Finding the time for all the protein

Hello! I'm 12 days post-op today. I'm in the puréed stage and am trying to wean off the protein drinks and move towards food. I am a bit stuck.

I have Premier Protein drinks. I drink three of them (each one becoming 2 servings for a total of 6 servings) and get in 90g of protein. Terrific! At my one week follow-up I was moved to purées and told to try to slowly get from all liquid protein to foods. Got it. But this is where I run into questions/problems.

I do not ever feel hungry. Nor do I feel overly full. I feel constantly sated. I would be inclined to believe this is a good thing, except that I'm not sure it is. I got a sheet from the hospital that indicated, among other foods, that 1/2C of Greek yogurt is good for 15g of protein. I got a small bowl (granted, not our smallest, but far smaller than any typical small bowl) and measured out 1/2C of Greek yogurt. I do not like the taste of plain yogurt so I added some Jello Light for flavour. It sounds repellent, but actually tastes okay. I forgot to halve the yogurt so that when I added the Jello it would only be 1/2C and not a full cup. But I didn't remember that I had forgotten until I was 4/5 of the way done this large portion of food.

As soon as I realized what I had done, I stopped eating. And felt hugely guilty. There's no way a cup of food should be able to fit into something the size of an egg. But I did not feel full. I did not experience any discomfort at all. (apart from mental)

I want to do this right. It seems to me that I'll have to constantly be grazing in order to get in 90g of protein. I feel like I'm eating all the time and this is only to substitute 15g (or half a Premier Protein drink).

Please someone tell me what is reasonable and appropriate. I know I'm not supposed to be grazing all day. I know I'm not supposed to be drinking close to when I'm eating. But as I see it right now, I'm pretty much constantly sipping on either my protein drinks or water and having some ricotta cheese and hummus when I can. I'm worried that in my quest to get in enough protein I will overeat. I do not have the sensation of too full to let me know when to stop. I do measure my food (and I'm extra careful after that screw-up with the yogurt and Jello), but I just feel like I could probably constantly graze, never feel too full, and ruin everything in my quest to get in enough protein.

Is it common enough to feel like one is eating all the time? If I come in on the low end of acceptable protein (60-ishg) will that be detrimental to my healing?

My nutritionist appointment is already booked for a couple of weeks from now and I do intend to talk to her about it. But in the meantime I thought I'd post here to see what people have to say.

Thank you.

You are doing great.  The lack of hunger is a good thing.  Food no longer controls you.  It's a great thing.  

Dont worry too much about the quantity at this point when it comes to yogurt and jello.  They are liquids.  Liquids constantly flow through your pouch. You won't feel full.  Plus your nerves are all cut so there's typically little sensation.   You are doing fine on protein.  That's the main thing.  

Next time do your jello/yogurt meal the way you should have and no worries.  Early out t is pretty common to feel like you are grazing but it is pretty typical.  When you get to foods, that is where things will change and you may also get a feeling of fullness.  

One thing my centre told me is not to expect to even have a feeling of fullness.  What we equate with fullness is typically the feeling of being overstuffed.  I was told to eat til satiated, not stuffed. Or to eat til the absence of hunger.  

You are doing great.  No worries!

Dawn

Ah, thank you, Dawn! I feel loads better hearing that yogurt and Jello both count as liquids. I had forgotten that, too! That would explain my being able to get them down (not that I was eating quickly, because I most certainly was not).

You are right.  You don't want to graze. But you should do 3 small meals and 3 snacks.     And that way you spread out your protein (and don't forget your vitamins).   

I find I have to do planning.   So I weight and measure all my foods and I track it in My Fitness Pal.  Each day by the time I am done breakfast, I have planned out my meals and snacks for balance of the day with the goal in mind to get to 80g+ of protein and my calories of 800- 900.            I find using something like MyFitness Pal allows me to see where my biggest bang for the buck is in terms of protein vs the calories vs fat vs carbs.          Like you, my clinic told me to "eat my protein" and not drink my protein so I rely strictly on food for my protein.  

You are only 12 days out!   So don't panic.  This is why you will need to take several weeks to get yourself into a routine and do all your tracking.  Trust me, once you get into the routine, it really will be more automatic and take less thinking.   The weighing, measuring and tracking probably doesn't take collectively more than an extra 10 minutes in my day. 

And you will need time to build up to your calories and protein.  Can't do it all in one day!  

For me, I am in my 18th post week op and don't get the "full feeling" I used to get pre-surgery.  Now I get tiny hiccups which are my signal to stop.     And because I am weighing/ measuring my foods, I know regularly what I can usually eat.  Some days --- I can't eat what I ate the day before at the same time. But you will be pretty able to judge.

Dar

I agree with Dawn and Dar, you are doing great.  Greek Yogurt is a slider food so will pass easily through your pouch.

I do agree with Dar and do suggest you try some form of tracking. I also use My fitness pal for tracking and have done so daily since prior to surgery. It is a great way to plan you daily food and keep track of protein and carbs. 

Good Luck and enjoy your journey.   

just remember, you may want to switch to more regular foods, but your pouch and system may not tolerate everything you want to consume...also remember that protein doesn't have to come JUST from shakes..you can eat high protein greek yougurt...you can add protein to pudding, to almost anything that you eat...including your ricotta cheese,

Some people cannot get the required protein in unless they are grazing..grazing on what you are supposed to be eating and keeping track of what you have consumed is idea..I have never been a fan of 3 meals and 2 snacks syndrome...for some people it works for others it does not and while it may SEEM IDEAL

....you have to do what works for you and if you are spreading your intake requirements more thinly..and it works for you there is nothing wrong with that.

At 4.5 years post-op..I eat much differently than I did at a year or even 2 years post-op..it's all about remembering what you put into your mouth, reading labels and reading (at my stage of the journey), that old habits are just waiting to creep in...I still portion out my potato chips..yes I do eat them on occasion, but I portion out everything~!!

It's only realistic to graze..when you are 12 days post-op...seriously no one could expect you to eat 3 square meals and get in everything you require...slowly don't hurry things...and remember to keep track...eventhough I am a veteran..I recall my bariatric team focusing on increasing fluid intake in the first couple of weeks, rather than getting the 60+ g of protein in ALSO.

JMO and experience

I hear ya Kat!  I'm 6 days post-op and I feel like all I do is sip all day but I have to REMIND myself to have my meals on time - I just dont feel hungry at all.   I measure everything out in the morning and I'm happy to see all the portioned out containers empty by the end of the day.  Its kinda amusing to me that I have one cup or another (protein or water) in my hand at all times but I know that that will change soon enough.  

Just keep on following what your bariatric team tells you and its all good!  

Thank you everyone.

I do actually keep track of what I'm eating and my vitamins and even down to if I've had a BM or not. I do it by hand in a notebook purchased especially for this purpose. I keep track of all my liquids and break down whether it is water or protein drink, or something else, like applesauce. I keep track of the amounts of food and its protein content. What I haven't done (yet, but I will) is rework it to add in calories and fat and carbs. And when I was taking them, I was also writing down what pain medication I was having and when.

I was writing everything down once it had been consumed, but I'm starting to write it all out and check it off as it's done as another visual reminder of what I've eaten/drunk and what still needs to be eaten/drunk.

I guess the easiest solution is to put protein powder in everything I eat. I got a couple samples of Beneprotein from the hospital and I thought it was the most repugnant stuff ever, which has kinda turned me off the idea of supplementing with powder.

How long do I have to sort all this out? I don't want to take a year, you know? Do I have a month? Is that reasonable? To get my act together?

I find that having a protein shake first thing in the morning that I make myself with 2/3c of skim milk, 3 tbsp of greek yogurt, 1 scoop of protein powder and some sf strawberry syrup I am getting over 40 grams of protein-almost half of my daily requirements.  Makes it so much easier that way!  Good luck you are doing fine.  This is a learning curve and you won't perfect everything overnight!

Your recipe is totally worth investigating. Thank you!