I feel like i'm not eating enough.

When I work i take my vitamins in the morning around 750 am drink water ( i did have one popsicle today) then usually eat around 5-6p,, but today i didnt eat until 9pm. I had two baked wings. I ate one and the other i just chewed up and didn't swallow because i felt stuffed. When i do eat i still cant eat much. When I am home i do try to eat a couple of cherries or grapes or something super small but i literally just nibble then im done. I just wanted to know if that was normal for 5 months post op.

Not being able to eat much at one sitting is normal. But waiting until 5-6 pm to have your first food of the day does not strike me as normal. Before surgery, it's possible to go all day without eating and still end up taking in a good amount of calories because we could just stuff ourselves at dinner. You can't do that now. Your stomach holds the same few ounces, regardless of how long it's been since you last ate. So why not have something in the AM with your vitamin, something during the day, something around dinner time, and maybe a last snack in the evening? Are you going without food during the day as a weight-loss strategy (like intermittent fasting)? Or just not making time to eat?

It doesn’t seem like anywhere near enough but what do your dietician & surgeon say? Are you recording your food? What does your plan require & recommend?

I was eating three meals a day from purées - small portions about 1/4 -1/3 cup. Each meal contained protein. The portion size slowly increased to less than a cup as I progressed adding more protein & vegetables & I added an afternoon & evening snack usually fruit & yogurt. I was focussed on developing good eating routines & incorporating a balanced diet & what would be sustainable in the long term to maintain my weight. I wasn’t really hungry or all that interested in food but I knew I had to eat.

By about 5 or 6 months I was eating less than 900 calories I think. I stopped multi vitamins at 8 months with my surgeon’s approval as my blood work is as very good so I was getting all the nutrients I needed from what I was eating. I maintain at about 1200 calories (not tall, smallish frame, not very active & in my mid 50s), blood work is still good.

Some people can eat more than others & some people’s plans require to eat more or less than others. I do believe you can only eat what you can eat at each meal but I’m concerned you are really only eating one meal & a snack a day.

You’d be better off eating smaller portions more frequently through the day. Add a protein shake or yoghurt for more protein - you can’t be any where near meeting your daily protein goals - you can sip the shake & graze on the yoghurt for ages at work if you need. Are you eating slowly? I take 30 - 60 minutes to eat even now.

If you don’t have a dietician, I’d ask your team for a recommendation & if you don’t track your food, I’d also start doing that too.

Edited July 30, 20215 yr by Arabesque

3 hours ago, mzlove10 said:

I feel like i'm not eating enough.

When I work i take my Vitamins in the morning around 750 am drink Water ( i did have one popsicle today) then usually eat around 5-6p,, but today i didnt eat until 9pm. I had two baked wings. I ate one and the other i just chewed up and didn't swallow because i felt stuffed. When i do eat i still cant eat much. When I am home i do try to eat a couple of cherries or grapes or something super small but i literally just nibble then im done. I just wanted to know if that was normal for 5 months post op.

Everyone is different, but sounds like i had a similar experIence as you (you’ll find others on here who are/were in the same boat, and others who will not get what you are talking about at all)

Like mentioned in the posts above I pretty much used to graze (or have micro-meals several times) all day long….and i ended up really low on the calorie count, even at 5 months. If i ate “too much” i would barf. So i didn’t.

Listen to your body (or your dietician, whomever you trust more, lol)

Good Luck! ❤️

I was eating about 800-1000 calories a day then, spread out between three meals with one or two planned snacks. I'd work with your dietitian on a good plan for you. Waiting until 5:00 pm to eat doesn't sound very healthy. Plus are you getting your 60+ grams of protein a day? Unless you're supplementing what you're currently eating with protein shakes, it doesn't sound like you are.