meal planning, need help

hey guys i was trying to figure how many times a day i will need to eat, once i get back on regular food. I was trying to figure out how to get my protein and liquids in.  I am not sure how many meals and snacks to have a day.

What does your surgeon's meal plan say? Every surgeon seems to have a slightly different plan.
Personally, mine has us eat 6 times per day, focusing on protein first of course, then veggies, and lastly fruits.

Did your surgeon or nutritionist not give you an eating plan?  If not, maybe you could ask for one.  Just for reference, here is what I was told to do:

5-6 small meals a day, about 1/2 cup or 3-4 ounces.  80 grams of protein at a minimum, which early on for me meant that I had to supplement with protein powder.  A typical day for me when I first started on solid food looked like this:

7:00 am 1/2 cup cottage cheese
10:00 am 1/3 cup bean with bacon soup mixed ham baby food mixed in
1:00 pm 1 ounce of deli turkey rolled up with 1 slice of low-fat provolone cheese
4:00 pm 1/4 cup refried beans with Greek yogurt and taco sauce
7:00 pm 1/3 cup spaghetti sauce with beef baby food mixed in (sounds gross, but it's not)

In-between, I would sip on Syntrax Nectar Fuzzy Navel or Strawberry Kiwi protein drinks.  Once I knew I was going to hit my protein goal for the day, I switched to water.

Hope this helps!

Oh, and a good tool to use to track your protein is www.myfitnesspal.com.  There is also www.sparkpeople.com and www.livestrong.com, among others.  I have tried several, and myfitnesspal works best for me.

You know about not drinking while you eat or for 30 minutes after, and stuff like that, right?  Just checking, because I was thinking that if they didn't give you an eating plan, they might have left out some other important info.

Hi KATHY,

Where did you get the nectar and strawbrry kiwi drinks.  Ty

am i not supposed to drink before and after snack as well, i find that hard to get in the amount of liquid if so, yes they did give me a meal plan but it is not very clear on what to do, just what to eat

I eat about six times a day.  It doesn't really matter how many times you eat, for the most part.  What matters is that you get the right amount of protein and calories.  I could not get enough protein or calories if I only ate three times a day.  Also, my blood sugar gets low if I go too long without eating so I eat about every three hours or so.  You may need to experiment a bit to find what works for you.

As far as drinking goes, there is no reason not to drink before a meal or snack.  You should not drink with meals or snacks, though, or for at least 30 minutes afterward, because that will wash food out of your pouch and you'll get hungry fast.

so i dont need to stop drinking 30 mins before i eat. even if i am still very new, i am only 1 week and will be starting soft/pureed foods very soon.

Unless drinking before you eat makes you feel so full you don't want to eat, no.  There's no real reason to stop drinking 30 minutes before you eat.

thank you so much, right now everything makes me feel full but i am still having pain issues everytime i eat or drink anything