Help me please!!!

"like" Goldilocks

     Here's a sample of my day: My eating times are pretty close to 6 am, 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm, 6 pm, protein shake  at 8 pm.

Breakfast: 1 egg (scrambled or boiled)

Water/herbal tea

Snack: Greek Yogurt (Dannon Light N fit)

More water/herbal tea

Lunch: Cottage cheese (1/2 cup) or tuna salad on a couple of cucumbers (or 2 crackers on rare occasions)

Water 

Snack: Baby Bel cheese, string cheese or beef jerky

Water

Dinner: baked Tilapia (2-3 ounces), chicken, beef, or pork (2 ounces) and a couple of bites of broccoli (maybe a tablespoon or so of mashed potatoes)

Snack: Protein shake made with milk and sometimes I add in another Greek yogurt if I'm a little low on protein for the day.

     That's it for my day. If I have ANY pasta, potatoes, or rice it's only a tablespoon or so. Just a little taste and I'm fine with that. I don't eat any bread and only a couple of crackers sometimes with my cheese on my tuna. No pizza, fries, hamburgers, fried chicken, hot wings or anything "bad" like that.  If I "think" I'm hungry before it's time to eat again I drink some more water or tea and that works until it's my next meal/snack time.

     Good luck and I hope this helps.

So far I have been successful.  Since you've asked about this in a few posts now, I'll post what has worked for me so far.  Other people are successful in WL mode doing things slightly differently from what I will list below: 

Four meals a day, none measuring more than 3/4 cup in volume.

Lean proteins FIRST at each meal.  Protein FIRST.  Always.  AFTER lean protein serving is weighed or measured, then I add leafy green vegetables or green beans.

I am always mindful to undereat my sleeve or to stop immediately if I note any signs of hitting restriction.  I eat slowly and chew my food a lot.

I do not add carbs to any meal.  Sometimes I eat or drink carbs which are included in the content of the food I eat, but even so my carbs rarely exceed 30g/day.

Weigh, measure and log every single thing I eat or drink.

At five months out my protein goal is a minimum of 90g/day, but I had to work up to that.  I normally consume over 100g of protein each day because I choose lean proteins without coatings or sauces.

At least 80oz of fluid a day, mostly tea in my case (and most of that is unsweetened).  Normally I exceed 100oz/day.

Absolute separation of food and fluids by at least 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after.  I usually wait at least 45 minutes after a meal before I will drink.  Search for "pyloric valve" if you need to educate yourself on the reason for that.

All vitamins and supplements as ordered by my surgeon.

Every day I consciously make the decision to avoid carb-loaded foods, fried foods, desserts.  Every. single. day.  I will not eat French fries, pizza, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, hash browns, baked potatoes, pasta, breads of any variety, breaded coatings of any variety, rice of any variety, soups, desserts.  That is a DECISION I made and still make for myself, because eating foods of those varieties got me to 357 lbs and a BMI of 54.3.  Currently I am at 247 and a BMI of 37.6.  To me it is WELL WORTH IT to avoid those foods in return for the recovery of my health to the extent I have been able to achieve, with the hope of continued success if I stick with my plan.  I have been avoiding those foods for so long now that I don't miss them in the least.

I was never told by my own surgeon's team that I could eat anything in moderation -- quite the opposite.  I took that to heart preop and continue to respect that postop.

My go-to proteins since early have been 98% fat free deli turkey or ham; 1% cottage cheese; chicken; fish; eggs (mostly egg whites); reduced fat cheeses like Laughing Cow light wedges and reduced fat Sargento string cheese sticks; water-packed sardines.  Other successful people have shared that they could eat very lean ground beef or steak, but my own sleeve won't tolerate those foods.  I'm glad for them that they can eat those lean protein choices.

I still default to a protein shake made with water or with unsweetened almond milk when I need a quick, portable, protein-rich meal or when I need to get that protein in without exceeding my daily calorie limit.

For many weeks I was eating under 600 cal/day.  Currently I vary between 675 cal/day and 725 cal/day.  When I had to increase my protein, the calories had to increase as well.

There is one thing I feel compelled to say to you:  every successful person I know of here on OH has chosen to honor the fact that they had MAJOR SURGERY to remove the greater portion of their stomach and has continued the good work of their surgeon by making appropriate food and exercise choices, both in weight loss mode and in maintenance.  You can use the search box on this page to find out what has worked for people.

Many times on these boards I have seen people post who are basically asking permission to continue to eat the foods postop which made them dangerously fat and unhealthy preop.  If you think that description fits you personally, my kindest suggestion to you would be to keep doing your research, keep asking questions, and try out the basics of protein first, adequate or better hydration at the correct intervals, taking your vitamins and supplements as prescribed, diligently weighing/measuring/logging all intake, and just flat-out avoiding certain foods during weight loss mode, if not forever.  IT IS WELL WORTH IT!

I wish you all the best on your journey.

Thanks to reading a post in another thread I was reminded that I left out canned chicken as a staple protein, especially early on postop.  I haven't eaten it for a while, but I keep it on hand in case I need it, because it is a fantastic shelf-stable protein food.

They are really not being ******** sweetie.  They are telling you like it is.  They are telling you what to eat and how much to eat.  Please listen to them.  If you received information from your doctor and read it, now is the time to cover it all.  Go through this and read what he has given you and follow his instructions.  If you did not receive any good information from your doctor, there are lots of links in this forum, so please use the search button above and seek out the "plan" advice that you need.  Good luck to you in your journey.  I wish you the best...protein first, 4 oz. max of food, low carb, lots of water, vitamins...those things are the keys.  You can do this!!!

Deb

I was in your place not too long ago. My dr. Told me 1month out I could eat anything. So I did. Mostly protein shakes protein of some sort. But I did have pizza once. I ate a few fries once. I was hoping it would make me sick. It didn't. My nut said to keep at or above 60g. protein. Their goal is to see me be able to eat anything I desire at maintenance with moderation. My goal is to lose wt. to get healthy. A friend told me about this website. I started reading & discovered that what the dr. said about I can eat anything meant I can but I shouldn't. My nut. has encouraged high protein low fat low carbs. She wasn't specific of about what that means. What I'm saying is you may be able to physically eat anything but you shouldn't eat everything. Stay away from the fried foods, anything breaded, high carb foods. Learn to read labels. Stay away from processed foods. Desserts, pasta, potatoes, corn, bread, anything with flour like muffins, bread, etc. those things are high carb. foods. I limit my fruit to about 1/4 cup of frozen fruit in my protein shakes. I try to get the lowest carb protein. Smoothie King has the gladiator which is 45g.protein with 2g. carbs. Dymatize has 1 that is 26g. Protein to 1g. carb. Premier ready to drink are 30g. protein to 5g. carbs. I hope this helps. Don't get discouraged & keep reading. This site saved me from regaining or not losing at all. It's hard work but you can do this. It's a learning thing. I'm learning every day. Good luck!