Protein and my sleeve's precious little space

[RickM 1,747]

This doc will give you an idea of what to expect regarding your eating capacity as the months and years pile on:

This is entirely consistent with my experience, and I have no problem getting in a good balanced diet, and I am not very short of his ideal of a pound of fruits and veg per day. Whether one is into the specifics of his plan, it does have merit, most particularly the aspect of how our capacity will grow over time and that one should be prepared for it and a relatively veg heavy diet is a good way to address that issue - and get in a lot of good nutrition to boot.

I started figuring this out early, as I found that if I cut back my nominal meat capacity of about 3 oz to a serving of 2 oz, then I could fit in about 3 oz of salad veg along with it. Such salads have been a staple of mine since about a month out., though now with a much larger fruit/veg proportion (and still 2 oz of meat.) We often see references on these forums to "slider" foods, which most people identify as junky carbs - chips, twinkies, etc.; however, many very high nutrition/low calorie foods also have a sliderish character which can be used to our advantage.

My basic practice has been to ensure adequate Protein intake for the day, mostly by pre-planning, and then filling in the remainder of my intake with as good of a nutritional balance as would fit, without regard to trendy diets - no counting carbs, fats, or whatever is the fad of the day. Dinners were/are often meat/veg combinations - stews, stir fries, salads, etc. I can have quite a bit of such combined foods, as this doc suggests, though my sleeve is still working properly - if all I have is a chunk or meat, then 4-5 oz is all there is room for. So the composition of what we eat is very important (and is something we don't think much about pre-op since we can eat more than enough to get ourselves quite fat,) though this is a factor that we can use to our benefit, but can also get us into trouble if we eat the wrong things.

[teacupnosaucer 445]

I try to eat as much Protein as I can, but I still make a point of eating at least some veggies at my meals. Yes if I eat some carrots that means there's slightly less room for another ounce of protein, but I also like to poop without bursting blood vessels soooooo...

Protein first is definitely the golden rule to follow, but I try to eat at least half my serving of meat, a couple bites of vegetables, and then back to meat again. My dietician wants me to eat more carbs at my meals but I'm not even thinking of that until I am able to eat full servings of veggies and meat in one sitting.

[Newme17 3,444]

On 5/4/2017 at 10:50 PM, RickM said:

This doc will give you an idea of what to expect regarding your eating capacity as the months and years pile on:

This makes sense! I have his book and will be following his plans. Thanks for sharing!

[Sullie06 1,013]

I'm about 4.5 months out and have noticed in the last month my capacity has grown slightly as expected so my NUT said to start getting more veggies in my diet. I typically have very Protein heavy Breakfast and lunch and drink about 11 ounces of Fairlife milk to get a good start to my protein. I will have one snack of cheese and one of either Peanut Butter or Raw Veggies depending on if it's a gym day. dinner I usually have a little less protein so I can throw in some veggies and starches/carbs.

[DS1 66]

I'm one month out and I too had concerns of the amount I can eat to make the Protein requirements. I understand it's for a short time but is still a concern. My Doc recommmended 60g protein as well. I think that's way too low. Caloric intake ,all I can get in at this point is 500-700 cals depending on if I have cheese or not. Vitamins aren't a problem for me at least. Great suggestions on how to get the vegs in during lunch! Right now it's very little for me.

I was an over eater so getting full on small portion sizes is good for me. Gladly looking forward to month 2 and beyond and loosing the fat.

[triplethreat 257]

I'm in maintainance phase and learning how to consume more normal meals. I usually drink Protein Shake in the morning for the reason you've stated-- frees up some real estate in my stomach. lunch is often tuna salad or lentil Soup, and maybe veggies and hummus. dinner is whatever my family has, but I adjust amounts accordingly. I use an app to track my Protein, carbs, etc. As per my plan, I adjust protein and carbs as needed to stay at my current weight and this allows me more ways to eat a healthy variety of food than when I was in the wl stages.