In April 2014, I underwent a Gastric Bypass surgery.

My highest documented weight was 327.8 pounds. That's not my highest weight ever, just the one time I happened to go to the doctor. I'm guessing my real high weight was somewhere north of 350 at one point. Anyway, 6 months after surgery, I'm fluctuating between 219.7, and 223.2 pounds depending on the day really... I'm pretty much where I need to be, but I'm now scared of the "sophomore bounce" (that 10-20 pounds patients typically gain back later on)...

My problem -- hence this post -- is that I'm having trouble caused by my nutritionist's demands that I "eat three meals a day +2 shakes" even if I'm not hungry...

I understand what she's trying to say. She is reading from the generic textbook and lumping me in with everyone else, trying to make sure I get my Protein and other needs met. The trouble for me is that her nagging voice in my head is causing me to do nothing but sit here and think about eating all day long... Because her idea of a "meal" and mine differ greatly, I'm truly scared that I'm doing myself harm by eating constantly just because it happens to be a meal time, or because I'm "supposed to" be eating 3 meals a day...

I'm constantly stuffed, sometimes to the point of being ill, but now I'm at the point where if I'm not eating, I'm thinking about eating, and that's scaring the bejeebus out of me.

I'm not specifically blaming her for my issues. I know this is all psychologically in my head, but I'm just trying to fight between her voice in my head urging me to constantly eat and my own "diet mindset" to simply not eat anything at all until I'm actually hungry... In the meantime, I've gone from 300 calories a day post surgery (liquid diet) to having trouble staying under 1500 calories a day now...

(For the record, when I ask her "give me a number of calories I'm supposed to stick to", she just tells me "I'm not worried about calories" which truly pisses me off, because I *need* some imperical number to serve as a guide...)

Any help or constructive input would be appreciated,

Wayne

I think that what they call "meals" might not be how we envision meals.

I would suggest attending Overeater's Anonymous meetings as a place to get some support. Does your surgeon's hospital have support groups? Mine has 2.

Do you drink any fluids with your meals? This flushes food through your system faster and then you get hungry faster.

Do you keep a food journal?

Are you tired of all the responses now? lol. Sorry to pile on.

Not too many responses at all. They've all been valuable input, and greatly appreciated.

• I do journal religiously using MFP (217 day streak currently), That may be a bigger cause of my stress than I had imagined because I see the trends for calories going up and up over time, while I'm sitting at the same 3 pound range for the last couple of months..
• I *generally* obey the 30/30/30 rule when eating and drinking at meal time (no Fluid 30 minutes before, take 30 to eat, no fluids 30 minutes after). OCCASIONALLY I find the need to break that rule when I eat something that doesn't quite go down right (like dry, white meat chicken for example) but generally, I do pretty well at it.
• re: support groups. Inova has one meeting per month, and it's really helpful, but it's simply not enough (for me) to feel like it's any real level of support. We gather, share "war stories", then we go home.

  I will check into OA though to see if maybe that would be what I'm looking for. Part of my problem -- unlike most people -- is that when I started this, I'm a thousand miles away from "home". I know almost no one outside of work, so I don't really have a great support system of family or friends nearby. If I did, maybe this wouldn't be as big an issue for me.

Where "dieting" is concerned, and it bleeds over into this journey, is that I'm a data geek. I live by imperical numbers. Numbers I can wrap my head around. When I was doing WW, I used to print every day out, log it, chart it, et cetera until I could see what was going on.

Being post op at 6 months, it's a different experience than simply dieting. I'm fretting about getting everything I'm supposed to (chart wise) while dealing with a team that seems to want me to overeat (in my opinion) and since I don't need any encouragement there AT ALL, I'm just feeling a bit passive aggressive over the idea of being pushed in the wrong direction by my nutritionist...

Crazy or not, that's where I'm at right now...

(HUMOROUSLY an on a serendipitous note, my custom car tags just came in last week. The customized plates read "CRAAAZY"...)

Wayne

Wayne,

Kick your negative thoughts.. OUT! Follow the guidelines, but listen to your body and you will succeed. You HAVE succeeded. I agree with counting grams of Protein if that helps.

Me, well I try to eat what I like. I am only 2 weeks post op and on to pureed foods and am dealing with meals I cook, smooshed. I cannot wait for SALADS, though! I so empathize with the Protein drinks though... yucky.

So, ask her what numbers she is counting. You know it's protein and ounces.