Hi all,

This topic is for vets (more than one year out, bonus points for every extra year!) to post what they are eating today.

I'll start. I'm almost 5 years out and I'm battling a 20 lb. weight regain. I've joined Weight Watchers and am following their new plan, which is more protein-centric than in the past.

Here's my day:

B: 2 Jimmy Dean low-fat Turkey Sausage Patties and 1/3 c. oatmeal, cooked with 1 cup Water and a little splenda and salt

L: Spinach and cheese Flatbread from costco (240 calories) and 1.5 oz. turkey lunchmeat

S: 100 calorie bag of popcorn and two small tangerines

D: 3 oz. low fat ground beef (we grind our own) on a WW sandwich thin with 1 c. homemade tomato Soup (low sugar canned pureed tomatoes, basil, a little salt and water)

S: not sure I'll have one but planning on 3/4 c. plain fat-free greek yogurt topped with 1/3 c. frozen berries

@@Andrew0929 You must have WAY less restriction than I do to be able to eat that much each meal. Your "lunch" is 19 oz. of food! I top out around 6 oz assuming the food has a high liquid content, like chili.

Actually I don't eat all of that at once. Spaced out between 10:30 am and 3 pm. But total calories for the day around 1700. I'm in maintenance and told by nut to keep calories below 1900 and that's worked well.

Edited March 24, 201610 yr by Andrew0929

@@Andrew0929 You must have WAY less restriction than I do to be able to eat that much each meal. Your "lunch" is 19 oz. of food! I top out around 6 oz assuming the food has a high liquid content, like chili.

Actually I don't eat all of that at once. Spaced out between 10:30 am and 3 pm. But total calories for the day around 1700. I'm in maintenance and told by nut to keep calories below 1900 and that's worked well.

Okay, that makes way more sense. So it's not really a "meal" more like a morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack? Or do you actually graze that who time? I was told grazing is a big no-no and have tried to avoid it like the plague.

I'm nearly 3 years post-op. My original weight loss goal was 150, but I ended at 130 and now on average I'm between 135-137. I feel like I need to be eating more unprocessed forms of Protein but life is busy and most times I just grab what's easiest and since I tend to not care about food much any more the repetition doesn't bother me at all, I just want something to put in my stomach; in fact if I don't get my yogurt and trail mix, I'm a bear:-)

A typical day for me:

B: Yoplait 100 cal. greek yogurt with 1/2 dark chocolate cranberry trail mix or a Pure Protein Bar and 2 cheese Sticks

L: 1 cup chicken salad on a bed of spinach and some honey mustard on the side

D: 2oz of cheese 5 club crackers, a 100 cal yogurt with 1/4 cup trail mix or a weight watchers meal or a turkey and cheese roll-up

S: skinny cow ice cream

I try to not to go over 1300 calories but nothing under 1,100. Of course there are days that I go over and under but it all balances itself out.

@@Andrew0929 You must have WAY less restriction than I do to be able to eat that much each meal. Your "lunch" is 19 oz. of food! I top out around 6 oz assuming the food has a high liquid content, like chili.

Actually I don't eat all of that at once. Spaced out between 10:30 am and 3 pm. But total calories for the day around 1700. I'm in maintenance and told by nut to keep calories below 1900 and that's worked well.

Okay, that makes way more sense. So it's not really a "meal" more like a morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack? Or do you actually graze that who time? I was told grazing is a big no-no and have tried to avoid it like the plague.

Yes, I'm a controlled grazer, but it's worked for me. I measure/log every crumb so spreading out pre-allocated portions hasn't been a problem.

@@Andrew0929 I am a firm believer that we all have to figure out what will work for us long term. All the guidelines from nutritionists and surgeons are critical for healing and establishing new habits in the beginning, but ultimately YOU are the one who has to be able to live the rest of your life and find the balance that will allow you to do that.

wish we could just do a cheek swab and send it to a lab to see how much we can eat to maintain our weight. But it doesn't work like that. My own WLS experience and success has been ALL about observation and mindfulness. I don't worry about being perfect. Instead, I consider that everything I do just gives me more information to figure out how my body works.

You can have your resting metabolic rated tested. There are fitness places that offer it or a good University will offer it, for less.

1 year 3 months out

B- 1 Protein mugcake 2 scoops, with 2 tsp of sugar free maple syrup

L - one small piece of cheese pizza minus the end crust (special lunch at work)

D- 1 ballpark chicken patty with sliced peppers and 1 tbsp of tzatziki dressing on a flatout foldit wheat hungril girl foldit.

Hi all,

Weight Watchers weigh in day tomorrow!

Here's what I ate today:

B: Same as yesterday, 1/3 cup oatmeal cooked with 1 c. Water and 2 Jimmy Dean Low Fat Turkey Sausage Patties

S: 1/2 bananna

L: costco Spinach and cheese Flatbread and 1/2 c. homemade tomato Soup

S: Toasted sandwich thin and 1/2 c. tomato soup

D: 1.5 Banquet Salisbury Steak patties with 2 T. gravy, 5 oz. baked potato

If I want something after dinner tonight, I will have sleepy time tea with splenda.

@@Stevehud what is mugcake?

@@Andrew0929 I really like your term, "controlled grazer". I would say that is a very good description of my eating behavior. For one, I don't get any kind of break during work, so I pretty much have to make it through 10-12 hours on whatever I can snack/graze on while driving in between appointments.

In the evenings and on weekends I rarely eat a "meal" consisting of Protein, veggies and whatever else. Mostly because of my restriction. I could force myself to consume 3/4-1 cup of certain things, but I feel much more comfortable eating just 1/4-1/2 cup (or less) at a time. I don't like feeling full at all. I end up eating my meal components separated by 1-2 hours, all day long.

My eating style is why tracking would be so tough for me. It's always a handful of this, a couple spoonfuls of that, a few bites of something else. Fortunately I've found a nice balance of intuitive eating that works for me and measuring/tracking/counting hasn't been necessary.

3 years out.

Breakfast - Protein shake with 1 scoop Protein powder blended with 1/2c cottage cheese

lunch - grilled chicken and veggie kid's meal at Mimi's Cafe

Snack- Lenny and Larry's protein cookie

Dinner- salad with turkey and a hard boiled egg, 12 croutons and Trader Joe's Cilantro dressing

Snack- Halo Top ice cream

This totaled about 1500 calories, I track using MFP but I don't weigh or measure.

@@Stevehud what is mugcake?

Ahh the mugcake. my go to item. that has really helped me exist and lose and maintain to be honest.

heres alink tot he videos section where i demonstrate it. many people here use these . basically its a Protein powder ( needs to have egg albumen in the ingrediats list or you w could add some egg white. , and baking powder , then a liquid. and a microwave and voila. its not exactly a cake but its cake like, and its more like a cross between a cake and say bread pudding.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/videos/view-154-mugcake-recipe-video/

Hi VSGAnn! I am one of those people with a sloth-like metabolism, and I gain if I eat more than 1200- ish calories a day. Is this your typical caloric intake? What is your workout routine? I think I may need to ramp it up!

@@Teachamy ... yes, this is maybe a bit on the high side, but I've averaged 1700 calories/day for many months now.

I mostly walk outside for exercise. I also do a little yoga, stretching and floor exercises. But the winter and these nasty March days have meant I don't consistently do that now. And let me be very clear that I'm not at all a gym rat. However, I am so much more active than I used to be -- do a LOT more housework, run more errands, probably even fidget more than I used to.

I can't say what will work for you, since WLS patients show considerable variation in how much and what kinds of food they can eat to maintain their weight. But I will offer this: When I was losing weight, my surgical practice's very well educated and experienced physician's assistant strongly urged me to eat more (not fewer) calories as my capacity increased. Specifically, she suggested that during months 5 and 6 post-op I eat 1,000 calories and during months 7 and 8 I eat 1,200 calories. She said that this would help my metabolism not get stuck at a lower level than it needed to be. Half a month later, I reached my initial weight goal (150 pounds).

Then I, my PA, my NUT and my exercise consultant all agreed (based on my weight loss rate and history and my MFP macronutrient records) that 1,700 calories made sense as a maintenance calorie budget for me. But then ... very slowly over the next year while averaging 1,700 calories/day I've lost another 15 pounds.

So obviously I need to be averaging more than 1,700 calories. In the last few months I've weighed from 133 - 138. I do NOT like weighing less than 135. That's why I've recently been eating more.

This is just guesswork on my part -- but if you want to raise your calorie intake, do so very gradually. This will require you to actually track assiduously your food using something like MFP. Maybe raise it by 50 calories every week for the next month and see what happens. Then stay there. Then try that again.

I wish we could just do a cheek swab and send it to a lab to see how much we can eat to maintain our weight. But it doesn't work like that. My own WLS experience and success has been ALL about observation and mindfulness. I don't worry about being perfect. Instead, I consider that everything I do just gives me more information to figure out how my body works.

And believe me, 19+ months post-op isn't long enough to imagine I have it all figured out.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I'm 70 years old. Was sleeved at age 68.

My Certified Diabetes Consultant/RD tells me 1200-1400 calories a day now. My surgeon told me no more than 1100 to maintain. I have a few pounds to take off, although diligence is working. I use MFP religiously, with the exception of Easter Sunday, ironically enough. (Hershey's kisses were calling my name!) Thanks!

I'm a couple weeks post op knee microfracture and started liquid diet today. I'm on crutches for 6 weeks. Non weight bearing on operative leg. This wasn't the surgery or recovery we had planned for. Surprise!!!

Getting meals is a serious challenge.

I've been at the mercy of all the loving people who feed me. It's a project! I'm realllllllllly feeling "beggars can't be choosers".

Now I'm stronger and more agile.

I just have to get all the Water weight off.

No more peanuts!

So I'm going for shakes, Greek yogurt, a Protein bar, and all the greens I want. Then a 350ish calorie dinner.

My Certified Diabetes Consultant/RD tells me 1200-1400 calories a day now. My surgeon told me no more than 1100 to maintain. I have a few pounds to take off, although diligence is working. I use MFP religiously, with the exception of Easter Sunday, ironically enough. (Hershey's kisses were calling my name!) Thanks!

I'll give your surgeon the benefit of the doubt and say she/he's a brilliant surgeon.

But she/he's spouting nonsense about 1100 calories being a proper maintenance calorie budget.

Trouble with surgeons is they get a "fact" in their head (from God knows where or when) and then classify it as correct and immutable.

Here's an actual fact: The maintenance budget for sleeved patients varies by multiples, depending on gender, age, activity level, maintenance weight, muscle mass, and other things I don't know about. Human bodies are similar, not identical.