help!!!!!!!!!

I need help, I have had surgery and now I am home and doing great . The only problem I am having is that I am not sure how much to eat at each meal. I am going by the paper that the dietian gave me and it tells you what you can eat the first two weeks but it does not tell you how much to eat .She said that I need to eat six small meals a day but I have only been eating three. I make sure that I eat my protien first.The more I read the paper form the dietian and the one from the clarksville support group do not coinside with each other.Any help on how much to eat,or any other help will greatly help me .

Hi Melissa, My nutrionist says no more then 3/4 a day plus your water, and protein. Use a childs tea set that way you aren't likely to eat more. I would be real careful, measure out in a measuring cup, you can put so much for each meal in a baggy and stick into an ice cube tray and freeze. Then just pop one out sit in ho****er to thaw, and your meal is ready. Best of luck to you on your journey. Kathy

Hi Melissa, I never really did the whole measure cup thing until now - Just to keep an eye on what I'm eating... However, to help you out - I really need to know what stage your at in your program. If your just starting out - you should be around 2 oz. of food with lots of water during the day. If your a few months out - you should be around 3 to 5 ozs of food during a meal with lots of water during the day. Another thing - You shouldn't worry about how many meals your getting in. Just keep remembering to eat/drink that protein whenever you DO eat. When you first get out of surgery, eating seems to be a job but it does get better in time. Also try eating off a breakfast plate/cake plate - something small. Your probably gonna be eating about the same of a baby and always remember to CHEW CHEW CHEW! -Katie

Katie, I am only 1 week post-op and thank you for your advice.Now when you say 2oz of food is that at each meal. I am having a hard time drinking lots of water I try to drink lots of water I sip on it all day but I sometimes fill I am getting to much.I am drinking those Slim-Fast low carb drinks and I only drink 8 oz over a 1 hour period. Is that to much or not enough?Any other suggestion will greatly help. Thank you for all your help. By the way how was your visit to Dr. Hruska's ? Hope things went good.Melissa

Hi melissa, I just attended my pre-op nutrition class and they said that usually you could only drink two 1 ounce cups of liquid every 15 minutes. That would make 8oz over a 1 hour period exactly, so you are doing okay with the protein drinks. Also they told us that you could not possibly drink too much water over a days time. I was told MINIMUM of 64oz per day & anything over that was great & not to worry about overdoing it with the water because the kidney's need to stay flushed out from the ketones & all the protein we will be doing (they were including crystal lite in there as well as pure water). Hope this helps. Greg

Hi Melissa, If your one week out - this is what my paperwork says. You should of gotten the same thing from Dr. Hruska's office or from when you were in the hospital.... 1 to 4 weeks out... ~Sugar-Free/Low Carb Carnation Instant Breakfast with SKIM MILK ~Sugar-Free hot chocolate ~Baby Cereal ~Cream of wheat, farnia, or grits ~Skim milk, if able to tolerate ~Yogurt without fruit (sugar-free, low-fat) ~Sugar-Free sherbet ~Vegetable Juice (V8) ~Creamed soups strained Water Ice Tea Juice - Becareful on the sugar/calories here. Broth (Chicken Or BeeF) Sugar-Free Jello Sugar-Free Popsicles Coffee Crystal Light Kool-aid made with Splenda OR Sugar-Free Sugar-free Lemonade If your only a week out of surgery - You should really make sure you get tha****er in and not worry so much about the food in general. Water is IMPORTANT! My parents fought me on this one! LOL! Good luck, Katie

Thank you so much for that info it has helped me a lot. Once again Thanks

Melissa, I'm 4 weeks post-op and 3-4 ounces is all that I can eat at one time. I can not fit 6 meals in my schedule but can usually fit 4. To get the rest in I either drink slim fast or carnation instant breakfast. Hope this helps. Anne