Berry78

Have you mentioned your restriction to your surgeon? Less than 2oz protein at 9 months out could signal a problem. Tell you what. Wipe this meal plan off the agenda for a little while (2 weeks). You can always go back to it. New plan: 2 protein shakes a day (30g protein each). (400? Calories) 4 servings of veggies (add your 2oz of nuts and plenty of fat). (600 calories) Drink enough milk to bring your calories up to desired level. (Probably 1- 2 cups..150-300cal) The point is to give veggies the best possible chance of helping you. If you eat 4 servings and are still constipated, then that isn't your solution, and you need to think about more carbs with fruit and beans.

Your diet has almost no fiber in it. Once you eat 3oz of dense protein, those veggies can't be more than an ounce or two. I doubt you even need the protein shake since you are getting plenty of protein from food. So, I recommend dropping the protein shake and replacing it and the after dinner snack with as much vegetable matter as you can fit in. Personally I do 4-6oz cooked spinach at a time (with a little oil and vinegar and garlic, yum!). But pretty much any nonstarchy veggie will work. That will add at least 8oz of colorful veggies to your day. The cottage cheese has more protein than the egg at breakfast. And if you really want that second serving of nuts, I'm sure you can find another place to squeeze it in.

What does your diet look like? (Other than nuts/red meat)?

Talk to your doc and/or pharmacist. They may be able to switch you to liquid, or some other solution.

Just try to increase your water. Tuesday is soon enough to see your Doc. (Unless of course you develop other symptoms).

You can eat that much? Looks about like 2-3 meals for me lol! Maybe the plate is smaller than it looks..

The prilosec should be good, but you could ask your surgeon if you could try a liquid antacid for when you feel hungry (immediate relief). If you still feel hungry after taking the liquid, then maybe it is actual hunger (or just the healing of your tummy).

5 hit die Ly'in squirrels

Limit your food to 2oz at a time for weeks 3 and 4. 3oz weeks 5-8. Then 4oz until 5-6 months.

If you find out anything, I would love to hear it. I'm 5 months postop, and I love love love how this surgery has taken away that constant need to eat. Sugar and flour don't taste good anymore.. and I'm sure those things were the source of much of my problem. It was funny. Every now and then, through my life, I would eat what felt like a "perfect" meal that was normal sized and I was satisfied. I never could figure out what was different about those meals. White rice must have been like poison to me. I could eat literally 3 pounds of the stuff and not be full (as a 16 year old).

Since you are transitioning to plant-based, I figured I would make sure you research the coorelation between Hashimotos and gluten sensitivity (and soy can be problematic too).

My body rarely gave me signals of satiety. By time I was 8, I weighed almost double a typical kid my age. The overeating had begun before that.. but why? Kids should naturally eat when they are hungry and stop when full. Didn't happen that way for me. (And no history of abuse, so can't pin it on emotional trauma). We never went out for McDonald's either.. homemade meals.. and everyone else was thin. I remember going to an all you can eat restaurant when I was 5 or 6. It was a special occasion. I ate so much I vomited all over the table. I didn't have an illness.. I just literally ate until I "burst". Why??????

Yes, I also prefer to use the term diet the same way as applies to wild animals. "The squirrel's diet consists of nuts and gazelles" etc. "Watching what you eat" also has various connotations, but basically if you are changing what you eat, rather than how much, it's still the same thing. Here is the litmus test: if you are presented with a food when you are hungry, and you say "no thank you" because the food doesn't fit into your view of what food you should eat.. then you are, in fact, "watching what you eat".

It gets better with more real food. Try drinking broth and milk for a day to give yourself a break from the shakes. May or may not help, but it's worth a shot.

Ok, so I love this question. Are you familiar with the recipe nutrition calculators on the internet? There are lots of different ones. Anyway, you can input a whole day's food to see how close to 100% of every nutrient you come. I've been working on this for years, and have had one heck of a time meeting 100% of everything with only 2000 calories (on the calculator, not in actual practice). I think the closest I came required I put in a cup of multigrain cheerios to meet the iron requirement (since those cheerios have vitamins and minerals added). I was trying to hit everything using whole, unprocessed foods, so the cheerios simply didn't belong. ANYWAY, my point is, if it is that hard to meet requirements with 2000 calories, how do we meet it with half the food? We can't. I'm eating about 1300 calories and only get 50% of my nutrients. So I need vitamins pills. But, since I am getting half my nutrition from food, I don't have to take so many vitamins.. after all, I only need to make up half. I should add that I never tried inputting a vegan diet, so don't know how that would stack up.

40 is Fabulous!! Amazing!

Yes, this cleared it up nicely! Thanks! How much weight did you lose between May 24th and August 7th?

So is it a change in the quantity, or just WHAT you can eat? Strictures make it so you can eat less food, or less dense of food. For example: last week I could eat 4oz of tuna salad, but this week I can only eat 2 oz of tuna salad. Or : last week I could eat solids, but now nothing works except liquids. If your ability to tolerate specific foods is changing, not sure what that means. Lunch meat doesn't taste good to me, but I can still eat regular meat. Is it the taste? Maybe describe more about what happens.

If you can get a blood glucose meter that would be good. When you feel that way, you could test your sugar to see if it is the culprit. But, because you have a history of feeling that way, and eating didn't remedy it, it doesn't sound like hypoglycemia. You might have a sensitivity to something you are consuming. Dairy (including whey in the shakes) and artificial sweeteners are common problem-causers. That feeling of hunger is usually acid. Make sure to take your acid meds religiously. And, of course, feel free to mention this stuff to your surgeon.

Don't take any vitamins this close to surgery. Postop I started taking them after a couple weeks.. and I went with powdered ones from GNC. A couple flintstones chewable will get you through until you find out what you need. As for swimming.. I wouldn't do it. Not only are your incisions barely closed up, but the physical exertion might be too much. Just walk along the water's edge and enjoy getting your footsies wet. Good luck! I don't think the vitamin patches work.

Anytime you notice a decrease in the amount you can consume, (I'm not talking about being extra full for a day or two.. but consistently being unable to eat as much).. contact your surgeon. It's a red flag for strictures.

The concept of moderation has been lost to us for so long (preop), that without guidelines and parameters telling what moderation IS... of course we're lost! Yesterday my 17 year old daughter and I sat down and formulated a 1500 calorie diet for her. (Her BMI is around 31.5). Breakfast: 7oz sweet potato with a little butter Lunch: salad with fruit and nuts and 1oz ranch dressing Snack: 2 eggs and fresh bell pepper Dinner: 4oz meat, 1 cup black beans, green beans She'll have 150 calories to spend on milk and honey for her tea. If/when she needs more calories, she can add a few grains. Without creating a plan like this, she eats 4 pieces of pizza or 2 large plates of spaghetti or 2 bowls of cereal, etc. Same as I did at her age. Preop, I would have discussions with her, but I really didn't know what the right thing WAS for her to do, and I didn't want to screw up her metabolism or start her on the yo yo dieting path, so I was clear that she shouldn't change anything. Now, 5 months postop, and I now KNOW what to do.. and it is such a wonderful feeling! She knows that she'll have to watch what she eats forever, same as any of us.

How long have you been eating this way? And I'm trying to figure out how you got to be heavy if you have been eating this way for a while. And if you haven't been at it long.. how quickly it must work to clean up those organs.. (I know tone doesn't carry over the written word well, but I am asking with honest curiosity, not any kind of nastiness).

No need to get nasty! She isn't comparing your losses to her journey, she's comparing your losses to all those journeys she has heard about in a decade. 40lbs in a month is crazy-high loss rate.. and yours was twice that! It's not surprising for people to be skeptical. The body only seems to be capable of burning off 1-2lbs a day of fat. Your loss of almost 3lbs a day didn't seem possible. But, like I said, I suspect a bunch of it was water weight (and especially since 12lbs came back on.. that was definitely water).. so 40-12 = 28lbs/14 days= 2lbs/day, and that is still super high, but within expectations. 70lbs over 2 months is just over a pound a day.. fabulous! And quite believable.

I also started out 100lbs heavier than you I lost 17 the first month (30 was the first and second combined).. so not that much difference...