To snack or not to snack?

Hello all. I am almost 7 weeks out from RNY and am wondering what everyone's thoughts are on snacking. My calorie intake varies from day to day and when i go to the gym which is about 3-4 times a week I am sometimes in the negative. Should I or should i not be snacking? and if so what should i snack on? My doc doesn't really say much when I ask him, he tells me it's up to me. HELP!!! I am getting Bored with my life of tuna, chicken and cheese also.....any suggestions on how to spice them up??

I eat 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day.  right now, at 17 months post-op , I need to be eating about 1400 calories per day.  It would be impossible for me to do that with only 3 meals and no snacks -- my pouch isn't big enough to take in almost 500 calories in one sitting.  However, my sugeon's team recognized that from the very beginning and had us doing 3 meals and 3 protein shakes per day as snacks.  

NOW --- when you're looking at your calorie intake and comparing the exercise calories burned, you should not be calculating your intake to make up for the workouts.  Find a calorie goal and hit that every day whether you're exercising that day or not.  I don't bother tracking my calories burned from workouts because when I do, it just messes with my head and makes me think I can eat more. 

When I pick snacks I make them protein based ... or a balance of carbs and protein.  My rule is "no carbs without protein" -- so if I pick an apple as a snack, I have to also have something protein based like a cheesestick or peanut butter or a slice of deli turkey.

thank you so much for the info.

I have 3 meals and 1 snack every day.  However, this "snack" is really the same size as a "meal", so you could look at it as 4 meals per day and 0 snacks! 

The important thing with snacking is to plan it ahead of time.  If you make the mistake of snacking whenever you "feel hungry", you may run into problems both short and long-term (ie - grazing or eating when you don't NEED to, just because you WANT to). 

I eat as soon as I wake up in the morning and every 4 hours after that - which equals 4 times per day. 

Why are you eating only tuna, chicken & cheese?  Are you not able to have proteins like beef, turkey & eggs?  Just curious. 

thank you for the input. I do eat eggs....forgot that. beef is ok if it is in chilli. turkey was a bit too dry for me to handle just yet. your information has helped a great deal.

thank you