How often are you eating?

I am 3 weeks post-op and I feel like I have to force myself to eat at times. When I'm not forcing myself to eat, I find myself getting to the "starving" point. I'm thinking I should eat more often so I don't get extremely hungry. I am getting enough fluids, at least. (Was told that thirst can be mistaken for hunger)

Also, how far after surgery did you start eating more than just 2 oz?? TIA!

First couple of months after surgery I ate very little but every 2 hours. Now I am 4 months out, I eat every 3 hours and about 3 oz at a time. You'll be able to eat more with time, don't ru****! 

Oh I wasn't planning on rushing it! lol I was just curious about when more is tolerated. I know everyone is different. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that gets hungry every few hours. Thank you!

A couple of questions:

First of all, how much "eating" are you doing at three weeks out?  I was just starting soft foods around then, and most of my calories were still coming from protein shakes. 

Secondly, when you say you are getting "enough" fluids, how much?  I always advise people who are getting in 64 oz to try to increase that.  64 oz is more of a minimum and does not really get the job done for maximum hydration benefit.  The figure I've heard from most successful vets, and what works for me, is to take your current body weight and divide it in half.  That number is the number of ounces you need (roughly) to stay well hydrated.  64 oz will basically just keep you out of the hospital for dehydration.  If you can get in more than that, you may want to start :)

To answer your question, though, I generally eat every 3 hours or so.  I had to be pretty much militant with this practice when I first started solids because I wasn't eating enough to tide me over for longer.  Now that I'm further out and can eat a little more, I still eat roughly every 3-4 hours out of habit, but it's not as big of a deal if I go a little longer between meals.  I'm still eating roughly 2 oz of dense protein at most meals plus trying to work in more veggies.

I started my soft foods today. I did the purees last week. I just call anything with actual FOOD eating. For those points, I have just been doing meal times. I have been drinking a lot of protein drinks (2-3 a day to get me 70-75g of protein) and different fluids. I am getting between 64-70 oz of fluids. I don't really measure, just fill one of my big glasses all day and go with it. It's kind of a battle between proteins and fluids at this point. I'm trying to find something that won't make me gag.

The foods I was pureeing and am starting to eat are scrambled eggs, deviled eggs with fat free mayo, and tender chicken. My dietician told me he didn't care if I had the fruits and veggies, as long as I had the protein. I think the guy's a little nuts. haha

Lol... probably so; there's a reason many here shorten the word "nutritionist" by saying "nut" ;)

I still think you may want to try drinking more if you can... but I know it takes time to work up to that.

Sounds like you're doing great so far. 

I am definitely going to try that. Thanks!