Need some friendly advice...

So I'm still struggling quite a bit with food, and at nine weeks out I'm not sure if what I'm eating is enough, or if I'm doing fine. I have an appointment with my surgeon next week, but would like to have some comparisons before hand. I have the post-op guide that my surgeon gave me and it basically explains the types of foods allowed, not so much the quantities. So here goes:

Breakfast: Nectar Protein Drink
Lunch: 4oz Greek yogurt
Snack: Nectar protein drink
Dinner: 0.5 ounces chicken

Solid foods seem to still sit really heavy in my stomach, even the Greek yogurt, and still. I make the minimum 60 grams of protein a day but that is basically due to the protein drinks. Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks all

hi Angela,

Looks good to me if you are getting your liquids in as well.  At 5 months dense protein still sits heavy in my pouch.  I do lots of ricotta cheese, cheese, eggs, greek yogurt, fish, chili and occasionally lean ground beef does ok.  

I still use a protein drink once a day to meet my 60-80 mg of protein a day.

it just takes some of us longer to heal, I guess.  

Anxious to hear what your doc says when you see him. 

I'm by no means an expert but it seems like you aren't eating enough...

Are you mixing your protein shakes with milk? if you are, you're getting like 500 calories at most and if you arent then you're probably only getting less than 300.

My program wants us to move onto food pretty much as soon as we are up to it.  I understand that it food sits heavy in your stomach but you still probably need to start eating and getting yourself to more of a norm because you don't want to have to always have the shakes, you know?  I have had a pretty good recovery and most things have sat well with me so I know it is easier said than done, but a normal day for me looks like this:

b: 5.3 oz light fit greek yogurt ----12g protein

s: protein shake made with simply smart milk  ----- 33g protein

l: 3 slices of low fat deli turkey with 1/2 oz to 1 oz of cheese ---- 14.5g -18g protein (depending on amt of cheese)

d: 2 to 3 oz of chicken ---- 14g - 21g protein

I would talk to your doctor though, it just seems like you're not getting enough calories which might not hurt you right now but if you don't start moving to "normal" foods, it might slow your metabolism more permanently.

Kikoi doll, I don't understand how you ever poop. You are getting, like, no fiber. I don't know how you manage!

Angie in Missouri

305(h)+++++++251(c)+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++200(g)

To be honest I haven't had much of an issue, I go almost every morning. I've had a few times where I haven't, took some miralax and went in the next day or so.

I do occassionally have a half serving of wheat thins, or a small bit of veggies but I'm pretty full after the protein.

I'm even more of a newbie than you, so I'm afraid I'm no help with your question.  But I wanted to chime and tell you how sympathetic I am to your feeling of food feeling really heavy in your pouch.  I have the same problem.

I'm a month or so behind you (my surgery was April 14th) and I'm still in the pureed stage.  But I've been having a really, really tough time eating meat or other protein dense foods.  I haven't thrown up, thank goodness.  But I tried chicken a week ago today and it was really, really rough.  I had pureed black beans last night and that hit like a ton of bricks too.  I'm going to try ground beef tomorrow and see if that sits any better. 

So please know you're not alone.  As one of the posters said, I think some of us just move at a slightly slower rate.

 

Your appetite, your ability to eat solid food, and your bodies ability to absorb food will all come back.  At six months, you will be amazed at what you will be able to eat.  Right now is a very early phase and you are doing just fine.  Take advantage of your reduced appetite and let your excess weight fall off.   The most weight loss happens during these first months of no appetite and extremely little food intake. 

The only thing that matters now is protein intake and water intake. Take fiber supplements to keep yourself regular.  This is not the time to worry about eating more food.  You will never again in your life have an opportunity like this to really lose weight effortlessly.  Take full advantage of this time.  Your body will let you know when it is ready for more food.  Then weight loss will also slow down.

Looks like you are doing well. At your point I was doing a protein shake at breakfast and getting in about 2 oz of dense protein or cheese for lunch and for dinner. I struggled to get in enough protein on the 3 meals I was told to eat a day. At 3 mo my doc told me to add a second protein shake if I needed to, and I did. Just keep getting in your protein and water, and the amount you can eat will slowly increase. I was at about 400-500 calories at your point and as my weight loss slowed I upped my calories and weight loss picked up again. Keep trying the solid foods and eventually you'll be able to get your protein in from food, although I still do a shake ever morning for breakfast as food doesn't sit well in the pouch when I wake up.

I can eat most anything and have been guilty of eating too many carbs.  I need to cut that out!

Thank you everyone for the advice. Today I'm doing two shakes, but insted of mixing with water I am using soy milk. That has increased my calories and protein. It went down well. I think the increase in liquid, protein, and calories will help to improve my energy levels as well. I'll post again after my appointment