Bummed!!!

You're not eating enough. I know it's a strange thing to read, but so it is. Your body is holding onto what it has, so give it a little more.

At your stage, you should be eating solid foods such as tuna, shrimp, chili, etc. What has your doctor outlined for you??

Dont' be afraid to explore your options--

I'm not afraid to eat anything. I can pretty much eat whatever as long as I chew it well. Chicken and turkey has not agreed with me in the past tho. I am just afraid of the calories...I want to succeed at this so bad..My doctor told me as long as I am doing the 2 shakes a day and getting 60 grams of protein he is happy but I want more now. I don't see him again until september so I thought I would ask you all. Maybe I should start incorporating a couple of snack in between the shakes. I was thinking a shake for breakfast and then about lunch I could eat some lunch meat and cheese and a few hours later some other protein snack and then another shake before bed. I know I couldnt get my protein from food alone but I would love to give at least 1 shake a day up soon. I know it sounds crazy but if I start gaining weight again I will die. I don't ever want to feel like I did at 512 lbs again.

Tracy

All too often we get paranoid about the number on the scale.  My surgeon said not to worry about calories, just concentrate on getting in at least 75 grams/day of protein.  We really CAN'T eat that much; so please, try not to stress yourself too much.  Eat properly, get your vitamins & supplements, drink your water, keep up your exercise, and STAY OFF THE SCALE.


Believe me, you will lose the weight.

Best wishes,

Thanks Lynn...I don't know what I would do without this board to help me when I need it.I just went to the grocery and bought me a few things that might help. I already get my required protein with shakes so I will supplement it with carbmaster yogurt, cottage cheese with about a tablespoon or so of fruit ****tail with no sugar added or some peaches. I also picked up some light progresso soup with no potatoes or noodles in it. I think it had 13g of carb in it per 1 cup serving. I don't get many carbs and I think I am allowed 50-60 per day. I had a shake for breakfast and a yogurt for a snack and will have some lunch here in another hour or 2. Then I will do another shake later before bed and probably another snack in between there somewhere too. What do you think??

Tracy

You're probably depending upon the shakes a little too much, but that is totally YOUR decision.  I still use a shake every morning, and have since my surgery.  I never ate breakfast pre-op, which isn't good for someone with Metabolic Disorder and Type II Diabetes, so the shake w/non-fat milk and a banana fixes me right up.  I'm never hungry until lunchtime, which is great, because when I would try to do cereal w/milk pre-op I would be absolutely starving by 10 AM!! 

I use Oikos or Fage Greek Yoghurt, which has zero fat and up to 25 grams of protein.  I like to mix it with fresh strawberries or blueberries, or even canned mandarine oranges, and a dollop of Torani's s/f vanilla syrup to sweeten it.  I keep a big container of it ready in the fridge and use it for a snack in the evening, like I used to use a big dish of ice cream (which I don't miss at all!)

Yes, keep trying various high-protein foods;  I learned how to cook some simple Thai or Mexican dishes which really are fun. 

I'd like to suggest that you eat an evening meal of shrimp w/steamed veggies;  I put a serving of frozen veggies in a microwaveable bowl, top them with my frozen shelled & deveined shrimp, sprinkle with my favorite seasonings (I like Mrs Dash's sundried tomatoes/garlic/basil mix), microwave for about 4 minutes and et voila!!!  Dinner! 

It's all a matter of trial and error;  something that might work well for me might not do so well for you.  Just keep trying!

Don't let yourself get overwhelmed if you have a plateau;  it's entirely normal.  Your body just needs to readjust, then start losing again.

Stay off the scale!!!  Go by the smaller sized clothes you'll be having fun buying.  And don't forget to buy smaller pants BEFORE they fall off you when you're walking up stairs carrying a full basket of laundry.  It's so much simpler!!

Best wishes,

I am just doing my best here. I don't want my hair to fall out and the shakes are the simplest way to get the protein in. I wish i could eat enough to give up at least one of them. I don't actually enjoy drinking them but I am afraid that trying to eat more protein will in turn give me too much calories so I just stick to the shakes and supplement with a little other stuff. I try to eat grilled chicken and I can eat maybe 2 or 3 bites and I'm done. I just simply can't do the dense protein at this point. Not much at a time anyway. I plan to mix up a can of tuna later and add some light mayo to moisten it and eat a little of it with a boiled egg chopped up in it to up the protein. That will be my lunch and then I will do some cottage cheese as a afternoon snack and then a shake before bed. I should be good then. Hopefully this will kick back in. I can't take much more of this stall. It has been almost 2 weeks. I'm so afraid of failure. I've tried so hard at this and don't intend to give up now.

Tracy

Don't stress so much--you're doing OK, I promise.  One of these days you'll put on a pair of pants and they'll fall off of you, or a blouse will fit better.  It will happen, and you'll do better if you don't dwell on the number on the scale. 

Hugs,

The shakes are good to have but you need to be adding some other proteins from food in there too.

You say" I don't actually enjoy drinking them,but I am afraid that trying to eat more protein will in turn give me too much calories so I just stick to the shakes and supplement with a little other stuff." This is backwards; you should be eating all the dense and semi dense foods(since you aren't tolerating dense very well) that you can and THEN supplement with the shakes when you are low for the day.

Looking at your proposed menu,which is very good:
Tuna
lite mayo
Boiled egg

The tuna has 54.5 cals and 10 grams of protein for 1.5 oz
Mayo has 5.5 cals and 0 protein for .5 tbsp
Egg has 102 cals and 6.8 grm of protein
Total for this amount 162 cals and 18.3 grams of protein. this is just for one serving. If you have one serving of this meal 4 times a day that is  648 calories and 72.2 grams of protein.

Stats for roll and peanut butter cracker:
Roll  Cals 87 protein 3 gm
Pnb crax .5 oz 70 cals  1.8 g pro
 Total 157 cals 3.8 gm protein
 If you ate this 4 times a day: Cals 528 pro 19.2

Big big difference in the two,see?
Then you fill in as needed with protein shakes,but eating this 4 times a day gets you a mimimal amount of calories and a good amount of your protein for the day just from food. this is what you are aiming for. If you are eating this 4 times a day there will be no room for rolls or peanut butter crckers nor a need for them, cause you will be full and satiated from the protein.

You need to think about is the eating of pnut butter crax and rolls a "head hunger" issue? Are you letting yourself get desperate so you can justify eating them? I am not saying you are doing this at all,just something to think about.

I know you are thinking you don't want to eat tuna 4 times a day. Maybe not,but if you relly want to keep losing you will do WHATEVUH it takes to make it happen,yannow? Hopefully after time you will be able to move on to other items too..

The reality is you don't know what to eat cause you aren't tracking and you don't know what the calorie/protein/carb  value of foods on your plan really is so you are scared to eat anything. Wonder why you aren't scared of rolls and peanut butter crackers? why aren't you afraid of the calories in them? Please know these questions are asked as a means to get you to think and not judgemental in any way.

If you don't want to track on the internet,go to any bookstore and buy a calorie count guide,every bookstore will have them and  a notebook. Start writing down the calories,carbs and proteins of everything you eat. Thenyou will be able to see how nearly you are falling into your doctors plkan or how far away and in which direction you are.

Depending on the stats of your protein drink,I doubt you are much above 500 calories a day. Am I right? Less than 500 calories a day is literally starvation. You might lose,but what you are losing is muscle not fat. The body has to have protein and a good bit of it or else it will begin to cannibalize itself by converting your muscles to usable protein. Considering your heart.lungs,kidneys,and well,muscles are protein this is not a good thing. It is why people with anorexia nervosa just drop dead sometimes. Their body has metaboliZed too much of their heart and it simply fails.

You can do this . As others have suggested,counseling with someone familiar with WLS  patients might be very helpful to you.

GL,
h

Thanks to you and Lynn both for your input. I don't take anything you have said as judgemental. I asked to get help and sometimes we need to get our ass kicked back to where it needs to be..lol I have tried too hard and come way too far to let this get the best of me. I have goals and I plan to achieve them if at all possible. My ultimate goal is the be under 200 lbs. I have been heave my entire life and I want to be thin for a change and feel better and look better too. I appreciate all the help everyone on here has given me and I will get on plan and hopefuly kick the weigh loss back in soon. Thanks to everybody who gave me advice. I appreciate it so much.

Tracy

You are doing great. Seriously, the world isn't going to end because you ate some crackers and PB. Stalls are normal, a week isn't bad. It's part of the process.

Make sure you are eating enough. Focus on eating solids - it's probably better to start getting more protein from food so you are feeling full longer. It sounds like you could use a little time to stop, and really figure out a nutritional plan - it's not the ocassional snack you eat, but just overall, what you want. Figure out some meal ideas, snacks you can carry with you. This is a life style, not a crash diet.

Good luck, hope the stall breaks soon