I had gastric bypass in february 2018 and i'm having difficulties in eating enough calories does anyone have any suggestions on how to get more ? i eat a lot of chicken breast and protein puddings and protein shakes

A 32 bougie, is the smallest considered safe.

The waking up in the middle of the night hunger sounds like acid to me. Are you on a PPI?

Have you been able to distinguish physical hunger from head hunger? That was tough for me at first because they feel identical. But I realized if I didn't have a trigger, TV commercial, smell of food, seeing food, etc.. then I wasn't hungry. Since I live alone it is relatively easy for me to remove these triggers. I'd imagine if I had a family it'd be a whole lot harder to distinguish what was head hunger, cause there would be a lot more triggers outside of my control.

On 2018/04/11 at 2:20 PM, asta1975 said:

i'm eating around 500 and my doctor wants 80 gram of Protein and around 1000 in calories

That does not seem right. I am under the impression that even three months out you need to be heavy on protein. Protein is 4 cal per gram. So, only 32% of your diet is protein? the rest carbs and fat? fat is fat, and carbs can become fat, and body needs protein to burn fat. That sounds way off. I'd check that.

2 hours ago, Arabian78 said:

Is a size 32 boogie average or is that big? Yes, I'm hitting my Water goals and I've incorporated some veggies. Haven't tried any fruit yet. And I'm doing the 30/30 rule with liquids. At my last appointment I asked Melissa (his assistant) about acid reflux and she said I probably don't have it. I haven't seen Dr. Gandsas since my surgery. Every time I have an appointment I see Melissa. I did see him once when I had to go back to the office every few days after my first week because of the dehydration, but now I am only scheduled with Melissa. I think her name is Dr. Banks.

I forced myself not to eat over 600 calories on Friday and Saturday (I was starving most of the day) and I lost 1.6 pounds when I weighed myself this morning, so I'm finally at 30 pounds total. I just have had several weeks of complete stalls. And sometimes like a half a pound a week. Very frustrating. Guess I need to just get use done to the hunger pains.

30#s is great!! I had my surgery a couple weeks after you and I have only lost 18#s since surgery. Hang in there, I hope the hunger goes away for you. :-)

I wish I had this problem. I'm supposed to be eating 600-800 calories a day and some days it's really hard not to go above 800. I don't know why. I'm not eating carbs, only lean proteins, but I seem to be hungry like every 2 hours. Sometimes I even wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. STARVING. Anyone else having this problem? I don't know how to keep my calories down without getting hungry. Oh, and I have no problem eating 4 ounces of a lean protein. Maybe my sleeve isn't small enough.

I had this problem. 6 weeks post opp and I was forcing myself to stay at 800 calories but I was starving and had zero energy. I was also doing keto and staying below 30 carbs/day as well as working out and doing about 4-5 miles walking.

I posted on here and got some great feedback. One problem was I was having lots of little 100-150 calorie meals/snacks every couple hours. If I didn’t eat every 2 hours I was literally ready to gnaw my arm off and would get light headed when I stood up. I switched things up and started eating around 250 calories per meal. That keeps me full way longer. I’ve also thrown this keto thing out the window and am bringing fruit/berries back in my diet. Also upped fat content and instead of doing fat free everything I’m eating 2% yogurt, milk and adding in avocados.

Now I’m eating about 1000 cal/day give or take. These changes helped break my stall, keep away the hunger, and I have so much more energy. Everyone is different and you really need to listen to your body.


Sleeved 3/12/18, HW 270, SW 253, CW 233, GW 160, 5’9”

6 hours ago, sillykitty said:

A 32 bougie, is the smallest considered safe.

The waking up in the middle of the night hunger sounds like acid to me. Are you on a PPI?

Have you been able to distinguish physical hunger from head hunger? That was tough for me at first because they feel identical. But I realized if I didn't have a trigger, TV commercial, smell of food, seeing food, etc.. then I wasn't hungry. Since I live alone it is relatively easy for me to remove these triggers. I'd imagine if I had a family it'd be a whole lot harder to distinguish what was head hunger, cause there would be a lot more triggers outside of my control.

It could be acid reflux. No, I'm not on a PPI. It's definitely not head hunger. I'm a special ed teacher and I run around all day like a crazy person, barely time to run to the restroom so I'm definitely not thinking about food or triggered by a commercial or anything. It's hunger pains and stomach growling that lets me know I'm starving. Most of my cravings that I once had are gone. Just wish I wasn't so hungry so often.

5 hours ago, NYCNomad said:

I had this problem. 6 weeks post opp and I was forcing myself to stay at 800 calories but I was starving and had zero energy. I was also doing keto and staying below 30 carbs/day as well as working out and doing about 4-5 miles walking.

I posted on here and got some great feedback. One problem was I was having lots of little 100-150 calorie meals/snacks every couple hours. If I didn’t eat every 2 hours I was literally ready to gnaw my arm off and would get light headed when I stood up. I switched things up and started eating around 250 calories per meal. That keeps me full way longer. I’ve also thrown this keto thing out the window and am bringing fruit/berries back in my diet. Also upped fat content and instead of doing fat free everything I’m eating 2% yogurt, milk and adding in avocados.

Now I’m eating about 1000 cal/day give or take. These changes helped break my stall, keep away the hunger, and I have so much more energy. Everyone is different and you really need to listen to your body.


Sleeved 3/12/18, HW 270, SW 253, CW 233, GW 160, 5’9”

I do a lot of small 150 calorie meals also. Maybe that's my problem. I'll try to eat more at once so I don't have to eat so often.

52 minutes ago, Arabian78 said:

It could be acid reflux. No, I'm not on a PPI. It's definitely not head hunger. I'm a special ed teacher and I run around all day like a crazy person, barely time to run to the restroom so I'm definitely not thinking about food or triggered by a commercial or anything. It's hunger pains and stomach growling that lets me know I'm starving. Most of my cravings that I once had are gone. Just wish I wasn't so hungry so often.

I agree not head hunger. I'd definitely get on a PPI and see if that helps. I take generic Zantac, which is called Rantadine. I buy the Wal-Mart Equate brand, it's dirt cheap. For me excess acid doesn't feel like heart burn or acid reflux, it is exactly like you are describing, a growl-y, ache-y tummy.

1 hour ago, sillykitty said:

I agree not head hunger. I'd definitely get on a PPI and see if that helps. I take generic Zantac, which is called Rantadine. I buy the Wal-Mart Equate brand, it's dirt cheap. For me excess acid doesn't feel like heart burn or acid reflux, it is exactly like you are describing, a growl-y, ache-y tummy.

I think I have some Zantac. Do I just take one in the morning? Before breakfast or after? Or maybe it doesn't matter. I'd like to try this tomorrow.

15 minutes ago, Arabian78 said:

I think I have some Zantac. Do I just take one in the morning? Before Breakfast or after? Or maybe it doesn't matter. I'd like to try this tomorrow.

I usually take mine in the morning without food. I'm not sure how much it matters!

On 4/15/2018 at 9:48 AM, Arabian78 said:

Is a size 32 boogie average or is that big?

Hi Arabian78. I saw Melissa today and asked about the bougie -- he's using a #40 bougie these days.

8 hours ago, Apple203 said:

Hi Arabian78. I saw Melissa today and asked about the bougie -- he's using a #40 bougie these days.

Thanks Apple for checking. I just did a littlest research and it looks like a 40 is a little bit bigger than the 32, but it's still pretty small. I guess I just need to be patient. I haven't lost any weight so far this week, but if I starve myself this weekend I'll probably lose 1 or 2.

40 is about the largest commonly used for sleeve gastrectomy. Yup difference between the smalleSt
And largest is pretty negligible!