Small Meals vs. Grazing

I am pre-op but trying to eating something every 2-3 hrs. Is this grazing? Should I stick to set meals and snacks instead?

There are multiple thoughts on this- my bariatric team encouraged eating every two or three hours, just to get in the protein needed to assure a successful recovery from surgery. The team says that eating a couple of ounces every few hours keeps your digestive track moving and helps keep a constant level of protein for the healing process.

After a few months, you'll be able to handle a little more food in your stomach, so you won't NEED to have as many frequent meals. But my office still likes the idea of multiple SMALL meals each day, and strongly recommends that we plan each meal out.

On my food tracking site (MyFitnessPal.com) I have it set up so there are six "meals" each day. I have Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack, Dinner, Evening Snack. I "pre-load" these meals the day before so I always have a plan, then update as life happens and things change. Here's today's menu:

B- 9 shrimp with 1 tsp of ****tail sauce

MS- (missed this morning but would have been 1/3 cup cottage cheese with protein powder)

L- (normally a tuna pack but today...) 1 cup blueberries plus 1/3 cup cottage cheese

AS- Can of Pure Protein Frosty Chocolate shake (will be consumed after my bike commute home)

D- Left over taco meat (3/4 cup) with a sprinkle of cheese

ES- Shrimp with a little ****tail sauce

That results in a high calorie day - 768 calories and about 100 g of protein (and 29g carbs thanks to those blueberries). Normally I try to keep under 700 calories. I'm three months out btw.

Thank you for your answer! How did you adjust MyFitnessPal to 6 meals? I have looked at everything in settings and can't find it.

I also appreciate hearing what a typical day looks like in reality. Are you overall happy that you had the surgery?

At the point I wss scheduled for my surgery I opted for the paid version of MFP, but I'm not sure this is a paid feature? I'm pretty sure I googled "how to add meals to MFP" because I basically Google everything in life Lol!

I'm frustrated by my slow losing (35 lbs at 3mo), I'm disappointed that despite the promised mal-absorbtion kicker I'm probably looking at a life time of eating under 1000 cal a day (700 ish), I'm terrified because this (3month post operation) is the easiest it will ever be, yet it still feels hard... But seriously, what's the alternative???? I'd totally do it all over again!!!

I used google and added my meals...turns out you have to do it on the computer and can't do it on mobile, which I was trying to do.

Although 35 lbs might not be where you want to be, it's still a significant amount. I'm afraid that being restricted to such a low daily calorie goal will be hard. Do you feel hungry?

No, not REAL hunger, but lots of head hunger. I'm worried about the hunger that will show up eventually! None the less, I couldn't find a better option worth better long term success than WLS.

I'm sorry, eating six times a day is insanity and will virtually guarantee you will not lose much weight. Your insulin will stay at high levels, your liver will be constantly full of glucose and your body fat will never burn. The best number of meals to eat per day is ONE, or two at most - not too far apart.

Wow, am I an idiot. I've been using MFP for YEARS and never knew I could reconfigure the meals/snacks. This is literally life altering!! LOL. I've always hated that my "snacks" got lumped together as I eat 5-6 times daily, but only had the default 4 categories. My life is better already ;-)

Two hours is a little too frequent. I eat every 3. Grazing is sort of picking at food all day, at random. Eating every 3 hours, by the clock, is not the same as grazing. It's just eating by a particular plan.

Yes I always took grazing to be a bite here and a bite there between actual meals. I was a bad grazer pre wls and its still a habit I am having to rein in. Everyday it gets easier though! Well mostly lol