The Awlful Reality of VSG for me!!

I am sick of dense lean meats and.....Nothing else is filling... everything else is a slider food !!!(some faster sliders than others)

Since, I'm sick of the dense meats, I feel like I'm back to pre-surgery days counting calories or fats...don't get me wrong...I don't regret my VSG, I would never be at my present weight without it....just realizing what a tough road the remaining part of this journey is gonna be,,,,seems overwhelming at times....

Does anyone else feel this way??

I surrendered to the fact that my body loves low carb long ago. Accepting that fact for me emotionally made it much easier to realize that VSG wasn't going to change what I needed to eat.. just how much I could fit.

Low carb is healthy for me, gives my body the nourishment it needs, keeps me from cravings, and gives me physical and emotional peace.  If I hadn't surrendered to that and chosen (bad) carb abstinence long ago, I'd have a hard time now probably.

I have always loved meat, but i also do miss having veges, for me i find that most of the time if i eat dense protein to get my 70 grams of protein i dont really have room for much else..

i have found though that if you eat veges that are harder to digest they are not slider food, and i have also found that if i eat  hot oatbran for breakfast (2 tablespoons mixed in 1/2 cup water) then that keeps me full for 3 hours...

This is why I still do a double scoop of protein every day.  Then I can eat my fruits and veggies with much smaller quantities of  meat throughout the day.  But I don't having trouble staying full from those things.

Laura

I haven't gotten sick of the dense lean meats yet.  But I do indulge once or twice a week in something like fried shrimp or breaded chicken.  It keeps me eating the dense meats, but just not quite "lean".  But it breaks up the monotony and  I feel helps me keep on track most of the rest of the time. 

I miss veggies too and try to sneak some in for a snack.  They don't stick to the ribs like the meat, but I just NEED to eat them once in awhile. 

Yes, it's very overwhelming!  Some days are really, really hard.  Most days are not, thank goodness. 

I actually posted a lengthy reply on the other board but wanted to answer here as well.
For me having a variety of things and not eating low fat seems to work best to keep me full and satisfied.
I eat full fat cheeses and meats such as well marbled steak and pork. I use full fat mayo. I eat fruits and some veggies (should probably eat more veggies but I prefer fresh fruit).
My nutritionist believes that eating in a deprivation way is more unhealthy in the long run.
She suggests I eat about 100 gms of protein and about the same amount of carbs daily. Now keep in mind those carbs are not coming from candy and cake on a daily basis nor am I eating pounds of butter or cups of mayo though all are part of my "plan" in moderation.
I know I maintain my loss very differently than most on this board and I am not suggesting anyone do as I do or even do as I say.
I simply offer my experience as an alternative to what I percieve as the "diet mentality" that seems pretty prominent here.
I have worked very hard in therapy to make peace with myself and food and my relationship with food. I have worked very hard to move out of a black/white, good/bad, food nazi view of myself and eating. I still use therapy as an on-going tool to help me with my relationship with myself and my emotions as I strongly believe as that is more in balance I will be more at peace with my food and my eating.
I have been at goal almost 2 years and what I am doing is working for me.

I sometimes get a little sick of dense protein but that's mainly because I want a little more variety. Throwing in an asparagus stalk is like throwing a bone to a dog.  It keeps me happy. What I really crave is fruit so a few berries go a long way.

Truth is, what I was really sick of counting was how many sizes I was going up.  My luggage once got lost in Italy and I was really afraid we were going to have to call Omar the Tent Maker.  I was really sick of counting everything and still seeing the scale going up. I was sick of counting the number of pairs of pants that I had with the thighs rubbed out of them.

I was eating low carb for years prior to surgery so this isn't so different.  I've been challenged for every ounce that comes off me, so that's not so different than pre-op except that this time it's coming off and staying off.  I can see from everything that I read here that mainentance isn't always a breeze and takes some work so what I am doing now is just good practice for the rest of my life.  It's much easier to think of doing this long term now that I'm closer to goal than it was at 249. 

I just pray to have someone slap me upside the head if they see me getting derailed! 

Sorry you are feeling bad about your available food choices. These days for many of us it seems like getting to goal was the easy part. The reality is that our eating is going to be changed for the rest of our lives. Sometimes it seems like the days of the week are chicken, fish, beef instead of monday, tuesday...

Not sure I can be of much help other than to suggest you look for different ways to prepare your dense protein such as in stir fries with some unusual vegetables or flavors. I often make a tofu stir fry now with firm tofu, minced ginger from a jar, a bit of red pepper, sesame oil, garlic and soy sauce for a very asian flavor. could do this with any meat. Or maybe some kind of marinade or sauce would make the dense protein more interesting. I make homemade pesto and keep the olive oil on the low side and a small amount is delicious. Use walnuts instead of pine nuts.

My surgeon says its totally ok to eat five meals a day if you stay in the calorie and protein range. supplementing with a protein shake a day and thereby upping protein might decrease hunger.

I guess I am lucky because so far I don't feel sick of what I can eat yet. But that day may well be coming. Please share if you try any of the suggestions and how they work for you.

Diane

I notice that at times I find myself getting most of my protein from softer (and therefore more slider-y) foods. It's that the dense proteins are more work and I get lazy.

Part of my issues are that I haven't been that good about chewing well and eating slowly. I am still working on that 2.5 years out. However, I've gotten much, much better and I find it helps a lot.

I also have a protein shake every day for breakfast and that gives me the leeway to eat more vegetables and other things so I don't get so sick of the dense meats.

So I have dense meat for lunch and dinner about 5 times a week and I only eat maybe 2-2.5 oz of it. The rest of the meal is vegetables and I try to eat a variety and include broccoli and cauliflower a lot as they don't slide right through you the way things like corn do.

Hi June!

I am sorry you are feeling frustrataed!! 

Have you thought about using other protiens instead of meat?  Like:
- eggs
-  beans
-  Cheese
-  Yogurt
-  etc...

Or learning to prepae them a different way?

Or adding some variety to the meats you buy?

Or maybe buy some cookbooks with high-protien dishes?

I am learning this is not as easy as I thought it would be either.  But I also know with some tweaking of our current plans we can do this.

I hope you get some ideas here and feel better about things.

Big hugs,

Cindy