Food Intake

Hello Everyone: I'll be 4 weeks post-op on Friday. I am finding myself especially this past week starting to have an appetite more. At first, the first 2 weeks I barely had an appetite and was justing eating to eat and I was on pureed food. So I would have a little applesauce, scrambled egg, cheese, etc throughout the day. Now I am progressing to soft food and can have more of a variety and am finding myself eating a little more. I am a little worried because mentally I feel like I have already stretched my pouch back to normal size although I am not eating like I ate before surgery. I am now able to eat about 4 to 6 tablespoons of food per meal versus the 1 to 2 tablespoons a week ago. I don't know if its because I am back to work and not on my normal routine or what??? Just curious to know how everyone is handling there food intake? Has anyone progressed to soft foods or regular foods and what are your portion sizes like? JaNae 338/306/175

Hello Janae, I will be 4 weeks post on Friday as well.. I called my Dr worrying that I stretched my pouch as well.. He told me its very normal, that after surgery the pouch is swolen and as the swelling goes down we will be able to tolerate more. My problem is that everything I eat tends to make me dump this week forget Eggs... they almost put me in a egg coma (is there such a thing lol) so Im stalled, but im not getting my caleries either, so its a poke me in the eye problem I guess.. LOL But I will not be complaining I feel great I have energy, and MY knees and feet Never Hurt WhooHoo!!! (((HUGS))) Dori

Hi Dori, I have dumped several times this week myself. I do feel better than I did a month ago. No more back pain. Thank the Lord! I'm not going to complain because I know that I could be following the rules a little better and the scale is still moving slowly. JaNae

I am so excited, I just found this message board. I didn't realize there was a Dec. 2005 surgery date board. I usually only post to the Missouri board and just read the main board. I will be 5 weeks post-op tomorrow. I had surgery in Springfield, MO. Everything went very well, no complications. I did have some dizziness and a bladder infection, but that is it. I have only lost 18 pounds since surgery and had lost 32 before surgery. My surgeon has a pre-op requirement. So I have been upset with the post-op weight loss. I have been eating more too this past week. I have worried about stretching the pouch as well. Guess this is normal. I went back to work this week too. I have been walking on my treadmill at 5am before work. But the stinking scale hasn't moved in almost a week. I still am not eating anything close to pre-op times, but wonder if this is normal as well. Sure glad I found you all. Barb

Welcome to the board Barb! Seems like this feeling of stretching of the pouch is normal as we add more to our diet. I wish I had the energy to get up at 5 am and do some morning exercises. My alarm goes off at 5:30 and I am rolling over to press the snooze button. Sounds like you are on the right track and I am sure sooner or later the scale will be moving. JaNae

I'm 5 weeks out and my appetite did come back once I progressed to pureed foods...I wanted real foods! I'm now on real foods and try to always start my day with protein (shake, eggs, etc). Protein makes you full! It's hard to get in other things. For lunch I usually have a slice of turkey and cheese or a few tablespoons of tuna on fresh spinach. By dinnertime, I really don't have an appetite. I might have a grilled chicken strip or just SF popsicles, applesauce or yogurt...something like that. Neci 354/312/160

Hi JaNae.. i had gastric bypass on 12/19/05 and as per my surgeon's instructions, at week 2-6 i was able to start pureed foods and should be about an ounce. nothing to drink 30-45 mins before and after so that the "solids" stay in the pouch longer to give us that "full feeling" longer and not be hungry. but as far as liquids, i could now drink 2 oz. every half hour instead of 1 oz every 15 minutes... so as our pouches heal and become less swollen, yes more will fit. and since you are back at work, makes sense that you might be hungrier because you are up and moving around more. are you drinking your 64 oz water and protein? my soft foods intake has been OK so far.. cant tolerate applesauce, haha

I am a couple of days past four weeks post op. I moved to soft foods in week three (per surgeon) and am doing well. My typical day is water, a protein drink for breakfas****er, tuna or cottage cheese (4 oz) at lunch with a couple of crackers or jello (2oz), water and some more protein for dinner...fish, chicken, turkey maybe 4 or 5 oz. I ate dinner out last night. I ordered a cheesy soup and ate 1/2 cup and four of my six grilled shrimp. Pre surgery, I would have eaten the soup, salad, shrimp and a steak! (Plus a drink and the good bread and butter to go along with it). Since my pre surgery weigh in and liquid days (two) I have lost 25 pounds. Now, the scale hasn't moved at all in the past week but I did have an incredible discovery today. I checked with my surgeon's support staff to get my pre-surgical measurements. As of today, I have lost 4.5 inches off my waist and 6 inches off my hips. I am not complaining about the scale, the stall or ANYTHING. I am doing little cartwheels in my brain! Best thing I did for me in forever! Vicky

Hello JaNae, I had the surgery 12/13/05 and I feel the exact same way as you do. I am to be on the pureed stage for about another week and I have been able to eat a little more and I feel hungry at times. The first two weeks were as you said a breeze because I was not hungry. I also feel that I have stretched my stomach. The problem that I am having is trying to eat over a 30-40 min time frame which has caused me much discomfort. I also need to find some other kind of protein product other than Slim Fast Low Carb because when I drink it now, my stomach feels uncomfortable. I know that these feelings that I am having are probably normal but, I just want to make sure that that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I am also looking for advise on food intake.

Janae, I have the same surgery date as you and Dori. I am coming off of pureed foods tomorrow. It's very interesting to me that I am able to eat more and more than in the beginning. It probably is the swelling going down around the pouch making it easier to eat more. But you described back pain. Whenever I drink too fast, eat too fast, anything stupid I get a back cramp. Never knew anyone else had it. Also, I want to know why it is that if I have one kinda big meal ( 4-5 oz.) I have no desire to eat for the rest of the day.... Hmmm....well will ask the message board. Best of luck to you girl and keep in touch! You too Dori