Exercise and Nutrition Q & A - The Floor is Open
Second question my nut says I have to eat within 4 hours of waking. This poses a problem for me I do not get hungry until the afternoon so I plan my meals around the afternoon starting around two and try to get my water in, in the morning otherwise I find myself snacking all night. So my question is do you have an opinions on this.
All responses are welcome thank you in advance .
The only challenge that I see in eating at different times is it makes it harder to stick to a plan. That being said I would adjust my plan to your schedule so if you start work at 8:00am one day, snack at 10, lunch at 12:30, etc. And you start at 1:00pm another day, snack at 3:00, lunch at 5:30, etc. as long as you keep the same intervals you should find it easier.
I would go one further than your NUT and say you should be eating within 30 minutes of waking up. In fact that is the most important protein meal. You should be drinking 16 oz immediately when you get up, then within the next 30 mins 30g of protein would be the ideal situation. Not easy for newly sleeved, but very doable for me at about 2 months post-op. Obviously with a protein shake and not 6 eggs. To really optimize protein consumption you should not only be eating that protein within 30 mins of waking up, but also before bed you should be getting about 20g of a slow digesting protein like cassein. This minimizes the possibility of your body going to your muscles for protein as it tries to recover from the day. This is assuming you are exercising of course but the same applies. You want to break that fasting period as quickly as possible, this will increase your metabolism.
If you find yourself snacking at night you might want to consider spacing your meals/snacks out a bit more. Also after you are sleeved you should not be snacking because you are hungry, you will be snacking because you are bored or emotional. In this case find something to do.
Sorry I meant to answer this last night but knew my answer was going to be too long to do from my phone.
I started walking 2 hours after my surgery and kept it up.
I started more intense cardio 3 weeks after surgery and then I started lifting weight 6 weeks after surgery but in retrospect I should have waited 8 weeks post-op to lift weights. You run the risk of herniating your incision points which I did on one.
But bottom line is that you should start walking right away and keep it up. Walking is the best way to shred fat.
What did I eat in weight loss is a much longer answer. First, I am still in weight loss and it is more of a strategy than specific foods but I will give you some specific foods. The strategy is 600-800 calories, less than 40g of carbs, around 25g of healthy fat, 80+oz of water. A critical success factor is to make sure your food is readily available during the day, if you have to think about it right before eating you will be limited and may be in a position to make a bad decision. So I spend some time on Sundays preparing my meals (particularly lunch at work) for the week. I will also roughly plan out what I will eat for dinner and make sure I have everything I need for the week. We also eat out once or twice a week so I make sure I do not over buy as most low carb options tend to spoil quickly and are not like a box of crackers where it can sit in the cupboard for a couple of weeks.
Specific Foods changed a lot, I get bored easily with food so I am constantly googling low carb recipes. So my go tos are:
Breakfast - 90% of the time will be a protein shake, its the easiest time to get it down and its the best time to get the most protein you can get in a single meal. Other go-tos are eggs, bacon, ham, omlet.
Lunch - Deli meats are nice easy things to get and keep (high in sodium so don't go crazy here), cheese (laughing cow has some really great small bit options), my prepared meals include chili, crack slaw (google for the recipe), soups, left overs from dinner the night before, tuna.
Dinner - Steak, pork chops, chicken (any meat really), fish (mostly salmon) broccoli, cauliflower, leafy greens, brussels sprouts, cabbage. Chilis are good for dinner. Stews with a lighter gravy and no potatoes. Lettuce wraps are great because you can be very versatile in your flavors.
Snacks - Almonds and other nuts, beef jerky, protein bars (Quest has the best profile), greek yogurt, berries, cantaloupe.
Healthy Fats - Salmon and other fish, Olive Oil, almonds, almond butter, peanut butter (no sugar, natural), avocados, flax oil, fish oil (supplements), coconut oil
Those are a just a few of the things I could think of off the top of my head. I post a recipe every day that I think would be good and is low carb, start taking a look at those and you will end up with a variety of foods
I am 5 years out and find it odd that I can only eat about 2-3 oz of protein (depending on what), but I can eat 6 oz of yogurt. What is the difference.
Also, I just recently went to a RD for some advice on an eating plan for the rest of my life. I want to get off some meds for high blodd pressure, high cholesterol, high tryglicerides and vitamin D deficiency. I told her about the sleeve and she has suggested I eat every 3 hours. Two full meals, small breakfast and 4 snacks through out the day. I am also only allowed 1 glass of wine eaten with a meal, since that is against the rules, that is out. Never eat a starch without a protein and never eat a fruit without it being with a meal. This works, but I feel I do not get many vegetables because she considers those as free foods and told me to not fill up my stomach with free foods, first protein, then starch, then free foods. Does this sound right to you? Should I add a multi-vitamin?
Most of it has to do with density. Proteins like beef, chicken, pork are much more dense than yogurt. I can eat a cup of yogurt but 3 chicken wings is the limit. After density comes dryness. Juicy beef I can eat about 4 oz of easily but chicken 2-3 oz and I am miserable. I like white meat and it tends to be more dry than other meat. Fish I can eat more like 5oz, so there again moisture and density play a part.
More specifically it also has to do with how quickly what you are eating can pass through the pyloric valve. Greek Yogurt is basically going to go right through. Dense protein depending on how well you chew it will take quite a bit longer.
OK, its hard for me to argue with an RD since they have far more education regarding nutrition than I do. But here is my opinion, first, absolutely get yourself a good multi-vitamin. Second, given where you are in your journey I think a glass of wine is fine, do not exclude it if you want it, just make sure it fits into your plan. So if you are shooting for say 1000 calories, make sure to count it. Second, cut out the starches and eat the veggies, particularly leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, those are best for your heart. Cut out all processed foods, keep what you eat out of a can or a package to a minimum. This will help reduce your sodium in take and should reduce your tryglycerides. Keep eating out to a minimum. Eat protein first and then veggies and keep your proteins lean. Increase healthy fats from Salmon, olive oil, flax oil, and avocados, these will help with lowering your BP. I would say stick with 3 meals and 3 snacks. Breakfast should be your most "expensive" meal and by expensive I mean calorie/carb.
My general strategy for weight loss was 600-800 calories, less than 40g of carbs, aroudn 25g of healthy fats and 100+oz of water. If you are trying to maintain you may want more calores/carbs but if you are trying to get off some meds, this strategy would still be sound.
For getting off of your BP meds I am going to strongly suggest some low intensity cardio and then once or twice a week some High Intensity Interval Training. This will help you to keep burning fat that may be causing your BP to remain high and will also increase your cardio capacity which will also help to bring your BP down.
I don't have any details about your current weight, goals, age, exercise, etc. so I have made some very broad assumptions here. If you want to provide me with some more details either here or via PM I can probably give you a more specific strategy.
