4 Weeks Out - Eating is a chore

[eclarke 5]

Hi:

New to this site, thanks for any imput. I am fighting the post op blues still and I am learning what I can and can't eat, soft food wise. I am experiencing sort of a wave of nausea when something hits my stomach, it usually goes away, except once when I didn't chew enough, then it came back. Anyone experience this? Anyway I sort of dread eating now, and I had a really hard time even getting near the 500-700 calories a day my doctor recommended. (I'm sure this has been asked many, many times before) But will I ever enjoy eating again? I'm not hungry but it is difficult to see others eat things I use to love, and this adds to my feelings of depression and regret. I'm sure this will change but it would help to hear from others. Thanks!

[liveaboard15 1,292]

I move onto soft foods this coming Monday. I cant wait and i hope i can tolerate it because it seriously does suck and is depressing not being able to eat what you use to enjoy.

[lizonaplane 1,604]

I felt this a lot early on, except that I was hungry. eating was hard and nothing tasted good. After a few months (I think by month 3-4) I started being able to enjoy food again. I am 7.5 months out and I still find that things like ground meat (think chili or hamburgers minus the buns) or fish/seafood works better for me than chicken breast or steak, but I'm getting better at eating cuts of meat. I find that food needs to have a sauce on it, especially if it's going to be reheated. I'll use cheese sauces, fat free greek yogurt, refried Beans, Salad Dressing, mayo, etc as sauce. Tomato sauce would probably work, but I don't like it.

It does get better!

[Arabesque 6,420]

I ate a lot of mince dishes too. Soft food is way easier to manage as it’s more like what you always ate & the rest of the family can eat it too. Spaghetti bolognese (just eat the mince beef sauce), meat balls in gravy (mashed them), etc. Anything that is stew/casserole like. Vegetable & meat Soups. Anything slow cooked, fall off the bone tender.

[The Greater Fool 1,932]

I recall feeling this way during the 6 weeks of puree and another month or two with real food. Just had to pay attention to the mechanics of relearning to eat that the actual food was secondary to the process. Once the mechanics became normal eating was more enjoyable.

All these years later I still go through periods when i'm fatigued, stressed, focused elsewhere, or in pain where eating is a chore, but this I think is more about the joy of being me than anything else.

Good luck,

Tek

[catwoman7 10,843]

i know this sounds weird to say, but unless you have a physical issue like a stricture, enjoy it while you can, because your hunger and appetite will come roaring back sometime within the first year. It's so much easier to lose weight when you're never hungry and don't give a flip about food. I wish that had lasted forever with me, but it all came back when I was about five months out. Then things got a lot harder...

[ms.sss 14,617]

I barely ate the first month. Like you it was a chore for me and and the same time i was sort of disgusted by it.

My first two weeks, i was lucky if i hit 400 a WEEK…not a day, a WEEK.

The second 2 weeks i was got to about 300-400 cals a day. It slowly increased as time went on. I’m 3.5 years out now and i can get in at least 1800 cals with no issue, eat a wide variety of things, and actually feel real hunger.

Though truth be told there are still days here and there when the old food-aversion situation comes around and i just dont feel like eating...so I don’t. The days when im a hungry hippo balances it all out so it’s all good.

You are still early on, and what is going on with you now will not last forever. Hang in there, you’ll get into a groove eventually.

Good Luck! ❤️

[eclarke 5]

Thanks, that was helpful. I think we all can agree it’s a STEEP learning curve!

[ShoppGirl 3,340]

I agree with catwoman. Ride that wave as long as you can because when the hunger comes back it gets harder. Many people continue to lose after it comes back but it is not as easy.

[Tomo 1,135]

4 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I agree with catwoman. Ride that wave as long as you can because when the hunger comes back it gets harder. Many people continue to lose after it comes back but it is not as easy.

I agree with catwoman too (almost always do by the way lol.). I'm going on my 9th month, and my hunger has increased a bit but still doable but I am absolutely dreading the real fight that is in my near future.

[Hesitant but hopeful 7]

6 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

I agree with catwoman. Ride that wave as long as you can because when the hunger comes back it gets harder. Many people continue to lose after it comes back but it is not as easy.

I am still pre op and it scares me so much to hear thus. How many of you feel the hunger comes roaring back???

Hesitant but Hopeful

[ShoppGirl 3,340]

1 minute ago, Hesitant but hopeful said:

I am still pre op and it scares me so much to hear thus. How many of you feel the hunger comes roaring back???

Hesitant but Hopeful

I wouldn’t say it comes roaring back. It’s more gradual but it does come back.

[Arabesque 6,420]

24 minutes ago, Hesitant but hopeful said:

I am still pre op and it scares me so much to hear thus. How many of you feel the hunger comes roaring back???

Hesitant but Hopeful

My hunger didn’t come roaring back either. Sort of crept up with odd times I’d be hungry & thankfully usually at meal times. Along the way l’ve learnt to look at my hunger very differently & am much more aware of which is real hunger & which is just head hunger. Makes it way easier to manage - not always successfully but hugely better than I ever did.

Some find their hunger starts to return in their first year. For others it takes longer. The first time I felt real hunger was 9 months out & in maintenance. Busy day, had hardly eaten anything & it hit me late at night. I didn’t know what was wrong because it was such a different feeling. Didn’t feel it again for months so my hunger didn’t really start to come back until well into my second year which was when I had my first craving since before surgery.

I still have odd days or times I’m not hungry. Sometimes I wish I had more of them though 😁.

[Hesitant but hopeful 7]

What do you eat on a typical day?

[eclarke 5]

Yesterday I had scrambled eggs, a strawberry banana Protein Shake, 3oz salmon and 1/3 cup shredded cooked zucchini.