Hi, everyone. I was sleeved a week ago and am getting 320 - 380 calories/day (from 2 Premier Proteins and sometimes a sugar-free pudding). I'd love to get a sense of other folks' experience here and tips for getting more calories to function. I'm feeling great in every way except energy and want to be sure I can go back to work fairly soon! (Scheduled for next week.)

For reference, my current diet is "protein liquids" -- what's allowed are protein drinks, water, fat-free or 1% milk, yogurt, sugar-free pudding. I'd love to use milk for calories and protein but I've been trying and it smells rotten to me! Same with yogurt. I read another thread where some other folks had the same issue shortly pre-op. I tolerate the pudding well, but don't want to do more than 1/day because of all the fake taste. Any ideas for non-fake-sweetened liquids with some calories?

Starting Wednesday 5/10, I'm on purees and think that'll help.

For the first few weeks after surgery my doc and nutritionist told me it's not about calories it's about protein. I needed to hit at least 60 grams of protein a day. I think I started focusing on calories around the 6 month mark and even then they told me worry more about reaching that protein because it helps you heal and gives you energy. I put protein powder into my yogurts and pudding to give it a different flavor and to make sure I was hitting that goal

10 minutes ago, MissDonni said:

For the first few weeks after surgery my doc and nutritionist told me it's not about calories it's about Protein. I needed to hit at least 60 grams of protein a day. I think I started focusing on calories around the 6 month mark and even then they told me worry more about reaching that protein because it helps you heal and gives you energy. I put protein powder into my yogurts and pudding to give it a different flavor and to make sure I was hitting that goal

Thanks! I'm hitting 60 g protein via two Premier Protein but maybe I should try adding a third (or half of a third) since I'm feeling so low-energy on the two.

My surgery was 4/17. My dietitian urged me to make my goal 1000 calories daily with 60-80 grams protein. I mostly hit 800 calories with consistency.

My FAVORITE thing is a cup of 2% organic milk, a scoop of unflavored Unjury protein and a tablespoon of sugar free pudding mix (my faves are banana, cheesecake, and chocolate) and mixing it well in my bullet. Refrigerate at least two hours and it's the consistency of melted ice cream. Sooooo yummy.

That treat is around 250 calories.

My surgery was 4/17. My dietitian urged me to make my goal 1000 calories daily with 60-80 grams protein. I mostly hit 800 calories with consistency.

My FAVORITE thing is a cup of 2% organic milk, a scoop of unflavored Unjury protein and a tablespoon of sugar free pudding mix (my faves are banana, cheesecake, and chocolate) and mixing it well in my bullet. Refrigerate at least two hours and it's the consistency of melted ice cream. Sooooo yummy.

That treat is around 250 calories.

I'm going to have to try that!!!!

I'm 16 days post op. Since coming home from the hospital, I've pretty steadily been keeping between 800-900 cals with at least 70 grams of protein and at least 64 Oz of water. Seems to be about right as I've been able to meet my 10,000 steps per day since about day 7 post op and have a good amount of energy.

Sent from my SM-G900T using BariatricPal App

I'm 14 days post-op and hit 65-70 grams of protein, 72 oz of water, and 550-800 calories. I've been thinking too about adding another shake in. It scares me how easily I can drink water and shakes again. I mean I'm happy but thought there'd be more restriction this early out.

Now, tonight I made tilapia and broccoli and there were all kinds of restrictions happening after eating 2-3 oz of fish and one small piece of broccoli, but liquids seem to go right through me. I stopped needing to sip by the fourth day. This is normal, right?

8 hours ago, Lizzle said:

Thanks! I'm hitting 60 g protein via two Premier Protein but maybe I should try adding a third (or half of a third) since I'm feeling so low-energy on the two.

60g is typically the minimum to get in, so adding an extra shake in (or even half of one) wouldn't hurt. Don't be surprised if you don't see any sort of energy boost. Protein shakes aren't really an "energy drink" in that sense. The lack of energy is due more to the low calories, little to no carbs, and the healing process. Protein & carb counting should be the focus at this stage. Don't even worry about calories. Down the road you can review your diet and you may get to the point to where you do need to up your calories if you get into a stall.

5 hours ago, Finding_Stacy said:

Now, tonight I made tilapia and broccoli and there were all kinds of restrictions happening after eating 2-3 oz of fish and one small piece of broccoli, but liquids seem to go right through me. I stopped needing to sip by the fourth day. This is normal, right?

It boils down to how you react to surgery. For me my stomach was swollen for several days so getting fluids in was an absolute chore. Now I feel like I'm drinking normally again although I do control how much I drink at a time. Fluids pass through the stomach fairly fast and they typically don't cause any sort of restriction/full feeling. You'll see that with "liquids at room temperature" foods like yogurts. 5 oz of Greek yogurt is easy to get down in just a few minutes, but if I tried that with a dense protein I'd feel miserable for hours. You'll learn which foods you really have to pace yourself with.

1-2 weeks out from surgery My recommended goal was 400-600 calories a day. Make sure to ask your surgeon/nutritionist though what they are recommending for you because each doctor seems to have a different goal. Protein is the most important thing to focus on right now.

It will get better I promise. I had the same issue and I averaged about 320 to about 350 calories a day for the first week. Then about the second week where the pain and gas was getting better I literally sipped and sipped all dog on day. Lol so no naps for me during that time. Obviously we're healing and it does make a big difference from trying to eat when you're healing and full of gas. We're learning how to eat again. So it's normal. My the 2nd week when I was allowed to move up and stage. I started to eat more and had more calories. I'm a few days shy of 30 days post op and I'm barely getting in those 800 calories. They moved it up to 1000 since I hit a stall but I make sure I get my protein in and fluids in. But I promise you gets easier. Your nutritionist will be your best friend through this. Keep a good communication line with him/her. Make sure you keep an accurate log of food on an app. So you can go through with them and they can point out if there is an issue. Good luck and keep pushing.

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 7:12 PM, JenSev said:

I'm 16 days post op. Since coming home from the hospital, I've pretty steadily been keeping between 800-900 cals with at least 70 grams of Protein and at least 64 Oz of Water. Seems to be about right as I've been able to meet my 10,000 steps per day since about day 7 post op and have a good amount of energy.

Sent from my SM-G900T using BariatricPal App

Can I ask what kind of protein you're using? It seems like it might have more to offer than mine.

On 5/8/2017 at 9:18 PM, Finding_Stacy said:

I'm 14 days post-op and hit 65-70 grams of Protein, 72 oz of Water, and 550-800 calories. I've been thinking too about adding another shake in. It scares me how easily I can drink water and shakes again. I mean I'm happy but thought there'd be more restriction this early out.

Now, tonight I made tilapia and broccoli and there were all kinds of restrictions happening after eating 2-3 oz of fish and one small piece of broccoli, but liquids seem to go right through me. I stopped needing to sip by the fourth day. This is normal, right?

I'm 12 days post op and I feel the same way like I can drink my liquids normally again at some point I was worried something was wrong with my sleeve but after reading these comments it puts me more at ease. Every body heals differently I guess.

I'm 5 days post-op and drinking 3 premier protein shakes a day (90g protein; 480 cal) plus 64 oz of water.

On 5/9/2017 at 5:12 AM, orionburn said:

60g is typically the minimum to get in, so adding an extra shake in (or even half of one) wouldn't hurt. Don't be surprised if you don't see any sort of energy boost. Protein Shakes aren't really an "energy drink" in that sense. The lack of energy is due more to the low calories, little to no carbs, and the healing process. Protein & carb counting should be the focus at this stage. Don't even worry about calories. Down the road you can review your diet and you may get to the point to where you do need to up your calories if you get into a stall.

Up until this morning, I haven't lost in a week. I dropped a pound today and was so happy to see the scale moving again. I know it's my body readjusting itself, so I'm not worried, but of course, I'm thrilled to see the scale going down again. So far, I've lost 24 pounds since my surgery day, April 24th, and 38.1 pounds since April 15th. I don't think I could ask for better progress.

Isn't it crazy to watch people eat and think that was just us not too long ago? Hell, yesterday, a Subway commercial had me pondering my existence a month ago. How did I eat an entire footlong in one sitting???

2 hours ago, Finding_Stacy said:

Up until this morning, I haven't lost in a week. I dropped a pound today and was so happy to see the scale moving again. I know it's my body readjusting itself, so I'm not worried, but of course, I'm thrilled to see the scale going down again. So far, I've lost 24 pounds since my surgery day, April 24th, and 38.1 pounds since April 15th. I don't think I could ask for better progress.

Isn't it crazy to watch people eat and think that was just us not too long ago? Hell, yesterday, a Subway commercial had me pondering my existence a month ago. How did I eat an entire footlong in one sitting???

Great progress! Who knows what things affect us for a day or two--hormones do some wonky things.