holiday experimentation!!

Over the holiday I had two gatherings.  All of the food I made and it was either fat free, sugar free or so very low in both.  I found that I can eat just about anything and I am concerned.  Nothing seems to make me feel ill.  If I eat too much at one time I feel icky.  A few times I had just a small amount and waited and nothing happened so I had a little more etc...I had my surgery on November 28th.  I was ok'd to eat whatever I wanted on my post op (within reason).  My surgeon is really laid back about it.  I think he thinks that I body will tell us.  I have not dumped...not that I want to, but a few times I think I should have had some reaction.  I really don't know what I am doing expermenting with my food intake so young in this process.  Now I feel all out of wack.  My days and nights are all messed up.  My weight has been the same for 8 days and I was having about .5 to 1lb a day.  I know it is what I am eating.  I guess I need someone to tell me how to get back on track.  Most of the time I was eating lean cusines and weigh****chers meals two times a day.  The morning time I had oatmeal or cream of wheat.  Does that sound like alot?  I see that some people write down their food intake...I have not done that nor have they said I should.  I am so undiciplined in that area.  I don't know how to begin....HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's an easy place to start: www.fitday.com You can use the program for free and it totals all your intake. I'll be honest-- at less than a month out, I think you're overdoing it. Your nerves are not yet working right, so you can eat a lot more than your pouch can comfortably hold without doing damage. Experimenting with a young and tender pouch is NOT safe or wise! Lean Cuisines are usually a meat and a vegetable plus potato or pasta carbs. Most doctors warn their patients against those kinds of carbs, period, but certainly at under a month out your primary focus should be protein protein and protein! Typically post-ops require 60-80g of protein depending on their size-- and you're not getting nearly enough in what you're consuming. At a month out, I would have been allowed 2 ounces of the meat (about half of it-- and probably pureed, still), 2 ounces of the vegetable (again, about half of it)-- at the very most. Patients at a month out seem to typically consume about 600-650 calories a day-- that's what you're getting in your Lean Cuisines alone. Also-- they contain a lot of salt, which will cause you to retain water-- that shows up on the scale as well. Secondly-- almost everyone hits a stall at 2-4 week out. You typically have a large initial loss, then a couple weeks where nothing much happens as your body catches up to the changes. I am NOT a nutritionist-- so take this with a grain of salt, please! At the very least, you may need to try a protein supplement (shakes, etc.) to make sure you have enough for adequate healing. Hope a nutritionist chimes in, here. Do you have access to one?

when I went in to my two week post op my dietician said soft foods....I told her what I was eating and she said that was good.  I have not been focusing on the protein very much because the protein powders make me gag really bad.  A typical day for me is about 1/2 cup of oatmeal with some fresh peach (about 3 small slices diced up) and splenda.  I use a milk mixture in that.  My Dr gave me the recipe for the mixture...it is nonfat powdered milk mixed with my fat free milk.  I am getting in all of my liquid a day.  I don't eat an entire lean cusine at one time.  They are all under 320 calories or less but you are correct about them being mostly pasta.  I do eat alot of fat free refried beans and steamed soybeans.  I usually have fat free cottage cheese too.  I have been sick for the last three years with recurring cancer in my spine.  My activity level is very, very low.  I have been trying to get in some walking on my tread mill.  Anything is better than nothing at this point.  I do believe that I took in more sodium the last few days than normal.  I think my surgeon and nutritionist is very lax about what we can eat as far as it being a soft diet.  They said as long as I tolerated it...of course I have to chew, chew, chew everything very well.  Meat is not really my friend.  Chicken has was really bad last week and this week I tried it again with some fat free gravy and only very very small bites.  I started writing everything down and tomorrow I am going shopping to restock all of the things I can tolerate.  All of the holiday stuff is gone and I am glad.  Overall I did really well considering.  Your input has really helped me so much.  Thank you for responding.  Since surgery I have lost 20 lbs.  Prior to surgery I lost 20 (on my three week diet).  I also think I may be overdoing it because of my physical limitations with my back and already being weak at the start.  I would love to continue communicating with you.  I read about protein bullets...have you tried them?  Maybe I could tolerate them and not gag so bad....