How much do you eat?

Hi all! I was just wondering how much everyone eats at a time or in a day. Sometimes I feel like I am eating too much. The weight is still coming off consistently, but I can eat like 8 oz. at a time, sometimes a little more. I can eat a whole can of tuna which is I think 5 or 6 oz plus a small side salad. I am usually pretty full when I eat that. Does that seem too much to anyone? I have my next Dr. appointment in a few weeks and I will talk to him about it, but I was just wondering what you all were eating since your all around the same surgery date as me. I had my rny on September 8th, 2003. I have lost 118 pounds so far. Went from a size 24/26 to a size 10-12, depending on the clothes. Eventually was hoping to get in an 8. I still have 17 more pounds till I get to goal. I workout 5 days a week, maybe more. Biking, rollerblading, walking my butt off, sometimes a little jogging. Maybe I eat more since I exercise alot. Breakfast I usually eat one egg and a 6 oz yogurt. Lunch is usually a can of tuna and a small salad A typical Dinner for me would be a whole chicken breast and about 1/2 cup of Broccoli and a few bites of cottage cheese. sometimes if I am hungry around 3pm I have a protein shake to get me through till dinner. I figure if I am hungry, I should eat something. I steer clear of pasta, or anything with white flour in it, (it makes me sick) rice, potatoes, and sugar. I do occasionally have one slice of whole wheat bread, or a wheat low-carb tortilla. It hasn't seemed to slow anything down so far. I also occasionally indulge in a drink or two on the weekends, but try to watch the calories on that, cause they add up fast. I drink like 80-120 oz of water everyday. Yes, I get pretty waterlogged sometimes. I eat at 8:30 am, 1 pm, and 6 pm pretty much everyday except weekends may be varied a little. But it still just seems like I am eating too much or more than I thought I was going to be able to after surgery. I really don't snack much, and I try not to keep snacky stuff around, and if I do eat that stuff, it is a very small amount, sometimes I really want to, I try to resist, but sometimes I do cave in...like I have 1/2 of my sons cookie...I try not too, but I feel more "normal" or like I am not deprived if I allow myself a bite of pretty much anything...sometimes I have a sugar free chocolate or two or a handful of peanuts, but it's not usually every day. I don't eat, sleep, and breathe this surgery anymore. Everything just seems pretty natural to me now...i mean I don't really measure anything, i just eyeball it. The only way I know how much I eat is to look on the yogurt container and think, damn, that is 6 oz. I was just hoping for some feedback on what others are doing and what is working for them and what is not working. This was going to be short and to the point but I ended up rambling. sorry. Thanks so much for your imput! Steph 285/167/150ish

This is a really good question. I wonder what is the "norm" as well. You sound definitely more strict then me... this is what I do: breakfast: 1 cup of GoLean Crunch (140 cal) 13g protein and 18-24 net carbs (can't remember) 1 extra small (6 inch) banana and 4 oz of nonfat milk 32 oz of crystal light or water lunch: 1/2 carb light wheat sandwich with 1 tsp or less of light helmann's and 2 oz of premium turkey breast and a slice of provolone cheese for the sandwich... with this I may have: soy crisps (55 cal) (3.5) protein, or pineapple, or a baggie of grape tomatoes and baby carrot sticks or grapes or 3 pretzel rods... I definitely feel that I need something crunchy to eat with my sandwich... so typically it's a 1/2 sand, soy crisps and some kind of fruit. 32 oz of crystal light or water dinner: 1 chicken breast or the same as lunch, salad with Ken's Light Caesar dressing, or a turkey dog with ketchup and mustard, or tomato soup and 1/2 grilled cheese, or pb and jelly 1/2 sand... dinner is very similiar to lunch unless I go to my mom's and she cooks, then I just have protein first and whatever last. snacks: I do snack... but I'll snack on the grape tomatoes and carrot sticks, or fruit or the soy crisps, maybe a pretzel rod. Decaf. Green Tea: my nutritionist says to try to have 3 cups of green tea a day, it helps with weight-loss. So, that with splenda... delish! Now, when I'm bad... and I've been sooooo bad this week.... I'll eat whatever I want,t ake for instance, a momma celeste deluxe pizza for one that has 410 calories and 31g of carbs.... So,yeah, I'll have pizza or some cookies.... I'd say I get into these "fits" maybe every 3 weeks or say, maybe every 28 days.... could be period related... otherwise I am usually pretty good. I'd say my average caloric intake is around 1000-1100 calories a day. I workout near 6x a week and am training to run in a mini-marathon so I've been running/jogging for at least 2-3 miles a day, plus biking... love biking and i'm talking 20 miler rides. I'm down to 213. I've lost 138lbs since Sept. 12th. According to the BMI calculator and chart, I'm losing at a rate of 100% when the average is 70%... so if I have bad days, I try to shrug and concentrate on the next day and how well I've been doing.

Shere- thanks for your reply. You are doing great! Wow, 138 pounds! Exercise is so awesome and good luck with the marathon! I started eating more low carb bread and other "good" carbs lately and haven't noticed a differerence in my loss, so I question if I have really needed to be so hardcore. I do notice a difference in my hunger level when I eat let's say grapes and cottage cheese and toast for breakfast instead of my egg, mozzerella cheese and yogurt. I am famished by the time lunch comes around after eating the higher carb breakfast, so I try to stick to protein for my breakfast. I do my exercising in the evenings, so I try to eat my carbs for dinner and then exercise right after. Don't know if that is the right thing to do, but it seems to work for me. I wish I had time to workout in the mornings. It would be a nice start to the day, but I can't seem to get up early enough to do it. Just curious, when you eat that pizza, do you eat the crust? I tried eating crust once and got really sick from it. Do you dump or have any reaction to white flour (starchy stuff) or sugar? I am going to start drinking the green tea today! thanks! Steph

Hey there! I have eaten the crust. It seems I don't dump on anything which kinda sucks... I would have liked to have had that saftey net...ahh well. At any rate... You sound like you are doing really well, too. Thanks for the well wishes on the marathon. I've so got it in the bag... meaning I know I'll be able to run the whole distance, so it's all good!! I also hear ya about the being more hungry if the breakfast is carb heavy.... so stick with the eggs... that'll do ya well.