Question/thought/curiosity

How did you make the switch from eating just one thing early post op such as deli meat, cheese or yogurt to eating a full balanced meal? Daisydoo has threads going for vets to answer questions. I have found this to be very helpful and very interesting. One of today's questions was interesting from a more newbie perspective, she asked: How did you make the switch from eating just one thing early post op such as deli meat, cheese or yogurt to eating a full balanced meal? How many of us are still eating a single thing at a time and how many are eating in a more balanced way?

I am just shy of 17 months out and when I was growing up, I always ate one food at a time. I would eat my veggies 1st because I didn't grow up liking them so I got rid of them quickly. Then I would eat the starchy part because I liked that better than veggies but I always ate protein last because as a general rule, I liked protein the best. I did not even like my foods to touch, to be honest. Over time, I learned to take a bite of this and a bite of that etc. I worked very hard at that particular skill set.

Now comes bariatric surgery and protein 1st. I ate one thing at a time in the early going, obviously, it's hard to make a 3 course meal out of liquids and purees. But once I got down to "regular" food, I never really ate my protein 1st although I've always made sure I get sufficient protein since I weigh and measure all I eat. I recognize the importance of protein but our bodies also need what veggies, etc supply also. Just being sure I'm taking my vitamins is not enough. I want vitamins & minerals from real food also and also, I like different tastes while I'm eating a meal. Also, it's good to keep in mind, veggies are usually watery so compact nicely in our pouches so they really aren't going to fill you up like protein so it's kind of a safe bet (at least, for me) that I'll have room for 2 to 3 oz of protein in a sitting.

I will say though, my snacks tend to be just one thing at a time so I'll have a protein bar here or jerky there or string cheese at another point in time. I'm struggling to get enough calories in to maintain and I think it would be helpful if I would mix foods, i.e. string cheese and an egg, etc. I do do apples and peanut butter from powder as a more combined snack and I do tuna and a tomato but that's about it.

So, how are us newbies doing?

When you are early out in maintenance you still have malabsorption so in order to maintain you need to pick calorie dense food as you still can't eat a lot of volume. That will change eventually but it is different for everyone.

So add more fats. Eat full fat dairy. Eat real peanut butter not powdered.

I always keep spinach on hand as that is an easy vegetable to eat. When cooked basically a slider.

Nuts or homemade trail mix are a good snack to carry.

If you are tracking your food- add calories gradually- like a 150 calories a day for a week or so before you step it up another notch.

Everyone is different in maintenance- much more so than the weight loss stage. It has taken me 3 years in maintenance to get to the point where I am eating all types of foods even some starchy carbs.

I brought nuts for a snack today. Yay me!!! I love nuts, don't know why I forget about them. I even pre-portion them out so they are ready to grab. Eating full fat dairy will probably freak me out. I do have a bit of a dairy sensitivity, not bad so I avoid milk and drink unsweetened almond or cashew milk. Greek yogurt & cheeses which have more lactose strained out are okay but I will usually take lactaid just in case. My yogurt is fat free (Dannon's Light and Fit) but I don't care for plain yogurt at all and the other flavored yogurts are very, very high in sugar so I avoid them like the plague. (I dump)

I tend to like dark chicken rather than white chicken so that helps and sometimes, I can even eat the whole thigh (if its a small one) in a sitting. My food tastes are pretty plain jane, don't much care for fried or battered foods although I do make a delicious coating, fried chicken like with pork rinds and it is yummy but I still prefer the meat, just seasoned. I enjoy most meats, pork, steak, etc and eat them now. I also prefer steamed veggies with a bit of margarine (I need to lose the blue bonnet light and go for real butter but I'm not sure about the lactose issue with real butter) rather than saucy veggies but I guess, if push came to shove, I could put cheese on my steamed broccoli.

Trying to eat more has been a real brain melt for me because I've spent the last 40 years trying to eat less so trying to add calories is really freaking me out. I get on the scale every morning thinking, "I know, I ate real peanut butter, I'm going to be up 10 lbs" and of course, I'm not. I think too, that my focus has been on weight loss for so long, I don't know how to handle the idea of maintenance. When I don't see a loss, even though I know I'm trying to maintain, I feel disappointed. Another brain melt, I think.

I try about 2 weeks at each calorie level, 100 calories at a time. I'm at 1300 right now, started at 1000 but think I may need to get to 1400 or maybe 1500. I think it's working and then I whoosh and lose 2 lbs. I do walk/run a lot and strength train a little, need to do more strength training. I eat a full range of veggies, love me some veggies and I'm adding in more complex carbs. I tried farro this week, yummy and this coming weekend, will try barley. Another brain melt, if I do something like brown rice or quinoa for one meal than I'll do cauliflower rice or zoodles for another (which I do love, btw) because somewhere in the midst of my brain melt, I think you can't do carbs, even complex carbs every day (and yes, I know veggies are carbs but whose going to get fat eating broccoli?) I have been eating some quinoa and brown rice also. I try to aim for grains/complex carbs that have a higher protein complex also.

I do eat protein bars but only small ones, the larger ones fill me up too much and I'm real ticky about the stats. So many are so much carbier than I want them to be, i.e. I like Pure Protein Bars but they are carby and big and I can only eat 1/2 of one. If you are going to give me a protein bar, it should have lots of protein and more protein than net carbs. Quest bars probably have the best stats but I don't like them, at all!!! I have found Built Bars and Detour Simple Protein Bars which are good, 10 to 15 grams of protein and low net carbs, lots of fiber. Probably more processed than I would like.

Well, that was probably more than you wanted to hear. I am slightly OCD and a tad analytical. I could use some counseling but none really available in my area so I'd have to drive an hour to do it and if you work, that's not a realistic possibility. Finding someone who not only can counsel but is familiar with bariatrics I don't even know if I can find. Right now, I do WW and am Lifetime to maintain accountability and my focus on weight where it should be. Not ideal but it's better than nothing.

Have you looked into telemedicine? There are some great services like Talkspace that let you connect with a therapist by phone or an app. It's very useful for people who don't have lots of providers nearby :)

I would but generally, they don't take insurance and I'm not sure I can afford it otherwise.

There are places that charge on a sliding scale, like the one we go to. They do not file insurance, but I can file out of network and it goes towards my deductible.

I know I would not stay sane(ish) without my therapist.

Then you definitely should look into it, since you don't know what you'll find out until you do. My insurance has many telehealth options in its "find a provider" widget.

I am well versed with the fear of getting into maintenance and I will gain 10 pounds if I eat that. I am not saying throw all caution to the wind, but it is weird to have to add food after all these years of dieting.

I think most of us eat pretty simply. I would not dive into fried foods. I do enjoy a few French fries when eating out now, but that's about it.

So far, no gain, just loss. I've never been a fan of fried foods. I grew up without fried foods until I moved to the south. Won't say I've never eaten KFC but I liked their grilled chicken more than the fried. No real fried foods except the fried pork skins but they have a good protein profile and they taste good and they make an excellent coating for faux fried in the air fryer. I freaked when I ordered a pork chop dinner from the local (home cooking) diner and I opened it up to find a fried pork chop and that was years before surgery when I was a human garbage can. I always make sure to ask for a grilled pork chop. I actually feel like I could gain about 10 lbs and my body fat ratio is lower than it's supposed to be. My PCP and my surgeon's nurse practitioner say "STOP LOSING". I'm trying. Think it's time for another upping of calories. I have found if I eat some nuts, that does help get my calories up. Love nuts but it is kind of a trigger food for me so I'm a bit leary of them. This is a bit of a mind melt to be honest.

I'm not yet in maintenance, but I do crave variety in my menu and meals and LOVE vegetables. Once I got to a point where I could easily get my protein numbers from food, I just kind of decided that while I CAN eat 4-6 oz of protein (depending on what it is) and be full, I'd rather eat 3-4 oz of protein and add a vegetable or small salad on the side. So basically, I "make room" for the veg.

Im just over a year out, for reference. My meals total around 7-8 oz in weight depending on the protein or what vegetable I'm having. Something like lettuce or spinach salad isn't very dense, so I can eat more of that than say, green beans or Brussels sprouts. I still eat any fruits or starches last, but I try to limit those more as I'm still trying to lose.