lisafrommassachusetts

I am in the smooth food stage, and I track everything I eat on Fitness Pal. I am confused and frankly a little concerned about calories moving forward (or even now, really). My nutritionist specifically said not to worry about calories, to concentrate on fluid and protein goals, and learning to stop eating when full. She also wants me to concentrate on mindfully planning and eating 3 meals (obviously small) and 2 snacks per day and not eat outside of those parameters. She said most peoples calories fall between 700 and 1000 per day. This all makes sense to me. What I am concerned about is I have read several different places on this site where people are eating 300 calories per day! I can't imagine how they get their protein in! Even at 500 calories it seems like you can't be getting any variety. Even on the soft food stage I have hit 500 calories. Today I had 3 TBS egg whites and 1 tbs Ricotta omelet; snack of a protein shake made with water (90k); lunch of 1/4 cup cottage cheese with 1/2 banana; snack of cup of bone broth and 1/4 c. sugar free jello pudding made with Fairlife Milk; dinner of 1/2 packet of cream of wheat with 2 tbs. Ricotta, 2 tbs. sugar free apple sauce, 1/4 c. refried beans. My calories were just over 500, my protein was 60. I am comfortably full. But my concern is that I am eating too much! And once I go to "normal" foods, I am afraid I won't be able to stick to such a low amount. What do people eat per day in calories (including protein shakes) in the rapid weight loss months?

Thank you! What a great weight loss you have had in 6 months. I am missing vegetables! I really think I need to go back to work so I am not sitting around thinking about this all day. I go back this coming Monday, and I am sure I will regret those words...

Thanks! I appreciate the voice of experience.

Oh, I did not realize that! I am eating what they gave me as choices; Refried beans, Ricotta Cheese and Cream of Wheat were on the very limited choices. And low-fat Cottage cheese. Egg whites are the only really high protein, I think. sugar free apple sauce and bananas were the only fruits, and there are no vegetables until I am 20 days post surgery. I am aware that the Cream of Wheat has no protein; I added a little ricotta to give it some protein. Truthfully ricotta and cream of wheat have no taste without at least a little salt, which I have been mostly avoiding. I have not really noticed any hunger, but I will be more mindful of this! I can just as easily stick to egg whites and cottage cheese. Also, I did make some sugar free pudding (on the list) but used Fairlife Milk so it has some protein. Is Fairlife milk ok, if you know?

Thank you!

Thank you. As you can see from my eating yesterday, I have boring down! Lol. I agree that this is a great time to learn to have a different relationship with food.

I'm so sorry for your problems swallowing. Thank you for your response.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful answer. I overthink things sometimes!

Good luck tomorrow! Keep us posted!

Best of luck! I think most insurance companies now cover based on weight and/or BMI; they don't make people wait until they get the co-morbidities.

I am curious how you get enough protein in each day at 300 calories? Does that include the calories in protein drinks? Even my bone broth has 50 calories.

I would definitely talk to your nutritionist. I'm only 2 weeks post surgery, but at the first post-op meeting with one of the nutritionists at the hospital I use they said 700-1000 calories a day is the expected range, so if your carbs are low and protein high it may not be a caloric issue, it may just be a stall. In fact, I know of people who have a stall and are told to increase their calories, just like you were.

Congratulations! It does get better. I am 2 weeks out and I really feel pretty good, although I still get tired rather unexpectedly! And as @niffer said, rest and hydrate. If you have gas pain, try to walk. Happy to see you on here, folks are really, really nice and it is great to hear about everyone's journey.

I had surgery 2 weeks ago. Before I even considered the surgery, my PCP mentioned it to me. I then began a 6 month journey preparing for the surgery. I was very lucky, because the hospital I went through (Brigham & Women's in Boston) has an excellent process. I had 2 meetings with the nutritionists in a group, and 3 one on ones. I had an hour long interview with a psychologist who specializes in bariatric surgery. I met with my surgeon 3 times. B & W has a whole lot of on-line resources. I also did my own research. I read all the medical information on the success rate of sleeve v. bypass, side effects, etc. I did a lot of research on what my eating would look like after the surgery. I encourage you to, also. While the amount of food and calories you eat during the phase when you are losing the weight very rapidly is an extremely low number, once you transition to maintenance you will eat more calories, which will also take into account your activity level. You will work closely with a nutritionist to find the right way to eat in maintenance. It is not "medically approved disordered eating", in fact it is the way healthy weight people eat naturally. I did this for my health, but I am not dishonest enough to suggest I don't also look forward to being thinner. I am 61, married for over 35 years in November, and a well established professional woman in my community, so I am pretty comfortable in my own skin, but not feeling uncomfortable sitting in a booth or in an airplane seat, or just being able to shop in non-plus size sections are things I look forward to. I don't think, however, that I came to this decision based upon fat phobia. If you are asking if the medical community offers this surgery as a result of fat phobia the answer is "no". Most people on here have one or more co-morbidities, including diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. I have avoided those, but I have pretty arthritic knees, and the extra weight keeps me from being able to walk any distance or enjoy the things I want to. You are undoubtedly aware of the health risks of morbid obesity, which are absolutely based in science. You don't see a lot of 300 pounds 80 year olds. I want to echo everything @TheAngryMeow said, above, about this being a tool, on a journey. There are lots of support groups for bariatric surgery patients, and that may be a good place for you to start. This is the opposite of easy, it is quite difficult. I am hoping and I believe it will be worth it in the long run, as I want to enjoy my future grandchildren and get to travel with my husband as we approach and get into our retirement years. I took a very different approach to telling people about this; I have been transparent and honest with mostly everyone, except for people who I only know professionally, I have merely told them I was taking a short medical leave. If they were rude or bold enough to ask, I told them. But everyone in my office knows, my friends and family, my neighbors, and many people who I consider friendly acquaintances. I decided I am treating a disease, obesity. I felt and feel uncomfortable at times about this, but only one person (my SIL) gave me much pushback. Most people seemed genuinely interested and wished me the best of luck; some people complimented me on taking this step to be healthy. The more often I tell people the less uncomfortable I feel. I did not want to have people think I was dying when they see me after a mysterious "medical leave". And, it has been my experience that lying, even through omission, has never been a healthy decision for me. But everyone should make their own decisions about their medical care, including how much to share with others, and what other should have information shared with them. Good luck to you! However, I don't think

I would ask your doctor's office about the vitamins and the medications. Re; what I brought; A robe, earplugs and ear phones, phone and charger, e-reader, couple of magazines, eye mask, change of clothes with comfy yoga pants and an oversized sweater. Also I brought my own face cream, body cream and dry shampoo, of course toothbrush, hairbrush, etc. You can't take a shower for a few days, and the dry shampoo was nice to have. If you are staying in a hotel for a couple of days make sure you bring really comfortable stretchy pants, as the incision sites may be uncomfortable if anything is rubbing against them. Also, if you don't like certain kinds of protein drinks you may want to bring your own, but for the first few days you really need to hydrate more than worry about protein (as I learned the hard way when I got dehydrated!) I had surgery at 4:30 pm, got to my room around 7:30 pm and was up and walking the halls at 9:00 pm. The nurses really encourage you to get up and move to get the gas moving. I had blessedly little pain, so I did not take anything other than Tylenol and motrin after the recovery room. I'm sure if you are on heavier meds that may effect your mobility. Best of luck! Let us know how you are doing!

Amazon also has them. I don't know what I would do without them! Such a great break from all the sweet, sweet, sweet. I expect they will be coming to work with me as a snack, or once I'm back on real food for the base of soups. If you do a recurring monthly order on Amazon you get a small price break.

Really pretty darn good! I can't believe I feel this good only 2 weeks out from the surgery. I get to eat a very limited number of "smooth" foods since the 20th, so that has been a break for me. Still struggling a bit with the clear liquids, but every day is better.

Best of luck! Can't wait to hear how you are doing after!

Honestly those first few days I felt like all I was doing was concentrating on trying to get hydrated and get some protein in! It has gotten better. I am 2 weeks out tomorrow, and after 10 days my doctor's office allow a very limited amount of "smooth" foods; egg whites, ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, really ripe banana, apple sauce, cream of wheat, fat free refried beans. Today I actually went over 600 calories! It included a protein shake made with Fairlife milk which was 210 calories, but is also over 30g of protein in 8 oz! And I drank it in about a 1/2 hour! Hang in there DB. It gets a bit better every day.

Have you tried sugar free popsicles? Or, if you like crystal light, freeze that. I hav also frozen protein drinks to a slushy consistency. Premier caramel and banana cream were good that way. Also, I found myself getting less hungry as the days went on. I don't know if it is that it was head hunger, or if the hunger hormones were dissipating. Good luck! Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Congratulations! I'm one week ahead of you. How are you doing overall! Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm struggling with the clear liquids. I don't really like the crystal light, but that might help you if you like the taste. I made a pitcher of it with about 50% more water and I find it ok watered down. The other things I am doing for clear liquids are; Herbal tea with a little stevia (I like mint, ginger and a Yogi kind called Egyptian Licorice), bone broth (Swanson, chicken bone broth, also gives you some protein and is a nice break from all the sweet, sweet, sweet) and frozen sugar free pops. Someone had recommended Hint water, I got the watermelon and I really like that, I had a 16 oz bottle of that over about 2 1/2 hours yesterday. It just takes so looooong. I tried the protein water, but I could not stand it. I tried watering it down, I tried freezing it, I tried freezing it watered down, I can't get it in without retching. I am amazed at how tired I am by walking still! I have been trying to walk every hour, but I can't do much more than 10 minutes before I feel really weary. Hopefully we will get stronger every day! I am glad I have one more week off from work. I was going to try to go back after 2 weeks, but I think just for stamina I need another week. I love reading your updates! Onward and upward (or...downward I hope.)

My physician's office had me take Miralax. That helped a lot.

You might want to try bone broth. The Swanson chicken bone broth is pretty good, it gives you some protein (which helps you feel less hungry) and it's a break from the sweetness of the protein drinks. Good luck!

I'm so glad you are feeling better! I'm sure you will soon be able to tolerate other tastes. It's quite a slam to our systems, that's for sure!