Am I Eating Too Much at 7 Weeks Out?

[mc2017 45]

Hi Guys,

I am about 7 weeks out from gastric bypass surgery and I have some questions regarding how much I should be able to eat. I have been cleared to eat normal food since week 4 and since then I have been sticking to three meals a day of high Protein homemade meals like chili, tilapia baked in salsa, an egg baked in lentil stew, or chicken cooked in crushed tomatoes.

I had my surgery in Mexico so my aftercare from my surgeon has been essentially nonexistent even when I called early on with some issues I was having. Additionally, my health insurance here will not cover any weight loss attempts whether it's surgical or non-surgical so I can't afford to see a bariatric surgeon or nutritionist so I am relying on you guy's experience to guide me in terms of what a normal volume of food is at 7 weeks post-op

I weight out all of my food and food prep so I know exactly what and how much I am eating at any one time. I am worried that at 7 weeks post-op I can eat anywhere from 4 oz to 6 oz of dense protein mixed with a sauce at a time. This is almost always at dinner time. So my usual Breakfast is one container of Siggi's yogurt which is 5.3 ounces. That usually takes me an hour to finish. I feel no restriction when I eat the yoghurt but I feel no need to eat until lunch after having it. My lunches are usually chilli or chicken in some sort of Tomato sauce. There I can consume between 2 oz to 5 oz of food. How much I can handle before I feel full varies day to day.

Now the biggest issue comes at dinner. I can and have in the last week eaten up to 6 ounces of dense protein and sauce in one sitting within 30 mins. Now usually there will be 4 oz of dense protein 1 ounce of Beans or other vegetables and then the remaining ounces will be sauce. Now I make sure to not drink Water 30 mins before, during, or after my meals so I know the issue isn't that. And I am eating dense protein like ground beef, fish, or chicken so I should feel more restriction. I read posts from other people and they talk about how they can barely handle 1 ounce of meat at 7 weeks out. But it seems I have an Iron stomach. I haven't eaten a thing so far that bothers my stomach or gives me any pain. So I am wondering if the issue is the fact that I am eating my protein with sauce? I have tried dry chicken and even with that I could eat 3 oz at only 4 weeks out with few problems. This seems like way too much food. I know stews like chili are considered sliders but the fact that I can consume 3 oz of dry chicken seems like way too much. Maybe I should limit the amount of sauce I use with my food. Mind you I make my sauces from scratch using canned tomatoes or so I am not using high carb premade sauces.

What thoughts do you guys have? What has your experience been? Is my capacity way out of line? Am I pushing things too far? I am really starting to worry that my surgeon may have made my pouch super big and that will hinder my weight loss. To date I have lost 27 pounds since surgery and 42 since my 2 week pre-op diet. Sorry if this super long post it's been weighing on my mind.

[Frustr8 7,886]

I'm also 7 weeks out , or I will be on Wednesday. And I am the other end of the Spectrum, due to a stoma stricture i am on liquids only, I call it 2A because there items on the regular Stage 2 diet, yes the same one we regularly are on at hospital dismissal. My su4geon okayed me to progress on at 6 day an but shortly after that I had to regress back and I have been limping along since then. Manage to get adequate Fluid levels , my Protein thanks to 2 shakes a day is pretty okay but haven't totalled up my calories, hopefully 600?
Taking liquid Calcium. a Multivitamin, went back to my prenatal, easier to handle for me, added a B12 sublingual at the begining,of this month, still on Zofran at least until stricture resolution, Ditropan and Azo for my bladder, Wellbutrin to help me handle stress, Zyrtec,and Singulair for respiratory, Omeprazole and Carafate for my stomach and think that's it.
Friday I will undergo my second EGJ, my surgeon's partner Dr Noria 😷will attemp to stretch my stoma, couldn't do it on the 12th, found 5 additional ulcers, didn't want to start me bleeding so now we try again. Part of me would like to watch it on a monitor, intellectual curosity. But most of me says "Relax, Go To sleep, and Dr Noria 😷will have a nice surprise🎁 for you when you wake👀 back up!😷"
And then I can move on like you into the good parts of a post-surgical diet. Feels SO VERY LONG being. where I am!

[GreenTealael 24,857]

2 hours ago, mc2017 said:

Hi Guys,

I am about 7 weeks out from gastric bypass surgery and I have some questions regarding how much I should be able to eat. I have been cleared to eat normal food since week 4 and since then I have been sticking to three meals a day of high Protein homemade meals like chili, tilapia baked in salsa, an egg baked in lentil stew, or chicken cooked in crushed tomatoes.

I had my surgery in Mexico so my aftercare from my surgeon has been essentially nonexistent even when I called early on with some issues I was having. Additionally, my health insurance here will not cover any weight loss attempts whether it's surgical or non-surgical so I can't afford to see a bariatric surgeon or nutritionist so I am relying on you guy's experience to guide me in terms of what a normal volume of food is at 7 weeks post-op

I weight out all of my food and food prep so I know exactly what and how much I am eating at any one time. I am worried that at 7 weeks post-op I can eat anywhere from 4 oz to 6 oz of dense Protein mixed with a sauce at a time. This is almost always at dinner time. So my usual Breakfast is one container of Siggi's yogurt which is 5.3 ounces. That usually takes me an hour to finish. I feel no restriction when I eat the yoghurt but I feel no need to eat until lunch after having it. My lunches are usually chilli or chicken in some sort of Tomato sauce. There I can consume between 2 oz to 5 oz of food. How much I can handle before I feel full varies day to day.

Now the biggest issue comes at dinner. I can and have in the last week eaten up to 6 ounces of dense protein and sauce in one sitting within 30 mins. Now usually there will be 4 oz of dense protein 1 ounce of Beans or other vegetables and then the remaining ounces will be sauce. Now I make sure to not drink Water 30 mins before, during, or after my meals so I know the issue isn't that. And I am eating dense protein like ground beef, fish, or chicken so I should feel more restriction. I read posts from other people and they talk about how they can barely handle 1 ounce of meat at 7 weeks out. But it seems I have an Iron stomach. I haven't eaten a thing so far that bothers my stomach or gives me any pain. So I am wondering if the issue is the fact that I am eating my protein with sauce? I have tried dry chicken and even with that I could eat 3 oz at only 4 weeks out with few problems. This seems like way too much food. I know stews like chili are considered sliders but the fact that I can consume 3 oz of dry chicken seems like way too much. Maybe I should limit the amount of sauce I use with my food. Mind you I make my sauces from scratch using canned tomatoes or so I am not using high carb premade sauces.

What thoughts do you guys have? What has your experience been? Is my capacity way out of line? Am I pushing things too far? I am really starting to worry that my surgeon may have made my pouch super big and that will hinder my weight loss. To date I have lost 27 pounds since surgery and 42 since my 2 week pre-op diet. Sorry if this super long post it's been weighing on my mind.

Sounds like you are making your foods slide. The sauce will have a very different effect on your system when combined with the protein than if you were eating drier protein sources alone. Try reducing the sauce amount or eliminating it completely to test how much dense protein you can eat by itself.

Since you have no guide lines of your own I will share what my team provided, take whatever you want from it, toss what you don't need.

Eating:

Only eat within a 30 min window, 1/8-1/4 cup food (1- 6 months), 1/4-1/2 cup (6 months+) of dense protein first

Vegetables:

As tolerated

Mechanics:

Do not drink for 30 mins before it after meals, do not eat prior to 30 mins after drinking

No straws

No grazing, only defined meal times

Water:

Bare minimum of 64 oz of liquids primarily Water

Protein:

60-80 g daily (work up to this goal by 3 months out)

Dense protein:

1oz by weight 1-6 months goals

4 oz by weight 6+ months goals

Primarily through food, stop supplements as soon as possible

Eat a variety of protein sources to prevent aversion

Carbs:

Vary depending on tolerance, but no rice bread or Pasta for the first 6 months- only whole grain variety sparingly there after

Sugar:

Less than 5g of sugar per serving, avoid anything with more than 5 g added sugars in ingredients list

Fats:

Limit to health oils from food sources like cheese, nuts, olives, seeds and some oils as needed

Vitamins:

Daily multi w/ Iron, calcium citrate, B Vitamins, D Vitamin

Hope that helps

Safe Journey!

Edited October 23, 2018 by GreenTealael

[FluffyChix 17,409]

Here's my daily journal that I started when I began the 2 week pre-op liquid diet and continued until I was well into my post-op routine. This is the day I had surgery, but there are other pages preceding that page. I think the preceding pages are where I discussed the upcoming post-op diet but I can't remember now.

I was pretty exacting about following my RD plan and discuss it at length in the journal. You can read to see what volume I was eating. I also have a cast Iron pouch and have been able to eat larger amounts since surgery. But just because you "can" doesn't mean you should.

Things I learned: The nerves have been jacked with down there and will take a while to recover, so your tum isn't fully communicating with the brain yet--especially about satiety.

Google good RNY post op diets! At 7 weeks, you should probably be eating 1/4-1/2 cup of food BY VOLUME. It's cool to weight your food too. I did both. But I made sure that the amount fit into the volumetric quantity specified by my RD. You can also Google different center's plans and see what's included on them. It really helps to get a feel for how much everyone is eating. There is also a Post-Op Food/Nutrition Area with posts that you should read like "What I eat in a day" and that sort of thing. Hope this helps!

Here are a few examples I found helpful:

Bariatric_Nutrition_Manual.pdf

GBP Diet Manual12611_Tufts.pdf

Healthy Eating after Bariatric Surgery 2011_LondBarGrp.pdf

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/rny/nutritional-guidelines-after-roux-en-y-gastric-bypass-surgery.html

Edited October 23, 2018 by FluffyChix

[MarinaGirl 608]

Just because you can eat a good amount doesn’t mean you should. Don’t try seeking the full feeling as it won’t be the same post-WLS. During surgery, nerves may have been cut so until they regenerate you may not feel much. The only way to determine the correct amount to eat is with a food scale, not by eye balling portion sizes as we weren’t good at that pre-op, nor by pursuing satiety.

[mc2017 45]

Hey guys,

Thank you for all your advice, what really hit is the how all you say that just because I can doesn't mean I need to. So I started this morning modifying how I eat I have added one snack a day and one Protein Drink to my regimen because I realised that if I am going to drop the volume I eat I will need to up the frequency in order to get necessary Protein and calories. I will say so far it seems to be working. I was fearful I would feel hungry on a smaller amount more often but so far I feel good. And most of all I need to remember that with time my restriction will loosen and I will need to rely on the habits I am setting now to maintain. So I am still measuring my food by weight but I have lowered every meal to two ounces and the one snack I had today was 1.5 ounces and I feel totally satiated.