Whatcha eating today VSGers? Saturday, 7/8/2017

:) Thanks!

I'm feeling okay today but trying out slightly less compressive abdominal stuff and having a hard time telling if the discomfort I feel is lack of compression or cramps from my period. Which is.. annoying. I think it's cramps. But I currently have the issue with my body where anything large enough so I can pull it up my legs is too big to provide enough compression in my abdomen! Weird problem that I haven't had before. So it's back to the drawing board for transitional compression.

Today I started the day trying to figure out what I would do tonight when we take my father in law out for dinner for a belated Father's Day. We were supposed to go for Italian so I called to see if they would do a baked ricotta small dish for me- they would have but they said they were super busy and there'd be a long wait so we left it up to him to pick. He chose Red Lobster. Since I'm only 2.5 weeks out I didn't know what to get. I really don't care for fish except for shrimp and tuna fish- nothing else sounds remotely appealing to try out at a restaurant. I want to try tilapia sometime but. It at a restaurant first.

I enede up getting a baked potato. I know that's awfully starchy, but I knew it would be soft. I ate that with no trouble. I also had 2 tiny shrimp from hubbys shrimp trio. No problems with digestion. Calories today stayed under 400 still. Not enough protein so I am adding protein powder to my water tonight to get a boost. I see the importance of protein but I am having such a hard time getting enough.

B- premier protein

L: laughing cow cheese

D: baked potato and tiny shrimp

S: carb friendly ice cream & water with protein powder. (4 g sugar)

i need to get vitamins this week. Will hit natural grocers tomorrow.

Heya. It can be hard to get protein in, especially when you have an unexpected trip to eat out. I don't know if you're looking for advice, but here goes.

It's hard to get protein in when you're eating things that aren't protein based like ice cream and potatoes. Your stomach is very small and you're still healing, which means you need to prioritize foods that will help you heal and that are high in protein. Right now, that means you shouldn't be putting anything in your body that doesn't meet these qualifications.

At this point in your recovery, that means you either need to drink more protein shakes or eat more frequently, as your meals are likely in the 1-2 ounce range. You are still healing which means you MUST measure everything before you eat to ensure that you're not eating more than you should be - your stomach is incapable of telling you when you've eaten too much because the nerves were severed so, right now, it can only lie to you.

Before you put anything into your body, ask yourself, "Is this a protein-rich food? Will this help me to heal and to reach my weight goal?" If the answer to either of those questions is no, skip the food.

For restaurants, thankfully many have menus online. I won't go to any restaurant that doesn't and I always check the menu first and decide what I can get prior to going. Considering you eat/ate shrimp, I'm wondering why you didn't just order shrimp instead of ordering a baked potato? The baked potato doesn't fit the requirements above, but shrimp would have.

If I have to go to a restaurant where there is NOTHING I can eat, that's when I pregame the situation by eating a Gwen-appropriate meal before I go and just drinking water during the meal. Honestly, though, I've never been in a restaurant and had this happen, there's always something that will fit my way of eating. (I find Italian and Tex-Mex to be the most challenging, but I can still make them work.) I've had to pregame a few times when I've gone to social gatherings not at restaurants, though.

I admit that I'm concerned about you. Your surgeon's team seems to be inexperienced and giving you suboptimal advice on how you should be eating and you seem resistant to taking any advice from successful vets here. (I'm not a vet - I'm only 3.25 years post-op, but I'd like to consider myself at least somewhat successful!) I feel like you're entirely too early out to be sabotaging yourself in the ways you've chosen to. I recommend that everyone going through this WLS process find a therapist to work with, but I think, in your case, it might not help because your therapist won't be familiar with how WLS patients should eat (I'm saying this because most therapists aren't, not because of any fault of yours!) and that this means a therapist you could find would likely just encourage you to continue eating the way you have been.

The fact that you're eating what you're eating at 2.5 weeks when your stomach is still healing is scary and the fact that you seem to think that this is okay is scarier.

Thanks for the constructive advice. I will take it into consideration.

I didn't order the shrimp because I thought it would be too hard - the menu offered larger garlic shrimp - I ate two of the tiny shrimp from the shrimp pasta- I mean like the size of my thumb nail.

Good advice about the protein rich question.

i do disagree about my surgical team. I will look into exactly how experienced they are, but the bariatric nurse has been doing this for over 20 years and has called me once a week to check in, counsel and offer meal suggestions. I assumed if I was doing any damage my stomach would be telling me so- as far as pain - I had not realized that about he nerves being damaged.

i guess I think I'm more experienced than I am because of living with a wls patient for so long, but that's different than being on yourself.

thanks Gwen- appreciat you!

It's important to remember that just because someone has been doing something for 20 years, it doesn't mean that a) they're doing it right or b) have kept up on current knowledge. While it's great that the nurse checks in with you, you've gotten bad advice and are lacking information that could, potentially, kill you - like the expectation that your stomach will tell you when you've put enough into it. It can't right now which could easily lead to overeating which could lead to a leak or worse. I know that sounds dire, but it's important to realize. The fact that your team also recommends a protein supplement which is faulty is also quite concerning. All of these little red flags combine to be a rather large red flag. I get that you want to believe your team is awesome, we all do, but you are your own best advocate and you're, ultimately, the only one who has to pay the price for your choices.

Sadly the same goes for living with your husband who had a different surgery than you did 10 years ago. 10 years ago nutritional guidelines still claimed that eating fat makes people fat.