Struggling to eat!

[SaraSara4 16]

I am struggling terribly with eating. I am 8wks post-op and did ok with food stages in the first few weeks. I now have been cleared to eat what I want within guidelines. My problem is that I am just not hungry most of the time. When I am hungry it seems like everything just tastes gross. Or the thought of eating anything makes me feel queasy. I did talk to my team and they reassured me that its not terribly uncommon until around 3 months out, and to just keep trying foods and supplement with shakes to get Protein, I am doing great getting fluids and taking all my Vitamins but food is just a struggle. I can tolerate most things I have tried (except bananas for some reason) so I don’t think it’s anything structurally wrong bo pain or vomiting or anything like that. I just dont have the desire to eat. Its like I have an aversion to food!! I absolutely can not stand the thought of eggs anymore. Or cottage cheese because I ate so much of it during soft foods. Salty food are too much so even Soup has been off putting. Im not a sweets person so protein puddings and smoothies really aren’t my thing though I will make smoothies as a quick and easy meal but I cant drink them every day because its just too sweet. I didn’t really have a dependency on food, just made terrible choices. so I dont really crave anything either. Its just so weird and I am so lost on what to try. Meal prep is a flop because I make foods and then dont want to eat them and end up throwing most of it away.

[catwoman7 11,285]

I know this sounds weird, but embrace it. And yes - I know it's weird at first, but after a while I found it very liberating. For the first time in my life, I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food. For almost all of us, hunger eventually comes back sometime during the first year (mine came back at five months out), and then things get a lot harder. So right now it's going to be easier for you to lose weight than it ever has or ever will be - so take full advantage of that!

At nine years out I still can't stomach bananas. I find them very cloying. I used to love them pre-surgery.

Edited June 23, 2024 by catwoman7

[SaraSara4 16]

28 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

I know this sounds weird, but embrace it. And yes - I know it's weird at first, but after a while I found it very liberating. For the first time in my life, I was never hungry and didn't give a flip about food. For almost all of us, hunger eventually comes back sometime during the first year (mine came back at five months out), and then things get a lot harder. So right now it's going to be easier for you to lose weight than it ever has or ever will be - so take full advantage of that!

At nine years out I still can't stomach bananas. I find them very cloying. I used to love them pre-surgery.

Thanks! Thats actually very reassuring! To be honest I am stressing myself out about not eating enough and it makes it worse. I don’t want to jeopardize my health by not having enough nutrition or anything but its so hard when you just dont want to eat

[Arabesque 7,617]

It is pretty common & it can be a challenge to find foods you enjoy & can tolerate. It can be a lot of trial & error to find foods to eat. Don’t give up a good though. Sometimes you eat something one day & it’s fine but the next day your tummy is no way that’s disgusting. Then a week or so later it’s great again. It does gets better & easier as you progress.

I began eating to a routine to help counter not being hungry & having no appetite because I knew I had to eat. Didn’t matter if I didn’t eat all of my portion or only ate the Protein portion, as long as I was getting some nutrients in. My fridge always had leftovers in it which I’d eat for another meal that day or the next. Actually there’s still leftovers there everyday & I’m 5 years out. 😁 Eating to a routine continues to be part of my day. I’m not as rigid anymore but I find it helps keep me focussed & helps ensure I only respond to real hunger not head hunger.

[AbbyLee 3]

18 hours ago, SaraSara4 said:

Thanks! Thats actually very reassuring! To be honest I am stressing myself out about not eating enough and it makes it worse. I don’t want to jeopardize my health by not having enough nutrition or anything but its so hard when you just dont want to eat

I'm going through the same thing. 2 weeks PO, and I'm on pureed. Nothing tastes good. Like at all! And I have constant bubbling when I eat, so I can only eat about 2 tbsp of anything at a time. I, too, am so nervous about not getting enough nutrition right now.

[ms.sss 15,858]

it will pass.

i had a whole food aversion thing consistently for about a month and a half. it was reeeaaally bad the first two weeks post-op

then it became less and less frequent as time went on. i sill get a food aversion day every once in a while now, and i'm almost 6 years out (and i turned out just fine).

[summerseeker 2,415]

14 hours ago, AbbyLee said:

I'm going through the same thing. 2 weeks PO, and I'm on pureed. Nothing tastes good. Like at all! And I have constant bubbling when I eat, so I can only eat about 2 tbsp of anything at a time. I, too, am so nervous about not getting enough nutrition right now.

I don't think the fact that its pureed helps. It already looks like something you wouldn't eat. I just couldn't. I skipped this stage. I made vegetable Soups that were thicker than my liquid ones. I added cheese that melted in. Made them with some milk instead of all stock. It worked for me. Never be afraid to go back a stage for a while. We can not all have the same healing curve.

[ShoppGirl 5,073]

As long as you are getting your Protein and Vitamins you should be fine. I didn’t experience that with my first surgery but mine didn’t work and I’m pending revision. My never been obese husband eats like that though. He thinks of eating as a chore and always has. I tell him all that time that he needs to be studied. I can only imagine it’s an adjustment but I feel like it would be ideal for food to not be the center of my thoughts anymore. Maybe just set a couple alarms to remind you when you get busy to get the necessities in. I do think it will get a little easier though based on what I have seen on here over the past few years.

Edited June 24, 2024 by ShoppGirl

[Lilia_90 616]

I was the same.

Nothing tasted good and I'm so not into sweet foods, Protein Shakes were a nightmare to drink and half a smoothie took me a whole day to finish (and they were gross no matter what I put in them).

It gets better, I found that after the pureed stage I lost my interest in eating, it was only after I started consistent weight lifting and exercise (around 4 months) that my hunger returned. Hang in there!

[JennyBeez 289]

I had some similar phases -- I'm in one right now, I just have no appetite and I've yet to feel hunger post-op so it's been a struggle.

Part of it is mindset. Try to remind yourself that you're eating for nutrition now, and to recalibrate your body into accepting food again. You don't have to eat any full meal -- even if you just get a few bites down and then follow up with a shake half an hour later to make sure you're getting your Protein in. I'm 3 months in and there are days where Breakfast is a soft Protein Bar, lunch is a Protein Shake (and dinner is one of the thousands of frozen cups of pureed sweet potato with Bone Broth powder that I made back in week 3, LOL) . Or whatever I manage to convince myself to eat for the sake of it. Dp whatever you have to do to get through.

Keep in mind, your body is still healing. You may be free of pain, but your innards can take 6-8 months to heal, move back into place, etc. Your hormones and body chemicals are all over the place right now. Cut yourself lots of slack. Survive this until it gets better for you.