"DUMB QUESTION" MY TURN

I know that we are supposed to eat in a 20-30 minute time frame.  If not done by then should we discard what hasn't been eaten (which we accounted for as far as MFP goes) or put it aside for about an hour then fini****  If we do this, is this not more like "grazing"?  Would that be a continuation of that last meal or considered snack?  

(Also, I noticed this morning that a couple of people said, I know this may sound like a dumb question, but...  IMHO the only dumb question is the one that you DO NOT ask.  You will never get an answer unless you stumble across someone elses "dumb" question..lol   I am sure the vets on here have heard it all before and will have appropriate answers for you.  So, please don't hesitate to ask that "dumb" question)

My interpretation of my plan was that if I was not able to finish my meal in the 20-30 minute window to eat then I was to be done. If I ate it over the span of an hour, that was considered grazing. If I ate the rest an hour or so later when there was physical room, that was grazing or snacking.

When I was an early post op my routine was a breakfast shake, 12:00 lunch, 4:00 pm snack, 8 pm dinner (give or take). I did not eat in between those meal windows. As I got farther along I switched the 4:00 pm snack to 10 am and then finally I had to add a small meal back in the afternoon. So now I have a shake and 4 small meals per day.

You can always go back and adjust your actual intake on MFP, right? (I use a different site, so I'm not sure.)

Yes you can adjust what you add in MFP.  For example, today for lunch I posted a Tuna pkg (2.3oz) had added chopped onion (about 1TB) and 1/2 TB of garlic Mayo.  Also added 2oz cottage cheese.  Well, it is almost an hour later and the cottage cheese is back in the refrigerator.  So, I guess if I ate it now, that would be considered a snack, but I am not hungry in the least bit.  Had a good protein shake for breakfast, 35gms of protein.  So doing good on the numbers.  Was just curious about the timing.  Thanks

I'm RNY so it could be different. I too struggle to finish a meal sometimes and i asked my NUT the same question. I was told to save the meal and add it to your next meal/snack etc. Sometimes, i have leftovers from the domino effect for days, lol. I'm 19 months post op and i can finish most of my measured meals and sometimes not. I now just measure less than the recommended amount so i don't keep having leftovers and as long as i meet protein goals, i'm all good. For e.g., my centre's meal sample states:

B: 1 egg, 1 slice toast, 1/4 cup fruit - i eat, egg and the fruit

L: 1/2 cup tuna, 1 cup salad - i eat 1/3 cup tuna, 1/3 cup salad. Same with the rest of the meals.

So i eat a little less to accommodate me. I also eat 5/6 times a day, rarely the 6th and never hungry and i make 80-90g of protein. Hope this helps.

ETA: My centre says 30-45 mins for meals and then stop. For a while i used to take an hr.

My doctor told me it was a "minimum" time frame to eat to prevent you from eating quickly.  If it takes longer to eat so be it.

I don't remember the time limit thing, I'm trying to practice the under eating my sleeve, so if I spend a lot of time trying to eat my food, I'll feel that I'm spending more time to eat to capacity. Mind you I'm a little more than a year out so I don't know if this can be done for those who are only a couple of months out.

Most of my meals are already pre measured so I usually can fini**** it's only restaurant foods like an omlette I'd have trouble finishing in 1 meal, so I count it twice. It usually becomes my breakfast and lunch. However if I know an omlette is 260 calories I log it once in mfp, I also have a food journal where I can list 1/2 an omlette for breakfast, then list the rest for lunch.

you can take longer as long as it is measured and tracked and you are eating according to plan

My plan calls for either throwing away what you don't finish in 30 minutes, or saving it for a later meal. No coming back to it later unless it is part of a later meal. At the time when I would have struggled to finish a meal in 30 minutes, my plan didn't allow snacks at all (that was for the first six months) so having it as a "snack" was not an option.

Plans do seem to vary in this regard, but I appreciated this rule and helped me avoid the habit of grazing.

My plan is exactly the same except that I'm allowed 20 minutes to finish a meal and no snacking, ever.

psychoticparrot

This is my opinion only, so take it for what it's worth.

If you don't finish within 20-30 minutes, do not go back and eat the rest in an hour.  I would consider that grazing.

It's amazing how much food we DON'T need to sustain us.  Being a member of the "clean plate club" is what made many of us MO in the first place.  You can always adjust the quantity portion of what you eat on MFP.