Am I eating too much?

Yesterday both my dad and my DH asked me if I was eating too much for being 1 week post-op.  I don't think that they meant to be critical, but now they have me worried.  Here is what I ate yesterday: Breakfast- 2/3 slice English muffin toast with 2 tbsp. RF peanut butter Lunch - 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese and 1/4 cup diced watermelon Dinner - 1 oz. RF swiss cheese, 3 cheese curds, 2 Triscuits, 1 Club Cracker Daily plate said that this was 630 cal and 43 g protein. Surgery center diet recommendations for week 2 (what I'm on) are:  eat 1/2 cup food 3x/day no snacking.  Add small amount of watermelon or other melon to meal as desired to increase "moistness" of meal.  Do not drink with meals.  Eat any tolerable food except chicken, fish, turkey (added week 3) or pork, beef, and ground meats (added week 6).  Eat protein first, but do not take protein supplementation (they believe that we will get enough protein within a couple of weeks and don't want the added calories of supplements). I *really* don't want to fail at this and my dad expressed that maybe I wasn't as "willing" of a WLS participant since I was eating food already and not just sticking with broth and pureed foods like other people he knew.  My confidence is just really down right now. Oh, I *am* losing weight.  In the 1 week since surgery I have lost 10 pounds.  I think I'm doing good, but I don't want to get off to a bad start and not be able to recover.  Thanks again for all the advice.

Early out I would have never been able to each as much as you are. We'er all different though. Not saying how much your eating is wrong. Your nerves are still healing and your not going to have a true full feeling yet. I didn't even attemp bread or cracker until I was months out. I don't think the english muffin and PB are the best choices you could make. That's just my opinion. Edited to add: Don't let anyone be your food police if you are following your Dr's rules. Each Dr is different and you need to tell your Dad to butt out, in the nicest of ways.

Hi, Congratulations on your surgery and the success that you have had to this point.  What the surgeon suggests is what you should be following.  I am surprised that you are permitted solid food this early out, not because of weight loss but because of the healing process, but you should do what your surgeon tells you to do. I looked over what you are having and I am going to be critical, but it is meant with only good intentions for you.  Back off the carbs (Muffin, cheese curls, etc).  Up your protein  2 protein shakes or other protein dirnks will get that number up to 50 grams before you add in your food, lastly increase your protein.  There are many schools of thought that recommend that those of us who have high BMI's should consume higher amounts of protein.  Also, it is a plus in not having a great amount of hair loss.   Please believe me  when I say the first few weeks are really hard.  You are coming up to the stage where head hunger rears it ugly head and if you are already eating carbs it is even going to be harder on you to fight the beast.  I threatened to use my credit card to order a pizza the second week.  It would have killed me but my head wanted it.   As far as the comments from your DH and dad.  I am sure they mean well.  Each surgeon does things slightly different  and you need to do what yours said (I already said that, sorry).   Please maximize the honeymoon period as you don't know when it will end.  You want to lose as much as you can during this period.   Keep your chin up as this is also the time that depression might set in. Keep up the great work.   Jeanne

Smiles coming your way.  she said she had cheese curds, not cheese curls. Loris

Hi, I did read that (can't blame that on my old eyes) but I really thought it was a typo.  Now what is a cheese curd? Jeanne

If you are following your surgeon's guidelines, tell your family to butt out (nicely of course).  If you aren't following your surgeon's guidelines, then start.  It sounds like you are.  If you are already getting "food police" nip it in the bud before it becomes established for them to police you.  I don't think 600cal is unreasonable so early out, but I do agree you might want to take this time to get over the carb monster because it will get harder later.  I think breakfast could be higher in protein, lunch looks good, and dinner is ok.  What about changing your breakfast to milk and carnation instant breakfast, or something like that?  You aren't doing badly, but your plan is a little different than what a lot of people are instructed to do.  And you may find later that you can't eat quite as much, a lot of people seem to feel more restriction after healing is complete.  Just be careful on volumes and try to get your protein as high as possible. 

I also had a surgeon that disallowed protein drinks.  I got discharged on pureed food and was allowed 3 meals but could have two 8oz of milk for snacks each day.  If necessary, I could boost the protein with extra milk powder.   I think I was on pureed/mushy food for 4 weeks.   I know for the first week I was lucky to get down 2 oz of pureed anything, but did very quickly get my protein over 60 gm. Guess I didn't want to lose my hair down the line.  My pouch did not have the capacity to eat much more than protein and could have never tolerated the volume you are eating.   But each surgeon is different and my surgeon hand sews instead of using staples, and that makes for a tighter/smaller opening, so I'm not surprised that I can handle less volume than others.  When it comes to something like this, I think  your best bet is to talk directly to your surgeon's office.   There are so many questions that you don't know that you have until you actually start living it.   -Dawn

My surgeon did not recommend protein drinks either and did not require near the protein amounts some surgeons do.  In fact, he recommended a balanced diet including carbohydrates.  I do include protein with every meal but I don't hesitate to include small amounts of pasta, rice, potato, bread, etc and I always include vegetables and/or fruit each day.  My labs have been perfectly normal.  Please follow your doctors instructions.  Your weight loss is impressive.  Congratulations on the 10 lbs!

Thanks everyone!  I read through my nutritional handbook from the surgeon again yesterday and I was following it pretty closely!  There were probably 1 or 2 meals where I ate a bit more than recommended.  After reading it though and really putting into perspective that the pounds are coming off nicely, I'm just going to stay the course for now.  I have my post-op visit with the surgeon next Wednesday and I'm going to try to meeting with the NUT that day too.  I'm sure they'll be able to give me some good advice about how the perceive my current situation.  I also haven't seen my therapist in a couple of weeks due to the surgery and so I'm going to schedule something with her for next week too...she knows how I can over-analyze everything and will also help give me some perspective on any self-sabotaging that I am/may be doing. :) I *do* appreciate all of the feedback.  I expected that I wouldn't be able to eat more than a bite or two at this stage and some meals that is true, but most it is not.  It's good to hear where others were at, but it is only part of the equation.

Another good soft breakfast option would be greek yogurt, very high in protein.  I couldn't stand it early out but some people really like it.  Add splenda or some sf flavored syrup, or have it with melon, sounds pretty good to me at the moment.