. I shoot for 100g of high quality Protein a day (not all Proteins are created equal, research PDCASS), and at least 80oz of Water.< /p>

-Calories, your mileage will vary, but I have found that I lose weight at the best rate when on active days I get in 1100-1300 calories and on inactive days 600-800 calories. I am never really hungry, and have to stick to a schedule to make sure I get enough calories in on any given day.

-Milk, try Isopure in Fairlife milk. That is how I do it, in fact Fairlife milk is one of the many wonderful things I learned about here in these forums. Short story, it is lactose free, has twice the protein of regular milk and 1/2 the carbs. I use 2 measured ounces of whole milk in my coffee, and use the skim for everything else. It is much creamier than regular milk. The whole milk is more like cream, and the skim more like 2% milk.

-These tips may or may not help you, they help me.

-Fiber. Yes you need it, see the post about dealing with your new post op ass for more. I struggle with this, daily.

In closing I would say, do not put your head in the sand. Hold yourself accountable for ALL your actions. It is the aggregate of all your actions that will determine what the scale has to say at the end of each week. You are nearly due for the 'dreaded three week stall'. It will pass. Do not let it get you down if it hits you. Seek counseling for food addiction. I am not a '12 step' kinda guy. I have to solve my own problems, but that is me. I think it is the Military in me, I do not like asking for help, I see it as a weakness. It is not, but as my ex mother in law was famously quoted, "Feelings are not facts". I FEEL like asking for help is a weakness, but my mind knows better. That is my issue to deal with.

Best of luck. Post often. Keep us in the loop, there are a LOT of WONDERFUL people here.