Good Morning. Curiosity question about eating habits

Do you think we never learn to eat like a normal skinny person because our first few years of WLS physically restricts us and we learn to test the limits rather than push away and nibble more often?  I know many programs have us eating 3 meals a day and only dense protein to give us a sustained full feeling...is that a good idea?  Please discuss.

Have a great Thursday.

--gina
   

thankfully, my program isn't a 3 meal, no snack program.  I still have 3-4 food meals a day and 2-3 protein drinks a day.  My DH actually said last night I had the surgery so I could eat all the time because I am eating pretty darn often (he eats 2x a day).

I do push my limits, unfortunately.  I want that last bite, to clean my tiny plate, etc.  I know I need to work on that.  I don't have a real clean full signal but I do know often when I am taking one or two bites I shouldn't.  don't get sick, just didn't need those.

I think I alway ate pretty healthy, lots of veggies, protein.  I eat less carbs now for sure and make sure I have protein first but the volume is gone.  DH is 6'4" to my 4'11" and I thin****pt up with him for years in volume although my diet has always been less refined carbs than his.

Interesting, some of my skinny friends eat way more and more junk than I ever have.  I don't know if I know what NORMAL skinny folks eat.

I started a quick reply and it just got longer and longer.  Obviously you struck a cord with me...

My program is a 3 meal a day plan, but not just dense protein, fruits and veggies are highly encouraged with protein first.

It has been much harder than I expected for several reasons:

1. As empty nesters, we don't cook much.  We are very active and we need/like grab and go solutions, especially for breakfast and dinner.  We are both lunch people.  We will get a healthy meal at lunch and bring home the leftovers for dinner.  We are on the go so much that it is hard to get the meal planning down.

2. It is not unusual for me to have a "working lunch".  I detest working lunches.  I need a break in my day to get away from the stress of the office, but the worst part is the food choices.  It is usually some kind of sandwich.  If I knew I was having a working lunch, I'm pack my own food (provided I could get my stuff together in the morning.)

3. We often socialize in the evening.  Much of our time with our family and friends revolves around food.  It is so easy to "just take a taste" and next thing you know, you are eating unhealthy carbs and are going "off plan".

4. The other problem with 3 meals a day is in my head.  I'm used to an afternoon snack and I've let the carbs sneak into my life.  It is a day-to-day struggle with me to "just say no" to simple carbs. 

5.  Struggling so hard to make it work impacts the self-esteem.  I see my off-plan times as my inadequacies.  I have to recognize the struggle and keep pushing myself to do better with the next choice. 

I don't have RH.  I can only imagine how 3 meals a day won't work for them.

Happy Thursday! (It is my Friday as I'm making my 3 day weekend a 10 day weekend ... Whoo Hoo!)


Kay

My program is one of the 3 meals a day.  They even told me that my protein drinks really count as a snack, so I'm not on their 3 meal a day program.  According to them, I'm having 3 meals and 3 snacks...

I still have not gotten back my hungry feeling(I'm so thankful for this and hope it never returns).  Mine is all head hunger when I eat off plan.  I had gotten to where I knew I was pushing the envelope and eating too much at meals and feeling way too full.  I backed off and started to really try to pay attention to what I was eating and how much.  Now sweets are another issue, I can get really hung up on them and ruin a day pretty quickly.

I went to a birthday party Saturday night and sat beside a girl who had lost over 80 pounds by diet and exercise after she found out she had diabetes.  We have talked about weight loss in the past.  I think we ate a lot alike.

I eat most of my protein first, but I like to have a bite or two of veggies or fruit so I will have that in between some of my protein or I won't be able to eat any of it.

I do much better when I plan out on Saturday or Sunday for the next week and when I post on Roz's Menus and Miles.  I love looking at what everyone else is doing to get some great ideas.

Linda

I guess on my plan they suggest eating 6 times a day but I have always believed that I have to do what works for me.  I usually have 3 meals and a snack.  One of those meals is a protein drink because I don't like to eat in the morning.  Part of the reason I don't like to eat is because I like to drink my decaf and if I ate something I would have to wait to be able to drink.  That silly rule is the reason I think I don't eat more often and it keeps me from snacking or eating something unplanned since I drink so much.  If I ate solid food 6 times a day it would cut out 3 hours of drinking and I get too thirsty to go that long without drinking.  I usually drink about a gallon a day.  Whenever I think about eating something I have to decide if I can wait 30 minutes to drink again.  They also say not to drink 30 minutes before you eat and I follow that about 99% of the time so if I ate solid food 6 times a day that is 6 hours of not drinking.  I know this sounds weird but I would rather drink then eat at this point.  I get more thirsty then hungry.
I have even been thinking about not following that for a while since I would like to gain some weight and I heard that some doctors recommend that to people that want to gain but I have gotten so used to not drinking while eating that I don't want to get into the habit and then getting to where I gain too much and have to go back.
Welcome to the world of my crazy thinking.

Ladytazz I totally feel the same way! I would rather drink than eat any day..I think the only reason I do eat is because otherwise I can't get in enough calories..and fiber that im pushing for right now...My NUT did tell me that if I started loosing too much that she would recommend eating and drinking but I don't think that will be an issue for me personally..plus it hurts when I eat and drink and that seems like that is bad for our pouches! Personally I would keep on doing what your doing..

It's taken a while but I do feel like I eat like a normal person. My portions are a lot smaller and I tend to go low carb, but it's not like only WLS people are eating low carb. It's actually fairly popular.

I eat many times a day and sometimes I do things like have cereal for breakfast. Where I am different is that I have to get in a certain amount of protein to maintain my nutritional status. I consider this a medical condition,  like being allergic to gluten.

My plan emphasizes 3 meals, no snacks, and at most one shake per day after about 6 months.

However, in my case, I get 4 meals and 2-3 shakes per day, so they are variable. All meals are protein-forward, but include fresh veggies and fruit, with an occasional starch. There are days when I'm a bit higher on carbs than protein (generally from milk/yogurt), or days when I'm higher on protein (higher meat days), but overall I'm about even on them, which seems to work for me.

I do find that I ask trusted healthy, athletic women what/how they eat and try to model what they do. It seems to work for me.

I guess that's the important part - while maintaining health,what eating system works for you? Find it and do it.

My meal plan is suppose to be three meals a day and one snack...one of which is to be a protein shake only at night though..can't figure out the reasoning behind that. Now, lets talk about what my body needs which is a protein drink for breakfast since I hate eating first thing in the morning, snack, "lunch", snack, "dinner", snack..so I guess that is eating 6 times most of the time. My lunch really is no bigger than a snack but the difference is at meals I push the protein for my snack I eat either fruit or a vegetable..and sometimes at night time a small sugar free sweet..I know thats bad but I don't believe that depriving yourself leads to anything good. My nut totally supports this way of eating because she knows how well I am doing and obviously its working out okay..just don't know why they can't take that into consideration when they are recommending their way of eating. I think we should be advised to push protein yes but also to eat healthy, make sure we are getting fruits and veggies in too...I am finding that I eat very similar to the "very" skinny people I work at (aka 130-115 pound females).

I find I  eat  two  real "  meals " a day   and a few  ( hopefully ) protein based  snacks .  If my meals are satisfying enough  i dont graze except  in the  mid afternoon  low blood sugar time ...