What amount can you eat?

The amount I am able to eat at a meal changes day to day, meal to meal. For an instance, this afternoon for lunch I had an Arby's baked potato w/ cheese and was able to eat about 5 or 7 bites....this evening I had cottage cheese on Wheat Thins and was able to eat 4 oz of cottage cheese w/ about 7 Wheat Thins. Does anyone else have a problem with being able to wait 30 min to an hour before drinking after eating? I am always sooooo thirsty that I have to drink within about 15 min. ugh! Please tell me if this is okay or if I am able to eat way too much...I do not want to eat my way out of the surgery. I have not been hungry yet, but I know that I MUST eat.... TIA, ~~Emily Jones Montgomery, AL Lap RNY 9/15/2005 Dr. Andrew DeWitt Carraway Methodist Medical Center

Hi Emily, I had surgery in Oxford, MS 9/26 and am still on a liquid diet. I will be until I go back to the doc 11/3. I'm amazing at what you're eating. Hope I will soon be able to eat like that. Deborah 284/243/135

Hi, I had my surgery on the 28th. I'm on puree stage, with no veggies, carbs (crackers) or fruit, yet. That's stage 5. I can eat 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with nothing else. I eat 2 ounces of pureed shrimp, tuna or salmon...or refried beans. I'm not exceeding the 2 ounces, as my surgeon tell us not to. I'm stuffed/full when I do chicken, satisified when I eat the shrimp/fish. Refried beans I was full, but not stuffed. I'm not feeling as STUFFED as I did the first couple of days on puree. Pouch must be stretching. I can drink 8 oz of V8 w/ protein powder in it well. Not really doing protein shakes, but doing the unflavored Unjury twice a day to get 40gms in. Wheat Thins are on my "no no" list from my surgeon...I guess cause of the fat content? I was just browsing the stage 5 diet yesterday and saw that. A thin pita is recommended better. Every doctor is different w/ their foods...mine is VERY strict. Hope this helps. paula

Paula, Thanks for the info on the Wheat Thins...I didn't even think about fat content. Last night was the first time I had them...and they were good, but saltines are just as good w/ cottage cheese. I am not sure why my surgeon and his bariatric program gets us moving on solid foods so quickly, but they do. On day 3 after surgery we are on a soft diet (jello, cottage cheese, tofu, popsicles, pudding, etc)...on day 15 we can move to vienna sausages, potted meats, ham spread, chicken spread, etc...on day 21 we can have cooked veggies, chicken, turkey, fish, and shrimp...then on day 49 we can have red meat, pork, raw veggies (even though they say be very careful with all of these). Thanks for the information...I'd love to see some posts about different food schedules. ~~Emily Jones Montgomery, AL Lap RNY 9/15/2005 Dr. Andrew DeWitt Carraway Methodist Medical Center

I am almost 7 weeks out and my new favorite thing for lunch or dinner is a piece of lean deli ham wrapped around string cheese. It is just enough to fill me up. I tried to eat some cottage cheese today for luch and could not even finish 1/4 cup. It varies day to day how much I can eat. Monica

Emily... You sound like me. I had my surgery on the 12th and the amout I can eat varies from moment to moment. Yesterday for lunch I had 2 bites of chicken and 3 slices of mushrooms, the for dinner I ate almost 1/2 a bagel (YAY I got carbs back in my diet yesterday!). Wheat Thins are a no on my diet because of the fiber and bulk. We can have crackers, just not Wheat thins or triscits. I have THE worst tiem with the drinking as i am ALWAYS thirsty! For a while i found I would test teh drinking thing and it would make be throw up what I ate. Just remember it's ALL a learnign curve right now.. we're relearnign how many years of eattign habbits??? Eventually we'll get it right! Best of Luck... Erin Midlnad, MI Lap RNY 9/12/05 Dr John Webber Huron Valley Siani 276/241/160