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I'm hungry!!!

T

ToshiMom

Member
I'm 7 weeks post op and am really struggling with the small amount of food I'm allowed. It's just NOT satisfying to me. Any suggestions! Is 1/4 cup at 3 months out even reasonable??? I think I could easily eat 1/2 C or more now! Help!
 
Hi ToshiMom. You are at almost a month now, a sample meal from my post surgery meal plan is: Breakfast- 2 eggs and 2 tbls fruit or 1/2 cup cottage cheese n 2 T fruit, Lunch and dinner was 2-3 oz meat and 2 T. vegies if room and yougurt or protien shakes for snacks.

I had Rny and at about 3 months I think I was eating about 1/2 cup worth of food at a meal, I mostly weighed things I would have 2-3 oz meat and a 1 oz of cheese w/1 Tbls of refried beans sometimes protien bar or shake for snacks if I wasn't really hungry, other thinks that would go together for meals were turkey sausage (1 link) with an egg/cheese or 1/2 cup cottage cheese or yogurt for breakfast was always good. I tried to eat 5 small meals a day, wich was difficult to do because I wasn't really hungry, I usually totaled 1200 to 1500 calories a day for the first year. Remember to wait an hour to drink any fluids after you eat or it will empty your pouch out and you will bungry sooner than you want to be. hope this helps a little. :cool: Tom
 
I have between 1500 and 2000 calories a day depending on my exercise level sometimes more if I am constantly hiking throughout the day. :cool:
 
I'd try checking with the MD and dietician. Perhaps they can work with you to give you ideas of things that will feel more substantial when eaten.
Hope you are chewing to death what you are eating.
There are times when I'm not hungry & will still eat greek yogurt w/some sugar free jello powder because I have to get that protein in.
I've found eggs & turkey to be filling after chew chew chewing them to death.
Drinking the 64 oz of water & 16 oz of skim milk a day seems to keep me satisfied during the day.

Ask, they can make sure you're on the right track. We're new to the process that nothing is going to fit or work perfectly w/o tweaks.
 
ToshiMom-Give your nutritionist a call and ask for the daily calorie recommendation then adjust your diet accordingly making sure to use only the foods from whatever phase of the meal plan you should be at. If you still feel hungry after doing all of that then try eating sugar free popsicles and drinking more non-calorie beverages or water to help fill the void. I know what you are going through because I got my appetite back around week 6 and have to watch my calories very closely every day.
 
Thanks, everyone! I will call the nutritionist ASAP and see what she says. I will try to rely on the sugar free liquids as much as I can between meals, however, the last time I mentioned this, she said she'd prefer me eat a protien, so I'm rather confused. I am getting my 64 oz in almost every day. I don't know what my caloric intake is supposed to be... I just know that I'm supposed to be at 10 teaspoons of food per meal. By 3 months post op, 1/4 c each meal; 6 months 1/2 cup, and 1 year and beyond, 1 cup per meal.

I'll keep you all posted. I love this site!
 
ToshiMom,

I just pulled out my 3 month menu. I was given a full menu through the 90 days and following the 90 days, suggestions on how to continue eating.

week 7. day 1
BFAST - 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 C fruit
SNACK - protein supplement to provide 20 -25 g
LUNCH - 1/2 C cream of tomato soup (add 1/2 C non-fat milk), 1/2 banana
SNACK - protein supplement to provide 20 - 25 g
DINNER - 2 to 3 oz ground chicken, 1/2 C steamed zucchini
SNACK - protein supplement to provide 20 - 25 g

week 7 day 2:
BFAST - 6 oz sugar-free/fat-free yogurt
SNACK - protein as above
LUNCH - 1 C minestrone soup, 1/2 C peaches
SNACK - protein as above
DINNER - 2 to 3 oz ground roast lean pork, 1/2 C spinach
SNACK - protein as above

week 7 day 3:
BFAST - 1 slice whole wheat toast, 1 T peanut butter
SNACK - protein as above
LUNCH - 2 oz ham salad, 6 whole grain crackers
SNACK - protein as above
DINNER - 2 to 3 oz lemon pepper tilapia, 1/2 C carrots
SNACK - protein as above

week 7 day 4
BFAST - 1/2 C oatmeal (made with 8 oz skim milk), may add artificial sweetener and cinnamon
SNACK - protein as above
LUNCH - 1 beef noodle soup, 1/2 C sugar free gelatin
SNACK - protein as above
DINNER - 2 to 3 oz ground beef, 1/2 C whipped potatoes
SNACK - protein as above

week 7 day 5
BFAST - 1/2 C unsweetened cereal with 6 - 8 oz skim milk
SNACK - protein as above
LUNCH - 1 slice whole grain toast, 2 - 3 oz deli turkey, 1/2 C pears
SNACK - protein as above
DINNER - 2 to 3 oz baked salmon, 1/2 C green beans
SNACK - protein as above

week 7 day 6
BFAST - 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 small banana
SNACK - protein as above
LUNCH - 2 oz turkey salad, 6 whole grain crackers
SNACK - protein as above
DINNER - 2 to 3 oz stewed chicken, 1/2 C mashed potatoes
SNACK - protein as above

week 7 day 7
BFAST - 1/2 C cream of wheat (made with 8 oz skim milk)
SNACK - protein as above
LUNCH - 1 C mild chili, 6 whole grain crackers
SNACK - protein as above
DINNER - 1 C cream of broccoli soup, 1/2 C low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 C peaches
SNACK - protein as above

I was and still am, religious about the water. Every 5 minutes I sipped for about the first 2 months. It went from sips to gulps. I still can't have that much at one time, I've never been able to eat that much, but I get it all in. I take my vitamins, I drink my potassium (dang how I hate that gross stuff), I take the fiber, I pop iron pills, I drink the shakes, I drink the water, I love to add sugar free hawaiin punch to my water. It's a treat.

I went through a phase of fudgsicles. Love those and they are sugar free so I don't get sick. Love em. I was allowed to add those to my diet after week 1. They are like 10 calories for each one. I also love broth. Just another way of getting more water in me without getting sick of just plain water.

Ask your nutritionist about the menu I shared. I can post more of it, but will do so privately if she/he says it's a good base for you to follow. Mine was created by the Bariatric Nutritionist at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. So all military patients that go through NMCSD follow the same diet basically. I will note that it was stressed the menu is a guideline. If any foods made me feel ill I was to not eat them. I can't eat russet potatoes. About 2 months ago I had a red potato and wow, I didn't get ill, I didn't feel ill..nothing! So, I have discovered that different types of foods effect us all differently.

Experiment. Drink drink drink. You will get through this and you will do just fine! Let us know what your dietation says!!!!

Please forgive my typos and take care,

Letrell
 
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That looks very similar to my 6 week and beyond meal plan, I never could get the hang of oatmeat or cream of wheat cereals though. I didn't have the patience to type all that out I am one of those two to three finger typers:rolleyes: I still like the 5 small meals a day they seem to keep me satisfied and a shake or protien bar are great for one or two of those meals for me. :cool: Tom
 
I can't eat a large meal, and I'm not even going to try. About every hour something is popped into my mouth. Admittedly alot of times it's the sugar free drinks or just water. I fill up and am good. But I do get something to "eat" every couple of hours. Is so much easier on the pouch.

What kind of bars do you eat? I just can't do it. They hurt my pouch so much.
 
ToshiMom said:
Thanks, everyone! I will call the nutritionist ASAP and see what she says. I will try to rely on the sugar free liquids as much as I can between meals, however, the last time I mentioned this, she said she'd prefer me eat a protien, so I'm rather confused. I am getting my 64 oz in almost every day. I don't know what my caloric intake is supposed to be... I just know that I'm supposed to be at 10 teaspoons of food per meal. By 3 months post op, 1/4 c each meal; 6 months 1/2 cup, and 1 year and beyond, 1 cup per meal.

I'll keep you all posted. I love this site!
Click to expand...

You are not confused, you are 100% correct that you should be eating protein first and foremost. However, once you find out the maximum number of calories you should be eating and after eating them you still find yourself hungry then fill up on the very low or no calorie things like I mentioied in my last post. What works for me is I pace myself throughout the day by dividing up my proteins for 3 main meals and make my snacks with fewer calories and add the no to low calorie foods like SF popsicles and no calorie beverages. Milk isn't on my list of favorites so I hardly ever use my snack calories by drinking milk because it is relatively high in calories compared to other things I could be eating or drinking for my snacks.
 
ToshiMom, you are not at the stage where you should worry about calories. Your big concern is adjusting to the new eating regime and getting in what you are required to have. Please don't get caught up in calories. I have no clue what my caloric intake is. I eat right, I drink right. When I eat too much it hurts so bad, it's just not worth it. So as Tom has pointed out, both of us have elected to have smaller and more meals. It works well. I know so many people that stress over calories and trying to get it all in and yanno, they are having problems. By problems, I mean, they are gaining it back.

Work on the present challenge. Get used to eating the foods you can have and enjoy them. Move on with each stage. And don't be hard on yourself! You're doing great!

Smile.

Letrell
 
Hi Letrell, I found some small protien bars that make a great replacement meal they are called Pure Protien w/19-20 gm protien 200 calories and 18g carbs. I noticed it contains surgar alcohols which may causer gastrointestinal discomfort, that may be what causes you the dumping when you eat protien bars, I seem to do ok with it though, they put the same stuff in a lot of dibetic foods that are sweetened, my wife always liked the surgar free gummie bears (she was dibetic) they would make my stomach rumble and run through me in about 20 minutes LOL:rolleyes: The eating every couple of hours works really good for me because if I wait until I am hungry (longer than 4 hours) I get the eyes bigger than tummy syndrom and then feel uncomfortable after I eat so I try not to do that anymore and always try and keep something like nuts and friut, beef jerky or protien bars that are easy to eat on the fly.:p

Looking good Pat, nice picture:D My meal plan binder stress in several places protien first too, I hear that from my support group and doctor, she even askes that question on my annual visits, so it is important. My support group facilitator said that is good for people who don't have WLS also. :cool: Tom
 
I agree in not worrying about calories EXCEPT when someone (ToshiMom) is saying she is hungry all the time. The other scenerios are when someone is following the meal plans and either stops losing weight or gains weight. That is the point when one should discuss calories with the nutritionist. You shouldn't look at the calendar to determine if you should be counting calories you should be listening to what your pouch is telling you :)

Some people will never have to worry about calories since they are losing weight at a steady pace or have lost all or too much of their weight. At some point in time most of us don't fall into this catagory and need to know where we are at calorie wise. I have already had 2 instances of not losing weight over a period of 4 weeks then again for 2 weeks and found out that I was not eating enough. By increasing my calories by 200 to 300 more a day I began losing weight again. Just my personal experience which is a lot like shoes, one size doesn't fit all :)
 
Thanks Tom. My niece took the picture last week at her daughter's grad party. If I knew she was going to take a picture of me I would probably have dolled myself up a little :) At least my hair was cut 2 days earlier *LOL*

What you see is a cropped version of the picture. The full picture has a plate of food sitting on my lap, at least it was a salad :)
 
Pat you are correcrt with calories, there is a fine line between to few calories and just enough and it could be a matter of just a couple hundred. During one of my support group meetings that was the topic of discussion before our round robin of how we are all doing. I have heard this before but the way he explained it is; the body needs a certain amount of calories to live on and when we go below that minimum that will sustain weight loss and nutrition our bodies will try and reatain the calorie we take in and fat we have as reserves as a defence mechanism and can actually start to burn muscle instead for its energy. Nutritionsts can give us a pretty good calorie/protien/fat/carb balance that we need as minimum based on out height, weght, metobolic level and age etc... It is always worth a visit to our nutritionist or doctor when we decide to make any drastic changes to our meal plans that are out of the normal with our prescribed meal plans outlined for us post surgery. :cool: Tom
 
My nutritionist and the info given to me has NEVER mentioned calories. I just know that at 3 months out, my max intake per meal is supposed to be 1/4 cup.... which isn't much! I could eat a full cup now with no problem, and that's the max for 1 year according to my plan. That's why I'm a little concerned.

I have NO PROBLEM eating protein! I love it. I'm tired of protein shakes, however. I've been trying some of the WonderSlim puddings and the BariWise Fruit Drinks which I like very much, however, they aren't whey protein ISOLATE, which my doc prefers. I'm going to use them until they're gone anyway. Any opinions on the protein supplements at this stage for me???
 
All I'm saying is that if you are feeling hungry all the time you might consider discussing calories with your nutritionist. You shouldn't feel hungry at all if you are eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day providing those meals are giving you adequate calories for your lifestyle. I know information regarding calories is not given to WLS patients in the handouts but if you are truly always hungry it may be time to ask, but that's totally up to you my friend. Afterall, you asked for suggestions in your original post and this is my suggestion. I'm just trying to help you not feel hungry all the time. I've been there and it's no fun and can be discouraging.

I asked about calories because I was hungry a lot and found out I was not eating enough to lose weight. I started eating 200 to 300 calories more a day and the weight started coming off again.
 
Im in big trouble listening to you guys talk. I am taking in so much more food than all of you. Im 8 1/2 weeks out and I m eating well over a cup of food all day long. Now I know it might have something to do with the fact that they haven't been able to put much fill in because it keeps making me sick. I don't even think im at at 2ml so I see the dr tomorrow. hopefully he will explain why I can't get fill and why i am not losing more weight. any ideas
 
Hi Again. I think I am starting to see where you are at, kind of, are you 8 1/2 weeks or months? If you are 8 1/8 weeks then 22lbs is really really good for the band if it's months then I am not sure how that is on the average maybe on the slow side but we are all different, and please try not to judge your weight loss to any one elses some will lose quicker some slower. Most of us here have had the RnY or the Gastric Sleeve but we are startinng to have a fair amount of Band folks. When you are looking at the amount of food we eat (sleeve and RnY) it is becuase our stomachs are made real small, about the size of an egg for the RnY and a small banana for the sleeve. From what I understand about the band they have to slowly fill your band to restrict the amount of food you can eat, it could be that you may not be chewing up your food enough, I have heard you don't have dumping with the band but that sounds like what is happening with you, it can happen to us if we eat to much surgar, carbs or don't chew our food up real well. I hope some of the banders can help you out on why you are having these problems. :cool: Tom
 
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