When Could you Eat 3-4oz?

My meal plan includes eating only dense protein until I can eat a 3-4oz portion and then I can add non-starchy veggies, low sugar fruits and according to them healthy carbs (but I plan to stay low carb).

Currently, at 13 weeks, I can eat 1.5-2oz and never anymore. My kids chuckle at me because I'll occasionally put 2.5oz on my plate and the portion I don't eat is exactly .5oz. The only veggies I've had have been a tiny bite to taste.

I'm not complaining, I like that I have good restriction and I've always stopped before taking the last bite that hurts (so far!). But, I do miss veggies. I was also eating 1.5-2oz at 6 weeks when I saw my NUT but I was taking more than 30 minutes. Now I eat that in 15-20 minutes and I'm done.

I can eat more soft foods of course, although the only ones I really eat are yogurt and laughing cow cheese (and very occasionally, a SF pudding).

Edited to Clarify: I mean 3-4oz of dense protein by weight, not volume.

My meal plan said I should be able to eat 4 oz of protein, 2 oz non-starchy veg and 2 oz starchy veg at 9 weeks. They are high. I could barely eat 2 oz by then.

I'm at 5.5 months now, and I can manage EITHER 4 oz of dense protein at a sitting, or 2-3 oz (depends on the protein) and something else totalling at most 6 oz. At 3 months like you, 3 oz was my limit unless it was something saucy or soupy like chili.

As long as you can get your protein in, I say add in a little veg now. I had to eat 5 meals to get all mine in for a long time.

I, on the other hand, say follow your surgeon's plan and wait to add veg until the plan says you can.

In order to get my protein in nicely, I have to continue to follow the plan. At this point I'm getting in 3 meals, plus one protein forward snack (1oz of jerky normally or 1oz of cheese) and a shake in a day. I don't even have room for veggies at this point without sacrificing the protein (which I won't do).

I'm glad to hear you have so much restriction still at 4 years out. I have a co-worker who said she has really protected her restriction by keeping her meals tiny and she's had great results maintaining her weight loss. I wonder if that means that my veggie consumption will just forever be low?

This kind of all came up when Jon and I were talking about doing a CSA this year and decided it's kind of pointless.

Oh yea, there is no way I could do a CSA now! I did one a number of years pre-op, but it would be a waste of money now. Even going to the farmers market during market season is challenging because my eyes are way bigger than our need. It used to be I could buy everything that looked tasty and know I'd use it during the week. Now I have to go to the market with a plan. "Okay, I need veg for 3 meals, and only one [whatever quantity - bunch, container, whatever] of each thing."

My veg consumption at this point is MUCH lower than it was pre-op and always will be. Once in a blue moon I'll "cheat" and lunch will be "4 ounces of asparagus!!!" Because I'm a rebel like that. But I'm also three years out so having a low protein day once a month isn't going to wreck me.

But, yes, my restriction is still great. Aside from my breakfast shake I primarily eat dense things, I weigh almost everything I put into my mouth, I stop eating before I get "full," I portion my food out prior to getting to the table and only eat what I've put on my plate... important habits. And, thankfully, my binge eating disorder reoccurrence after my dad died last year didn't do any lasting damage. Once I started eating correctly again after starting medication I was able to "hear" my restriction signals again.

I know some people claim that their stomachs stretch and they can go back to eating the way they did pre-op, but, seriously, their post-op stomach will always be smaller than it used to be and if eating is correct, then the restriction will still be there. (Unless there is an actual diagnosed physical malfunction with the surgery.)

Do you incorporate some veggies in daily at this point? Do your partners eat less veggies overall too? I feel a little bad because Jon eats less veggies too and more like I do now (with larger meat portions). He's dropped from 160-ish to 150-ish pounds though and he has added muscle too (or at least it looks that way!). He says he feels great, but I wonder if he should supplement some vitamins.

Good questions. (And I should be stretching now, but I don't want to move!)

I changed the way that I planned meals when I went back to college and because we were just ending up with too much food, and too many side dishes, since I wasn't eating the side dishes.

Due to scheduling, two nights a week (Tu/Th) are leftover nights where we all forage from the fridge for dinner. Art has Aikido on both of those nights so gets home super late and I have choir on one of them, so I get home super late - it's easier to just all do our own thing when we get home.

Then the other two nights of the weekdays (M/W) I only cook a protein or something that's mainly a protein. Sometimes I'll do a basic veg if the fridge has no veg, but not all the time. So, for example, last night I pan seared flat iron steaks (a LOT of them) and roasted a bunch of asparagus because I hadn't been home to cook over the weekend. There is always rice in the fridge for the guys if the want a basic carb.

Then on F, Sa, and Su I'll do a full meal - a casserole, a protein with a side dish, spaghetti, whatever. I'll eat a serving at the meal, and then the leftovers will be eaten by the guys for their lunches or the Tu/Th dinners.

Art had weight to lose (and still does) and has lost weight since my surgery. Yay! Lance had a teeny amount of weight to lose, but he's really just working on building muscle, so he's only lost about 5 pounds. He'd like to exchange a bit more fat for weight, but he's at a good weight.

I hope that makes sense? The nights I do cook, I do cook a bunch so that we have food for our leftover nights and lunches. And on the nights I cook protein only, I tend to make things that pair well with rice and a simple veg. Sometimes Art complains about not getting enough veg but then I'll be tossing leftover veg at the end of the week that no one ate, so whatever :P There's always veg available in the fridge for the people who want it.

So really, you're doing the same thing as us. Which makes me feel better about it. The kids have Taekwondo M/W and those tend to be quick dinners, they make themselves (sandwiches, soups, cereal, etc). I eat smoked salmon those nights mostly, because I love it. Tuesday and weekends I make full meals and eat just he protein. I make them rice and a veggie side, or sometimes potatoes. Thursday I worked with my trainer (and Monday) so Jon cooks.

No one would have ever said that Jon had weight to lose, but I like my men skinny so I'm not complaining! Though I told him I want to weigh less than him even for just a day so he needs to knock off the losing!

Definitely sounds like we do similar things.

It was a very happy day in my life when the scale asked me to identify myself as Lance or Gwen. And an even happier day when it stopped asking me because I was lower than he was. (He's 5'11" and tends to be 165-170.)

That's the thing. Right now to get my protein in I'm eating three meals, plus a snack and then a protein shake before bed. So I don't think I can really fit any veggies in anywhere!