I'd like to know if you all have set regular times that you eat or if you wait for hunger to eat. I know as time goes on hunger will return more. I have a friend who said it is important to eat at regular intervals and establish that early on b/c that way when you get hungrier you will already have habits set in motion rather than eating when hungry. Yet others believe in intuitive eating and waiting for hunger. Thoughts?

Yes, eat at regularly scheduled times, monitor either by weight or measure you portions and keep the snacking, grazing and treats to a minimum. You DO tend to revert back to old bad habits when driven by such a strong basic instinct as hunger.

I am 8 weeks out and I follow my post-op plan, which is three meals per day, with a Protein shake in the evening till I can get in 60+ grams of protein at meals.

My day looks like this:

Breakfast : Somewhere between 9 and 11 a.m.

Lunch: Somewhere between noon and 2

Dinner: Somewhere between 5 and 7

Protein Shake: Around 9 p.m.

Lynda

Yes you should eat on a SCHEDULE. I am about the same as Lynda. Here is what I do:

Breakfast 7:30-8:30am

lunch 12:30-1:30pm

dinner 5:30-6:30pm

Sometimes, I have a snack if I have not had enough calories for the day in between lunch and dinner or bfast and lunch or both. It just depends on the day and what I am able to eat at one time. Some days I can eat a lot more than others so I don't snack and other days I can't so I have a snack to up my calories.

Kelly

I ate on a schedule because I seriously had zero physical hunger nor did I have an appetite early out. I had to force myself and actually remember to eat. I went so far as to set an alarm on my cell phone to remind me to eat and drink.

I'm over 2 years out, and still never experience physical hunger so I can't rely on any physical signal to tell me to eat. I eat on somewhat of a schedule now, but a lot of my eating still happens because "oh crap, it's 12:30pm and I haven't eaten anything". It's harder in the pregnancy because that means I have to eat more heavy calorie meals and carby meals to hit my goals for each day, and sometimes I'm eating as late at 10pm so I'm not too far under my caloric intake goals.

If I waited on hunger, I would NEVER eat seriously...I've been on the go all day today, and just made myself eat right now (2:15pm), otherwise I wouldn't eat until tonight at our family dinner around 7pm. I have to remember to eat. It's so much easier when I'm at work (M-Th) and on some type of schedule.

DIfferent procedure, but I seem to have wound up with a sleeve-esque side effect -- the loss of hunger. I had surgeru in 2006 and have truly felt hunger maybe 6 - 8 times. If I ate only when hungry (which is the going guideline) I would easily go 4 - 6 days without eating. That is a fact, because I have done it. I routinely go 1 - 2 days without eating (for reasons other than just not feeling hungry). And when I'm out with other people, they have to remind me that they do get hungry... please Wheetsin... let us eat...

I used to put a pop-up reminder in my calendar at work to go eat & go drink. I gave up on that. I typically do not eat breakfast, and maybe have a drink or some Soup at lunch. I try to eat dinner with my family, but it's not unusual that I cook for others and just have a scoop of cottage cheese.

At this rate, you'd think I would hit goal...

You are probably not hitting goal because you are not eating!! Not eating will make your body think it is starving and you will not lose weight because you will hold on to everything you have for "reserves"!!

In the first few weeks after surgery, I was only eating about 300 calories or less per day! Becasue I was following the 3 meals a day rule. Well, when you can only eat a small amount of food at a time, 3 meals is not much when you can only eat an ounce or two at a time! I stopped losing weight and did not know why! I WAS STARVING eventhough I did not feel hungry! My body thought I was and was not letting it go!!

That is why on the days I can not eat enough with my meals, I have Snacks to bring my calories up. The MINUTE I started eating more, I started losing again and MORE!! Crazy, but true!

You have to eat to lose weight! Starvation diets do not work!

Kelly

DIfferent procedure, but I seem to have wound up with a sleeve-esque side effect -- the loss of hunger. I had surgeru in 2006 and have truly felt hunger maybe 6 - 8 times. If I ate only when hungry (which is the going guideline) I would easily go 4 - 6 days without eating. That is a fact, because I have done it. I routinely go 1 - 2 days without eating (for reasons other than just not feeling hungry). And when I'm out with other people, they have to remind me that they do get hungry... please Wheetsin... let us eat...

I used to put a pop-up reminder in my calendar at work to go eat & go drink. I gave up on that. I typically do not eat breakfast, and maybe have a drink or some soup at lunch. I try to eat dinner with my family, but it's not unusual that I cook for others and just have a scoop of cottage cheese.

At this rate, you'd think I would hit goal...

I'm not on a schedule yet, but I'm working on establishing one. The only time that I feel what I would now call hunger is shortly after I wake up. After I eat my breakfast, the rest of the day I only remember to eat because I start feeling dizzy or weak. Someone else eating will remind me that I forgot to eat too. I go back to work soon and I'm counting on that routine to help get me back on a normal schedule.

And come to think of it, I think that morning hunger is really just acid in my tummy. I feel it much less if I remember to take Prilosec before bed.

I, for one, get hungry all the time. I'm almost 6 months out. The hungry is not as intense as pre-op hunger and its easily fixed with a few bites. I do very well without a schedule because I'm actually eating all day long. Of course I'm a freak about getting my protein in and I think about that all day long. I'm always looking for room to get in the protein. If I'm at home I eat a poached egg and small low-cal latte every morning. All day I take a few bites of high protein food every couple hours between appointments with clients. In the evening I have a small amount of whatever my family is having. I'm hungry in the evening and I eat more protein before bed. What I need a schedule for is fluids! Water hits my stomach like lead now and nothing else is quite as good for me. I'm pleased that my restriction doesn't seem to have changed much since about 3 weeks out.

In the evening I sometimes feel "hungry" but generally if I think about it I realize it's reflux. Once I take Prevacid it goes away. If I do take the PPI regularly, the only thing I get to tell me to eat is kind of an "empty" feeling. It's not "hunger" like I used to get, it's just a "my tank is empty" thing. Sometimes I eat all day from boredom still eg. weekends sitting around - but I track the intake and just eat a yogurt or something with protein and not too many calories.

I almost eat on a schedule. So that I don't "nit pick" at food through out the day.

I have food stashed everywhere in case I'm on the go and to resist the urge to eat out: I have protein bars, almonds, slim jims, protein powder samples and crystal light packets stashed in my car, purse, work, camera bag, gym bag, etc.