Just Curious, How much can you eat ???

Hi all my April Bud's I haven't been around for a bit as I am back to work and so, so busy and the fact that this darn computer is causing me major frustration everytime I get on it ! It is being a pain in the ...u know what !!!!! I hope all of you are doing well for the most part and losing, losing losing ! I am losing too but am alway's thinking I am eating too much and am afraid of stretching my pouch ! I am a little over two month's out and can eat around a half cup of food at this point . For instance for Breakfast I eat 1/3 c. cottage cheese , 1/4 cup mixed fruit then for lunch , I can eat one whole lean cusine which is meat and some veggies( steak tips portabella and broccoli) then for dinner, 1/2 a beef pattie w/ cheese, 1/4 c . green beans and sometimes a few bites of potatoe salad or something like that ! usually after dinner I wait awile and have a snack if I am craving something sweet I eat 4 sugar free cookie's or if I want salty or crunchy I eat ritz peanut butter bites. So what do you all manage to eat ? How much per sitting ? Do you think that I am putting away too much food or what ? I am so scared that I am stretching my pouch , but this is what it takes to get me satisfied so I eat it ! Thanks everyone and I hope you all enjoyed the holiday today ! and Carolee 328/228/155

I definately can't eat that much. I'm only eating about 350 - 400 calories per day. On most days, that's spread over three meals. Sometimes I forget to eat breakfast but will compensate for that by eating a snack before bed. My normal day is a piece of FF cheese for breakfast (50 cals), soup for lunch (150 cals), and refried beans/cheese for dinner (150 cals****assionally I'll have a SF fudgesicle before bed. But I wouldn't worry about it, if I were you. Afterall, look at your stats! My goodness, you're doing fabulously! I'd say keep doing what you're doing because it's WORKING for you!

I can do about 1/4 cup veggies and 2-4 oz of protein, depending on what it is. I can only do about 2 - 2 1/2 oz max of chicken, but 4 oz fish. breakfast is usually 1 scrambled egg w/ lf cheese, and 1 soy breakfast patty. lunch: 3oz tuna and 1/4 cucumber sliced dinner: chicken thigh or tuna or salmon fillet and broccoli or some other veggie. maybe one or two snacks of fruit or 1 oz lf cheese I sometimes feel I too am eating alot. But my calories remain under 1200. And I know I am starting to pay more attention while eating. Learning to recognize feeling "satisfied" vs. stuffed, which for me I equated with being full, pre op. I would maybe track my food intake on fitday to get an accurate cal count. As long as your cal are ok, I wouldnt worry. On another note, if you are feeling hunger, it may be because of the sf cookies and ritz crackers. Carbs cause your insulin to spike, which makes you hungrier in the long run. Maybe substitute fruit for sweet cravings, and some nuts for salty crunch? Just a thought! Your progress is awesome. Congrats on your weight loss!

Carolee, I am new to the board....but your concern has ALWAYS been one of mine. I can flat chow down. I think of a "thumb" sized pouch holding maybe 1-2 tbls, but I can definitley hold about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of cottage cheese with a tomato chopped up in it. I read about a study that stated the size of your pouch did NOT make any impact on the rate of success, that relived me a great deal. I definitely stay away from carbs, like breads but I do occasionally eat fruit and potatoes. But after this weekend, I see a pattern of eating those things and then eating more I usually do....so no more for a while. Actually, here is my goal, no more potatoes, or fruit until I am in 'onederland". rny/4/10/06 282/224/150

Carolee I can't believe you posted this - I was preparing to post this same topic this morning!!!! Last night for dinner I had 2 oz. broiled orange roughy, small red potato without skin, and some broccoli (about 1/2 cup)!!! I couldn't believe I could eat that much. It worries me. I have been eating more carbs though these past 2 weeks with relatives visiting and vacation so I am going to stop that like the previous poster suggested. I meet with my nut today so I'm going to pick her brain I also don't get much food during the day so I may need to spread it out. I'm curious to see what other posters write. Take care girl and welcome back. Denise

I usually eat about 3oz of yogurt for breakfast Then at snack, its usually 1oz of cheese and 10-15 red seedless grapes. Lunch can be a piece of thin, deli sliced roasted turkey w/ 1 slice of cheese and spicy brown mustard, or about 1/2 of a lean cuisine or weigh****chers frozen meal I often don't have time to take my afternoon snack Then dinner will be 2-3 oz of chicken, and 1/3 c.veggies. Hope that helps. I do on occasion eat some potato (sweet potato or a red skinned potato), and I don't do well if I eat bread, although I've been able to eat 1/2 piece of whole wheat bread without it hurting my stomach. Hope that helps!

Hey Carolee, I'm with Denise. This is something I think about all the time. For breakfast I either do a protein shake, 1/4c eggbeaters with a little shredded cheddar and a soy breakfast patty, OR 1c of Kashi hi-protein cereal with 1/4c of skim milk, which I only use to get it wet, I don't drink it. For lunch: 1 south beach wrap, or 1 piece hi-protein sourdough with ~2oz turkey, dijon mustard, and one slice swiss, or 2oz meat and 1/3c veggie. Snack: cashews, almonds, babybel cheese, 1.5oz cheese with 4 triscuits, 10 bing cherries, 4 chunks of watermelon, 1/2c hi-protein pudding Dinners are all over the place. Lately, I have just been eating cheese or hummus, or 4oz tofu. not really feeling like cooking. But I made chicken tortilla soup and crab cake with avocado slices last week. I was so proud of myself for cooking. I did just order a new cookbook (the high protein cookbook:meals in 30 minutes or less) so we'll see how it goes. What kind of sugar free cookies do you get? I feel like I carb-splurge on oatmeal (26g) so I don't want to open the carb door any further. I'm just curious.

Jenn, Thank's for responding to my question ! I am feeling a little better now that all of you have given me an idea of what your eating . I know that I should stop eating the carb's ( cookie's and ritz ) and I will try to do so . I don't eat them everyday though , just when I have a hankering , maybe once or twice a week. I buy the "Murray " sugar free cookies . They are sweetened with Splenda . I love the Mint ones , they taste just like the girlscout mint cookie's do . I have however tried all of the varieties . They have Choc. Chip, Fudge dipped shortbread , Fudge dipped grahm cracker, choc. and vinalla sandwhich cookies as well . They are all good . Your splurge is much more nutritious then mine though , so keep splurging on that oatmeal and try and stay away from those cookie's ! Take care ! and Carolee

This is a great topic. Last night I was wondering like everyone else if I was eating to much. Early morning: Protein shake made with skim milk plus Then water while exercising Breakfast: yogurt and berries 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup berries Then water an hour later Lunch 2-3 oz of either cheese or chicken, sometimes 1/2 cup cottage chesse, Half a cup of fruit or veggies. Maybe a 1/2 cup salad with meat in it. Then water Snack: half a protien power bar Then water Dinner: 2-3 oz of either cheese or chicken, sometimes 1/2 cup cottage chesse, Half a cup of fruit or veggies. Maybe a 1/2 cup salad with meat in it. I also have about a 1/4 of a potato of some kind a couple of times a week. Then water Snack: the other half of my protein power bar and some fruit. More water Add to that my multi-vitamin, B-12 sub, calcium, and now I will be adding iron. I do cardio daily at the gym for 30 mins, walk twice more per day, and will be starting weights Friday morning. At this point I feel great. I am losing weight almost everyday. I have decided to look at the fat in my diet due to the cheese but other than that it seems to be working well. I do get hungry. It is about the time I am due to eat. Once I eat it is gone. Balsamic vingar makes me feel really, really hungry. I love it and I just should not eat it. Terrie 366/311/ goal 165 www.obesityenders.com

Thank you all for your response to my question ! I feel alot better now and am going to try and stay away from those carbs (cookies and ritz. ) They are the only carb's I eat though beside's the fruit I have in the morning for breakfast with my cottage cheese. I only eat the cookies and ritz maybe once or twice a week when I have a hankering . I see that all of you are eating very nutriciously and that is just super ! I am also glad to see that I am not the only one feeling this way about how much I am eating ! By the looks of things , we are all normal in the way we are feeling ! I guess we should all commend ourselves for how hard we are working to lose our weight and to eat right and continue on doing what we are doing and use caution with the carb's and we should do just fine ...AYYY ? Thank's again and Happy Losing !!!! and Carolee