How to get enough fluid during the day

[TheSirBeardsley 0]

Hello, i am posting for my wife who had her gastric sleeve procedure on 2/28. She has been having alot of "buyers remorse" and feels like she was tricked into thinking this would be an easy lifestyle adjustment and i am doing all i can to help but it doesnt feel like enough some days. she just was able to start her pureed foods and has been having a really rough time with making sure she gets enough Fluid through out the day and the diet plan her surgeon gave is realllly confusing to us. the main issue we are having is Water, how on earth is she supposed to get enough water in during the day, i know she has to get at least 64 ounces of fluid but how does she fit eating in since shes not able to drink until 30 minutes after eating. her meals right now are between 20-32 oz of cream of rice thinned out with light soy milk to which i add unflavored Protein Powder, 2-3 2oz jars of gerber chicken, turkey, or ham, bout 8oz of instant mashed potato flakes thinned out with light soymilk and between 16-20 oz of chicken broth to which i also add the unflavored Protein powder. she also will eat between 5-10 1 oz no sugar popsicle's through out the day which seems to help with her nausea. she has started using a Blender Bottle to measure water intake but she says it feels like it takes her all day to consume her liquids and she doesnt know how to fit water into all of this due to the 30 minutes. i apologize if this is rambling but we welcome any advice or tips anyone has. thank you

[James Marusek 5,244]

It is common for your taste buds to change after surgery. Be willing to experiment. After surgery, my taste buds changed dramatically. Even Water changed. In the hospital it tasted excessively chlorinated and I could not drink it. So I experimented. sugar free popsicles became my best friend. Some individuals find hot or cold can help with fluids. For me, I found that I could tolerate flavored water. So I began using Crystal Light. I also found a new drink Bai which I liked cold. In the winter, I found that I tolerate Hot Drinks such as piping hot cocoa. But you have to use the "No Sugar Added" variety. Also fine English teas were very good.

The Fluid requirement is met by a combination. It is not only the water that you drink each day. But also the water you drink when you take your Vitamins and medicine. It is the milk you drink. It is the fluids content of the Protein Shakes. It is the water component of the Soups you take. It is met by flavored water such as Crystal Light. It is met by sugar free popsicles. It is met by tea and Decaf coffee. It is a combination of all the fluids that you consume during the day.

So in your wife's case, the light soy milk counts, the chicken broth counts and the popsicles count towards meeting the daily fluid requirement.

[TakingABreak 2,733]

I'm almost 9 weeks post op and Water is still a struggle for me. Water by itself makes me severely nauseated. I drink caffeine free herbal tea with stevia. I also get dehydrated a lot and resort to Pedialyte. The best thing I can suggest is to set timers and find something that she can drink well. Some options are caffeine free tea, extremely diluted 100% juice, infused water (lemon, cucumber, ect.), crystal light, or other caloric free mixes.

[TakingABreak 2,733]

One other thing! Drinking enough Fluid is an all day event. I take my cup with me everywhere I go. Even in the bathroom while I put on my makeup. There should never be a time you don't have something near by to sip on.

[redhead_che 824]

For the first few weeks my Protein Shakes counted towards my Fluid requirement, I'm not sure if hers do, but that saved me early on...so did sugar free popsicles. But now that I'm almost 4 months out, I have a water bottle with me all the time and set timers. I also put Mio flavoring in it. I also use 32 oz sugar free Powerades as my "water" some weeks when I don't feel like Mio.

[aNYCdb 310]

11 hours ago, TheSirBeardsley said:

Hello, i am posting for my wife who had her gastric sleeve procedure on 2/28. She has been having alot of "buyers remorse" and feels like she was tricked into thinking this would be an easy lifestyle adjustment and i am doing all i can to help but it doesnt feel like enough some days. she just was able to start her pureed foods and has been having a really rough time with making sure she gets enough Fluid through out the day and the diet plan her surgeon gave is realllly confusing to us. the main issue we are having is Water, how on earth is she supposed to get enough Water in during the day, i know she has to get at least 64 ounces of Fluid but how does she fit eating in since shes not able to drink until 30 minutes after eating. her meals right now are between 20-32 oz of cream of rice thinned out with light soy milk to which i add unflavored Protein Powder, 2-3 2oz jars of gerber chicken, turkey, or ham, bout 8oz of instant mashed potato flakes thinned out with light soymilk and between 16-20 oz of chicken broth to which i also add the unflavored Protein powder. she also will eat between 5-10 1 oz no sugar popsicle's through out the day which seems to help with her nausea. she has started using a Blender Bottle to measure water intake but she says it feels like it takes her all day to consume her liquids and she doesnt know how to fit water into all of this due to the 30 minutes. i apologize if this is rambling but we welcome any advice or tips anyone has. thank you

There's a lot in here, so if I can break it down. The above posters covered a bunch, but this is what jumps out at me.

* 20-32 oz of cream of rice? Is that a typo? If not that's way too much of anything (though to be honest I'm not sure what cream of rice is).

* 16-20 oz of chicken broth - This counts as liquid.

* 5-10 1oz no sugar popsicle's - This also counts as fluid, though 10 of anything is probably not ideal.

If on top of this your wife is also drinking water then I wouldn't worry to much about her fluids, that said she may want to revisit her meal plans with her nutritionist, because she seems to be eating a volume of food that may be more than her pouch can handle at this point (which I think on average is about 4oz per meal, but everyone is different).

[BostonWLKC 806]

I agree with Matty...that sounds like a lot of food which is maybe what is making her not feel well. I think she should be at like 2-4 oz MAX of food every 3 or 4 hours.

Agree with others around fluids...everything liquid counts! so dont just count Water.

Im just over 3 months out and I still struggle with fluids..... also agree that sugar free popsicles are the BOMB and save my life. But my nutritionist says 2 max a day so 10 is a lot.

Good luck...keep coming on this site. Call the Nutritionist if you feel you need to.

[TheSirBeardsley 0]

hey everybody, thanks for the info, in regards to the 20-32oz of cream of rice, which is just a milled rice Cereal, akin to baby food, thats not all at once but throughout the day, i found it was best way to get her protien in since i mix in bout 2-3scoops of unflavored Isopure powder to get her at least 75g of Protein. we havent met with her nutritionist yet, she has another appointment with surgeon on april 13th and nutritionist is sometime after that. the popsicles i was mistaken on since i just found out our son has been sneaking them so i thought she was doing more then she actually was, shes only really doing bout 3 or 4 depending on how nauseous she gets

[babu1995 12]

I was having the same problem with my Water. I took alot longer to add food in because when I tried I got sick so my NUT said to just keep doing the shakes until my stomach was ready so first thing in the morning my husband would bring me a 20oz Yeti full of water ( I use to drink crystal light before my surgery than hated it after but I found diet, decaffeinated lipton cold tea mix) I would drink 5 sips than waited 20 min and i would have 4 oz of a protien shake and 30 min later I would have more water and then 2 hrs later I would have another 4 oz shake and I did this all day long and when I really started counting 5 - 4 oz shakes ( 20 oz ) and 2 20 oz of water than the next day I would add 4-5 more oz of water and add everyday after that. I was on liquids for 4 weeks and then slowly replaced a shake with Soup, yogurt, cottage cheese and then week 6 I would add alittle more. I am now 3 months out and I am doing alot better and I now get atleast 4 20oz of water in a day. It will get better I promise.

[aNYCdb 310]

9 hours ago, TheSirBeardsley said:

hey everybody, thanks for the info, in regards to the 20-32oz of cream of rice, which is just a milled rice Cereal, akin to baby food, thats not all at once but throughout the day, i found it was best way to get her protien in since i mix in bout 2-3scoops of unflavored Isopure powder to get her at least 75g of Protein. we havent met with her nutritionist yet, she has another appointment with surgeon on april 13th and nutritionist is sometime after that. the popsicles i was mistaken on since i just found out our son has been sneaking them so i thought she was doing more then she actually was, shes only really doing bout 3 or 4 depending on how nauseous she gets

My concern is still that 32oz of any food during the day is going to be waaayyy to much at this point. Straight liquid passes through your stomach which is why we are encouraged to drink 64oz at this stage (which honestly it sounds like your wife is getting). I understand that you are using the cream of rice as a delivery mechanism for the Protein, but at this stage she shouldn't be having more than 12-16oz of any solid or semisolid food (a day), even if it is watered down. I'm not a fan of unflavored protein, but if this is the avenue she wants to take then it needs to be more of it in a much smaller volume of delivery medium (baby food, creamed rice, etc).

[TheSirBeardsley 0]

1 hour ago, aNYCdb said:

My concern is still that 32oz of any food during the day is going to be waaayyy to much at this point. Straight liquid passes through your stomach which is why we are encouraged to drink 64oz at this stage (which honestly it sounds like your wife is getting). I understand that you are using the cream of rice as a delivery mechanism for the Protein, but at this stage she shouldn't be having more than 12-16oz of any solid or semisolid food (a day), even if it is watered down. I'm not a fan of unflavored Protein, but if this is the avenue she wants to take then it needs to be more of it in a much smaller volume of delivery medium (baby food, creamed rice, etc).

ah that makes sense. yea weve kind of been wingng it since her surgeon was not to clear on what her intake should be other then 64oz and make sure protein gets in and the meal plan she was given is quite confusing, which is why im greatful for this site and everyones advice. she will be very happy to hear that she will only need to do 12-16 oz lol. thanks for the advice

[Apple203 1,314]

From Week #5 to Week #12, my plan requires four meals a day, spaced at four hours. A meal is 2.5 ounces of lean Protein and 1/4-1/2 cups of fruit, yogurt, or soft vegetables.

[aNYCdb 310]

2 hours ago, TheSirBeardsley said:

ah that makes sense. yea weve kind of been wingng it since her surgeon was not to clear on what her intake should be other then 64oz and make sure Protein gets in and the meal plan she was given is quite confusing, which is why im greatful for this site and everyones advice. she will be very happy to hear that she will only need to do 12-16 oz lol. thanks for the advice

The just think of it as food will fill up her 3-4oz pouch and take a couple hours to vacate whereas liquid will go through so much faster. That's why you are able/expected to take in so much Fluid. You also shouldn't drink with your meal post-op.

A couple suggestions for getting more protein:

* Egg whites morning noon and night.

* Cut the too sweet protein powders with the unflavored or by blending it with Peanut Butter powder (which is also high protein). You can also squeese out more protein by using fortified milk (Skim-Plus or Fairlife Fat Free).

Edited March 23, 2018 by aNYCdb