So here's the deal. I'll eat a small amount, get full, stop eating. An hour later, or even less, I'm hungry! So I eat again! Sure, it's a small amount, but I don't want to be eating every hour! I want to be able to be normal, with breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. Drinks in between.

What do your days/menus look like? How often are you eating, and what types of food at each point? I'm not speaking to people who are 6+ months out, I'm looking for people who have had surgery in the past 3 months but are already on a routine.

Thanks, all!

Hi.

I'm not in your target demographic, but I dislike seeing posts asking for help that don't get a response.

At 3 months my program was 3 meals a day, no snacks. Meals consisted of 3oz protein, 1oz veggies, sometimes with a smidgen of a starch. The protein was usually chicken, pork, beef, often with a touch of flavorful sauce, but in a pinch things like cheese, beans. While I didn't do snacks, if I got hungry I would do SF popsicles, this way I had flavor and 5 calories to give my stomach something to do. SF popsicles were a life savor for me early on, so I tended to lean on them a bit later too. Gosh, I think I'll by a box next grocery trip.

There was a time at about 2 years post-op that I was binge running (about 90 miles a week) where my plan was increased to 6 meals per day plus a protein shake. I hated it, I felt like you that I was constantly eating, about the only time I wasn't was when I was running.

Oh, I'm not saying you should do my plan. Many people I knew back in the day did 3 meals and 3 snacks. Many did protein drinks for a meal or even two. I think the primary thing is they ate to plan to be successful, just as you're trying to do.

You have a good goal working to conform your eating to plan. keep at it.

Good luck,

Tek

I am 7-8 weeks post-op. I never get enough protein! The shakes were no problem before surgery--but I cannot find one now that I don't take one swallow and not turn green!

Personally- I figure a routine is further down my life's road. I'm trying to figure out what hurts when I eat, what makes me nauseated, etc. Time for a regimen later. I think if you are losing, you are ok (for now.) Do you want to set a goal? Wait until fall. Your tummy will be healed by then, your doc will tell you how your labs look, and you can set a goal/regimen for getting through the holidays... Just my 2 cents worth.

(one more thing-be kind to your tummy.)

Edited March 4, 20224 yr by oldandtired

At about 3 months mark, I think I am finally comfortable what works for me.

Recommendation of my program is 3 meals and 3 snacks. I found that a bit too much, made it seem like I have to get up and eat every few hours.

4 meals in total work for me with 0.5 to 0.75 cup of milk in between meals, which works as fluid and protein intake for me!

I have read various info on the meal size how many can't eat beyond 0.33 to 0.5 cup, not sure if that's only solid. But in my case I can easily do about 0.75 cup at every meal. Ofc half of that includes yogurt majority of the time. Since yogurt isn't solid, may be that's why in total I can manage 0.75 cup per meal.

But I love including Skyr (Ice landic yogurt) with my meals, easily helps to achieve my protein goal without having to rely on any shakes or protein powders.

So yeh 4 meals in total throughout the day with milk consumption in between.

And with that, I am easily able to manage to get my 64oz of fluids in too!

This will be my routine until I hit my goal.

Hope it helps. Good luck finding your routine.

P.S - I also get hungry in a few hours, and that's when I feel comfortable consuming my meal. I like that my hunger signal hasn't completely disappeared. I like feeding myself when I know that my body is asking for it.

Edited March 4, 20224 yr by DaisyAndSunshine

I am 3 months out and have 3 small meals and 2 snacks.

Breakfast - 75 gms low fat Greek yogurt and some berries or passion fruit

Lunch - 1/2 cup soup or meat stew

Snack - 25 gms ham or some deli meat rolled with cheese or cream cheese

Dinner - 50 gms fish or seafood in a homemade sauce

Snack - melba toast or thin cracker with pate or blue cheese or 20 gms cashew nuts

I drink milky coffees and am mostly getting up to 60 gms of protein. It took me about 10 weeks to get to this goal. { I also detest protein drinks. } I am overestimating my calories because I don't usually manage to eat all my food. I estimate it to be 600 - 800 a day. Hope this helps

I find that I get weird feelings in my stomach soon after a bite or two that feel the same as being full.

I take my time and wait the 30 minutes and if I stop feeling that way, then I have a few more bites.

This is the only way I get even close to eating an acceptable amount of food (I still can’t come close to my targets).

So maybe consider taking the full 30 minutes for your meal and waiting to see if you are really done eating before stopping?

I think I discovered part of my problem, based on what I read from other postes and what others go through at my stage.

FOOD DOESN'T BOTHER ME.

How can this be??? I guess everyone is different? I don't get pain, I don't feel sick, I don't get nauseous, so I can just eat. It might sound like a dream, but really, it's not. Because if I can eat, I can, well-- eat. and eat whatever I want. And obviously I don't want THAT! It means my control has to come COMPLETELY from my mind, because my body won't stop me.

Interestingly, it does protest when I drink a lot, and I do wish it was the reverse. I want to drink! I wish my body protested from food, not liquid. I have a friend who told me before my surgery, "You'll see, you won't even be able to LOOK at the things you liked before. You'll have no inclination to eat them, or graze on things." I was looking forward to that, but it's not the case with me. If I allowed myself to, I could graze on anything all day.

These responses were very helpful in giving me a framework, which I am beginning TODAY. (in case you're wondering, my team doesn't really work with this. The nutritionist didn't sit with me and map out a meal plan or anything. Basically she said, you're body will tell you what you can and can't eat. So seeing what others have been eating through the day is helping me form my own meal plan, and hopefully the numbers will start coming down. Because FYI... I haven't been losing weight! I lost 20 lbs between my pre op and the week after, and I've been the same since then, one month out. Not sure how that can be, but the scale don't lie.

So thanks for the responses, hopefully this will help me jumpstart.

I've been worried because most food isn't bothering me either. I eat a few bites and see if I feel full or whatever sensation I should feel but it's usually nothing. I did get nauseous from fat free refried beans. My husband is griping at me and says I should not be able to eat more than a spoon or two of anything.
I am worried about getting my protein in.
I can drink liquids too...I feel a discomfort if I drink too much, but most of the time I don't have to sip it.

I feel mentally crappy right now. Hoping I'm not doing the wrong thing.
Big mistake of husband in the room with nutritionist talking about my diet. I have the paper work and the binder with tons of information. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

18 minutes ago, Wickerbuni said:

I've been worried because most food isn't bothering me either. I eat a few bites and see if I feel full or whatever sensation I should feel but it's usually nothing. I did get nauseous from fat free refried Beans. My husband is griping at me and says I should not be able to eat more than a spoon or two of anything.

How does your husband know? Has he had a bariatric procedure in the past? If no, why would you even listen to him instead of your body? And if yes, well his experience doesn't necessarily have to be same as yours.

You're only about 10 days post-Op. Because it's just the beginning, you won't have clues of fullness, at least I didn't. During this phase I was on full fluids. Fluids glide through, so I never had much of the restriction then.

With full fluids, I was having yogurt, cottage cheese, soups, milk, oatmeal/wheat bran etc etc etc. These wouldn't give you much restriction and you would definitely be able to have many spoon fulls of these items. Also 1st month, your body is recovering along with nerves, so another reason why you may not get the full signal.

Go with your provided instructions and you'll be fine than taking on extra baggage of worry.

With water, I was also only about to do few sips at a time or 2 gulps. Other than that it wouldn't slide through as it did pre surgery.

For protein requirement, try protein shakes or powder. If they don't work, go for Skyr (ice landic yogurt). Skyr has done wonders for my protein goal.

Edited March 11, 20224 yr by DaisyAndSunshine

On 3/4/2022 at 12:46 PM, oldandtired said:

I am 7-8 weeks post-op. I never get enough protein! The shakes were no problem before surgery--but I cannot find one now that I don't take one swallow and not turn green!

Personally- I figure a routine is further down my life's road. I'm trying to figure out what hurts when I eat, what makes me nauseated, etc. Time for a regimen later. I think if you are losing, you are ok (for now.) Do you want to set a goal? Wait until fall. Your tummy will be healed by then, your doc will tell you how your labs look, and you can set a goal/regimen for getting through the holidays... Just my 2 cents worth.

(one more thing-be kind to your tummy.)

Is it the sweetness of the shakes that gets you? If so it bothered me too and the things I was able to tolorate were premiere protein drinks. Their clear protein drink and the caffe latte (which has caffeine). I hope this helps.

On 3/6/2022 at 9:32 AM, idk4w said:

nutritionist didn't sit with me and map out a meal plan or anything. Basically she said, you're body will tell you what you can and can't eat. So seeing what others have been eating through the day is helping me form my own meal plan, and hopefully the numbers will start coming down. 

That's unfortunate because you do need some guidance intially. If you like, I can send you a PDF version of my program's meal plan. You can try getting some ideas from there. But it is bizarre that they haven't provided any guidance to you.

As for food aversion, it hasn't happened to me either. Nor do any food groups bother me per se. But pouch limitation and sticking to the diet plan helps. In my case, cravings have definitely subsided, though at times you do wanna try this or that. But yeh, that's something you do have to control.

For chocolate craving, I have piece of small sugar free chocolate or few Tbsp of sugar free ice cream. For spice, I have my usual vegetable made with Indian spices. Feel for anything crunchy, I'll have quest chips (made with whey and high on protein).

So you'll have to manage and subside your cravings with items that you can have in the provider portion sizes. Make your own recipes that may help.

Everyone's journey will be different, so we will have to figure out what works for us and what doesn't. It can get frustrating at times, but you'll eventually find your mojo.

I am a year out so I eat more at a time than I did when I was three months out but I eat on the same schedule. I eat breakfast at 9, lunch at 12, snack at 3, dinner at 6 And snack at 9. That way I am eating every three hours. And yes i do feel hungry in between but usually I am able to wait the hour and a half or whatever since I know what time I will be eating next.

Edited March 11, 20224 yr by ShoppGirl

On 3/6/2022 at 3:32 PM, idk4w said:

the scale don't lie.

Unfortunately it lies all the time. If you're eating below replacement calories, you're losing fat.

On 3/6/2022 at 9:32 AM, idk4w said:

Because FYI... I haven't been losing weight! I lost 20 lbs between my pre op and the week after, and I've been the same since then, one month out. Not sure how that can be, but the scale don't lie.

3 week stall is what we call it out here, you can search for it on the forum. Majority of us have gone through it. So have I. I lost weight a week after surgery when I was clear fluids, but 3 weeks nada. I stalled for 3 weeks with no weight changes and thereafter it started coming down. Even after the first month, your weight comes down in steps than a constant decline. So you’ll have those phases when you won’t see much movement on the scale.

19 hours ago, DaisyAndSunshine said:

3 week stall is what we call it out here, you can search for it on the forum. Majority of us have gone through it. So have I. I lost weight a week after surgery when I was clear fluids, but 3 weeks nada. I stalled for 3 weeks with no weight changes and thereafter it started coming down. Even after the first month, your weight comes down in steps than a constant decline. So you’ll have those phases when you won’t see much movement on the scale.

But what I'm nervous about is that I'm just stalled becuase maybe i"m somehow eating too much bec the food doesn't bother me, and I def eat more than 1/2 cup at a time!!! It's way less than pre-sleeve, but definitely more than 1/2 cup they told me I'd be able to handle. I'm really concerned!

On 3/11/2022 at 6:38 PM, DaisyAndSunshine said:

If you like, I can send you a PDF version of my program's meal plan. You can try getting some ideas from there. But it is bizarre that they haven't provided any guidance to you.

That's great- can you post that??