Feel like I’m done with food

[dianeseattle]

I think I got really lucky with him. He was a gigantic baby and just was such a joy to me every minute of his life. I am very outdoorsy myself and we lived in a teepee for a while and I have photographs of myself on solo canoe trips on big lakes in the North Cascades. Of course I taught him how to canoe and his father taught me how to canoe. It is just one of the most enjoyable things in the world to do. I prefer solo canoe though. Avery can go anyway except once when he overloaded the canoe with people and swamped it. They lost a lot of gear and could barely get the canoe back out of the water.

Me the second time I was ever in a canoe on the lake in Texas:

7-day solo canoe trip on Ross Lake, 2008, about a year after my surgery.

I get what you're saying about temptation when you're looking at a french fries and stuff like that. I get that same feeling when I look at a picture of a canoe or a tent pitched on a little island. I would rather be outside for the rest of my life than live in a house.

By the way sportsdad, you're a great addition to our group. Thank you so much for telling your story. I hope you stick around and have good advice for others.

And even though talking is very important, I confess that some of my favorite posts are filled with photos, cartoons or actual pictures of family and our fellow members.

 

[SunnyD]

It’s been a little over two weeks now since my surgery and I just don’t feel like eating. I’m following the guidelines mostly., over 64 oz of water a day, drinking my three protein shakes and a little soup. I’m not at all excited about increasing my diet to include more solid foods. But I know that around 500 calories a day is not a sustainable plan. But I’m not hungry at all and don’t want food. Has anyone else felt this way?

For me hunger didn’t return until the 6-7 month time frame when I was able to really return to my normal exercise schedule. And to be honest, I don’t know if it’s so much hunger any more as it is my brain adjusting to scheduled eating and telling me it’s time. My program warned me not to get hungry or I’d likely overeat or eat to fast and make myself sick. Increased exercise ability definitely made me want to eat more. So I switched from 3 meals a day with a protein shake as a snack to adding an extra meal of a half cup Greek yogurt with blueberries or watermelon and pepitas and that seemed to curb the sudden need to chew.
Food doesn’t taste good anymore. I don’t crave things. That kind of carb hunger or stress hunger is gone for me. I have a friend who says it comes back — but at this point I’m ok with not getting any joy from food.
Btw-I’m 9 months out and I hit between 900-1000 calories on average. I spent 3-4 months at the 500-600 range. When you can only physically eat 1/2 cup — mostly of protein — at a time there’s no way to really eat more.
I’m guessing you’re still working your way through soft foods. They aren’t appetizing, I know. It does get better. All my best to you.

 

[sportsdad]

I think I got really lucky with him. He was a gigantic baby and just was such a joy to me every minute of his life. I am very outdoorsy myself and we lived in a teepee for a while and I have photographs of myself on solo canoe trips on big lakes in the North Cascades. Of course I taught him how to canoe and his father taught me how to canoe. It is just one of the most enjoyable things in the world to do. I prefer solo canoe though. Avery can go anyway except once when he overloaded the canoe with people and swamped it. They lost a lot of gear and could barely get the canoe back out of the water.

Me the second time I was ever in a canoe on the lake in Texas:

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7-day solo canoe trip on Ross Lake, 2008, about a year after my surgery.

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I get what you're saying about temptation when you're looking at a french fries and stuff like that. I get that same feeling when I look at a picture of a canoe or a tent pitched on a little island. I would rather be outside for the rest of my life than live in a house.

By the way sportsdad, you're a great addition to our group. Thank you so much for telling your story. I hope you stick around and have good advice for others.

And even though talking is very important, I confess that some of my favorite posts are filled with photos, cartoons or actual pictures of family and our fellow members.

Thank you. I do plan on being here for a long time. While the team that supports me on the medical side, and the support group is good most of the patients that in the group are seem to be all people that are 1 year or more post op. This group is great because we have people that are in my shoes two months ago and prior and those that are currently one week post op and years post op. While I am pleased with my results now I do really wonder what my association with food will be long term. This forums seems like a great place to gain information as to what people are going thru both the positives and negatives no matter if it has been a month or year since their procedures.

Your pictures are great and I wish that I had the motivation to get a kayak or canoe and get my exercise that way. In my town we have a lake and hiking trails literally steps from my house. I have no desire to be confronted by a bear on the trail which is common place but maybe someday I will get a kayak or use my daughters and venture on the lake.

 

[sportsdad]

For me hunger didn’t return until the 6-7 month time frame when I was able to really return to my normal exercise schedule. And to be honest, I don’t know if it’s so much hunger any more as it is my brain adjusting to scheduled eating and telling me it’s time. My program warned me not to get hungry or I’d likely overeat or eat to fast and make myself sick. Increased exercise ability definitely made me want to eat more. So I switched from 3 meals a day with a protein shake as a snack to adding an extra meal of a half cup Greek yogurt with blueberries or watermelon and pepitas and that seemed to curb the sudden need to chew.
Food doesn’t taste good anymore. I don’t crave things. That kind of carb hunger or stress hunger is gone for me. I have a friend who says it comes back — but at this point I’m ok with not getting any joy from food.
Btw-I’m 9 months out and I hit between 900-1000 calories on average. I spent 3-4 months at the 500-600 range. When you can only physically eat 1/2 cup — mostly of protein — at a time there’s no way to really eat more.
I’m guessing you’re still working your way through soft foods. They aren’t appetizing, I know. It does get better. All my best to you.

Sunny I am with you. Liquid wise I can drink water all day long no issues with the amount and the same with my shakes. My desire for food is similar to what you have mentioned as well. I will have a bite or a few bites of something but then do not have any desire to have more. My wife had made a version of what she calls cheeseburger pie and has adapted so there is no crust or anything, used to be a favorite of mine but now I can't even have more than a bite. I used to eat half of it. Have you had any issues with watermelon?

 

[SunnyD]

Sunny I am with you. Liquid wise I can drink water all day long no issues with the amount and the same with my shakes. My desire for food is similar to what you have mentioned as well. I will have a bite or a few bites of something but then do not have any desire to have more. My wife had made a version of what she calls cheeseburger pie and has adapted so there is no crust or anything, used to be a favorite of mine but now I can't even have more than a bite. I used to eat half of it. Have you had any issues with watermelon?

I had issues with all kinds of foods in the beginning. I named my sleeve Tiger because she was so loud whenever I ate new foods. It’s a little bit like sharing my body with a second being because food I used to enjoy or be ok eating — Tiger can’t stand (Strawberries, pork, ground turkey, lunch meat, etc.) I came into watermelon around month 5, before that it made me gassy and didn’t taste right. The first fruit in my yogurt was a banana mashed for all of month 3-4. Then I moved on to blueberries, which I used to be just ok with and now I think they are my “favorite” food. (That’s probably because they’re the sweetest food I eat all day long.) I had to try tuna 3x to figure out Tiger has texture preferences. She won’t do albacore in a can. It has to be the chunk light stuff from a pouch. My first successful food coming out of the softened/blended stages was a bean free chili. Even though she hated ground turkey she was fine with 90% lean ground beef if it was wet enough. And wet has become her preference. She likes stews, which is ok with me because I like cooking things you just throw in a pot. A person in my support group recommended an Instant Pot. So I got one at Christmas and I use it once a week, most successfully lately with Korean short ribs. Are you grieving the loss of interest in food? I know this sounds silly, but for me, there was like a mourning period. The not feeling hungry helped move me forward.

 

[dianeseattle]

Sunny, that is so goofy! I love it. Yes, the morning period is real. It is natural to grieve the loss of something that has been your best friend at times when you didn't even have any other friends you could turn to. We all have experienced it. I think honoring the loss is super important. I actually have dug graves in the backyard and buried things like cigarettes and having ceremonies when they died, meaning when I gave them up. Sounds even goofier, doesn't it? But it feels good to me. I mean overeating got you obese, but except for that, all our most important moments involve food and it's a lie to deny how important it is.