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Is stretching out a meal considered grazing/snacking?



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Hi everyone,

I am sure it has been addressed before but I couldn't find a recent discussion on it. My surgeon advised to eat only 3 meals a day while trying to lose -- no Snacks. And to limit meals to 30 minutes. Maybe in a few months that will be feasible, but I'm just finishing up the liquids stage (start mushies tomorrow, hallelujah!!!) and it talkes me a lot longer than 30 minutes to finish my current "meals" (aka Protein shakes/smoothies and blenderized soups). I'm not talking big portions either -- Protein drinks have 8 oz. skim milk and a little ice; Soups are 1/2 a can or less (so about 8 oz -- 1 cup). yogurt is one small container, ditto with Jello sf pudding. I am still having trouble even getting 400 calories a day. So I admit, I have been stretching out many of my "meal times" a lot ... maybe an hour or more. Sometimes I have to reheat the Soup because it gets cold before I'm even halfway through. I have tried on a few occasions to stop after 30 minutes and consider the meal done, but usually within a couple of hours I want to finish my unfinished meal. I really personally don't think extending a meal a long time can be considered grazing (unless of course it was a really huge meal, way more than a normal serving).

So, is it wrong to just finish the meal, even if it takes 1 hour or longer? If I truly stopped eating after 30 minutes I don't see how I would be able to get more than 400-500 calories a day in -- my surgeon said shoot for 600 - 800 calories a day. I figure if I'm having trouble finishing meals w/in 30 minutes now, it will only get worse with mushies. My energy level is improving but still not where I want it to be and I think part of that is the ultra low calories I've been having the past 3 weeks since surgery. So basically I want some validation here that as long as I am staying within my daily calorie range and am not giving myself abnormally high serving sizes, there is no problem stretching out mealtimes until my sleeve is more healed up and able to handle a bit more food in a bit less time than currently.

What say you? Has anyone else done this and later regretted it?

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No, stretching out a meal with properly sized controlled portions is NOT grazing. Eating the meal then snacking all day is. A cracker here, a piece of cheese there, a handful of nuts - it all adds up. While a few Snacks are good just watch the TOTAL caloric intake to make sure you are not pushing it was up.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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