Do you get hungry?
My doctor is very strict compared to most. I saw him Monday, and he said "You don't get hungry at all right"? I was like yes I do. He seemed shocked, and asked me what my calorie intake is, I told him 300-500/day, and he told me to lower it as much as I can for maximum weight loss the first 6 months. I was like, I thought I had to get my protein in, and he just shrugged his shoulders. Now, he is known as one of the best, and I have no doubt he is an excellent surgeon, but my physical therapist, which my doctor owns this office, told me to increase my calories, eventually getting to 1200 per day. He said I have lost drastic muscle mass due to the low calories and that is why my back and knees hurt so much.
I get hungry every 2-3 hrs. I usually just do a protein shake, the only food I had today was a cheese stick and some brocoli. Do you get hungry?
For the first 5 weeks or so I never got hungry. I struggled to get in 100-200 calories per day.
For the past week (I am just over 6 wks out) I have gotten hungry about once per day, at lunch time. I feel an emptiness in my pouch and I feel hunger. But its always at lunch time, when I am due for a meal anyway.
At my 2 week checkup I told my doctor that I was struggling to get in more than 200 calories and he told me that I would have a harder time getting to goal if I didn't eat my protein (and calories) now because I wouldn't have any muscle left to burn calories when i got closer to goal.
He told me to get in about 800 to 1000 calories per day, and 70-100g of protein per day too. I still struggle.
My doctor told me the same, get the protein in, but he never discussed calories until recently. I wasn't worried too much about it cuz I was getting my protein in. What your doctor said is similar to what my physical therapist said.
I don't eat much. Maybe 4 pieces of brocoli, or like I said a cheese stick. I drink mostly protein shakes. But now that I get more protein in, I get hungry, so I wonder if it is my body getting use to getting something in it. I dunno. We are all so new to this.
Hope you have better luck w/ your intake.
I am just now 6 weeks out and have posted several times this past week about calorie intake - up until about 2 weeks ago no one had said anything about calories to me either - when I started to stall I contacted my nutritionist and then I learned that they want me to get at least 800 cal/day along with the min. 75 gr. protein and min. 48-64 oz liquid. I thought it would be hard too - but I've actually been doing pretty good. If you want more details, please email me privatly.
As for getting hungry - I don't think I have ever really felt hungry since the surgery. Please understand that this does NOT mean I haven't had cravings! Last night I had Wendy's chili while everyone else had Papa John's pizza! I was doing fine until about an hour AFTER I had eaten (they got enough for leftovers). The SMELL was so incredible that I was really tempted to try just the toppings! I made them put the pizza away in zippy bags and throw the box out! I wasn't about to touch it - it smelled SOOOOO good! Anyway, I've read articles that talk about how we need to eat food in such a way as to NOT get hungry. Here is what I really got out of it.
The GOAL for a wls is to NOT just eat liquid or chew our food until it is pureed. Our pouchies are like a drain - if it what we put in is pretty liquidy, it just goes right down the drain and we never feel satiated or full. We need to learn to go from the liquid/pureed diet to one where we chew well (but not pulverized) so that the food can "sit" in our pouch and help us feel "full". The food will stay there longer and give us a lasting feeling of fullness as well. Once we eat our "meal" we need to wait for 60-90 minutes before drinking again because the liquid will just "wash" the food down our drains and we will get hungry sooner.
I was really confused as to how I could possibly do this - did I really need to wait that long to drink? - how was I going to get in all the protein I need? I asked alot of these types of questions to the "old-timers" in my surgical support grouop - everyone was in agreement. It really works and in this way we learn how to NOT snack and NOT overeat - because EVENTUALLY we WILL be able to eat more and can get to the point where we are eating TOO many calories or TOO large a portion.
I really believe this works - like I said - I don't feel hungry at all! I have to remind myself to start drinking the liquids now and I'm getting in all the calories, liquid and protein that my nutritionist has requested. This past week - after almost 2 weeks of doing it this way - I lost 9 lbs. So, it seems to be working on more than one level.
If you want the article, please email me and I will find it for you. Good luck.
Penny
It sounds like you are doing a great job. I am going to email you. Thanks for the info. That is what my physical therapist said, have to increase the calories. I also tried the wait an hour after today w/ the liquid and it did work. I ate at 6pm, and did not get hungry 2 hours after like I have been doing (although trying not to eat at night, but normally is every 2 hours or so).
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