Okay, so I am 4 weeks out and my surgeon gave me a lists of foods that I could eat and he told me to worry about my Protein and Fluid intake. I never even concidered Fats and Carbs. I try to get in my Protein Drink, but have tried getting in high protein foods. I've been living off eggs, Beans, and string cheese, however, I just realized that these are so high in fats! Is that the reason I'm stalling. Or is this just the "3 week stall" everyone talks about. Or perhaps this is both? I'm just worried that I'm getting in to many fats? But EVERYTHING that is high in protein is high in fat or carbs. Or creams of Soups seem so high in sodium, Is anything now-a-day healthy?! I'm so confused now. I just want to make sure I'm eating correctly. Can anyone share with them a typical day of food and portions 4 weeks out??? I would like to know if I'm alone on this? I'm so worried that I am doing this incorrectly and that this isn't going to work for me. I'm going back to work monday and I had stocked up on eggs and string cheese? Should I reconsider?

Sorry for rambling on, just frustrated and tired of the same foods!

You're still healing. Don't worry about it. You're not taking in enough calories for that stuff to matter right now. Follow your doc's eating instructions.

I don't think you're stalling because you are eating high-fat items. Unless you are having 10 sticks of cheese a day, it shouldn't be a problem. Your body needs fat to function - I actually take fish oil on days that my fat intake through food falls under 15 grams.

I'm at 2.5 weeks, but am slowly introducing "normal foods." Some things I eat other than the things you mentioned are non-fibery fruits like melon and watermelon; cottage cheese; various juices; yogurt and various milk products like kefir; soft sashimi (pretty much anything other than squid and octopus is soft); boiled chicken went down great today. I'm at 800-900 calories a day and have lots of energy - already started swimming and find myself having the urge to go for walks even if I already worked out earlier in the day. I know some other folks here eat like 500-600 calories, but this amount seems to work well for me, both in terms of weight lost and energy levels.

I'm 4 weeks out too and am a bit worried as well that I will stall cause I'm eating more now (haven't weighed myself in 2 weeks). I find low fat foods like fish (which is protein) goes down well, lentils cooked till they are really soft with vegetables like tomatoes, butternut squash. I still have a protein shake once a day, to keep up my proteins, but as BBJuice says your body does need fat to function, and at some point we do have to eat normally. I never thought of melon and watermelon I will give those a try, good luck!

BBJ.....your only 2.5 weeks out and already getting chicken? and you went to Dr. Aceves?? No fair...i can't have it at 2.5 weeks....lucky you!

I seriously wish people would worry less about fats and carbs and so forth and focus more on:

1. Getting enough Water (this is, without a doubt, your number one concern, especially post-op)
   
2. Getting your Vitamins (again, this is a safety concern)
   
3. Getting enough Protein (this is a long-term concern)
   
4. Eating the right total calories
   
5. Exercise
   

If you do all of those, I abso-frickin-lutely guarantee you'll lose weight. You know how I know this? Because if you're consuming 600-800 calories a day and burning 100-200 in exercise, you can't NOT lose weight. It may be slower than you'd prefer, but it WILL happen. The body can only live off of circulating blood sugar for so long before it starts to burn fat reserves -- which is what you want.

So:

• Focus on HEALTH, not "should I eat that or not that." Once you've focused on health, the "what should I eat" sorts itself out naturally.
  
• Don't obsess too much about your weight. You WILL have stalls and you WON'T lose as fast as you think you should. This is normal.
  
• Enjoy the ride; you'll arrive at the destination soon enough. And if you focus on getting there in a sustainable, healthy, happy way, you'll be able to keep the weight off -- which is more important than losing it!
  

BBJ.....your only 2.5 weeks out and already getting chicken? and you went to Dr. Aceves?? No fair...i can't have it at 2.5 weeks....lucky you!

I just picked boiled thigh meat (which is very soft) and then chewed every piece like 30 times so it turned into mush. I find that the difference between the full liquids and mushies is pretty blurred. Like, how come I can have yogurt on full liquids, but I can't have pureed vegetables that are the exact same consistency as the yogurt?

I don't think you're stalling because you are eating high-fat items. Unless you are having 10 sticks of cheese a day, it shouldn't be a problem. Your body needs fat to function - I actually take fish oil on days that my fat intake through food falls under 15 grams.

I'm at 2.5 weeks, but am slowly introducing "normal foods." Some things I eat other than the things you mentioned are non-fibery fruits like melon and watermelon; cottage cheese; various juices; yogurt and various milk products like kefir; soft sashimi (pretty much anything other than squid and octopus is soft); boiled chicken went down great today. I'm at 800-900 calories a day and have lots of energy - already started swimming and find myself having the urge to go for walks even if I already worked out earlier in the day. I know some other folks here eat like 500-600 calories, but this amount seems to work well for me, both in terms of weight lost and energy levels.

Are you sure watermelon is OK? I think it's considered pretty fibrous. My postop diet was pretty liberal but I wasn't cleared for watermelon until after 8 weeks.

BBJ....i totally see where your coming from....i was just ablew to have things like tomato juice and was wondering why can't i have tomato soup? Some things i don't get....:confused1:

Okay, so I am 4 weeks out and my surgeon gave me a lists of foods that I could eat and he told me to worry about my Protein and Fluid intake. I never even concidered Fats and Carbs. I try to get in my protein drink, but have tried getting in high protein foods. I've been living off eggs, Beans, and string cheese, however, I just realized that these are so high in fats! Is that the reason I'm stalling. Or is this just the "3 week stall" everyone talks about. Or perhaps this is both? I'm just worried that I'm getting in to many fats? But EVERYTHING that is high in protein is high in fat or carbs. Or creams of soups seem so high in sodium, Is anything now-a-day healthy?! I'm so confused now. I just want to make sure I'm eating correctly. Can anyone share with them a typical day of food and portions 4 weeks out??? I would like to know if I'm alone on this? I'm so worried that I am doing this incorrectly and that this isn't going to work for me. I'm going back to work monday and I had stocked up on eggs and string cheese? Should I reconsider?

Sorry for rambling on, just frustrated and tired of the same foods!

I agree with ouroborous but if you are still concerened with the fat are you easting full fat or 2% cheese sticks? are you eating just the egg white or are you eating the yolk also? as for the beans you may just have to change brands but I do believe that they do have a fat free refried bean out there. Well good luck and try not to be so hard on your self

I seriously wish people would worry less about fats and carbs and so forth and focus more on:

1. Getting enough Water (this is, without a doubt, your number one concern, especially post-op)
   
2. Getting your Vitamins (again, this is a safety concern)
   
3. Getting enough Protein (this is a long-term concern)
   
4. Eating the right total calories
   
5. Exercise
   

If you do all of those, I abso-frickin-lutely guarantee you'll lose weight. You know how I know this? Because if you're consuming 600-800 calories a day and burning 100-200 in exercise, you can't NOT lose weight. It may be slower than you'd prefer, but it WILL happen. The body can only live off of circulating blood sugar for so long before it starts to burn fat reserves -- which is what you want.

So:

• Focus on HEALTH, not "should I eat that or not that." Once you've focused on health, the "what should I eat" sorts itself out naturally.
  
• Don't obsess too much about your weight. You WILL have stalls and you WON'T lose as fast as you think you should. This is normal.
  
• Enjoy the ride; you'll arrive at the destination soon enough. And if you focus on getting there in a sustainable, healthy, happy way, you'll be able to keep the weight off -- which is more important than losing it!
  

I totally agree with this- Seriously before you know it you will be looking around your closet with nothing to wear.

You will have stalls and honestly there just isn't much you can do to prevent them or hurry them along. Just go with the flow! :lol0:

Are you sure watermelon is OK? I think it's considered pretty fibrous. My postop diet was pretty liberal but I wasn't cleared for watermelon until after 8 weeks.

Yeah, I was cleared for it either right away or after day 10, I don't recall.

If you track your foods on one of the sites that gives a percentage or a graph you will realize that even if you are eating foods that are higher in fat, you are still eating way below the number of grams that are healthy for an adult. I figure that I am eating such small quantities that I am going to enjoy them. I eat full fat foods, that are high quality. I like to get more bang for my buck. I eat strong flavored cheeses, and feel satiated more quickly.

The day before my surgery my cholestoral was 249, three months out my cholestoral was 181 (w/in healthy range.) My goal now is to increase the number of healthy fats to get the good cholestoral up.

My theory is that even though we all did this to lose weight it can't be a quick fix or a diet. I eat whole foods (foods that look as much as possible as they were created) then I know what is in my food. When you focus on fat free foods manufacturers have to use other foods to acheive the texture and flavor that full fat foods give you so you are often not giving yourself a better quality food. Sorry for the ramble ramble!

Anna

I agree with wannalise, if you check the composition of a lot of low fat foods, you will find the they have more carbohydrates then the full fat version, and fat and protein keep you full for longer. Today I'm extremely hungry, and even though I did well, went to the beach and didin't have a taste of icecream or anything that my family was having except from orange juice(today is holiday here in England) < I am feeling a bit low, hungry (head hunger I suppose) and in a bad mood becuase of it. Came on here to vent!