A thread for Maintainers to share our daily menus!

(This thread is a spin-off from another thread I started that was open to all people at different stages. Meant to start this one specifically for Maintainers a while back, but am just now getting around to it )

Same format applies: To help keep things in perspective for everyone, let's try to note our height & weight (or BMI), gender, weight-status & how far out we are post-op (unless this is already stated in your side profile )

Post as little or as much info as you want. If you track macros, feel free to share your Protein, fat, & carb details...if all you feel like saying is you had a really yummy taco, that's cool too.

8 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

@FluffyChix : I don't really have a good idea what my "before-full" capacity is like. So naturally all this talk about capacity has me wondering LOL. How do you determine the volume of airy things like salad? Do you pack it in the measuring cup?

Good question. I actually weighed and measured the ingredients (not really packed). So now I know what to measure on a scale each time. For instance, I know ever salad that includes all of these ingredients will look like this:

10g purple onion

18g red bell pepper

14g baby carrot

30g cucumber

10g shredded cabbage

14g baby spinach (more for romaine or iceberg cuz it weighs more per volume)

8-10g arugula

2 to 2.5oz dense protein

optional:

4-6g reduced fat cheese crumbles

4-8g pumpkin seeds or some kind of nut

14g avocado

Zero cal dressing of some nature.

That will make about 1 1/2 cups of loosely packed salad. It might even be closer to 2 cups.

Just a thought,

How many of you can eat more volume years out? Mostly seeing this with sleeves. (Extra space but your stomach is not back to full size) I see people confuse this with stretching. (Stretching is rare. Have it diagnosed by surgeon)

I do agree with fluffy about keeping volume as instructed by your team.

I know where my new sensation of full is. I don’t go by volume. I eat my weight loss/maintenance calories.

22 minutes ago, Healthy_life2 said:

I eat my weight loss/maintenance calories.

Me 2. I just still try to do it by my meal volume size from the doc. And I eat as many times as needed to make my maintenance cal/macro target for the day. Obsessed much? LOL!

17 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Today, Wed, Nov. 13
Maintenance : 5'2" / 1yr PO Sleeve / 115.3 lbs

...So I actually forgot to eat today. I had my first meal around noon and then went grocery shopping, dropped the groceries back home, then went to get a haircut, then to a couple medical appointments, then stopped by the mall to go shopping (so I could get off the road and wait for the traffic to die down). Got home around 9:30pm and realized I hadn't eaten! Wasn't hungry, but also didn't want to NOT eat, so I picked on some leftovers from Mr & the Kid's dinner. It was meh.

8:00am - earl grey teas w/ stevia

12:30pm - salad greens + vinaigrette + 1/2 an avocado + .5 oz gala apple + 3.5 oz grilled chicken

5:00pm - 1 Starbucks Grande Blonde Americano Misto

11:00pm - 2oz baked chicken & mushrooms in cream sauce

Totals: 504 cals - 36g Protein - 15g NET carbs - 30g fat

I definitely don't ever feel hungry. Yes, sometimes food is desirable if I see or smell something however if it's been several hours sometimes I get super cranky and sometimes feel "off". I have had to buy the individual milk at the grocery store and drink it while I was shopping. If I am busy I could def. skip eating for that long. I am kind of surprised you are so far out form surgery and still don't feel hungry. I had assumed after time that would return for most of us.

1 hour ago, 2Bsmaller18 said:

I definitely don't ever feel hungry. Yes, sometimes food is desirable if I see or smell something however if it's been several hours sometimes I get super cranky and sometimes feel "off". I have had to buy the individual milk at the grocery store and drink it while I was shopping. If I am busy I could def. skip eating for that long. I am kind of surprised you are so far out form surgery and still don't feel hungry. I had assumed after time that would return for most of us.

Oh, I do feel hungry. But its a little different now. I don't have that ravenous-empty-stomach-starving-feeling anymore. Like you say, I just have a desire or want to eat (but its much easier to ignore or just turn it off now). There isn't that feeling of need or compulsion like pre-op, you know what I mean?

So there are still days when I have no preference whether I eat or not, or have an actual "food-aversion" day when I DO NOT want to eat anything at all. These are coming fewer and further between though.

But I'm only a year out...I am going to assume that this current state of being will change.

8 hours ago, Healthy_life2 said:

Just a thought,

How many of you can eat more volume years out? Mostly seeing this with sleeves. (Extra space but your stomach is not back to full size) I see people confuse this with stretching. (Stretching is rare. Have it diagnosed by surgeon)

I do agree with fluffy about keeping volume as instructed by your team.

I know where my new sensation of full is. I don’t go by volume. I eat my weight loss/maintenance calories.

I dont often chime in on the thread because i don't often log but I can definitely eat more years out lol, same amount as matured VSG even after revision and I don't really measure either

Sorry @FluffyChix about being wide open but another question: since the GI doc said portion size won't make a dif (in keeping the pouch small for the future anyways) why can't you increase your salads/vegetables to satisfaction if you are still hungry?

10 minutes ago, GreenTealael said:

I dont often chime in on the thread because i don't often log but I can definitely eat more years out lol, same amount as matured VSG even after revision and I don't really measure either

GreenT, I've seen your food before and after pictures, you barely eat much as a matured VSG-er...you must have eaten next to nothing during your weight loss phase!

12 minutes ago, ms.sss said:

GreenT, I've seen your food before and after pictures, you barely eat much as a matured VSG-er...you must have eaten next to nothing during your weight loss phase!

Shhhhh I DO eat a lot ? lol.

IDK. Do any of us actually eat a lot (of non sliders/ in one sitting) or are we just obsessed with eating the least? Comparatively to non Bari people the portions are vastly different? Anyone else notice this?

Grazing is different of course

How much I eat in a meal is a lot different to what I ate before surgery, A LOT different. What I am eating now and before surgery is about the same really, other then I rarely eat bread and I eat breakfast more regularly. I also try to eat more protein in meals and I am back to weighing my meat. My eyes are still bigger then my stomach, but I do use a salad plate

Weighing in at 168.4 this morning ! I am officially back in my zone and hope to keep going for a few more, but I wont be sweating it.

Breakfast Jimmy Dean eggwich

Lunch 2 oz beef roast, small potato, carrot, and onion

Dinner 4 oz Crappie (fish) with lemon.

Snack 1 oz almonds and 1 oz seeds nuts, and granola

I think I need to join this thread. I'm 2.5+ years out. It's strange to be considered a "veteran" and being in maintenance hehe.

Very quickly after surgery we were told we could eat up to about 150ml. It didn't mean we were able to, but we could. I stayed there for a long time. Now I'm up to between 200-300g of food, all depending on what it is. I know what will make me fuller quicker, so I portion less, and what I will need more of to get full. And most of the time it's spot on. Sometimes I'll have to leave stuff. When I have salad or lots of veggies, I can eat more.

I meal prep a lot, freezer is full of portions of food. My meals are protein heavy, preferably 20-40g.

I don't really track anymore, but I'm stable, so I know it's around 2500-3000kcal a day.

Today I have had the following, and it's now 1:30pm.

A protein shake (every single day I start with on)
125g of blueberries and 125g of raspberries. (Unusual treat)
660 ml of cold latte macchiato light (Usually a coffe from home with milk, ran out of milk)
A protein bread roll with butter and salami on one half and turkey cold cut on the other half
A portion of chicken in taco tomato soup thing, with some sour cream on (Spicy)

Wow, that looks like a lot lol. I'll probably have another roll (happen to have one left) before my spinning class this evening, and then time will tell if I'll be able to eat propper dinner or if I'll make a smoothie which will have both protein powder, oats, berries etc. in it.

Sorry for the long post

12 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Sorry @FluffyChix about being wide open but another question: since the GI doc said portion size won't make a dif (in keeping the pouch small for the future anyways) why can't you increase your salads/vegetables to satisfaction if you are still hungry?

Oh, I don't go away hungry. I just don't go away full. Does that make sense? I go away with the feeling like "Ok, I can go another 4-6 hours before the next meal..." but it's totally different than walking away "complete" and "full" or "stuffed". You know?

It's very difficult to describe though. It's simply, "enough."

If I was still hungry, I'd for sure up my veg quantity for the meal.

My "no seconds" rule is about building new habits for the future. I used to be a seconds and thirds girl. But even more, you can see that going back for more after about 30 minutes or so can lead to regain. So I don't want to do feed the mouth craving for just another taste.

And just for the record. My eating has never been about "seeing how little I can eat in a day". My eating has been all about see how MUCH nutrition, I can pack into my caloric intake and how much food quantity that can be so that I'm not starving all the time. It is always a case of fitting the most food into my macros for the day and will likely continue to be that way, cuz it makes me happy. And I'm clearly not starving to death.

21 hours ago, Healthy_life2 said:

Just a thought,

How many of you can eat more volume years out? Mostly seeing this with sleeves. (Extra space but your stomach is not back to full size) I see people confuse this with stretching. (Stretching is rare. Have it diagnosed by surgeon)

I do agree with fluffy about keeping volume as instructed by your team.

I know where my new sensation of full is. I don’t go by volume. I eat my weight loss/maintenance calories.

I can eat significantly more volume now with a mature sleeve. My sleeve relaxing and having more capacity coincided with approaching and hitting my goal weight. It seemed like a natural progression.

My sleeve seemed like it was particularly restrictive early on. So I am grateful I can now eat larger amounts. I attract far less attention at business meals. I can make enough of a dent in a meal it looks pretty normal. It also would have been hard to get to my maintenance level of calories if my restriction was as great as it was early on.

Congrats @Tracyringo look at you! You're a rockstar! Way to get back inside the window!!!

@Meryline So happy to see you here! And happy to know at 2 years you are around the same capacity as me by gram weight. But I eat way more than 2/3cup of food (150ml) at a time. My volume is around 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups with more veggies.

@FluffyChix the 150ml was in the beginning, now it's more. 200-300 ml as well i think. It's all about what it is.

Also, some days I can have a lot more, and some days I can only have a few bites.