I had my sleeve procedure on Jan. 21st, I feel as if I have conquered some areas - cruising along through gas pain, learning how to eat/drink, and my vitamins!!! BUT I notice I have high anxiety regarding my protein intake, my exercise, food variety and my weight loss and feeling hungry an hour or so after meals as well as some constipation/diarrhea. I stress about not getting enough protein when it seems like I am getting enough in protein shakes (at least 2 shakes w/ 25 or 30 grams) and food (20g w/ yogurt), right now I'm only walking but very slow paced with upper body, and now on phase 3 that's leaving me clueless on getting again enough protein and variety where I should be avoiding high fats, sugars, carbs, high cal....I know the stress will surely limit my weight loss... I'm down 24lbs, I feel like I'm sabotaging myself with worrying - any advice/suggestions!

Darling, you are doing great! I remember the anxiety, the feeling of having been given another chance and not wanting to mess it up, but really, just do your very best and relax about the rest! I found that the guidelines given in the beginning were very hard, almost impossible to follow through to the letter.

Yes I do not want to mess this up!! I so appreciate your words of advice. Will continually try to take my new journey one day at a time! Again thanks

It’s not always easy to meet your exact goals every day in the first months. You’re recovering, your tummy is teeny and often won’t tolerate certain foods (flavours, textures or smells), you’re trying to work everything out, all the emotions and mental stuff, etc. It’s a lot to deal with. As long as you’re close most days and over time you are getting closer you’ll be fine. You can only do what you’re physically and mentally able to cope with on any day. Give yourself some grace.

9 hours ago, Arabesque said:

Give yourself some grace.

^ This. Post bariatric surgery eating is really hard! Never let anyone tell you that bariatric surgery is "the easy way out"!

Regarding your protein intake, let's start with an understanding of why a protein-first diet is recommended post-surgery:

• Primarily, we are hoping to stave off something called muscle catabolism. This is when your body basically breaks down your own muscles. This happens mostly but not entirely to meet your daily essential amino acid needs. If we eat enough protein, this significantly reduces the amount of muscle mass your body will burn.
• That's important because the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, meaning you'll burn more calories even at rest.
• Most scientific literature suggests that 60 grams per day of protein is sufficient to meet your essential amino acid needs and thus hold off the bulk of the muscle catabolism that happens while on a weight loss diet.
• Note that some muscle catabolism is inevitable and no amount of protein intake is going to prevent that.
• The second reason protein is important is because protein is filling and relatively slow to digest. Studies have shown that eating more protein than the 60 grams per day minimum can help you feel more full. That basically will result in reduced overall calorie consumption. For this, amounts between 1.6 grams to 2.2 grams per day per kilogram of ideal body weight have been shown to be effective. For example, if 60 kg was your ideal body weight. protein intake between 96 and 132 grams would be suggested.

I'm not sure what your surgical team told you, but since you're already getting over the 60 grams per day minimum, I'd say you're doing fantastic! As you get further out from surgery, you'll probably want to consume more, but keep in mind that all it's really doing is keeping you full longer. It's not going to sabotage your weight loss due to excess muscle loss.

TL;DR: You're going fine on protein, don't sweat it.

11 hours ago, Arabesque said:

It’s not always easy to meet your exact goals every day in the first months. You’re recovering, your tummy is teeny and often won’t tolerate certain foods (flavours, textures or smells), you’re trying to work everything out, all the emotions and mental stuff, etc. It’s a lot to deal with. As long as you’re close most days and over time you are getting closer you’ll be fine. You can only do what you’re physically and mentally able to cope with on any day. Give yourself some grace.

Appreciate this! I think I needed to hear this... Give yourself some grace.

1 hour ago, SpartanMaker said:

^ This. Post bariatric surgery eating is really hard! Never let anyone tell you that bariatric surgery is "the easy way out"!

Regarding your Protein intake, let's start with an understanding of why a protein-first diet is recommended post-surgery:

• Primarily, we are hoping to stave off something called muscle catabolism. This is when your body basically breaks down your own muscles. This happens mostly but not entirely to meet your daily essential amino acid needs. If we eat enough protein, this significantly reduces the amount of muscle mass your body will burn.
• That's important because the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, meaning you'll burn more calories even at rest.
• Most scientific literature suggests that 60 grams per day of protein is sufficient to meet your essential amino acid needs and thus hold off the bulk of the muscle catabolism that happens while on a weight loss diet.
• Note that some muscle catabolism is inevitable and no amount of protein intake is going to prevent that.
• The second reason protein is important is because protein is filling and relatively slow to digest. Studies have shown that eating more protein than the 60 grams per day minimum can help you feel more full. That basically will result in reduced overall calorie consumption. For this, amounts between 1.6 grams to 2.2 grams per day per kilogram of ideal body weight have been shown to be effective. For example, if 60 kg was your ideal body weight. protein intake between 96 and 132 grams would be suggested.

I'm not sure what your surgical team told you, but since you're already getting over the 60 grams per day minimum, I'd say you're doing fantastic! As you get further out from surgery, you'll probably want to consume more, but keep in mind that all it's really doing is keeping you full longer. It's not going to sabotage your weight loss due to excess muscle loss.

TL;DR: You're going fine on protein, don't sweat it.

Thanks!! for the details/information as I did not hear about the muscle catabolism, but did learn/understand about muscle building for better metabolism efficiency and feeling fuller. So very good to know.