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Snacking or as I like to call "grazing"...



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I'm 7 weeks out since surgery, and have been grazing on things. Sometimes I don't have full meals, just little Snacks. Anyone else have this problem, and how do you handle this?

I don't want to do it anymore!

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I log everything into MFP and I freak out when I see how much calories I take in with grazing. Unnecessary calories! So I usually do not allow myself to snack only if I really really really go crazy for a cookie or something. Its hard but I have to be strict with myself or otherwise I will fail...

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I wonder if you are not getting enough Protein?

Consuming too many carbs (simple carbs) will make you feel hungry.

Personally, I find that the more carbs I eat the more I become addicted to them...so I limit them to the max.

My surgeon told me to completely cut out grazing.

Xx

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MORE PROTEIN!!!

If you need a snack-make it a Protein snack. chew your food well, 60 seconds between bites of food and NO sugar Snacks. All of our food in North America is sugar laced...it's like crack cocaine. LOL Protein keeps you full for a longer time. You can do this...keep going. :)

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I do find that it is a weekly thing for me. Some weeks I can't choke anything down. Others I find I am hungry every three hours like clock work. I have no idea nor have I found that it makes any difference on my scale. I just try to be smart about my choices.

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Grazing can inhibit weight loss and actually cause you to gain weight, according to my team. When you graze you don't realize how much you are actually eating and you can easily consume more calories without getting the benefit of feeling 'satisfied'. We were advised to eat only three meals and two Snacks per day. Six mini meals are also acceptable. Never go longer than 3-4 hours without eating. Meals and Snacks should be Protein based, w/a little complex carb. Simple carbs like sugar, white Pasta, white rice, white potato, white bread, or anything made w/white or enriched flour should be avoided completely. It sounds like six mini meals would possibly help you at this stage. When I was doing mini meals it consisted of:

6am - Protein shake, Vitamins (multi, B, D, and biotin)

9am - Greek yogurt w/2tbs bear naked peak Protein granola, Calcium chew

Noon - 1/2cup homemade turkey chili w/black Beans, Calcium chew

3pm - 1oz cheddar or string cheese wrapped in thin sliced buffalo chicken (or you choice of deli meat), calcium chew

5-6pm - 3oz protein (my favs were tilapia or shrimp), a little quinoa w/brown rice, and if I could manage it, a little brocolli. Multi Vitamin

8pm - CrunchO's protein snack or a Protein Shake if I haven't met my protein goals yet. A couple sf Popsicles if I did.

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I am also going through the same things...I am 6 weeks out today and I have been eating small things here and there through out the day. But I make sure everything I eat, I incorporate Protein in that meal. Example, this morning, I had a slice of thin chicken deli meat with some dijion mustard, then later, I had a bite of my mom's home cooked cabbage, then later in the day, I had a tablespoon of Peanut Butter and then now I am snacking on 1/2 apple with another tablespoon of Peanut Butter. And I have had 32oz of Water so far for the day. And for dinner, am making small turkey burgers with no sides. I have not been tracking my Protein religiously like I should but am waiting to get a fitbit this week and plug in with the fitnesspal so I also know how much I am walking. Oh and I also vacuumed my whole apartment today to burn off calories...

So is grazing common? I dont know...cause I am going through it and I cant eat 3 dense meals...

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Grazing can inhibit weight loss and actually cause you to gain weight, according to my team. When you graze you don't realize how much you are actually eating and you can easily consume more calories without getting the benefit of feeling 'satisfied'. We were advised to eat only three meals and two Snacks per day. Six mini meals are also acceptable. Never go longer than 3-4 hours without eating. Meals and snacks should be Protein based, w/a little complex carb. Simple carbs like sugar, white Pasta, white rice, white potato, white bread, or anything made w/white or enriched flour should be avoided completely. It sounds like six mini meals would possibly help you at this stage. When I was doing mini meals it consisted of: 6am - Protein Shake, Vitamins (multi, B, D, and biotin) 9am - Greek yogurt w/2tbs bear naked peak protein granola, Calcium chew Noon - 1/2cup homemade turkey chili w/black Beans, calcium chew 3pm - 1oz cheddar or string cheese wrapped in thin sliced buffalo chicken (or you choice of deli meat), calcium chew 5-6pm - 3oz protein (my favs were tilapia or shrimp), a little quinoa w/brown rice, and if I could manage it, a little brocolli. Multi Vitamin 8pm - CrunchO's protein snack or a protein shake if I haven't met my protein goals yet. A couple sf Popsicles if I did.

Its amazing how different our doctors are and what they want us to eat. A lot of the things on your example menu, I'm encouraged not to eat. I do agree with many of the things you've said. I'm doing much better now. Even though my nutritionist didn't want me to count calories or protein grams, I have started. It's making me much more accountable!

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Grazing can inhibit weight loss and actually cause you to gain weight, according to my team. When you graze you don't realize how much you are actually eating and you can easily consume more calories without getting the benefit of feeling 'satisfied'. We were advised to eat only three meals and two Snacks per day. Six mini meals are also acceptable. Never go longer than 3-4 hours without eating. Meals and Snacks should be Protein based, w/a little complex carb. Simple carbs like sugar, white Pasta, white rice, white potato, white bread, or anything made w/white or enriched flour should be avoided completely. It sounds like six mini meals would possibly help you at this stage. When I was doing mini meals it consisted of: 6am - Protein shake, Vitamins (multi, B, D, and biotin) 9am - Greek yogurt w/2tbs bear naked peak protein granola, Calcium chew Noon - 1/2cup homemade turkey chili w/black Beans, calcium chew 3pm - 1oz cheddar or string cheese wrapped in thin sliced buffalo chicken (or you choice of deli meat), calcium chew 5-6pm - 3oz protein (my favs were tilapia or shrimp), a little quinoa w/brown rice, and if I could manage it, a little brocolli. Multi Vitamin 8pm - CrunchO's protein snack or a Protein Shake if I haven't met my protein goals yet. A couple sf Popsicles if I did.

Its amazing how different our doctors are and what they want us to eat. A lot of the things on your example menu, I'm encouraged not to eat. I do agree with many of the things you've said. I'm doing much better now. Even though my nutritionist didn't want me to count calories or protein grams, I have started. It's making me much more accountable!
I am also at a stand still with my weight loss . Sleeved on 4-11, I have lost only 17 pounds, crazy cause I also am tracking everything , getting 80 of protine and not going over 1200 calories daily , I am getting all my Water pluse extra, with 30 min of exercise a day. How can my body still be holding on to the weight!

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I am also at a stand still with my weight loss . Sleeved on 4-11, I have lost only 17 pounds, crazy cause I also am tracking everything , getting 80 of protine and not going over 1200 calories daily , I am getting all my Water pluse extra, with 30 min of exercise a day. How can my body still be holding on to the weight!

You had your surgery this past April 11? 1200 calories is what your doc has said to eat a day? I had a gastric bypass on march 31 2014 and I can only eat 500 calories a day or that's all what I am able to consume. Def check with your doc

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I am also at a stand still with my weight loss . Sleeved on 4-11, I have lost only 17 pounds, crazy cause I also am tracking everything , getting 80 of protine and not going over 1200 calories daily , I am getting all my Water pluse extra, with 30 min of exercise a day. How can my body still be holding on to the weight!

You had your surgery this past April 11? 1200 calories is what your doc has said to eat a day? I had a gastric bypass on march 31 2014 and I can only eat 500 calories a day or that's all what I am able to consume. Def check with your doc

I'm just guessing, but I think that with the sleeve process the stomach is larger than with gastric bypass. So, therefore she can eat 1200 a day. I take in about 650, but I usually burn 500-600 calories a day with exercise.

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I had a recent check up (3 months) after gp and my doc says I should be at 5-600 calories a day from 3 to 6 months from surgery. Kind of a surprise that she said I was eating too much, and to cut back.

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My Dr never mentioned calories either. Just 60 grams of Protein and over 50 oz of fluids a day. I am between 700-1000 calories a day.

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Mine told me not to track calories at this point. I'm 5.5 weeks post op. My focus is 3 meals, 35 minutes long, a baby spoon bite every minute.

If you ever look at the sleeve boards they definitely eat more quantity and can eat different food. Their stomachs are twice the size of out pouches.

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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.
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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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