Healthy_life2

Glad you are not scarey thin. In a perfect bariatric world. I envisioned no longer needing to log food and just maintain and live life. I can get more food in at three years. I have to monitor it. I still have to work at this to maintain my weight.

Surgery is not for everyone. Each of us have stories with our experience with weight loss. Some positive some negative. We see people on this site struggling. Most of the new people are still in the high of the honeymoon phase and will give "follow the rules" advice This may not apply to vet's. This site doesn't have many vets. Sorry to hear you're struggling tolerating and eating enough food. I'm sure you have tried many food options. My hope is your Dr. can work with you to figure out what's going on with your chronic digestive illness. It's been some time since we have talked. I recently came back to the site. I'm also three years out. I know that it's never a one size fits all instruction (especially after goal) it seems to be trial and error to dial in what your body needs to be healthy years out. People need to see the positives and negatives before surgery. We talked about anorexia, behaviors around exercise and people that binge eat. Some of these issues may have been prior to peoples surgery and some come after surgery. I appreciated your honesty bringing this issue up. Thinking about how you are doing today, Jenn

Nothing is wrong with eating a protein bar. The example above was grazing food all day. One healthy meal won't make up for the total daily calories.

I'm sorry you are feeling out of control with your weight. Set up an appointment with your surgeons office. Get their opinion if you have stretched your stomach. They can help you get back on track. Another option to consider is counseling/therapy. It will help address your mindset with weight loss. Food choices and grazing will cause significant weight gain. Grazing is the consistent, day-long consumption of low value food items, in other words: snacking. For example, mindlessly finishing your child’s breakfast cereal, stopping at mcdonalds, popping two donut holes into your mouth at the office, eating a protein bar mid-afternoon and a strawberry Greek yogurt with granola at night. The best way to address grazing after bariatric surgery is to employ preventive measures prior to the onset. That said, many patients will not succeed preemptively and must therefore deal with the problem of grazing only after it presents. Should you find yourself in the habit of grazing after bariatric surgery, the obvious resolution is to break the habit. This is no doubt easier said than done, but consider all that you have achieved to this point. The first step is to ask for help. It is unlikely that you can resolve your maladaptive eating alone. So simply ask for the help. Use your support network and those professionals who are currently among your inner circle. Begin to monitor yourself closely. Write down or log your food in MYFITNESSPAL all that you eat or drink for a period of three days or so, and then compare your notes with the nutrition plan from your bariatric surgeon’s office to note how much they do or do not correlate. Learn the different types of hunger, specifically head, eating out of boredom and physical hunger. In addition, cut out all junk food. Sit when you eat, and mindfully enjoy the meal. Eat meals that contain protein and fiber in the form of fresh and lightly cooked or raw fruits and vegetables because they make you feel full. Drink plenty of water over the course of the day except at meal time. WIshing you the best, Jenn

Sorry I'm taking up your thread chit chatting with you. The topic is just hitting home with me. Eating higher calorie goals can be an all day process after bariatrics..Right? Eating higher calories to fuel is against my bariatric instincts. but it was a necessary evil at the time. (distance running) Now I'm back in weightloss mode after a gain. Had withdrawals going back to 1300 calories and low carb. Took time but I'm back at it. I think it's not realistic to think hunger goes totally away with surgery. Hunger is a built in survival mechanism. It's more manageable after surgery for me. Before..Hungry all the time Still working on how the scale changes my mood. How fast how slow and gains still mess with me at three years out.

opps repost

Love that you had an ah ha moment and shared this. I don't know about you, but I used to actively "chase" that sensation. I wanted that feeling of a beyond full, replete tummy. It mean't "all was right with the world" and God was in His heavens. LOL. Ugggh!!! I'm a stress emotional eater. It was a very self destructive cycle. The overly stuffed feeling made everything slow down and I could relax. (Same feeling as the food coma you get after a large Thanksgiving meal) I slept better and all was right with the world. Ooo I don't like even thinking about how that felt.

My thoughts from being a speed eater. Thinking back I was disconnected to the feeling of full. When I ate fast, I didn't have the sensation of full until it was too late. Once the sensation came I was overly stuffed. I think I justified the behavior. I told myself life was too busy and didn't pay attention or care about nutrition. I would eat on the run to get back to business. It contributed to my weight gain. After reading this definition in the article: Metabolic syndrome occurs when someone has any of three risk factors that include abdominal obesity, high fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure, high triglycerides and/or low HDL cholesterol, said Japanese researchers. How could I not have metabolic syndrome from my weight. My health was the worst it had ever been, After surgery. I'm thankful feel the sensation of full. I appreciated mindful eating classes. But it's still a work in progress to slow down.

Do you currently have insurance?

If i crave sweet, i eat a heathy sweet option. A few bites and the craving moves on. Im looking into lillys chocolate. Thanks for the ideas.

you can log the protein if you are wanting to track how much you are getting in. Also it will get you in the habit of logging your food for the stages of food after surgery.

I tried not logging after goal. I was always way off eyeballing and guessing calories and macronutrients. Started gaining. Logging seriously keeps me on track. Weight loss has changed at three years out. @SuperKen you are four years out right? I miss the days of fast weight loss and better surgery restriction. I can gain weight with a few days eating off track. It will take me two months to lose it. I battle myself most day's. The weight loss is slow but, I'll take it.

Try logging your food in myfitnesspal http://www.myfitnesspal.com/mobile/android

If this is a self defeating cycle you can't break, you may want to consider counseling. I would hate to see you be malnourished and gain back all you have worked so hard for. wishing you the best, jenn

Weight gain happens to many of us. Glad you recognized the behavior. It's never too late to turn it around. Great advice above. Go back to bariatric basics. Log, protein and water goals. Continue your workouts. I also used my weight training to justify my calories. I'm cracking down and starting to lose weight again. If you are interested we have a holiday weight loss challenge going on to keep you motivated. Here's the info https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/405183-holiday-challenge-time-lets-do-this/ https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/405476-holiday-challenge-spreadsheet/

The goal with bariatrics is healthy. You are medically supervised throughout this process. It includes checkups and yearly blood work after surgery. Yes, the weight loss stops. After you reach your weight loss goal. You go into weight maintenance phase, You will be increasing healthy carbs to slow/stop the weight loss.

Holy hell holiday treats at work season! Temptations are reality anywhere you go. You can't control what foods are around you. You can control what you decided to eat. Yes, bring your own food and snack items to work. Sweet tooth snacks - Fresh strawberries dipped in hershey's sugar free syrup. Protein pumpkin pie mousse: Sugarfree vanilla pudding, pumpkin puree, vanilla protein powder, cinnamon and allspice Quest bar cookies: Preheat oven to 325F (163C). Cut the Quest bar into 8 pieces. Place the pieces on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 3 minutes, then flatten the cookies. Bake 3 minutes more. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

Water is important. Keep a sports bottle of water to sip on throughout the day. I use crystal light for taste. Hydrate, hydrate,hydrate. Things that may help with hunger - Don't skip meals. Break them into 6 small meals if it helps Give yourself variety of healthy meals. Nutrition should still be flavorful. Try new food and recipies Add vegetables. The bulk and fiber will help keep you satisfied as you get further out from surgery you can hold more food volume. Might help to increases your protein goal. It's better to log your food than to guess what your calorie and macronutrients. It pays off. I entered Your daily example into myfitnesspal. (this is an estimate) I can only guess what 1/4th a chicken breast is. It depends on the size of the breast. I did not add the popcorn candy and pizza to this example. CALORIE TOTAL 1001 - PROTEIN 104 - CARBS 83 - FATS 32 BREAKFAST 18 calories (breakfast gives you energy to start the day. skipping it might be causing hunger) Tea milk and 1 sugar packet LUNCH 547 calories 4oz foster farm chicken breast 1 large egg Gnc Protein shake Almonds 1oz coffee - sugar DINNER 436 calories unknown amount of lentils/beans (estimated .7 cup of lentils) 4 0z foster farms chicken breasts one banana - 27 carbs half slice whole wheat bread - 8g carbs Instead of 1/4 slice of pizza - Make yourself a no guilt healthy pizza. Grilled ground turkey burger patty , add your sauce veggies pepperoni and cheese. The photo of the plate is just to give you a visual on portions per meal. My instructions were to add two tablespoons of healthy carbs when I lost 75% of my weight. This is to slow or stop weight loss for maintaining your weight.

How much water are you getting in per day? What does an entire day of meals look like for you?

Taste and tolerance for foods comes with time. It's trial and error. If shakes are making you sick and you can't stand the taste then why drink them? It might be time to figure how you can get real food in with your restriction. Protein shot: Mixing 2oz of water with a scoop of protien is going to be thick in texture. Sounds horrible to me. Some things to try: eat six small meals a day of real food. Soft stage foods, canned chicken etc may help. Choose lean meat. Its higher the protein Try nature's best Isopure zero carb flavored protein water - 40 grams protein. If the taste is too much add water to it. (you may hate this product just as much) wishing you the best to find what works.

Out of sight out of mind works for me. I have asked my husband to keep certain temptation foods out of the house or hide them well.

Many of these types of plates on the market. Just google https://www.enasco.com/product/WA29064R

People first noticed it in my face. The people around me everyday didn't notice until 45 pounds. When you don't see people for three weeks to a month. They see a drastic change as you lose weight.