What's on Your Wednesday Menu, RNYers?

The week is moving along, at least there's that... I've decided I really, really am not happy in my job. The people are great, but I just don't like the industry I'm in. I don't want to work with US Customs anymore. Dealing with a government agency is a real pain in my ass, and not worth the stress that is causes me. The problem is that I don't have a college degree, and I will be hard pressed to find a job where I can make the kind of money I do now that is not in this industry.

Plus, I am not a person who likes change. I am still transitioning with my lifestyle after the surgery, and I am terrified of change. I just wish I could quit my job and not have to go to work, but the bills we have, and the lifestyle we live, are all dependant on my additional income. So I'm just unhappy here. I am getting to the point where I dread coming in each day. But I do what I have to do for my family. Adivce?

Food:

B: I forgot to grab my yogurt for breakfast so I got a plain oatmeal from Tim Horton's and had 2oz of oatmeal and 1oz of sharp cheddar cheese (not together, but about 10 minutes apart)

S: half of a pure protein bar

L: shrimp with zucchini noodles and sauteed cauliflower in a butter garlic sauce (leftovers, it was amazing)

S: 1oz lean deli ham 1oz sharp cheddar

D: bean and kale soup with ham.

S: the other half of that protein bar

Totals:

Cal 757 Protein 67 Carbs 48 Fat 34

What do you do for Customs? Would you be able to be a consultant for a law firm or maybe a shipping company? Or do you already do that? Many positions don't require a degree but rather experience (I'm in HR, not a headhunter). Message me if you want to talk privately.

Sorry your day is rough- Hope it gets better soon! *hugs*

I went a little off the plan yesterday- Had the tomato soup, my protein shakes, some corn chowder (but just the liquid). All was well and then I fell face first into a small bowl of cold pasta with bell peppers.

Sorry, just a little whine here: I'm not handling the stress in my life right now terribly well. We all have stresses in our lives, and mine just seem to be coming all at once right now. The swimming was helping me immensely, though- as is my therapist. Until I get this cast off, I can't sweat, get it wet, or essentially exercise. Trying to find some other way to handle the stress. /whine

At least 5 more days until I can swim again, but I've got a sneaking suspicion that my vascular surgeon will want to extend the treatment for another week and/or start treating the other leg. Really, really not pleased.

Back on today, though:

B: Coffee with soy milk

S: Protein shake and avocado

L: Black bean soup

S: Protein shake

D: Tomato soup nom nom!

V/W: Stared

E: Not until I've healed

Cals: 750 Prot: 73.5 grams H2O: As much as possible, but at least 48 oz

Here we go,

-LB

Good morning all,

I've been away for a while, been very busy at work and I've missed 3 days due to hurting my back again. So, I've been back to the chiropractor and to my PCP. Tylenol sucks, muscle relaxers are not much help, so now it's on to physical therapy. My boss asked if I need to stand at work, maybe I can get him to buy me a sit/stand desk.

Anyway, my appetite has been way off lately, I just am not hungry because of PAIN. The only good thing about that is I lost a bunch of weight this past week.

Here's the menu for today

B: Protein Shake (drank half, could not get the rest down)

L: Leftover ham, carrots and potatoes from Monday night's dinner,

D: Chicken, mixed greens w/vinaigrette

S: Yasso bar

I can't guarantee that I can eat everything, but I'll give it a try.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Good morning! What has been up with this week? It has sucked, and we still have two days to go. Hopefully it will pick up as the weekend gets closer (there's no sign that it will, but I'm trying to be optimistic!) I'm sorry to keep boring you all with my food struggles, but I am REALLY having a hard time with my "eat back your exercise calories" requirement. Last night I was so painfully stuffed that I threw up for the first time since I had surgery 17 months ago. I just can't force that much food into me. Yet, I'm afraid of what my labs will reveal at the end of the month. I'm really struggling with this and thank you all for letting me vent. Can I pose a question to you all? If your choices were continue to exercise (keep in mind that I'm training for a Half Marathon and work out at a pretty high intensity as evidenced by my heart rate monitor) but eat back your calories (upwards of 500 extra calories a day for a net intake of 1200) or not exercise at all and eat a more realistic 1200 a day, what would you do? I truly never thought I'd say that I was sick and tired of eating, but I'm sick and tired of food. . . . thinking about food . . . planning food . . . eating food. You get the picture. Again, thanks for letting me vent and for any input you may feel like offering. Here's my plan:

B: Ground turkey, spinach and mozzarella with 10 somersaults

S: Kind bar

L: ? Unknown at this time. We have a work meeting so it depends on if they bring in food that is WLS friendly. If not, I have left over strip steak waiting in the wings

S: Light and Fit with Peanut Butter (I'm running tonight so its my pre-run snack)

D: Turkey burger, provolone and grilled onions, Asian slaw

S: Somersaults and Outshine Bar

Totals: Cal (calculated with the steak for lunch) 1309; Protein: 109g; Fat: 61g; Carbs: 78g (If I actually run, I'll have to incorporate more food into the menu as I'll burn at least 400 calories -- I have a 5 mile run planned)

Have you tried anything like Infinit? It's a calorie replacement for exercise. They make custom formulas (they work with bariatric endurance athletes a lot). I had them make me one that I use on my long workouts. I get protein, carbs without the sugar, salt and other things we NEED to keep from bonking. Maybe if you used it as your drink during a run you wouldn't have to eat quite as much?? I know it worked wonders for me during my half ironman. Since we can't eat and drink at the same time (or aren't supposed to and I always feel horrible when I do) I used Infinit to almost eleminate fueling through solid food (which for endurance athletes is mainly sugar anyway).

Just a thought. If you want to see my nutritional label let me know.

Also, they make special and flavor it however you want :)

Thanks for the suggestion. I would LOVE more information. My surgeon and Dietician told me when this issue arose that I am free to drink my calories so something like that may help a bunch. Thanks for the suggestion and any info you have would be awesome!

I know you posted on the whole calorie/exercise thing in a separate post the other day.... still trying to understand it. With all this training were you losing what they consider too much weight? My thought (even though they told you not to weigh yourself... ) is to weigh yourself and as long as you are maintaining a reasonable weight- the calories are less important. If you start to lose more than 2lbs than up your calories... Now the nutrition part- I know they were saying you were malnourished- why don't they give you specific protein goals... vitamin changes whatever to address that? Upping calories isn't in itself going to make you better nourished. Do they consider you underweight?

Right now it has nothing to do with how much I weigh, and everything to do with biochemistry. My labs, particularly my lipid panel and protein levels (even though I consume over 100g of protein on most days)are out of whack. My cholesterol level has gone as high as 310 (right now sitting around 306). The consensus is that it's caused by a restricted caloric intake (I was between 800-900 a day) coupled with my activity level. The "don't weigh" mandate is 100% due to my mental state at the moment and fear of weight gain (which they have assured me will happen while we try to correct my labs) and my acknowledgement that I have restricted calories below 800 on days where I did not work out. They know that if I see an increase on the scale, I'm less likely to be compliant with their plan and that my non-compliance is putting my health at risk. It's hard enough for me to be compliant as it is, both physically as well as mentally. Physically, it's hard to get extra food in when I have great restriction. There's just not a lot of room in there. Mentally, even though I've been told I'm "slowly killing myself," I am terrified of weight gain, as I do not ever want to go back to where I was, so being "forced" to eat more than I'm comfortable with is an everyday struggle. One that I'm seeing two therapists to try and overcome, as they've collectively decided my calorie restriction and compensating with exercise is an eating disorder in its early stages.

As to your question regarding nutrition, they did give me specific macros -- 1200 net calories a day; 110g carbs a day (that number terrifies me and I actually cried in the dietician's office when she told me) and 100g protein a day. They are not concerned with fat grams. I have other nutrient requirements that I need to meet that are too numerous to mention.

Finally, they do not consider me underweight, although my surgeon would be happy if I don't lose another pound. He did tell me that I would likely gain up to 10 lbs with my new macros, that it would level off and that he would help me lose what I gained after my labs stabilize.

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts. This has been difficult for me since it's forced me to confront some mental demons that I thought I had under control. I'm going to try and stop complaining about the situation and boring everyone and be a good little bariatric patient and do what I need to do to get healthy. After all, that's why I had the surgery in the first place. . . to get healthy, not skinny.

What about drinking extra calories? If you added in 2 protein shakes (some are 200 calories each) that would allow you to still exercise and get in the required extra calories without making you feel stuffed from eating more food.