I really need some guidance. My surgery was 10/24 and I feel a bit off track with my daily nutrition intake. Will you all PLEASE share what you eat on a normal day from breakfast to dinner. Please also share what you found to helpful at this poinr after your surgery.

HW-267 CW-189 --- 5 months post-op

the best thing I can tell you is to track everything you eat. Use Myplate or myfitnesspal. It will give you a solid idea of the number of calories that you are consuming along with carbs and Proteins. What I eat daily is going to be different than what you might need to eat or someone else. Are you seeing your nutritionist? That would be the place I would start first. Everyone on this board does something different and we all think that we are doing the best. You need to figure out the eating plan that works best for your body, the amount of weight you need to lose and your activity level. Once you have that defined then making a meal plan gets a lot easier and tracking keeps you...well on track. Hang in there.

(btw, I am not considered a vet on this board...)

I really need some guidance. My surgery was 10/24 and I feel a bit off track with my daily nutrition intake. Will you all PLEASE share what you eat on a normal day from breakfast to dinner. Please also share what you found to helpful at this poinr after your surgery.

HW-267 CW-189 --- 5 months post-op

Not sure if my diet would be considered typical, but here goes (from a non vet):

Breakfast: matrix Protein shake with chia seeds and Water

Pre exercise snack: 2 energy squares

Post exercise snack: Amplified Wheybolic 60 shake with water

Lunch: 3-4 ounces of chicken patty, 1-2 ounces of green veggie or red pepper

Snack: nu go slim Protein Bar

Dinner: 3-4 ounces of protein (chicken or beef), 1-2 ounces of green veggie

Snack: matrix shake with water

I try and eat Paleo as much as possible with supplementation to achieve higher daily protein amounts.

If I exercise in the afternoon, I switch my morning Snacks with afternoon snack. Morning exercise is running and afternoon exercise is cross fit on alternating days. I try and run between 5 k and 10 k as fast as I can, ramping up the incline for more intensity and for burning of more calories (800-1000). I do not know the calories I burn in cross fit, but it is difficult, intense and about an hour long.

On weekend, I usually eat out for one lunch and dinner, but still pay close attention to diet to support fitness.

I found it helpful to eat as low carb as possible up to month 5 and eat high protein. I could not eat raw veggies so well so did green drinks. This kept insulin levels normalized and prevented much hunger. As my exercise ramped up at month 5, I began to eat more good carbs. I have found it a little difficult to control hunger if I eat too many grams of sugar in the protein bar. I am currently switching from a protein bar with 2 grams refined sugar to a Paleo protein bar with raw honey and more carbs. So far so good, but time will tell how this changes my hunger. I hope it reduces as I will not be eating those 2 grams of refined sugar any longer.

I tracked like a fiend for first 3 months and then stopped. I keep it simple, repetitive so no need to track once it became second nature to live the daily life of post op without much random food planning. I really do not like tracking if it requires more than 10-15 minutes in the morning so made a decision to eat in a way that does not require tracking. Eating the same thing every day is not as bad as it seems. I do not need a lot of variety of I finds food that fits the form and taste I require.

Hope this helps!

Breakfast- boiled egg and coffee

Snack- Atkins chocolate shake

Lunch- Natures Valley Protein bar

Snack- almonds/cashews/slim jim

Dinner- chicken breast and veggies

Snack- rice cakes/nuts

Roughly around 1000 calories with 80 grams of carbs and 60 grams of protein for a day like the one listed above.

Thank you both!