Question:
more food intake after just 5mo?

ok i'm starting to get a tad concerned....i'm a week shy of being 5 months out and it seems like i can take in more calories now! i used to do 600-800 but now it's turning into 800-1000! seems like i can eat more in a sitting than i used to...i mean nothing like before my surgery but it scares me just the same....is this normal?    — lizzie42 (posted on October 11, 2007)

October 10, 2007
I understand your concern but remember-just because you can doesn't mean you should. That is what got us where we were to begin with. Stick with the portions your Dr. recommended. You are on the losing side and it's a great life! Happy Weight Loss!
   — Lost4Ever

October 10, 2007
I agree with the previous post. Right now is the perfect time to start gaining weight back. Watch what goes into your mouth. Go back to the basics. Best Wishes, Mick
   — MCraig3

October 11, 2007
I agree with everyone here - just because you can doesn't mean you have to... remember if you are NOT HUNGRY you shouldn't eat.... try to keep ur mind busy, it helps believe me.
   — NYDeebo

October 11, 2007
OMG! The question was is this normal? I hate how everyone loves to preach... I am 6 months out and I can eat a little more too and you know what?? 1000 calories a day is fine! Also, it is almost impossible to gain weight at this point. You are still losing. This all comes from my doctor, people. Don't worry, this is normal. At 5 months out 800-1000 calories is ok.
   — kittyluver77

October 11, 2007
My nutritionalist told me at first you can only eat about a egg sized portion, and eventually build up to about a cup of food at one time. Use a smaller plate divide it into 3rds. One third for your meat, one third for your veggie, and one third for the starch. This is about a 4" plate. Those are the guidelines given to me. Also, remember, you, (everyone)... can out eat this surgery and stretch that tiny pouch if your not careful. Use that tiny pouch as your tool, and don't abuse it. You have lost a lot of weight! Congratulations and good luck!
   — lesleigh07

October 11, 2007
My nutritionalist told me at first you can only eat about a egg sized portion, and eventually build up to about a cup of food at one time. Use a smaller plate divide it into 3rds. One third for your meat, one third for your veggie, and one third for the starch. This is about a 4" plate. Those are the guidelines given to me. Also, remember, you, (everyone)... can out eat this surgery and stretch that tiny pouch if your not careful. Use that tiny pouch as your tool, and don't abuse it. You have lost a lot of weight! Congratulations and good luck!
   — lesleigh07

October 11, 2007
Based on your post op status, your caloric consumption seems normal. You are still malabsorbing so 1000 calories is not out of the question. Be sure to exercise too because that will also help burn calories. Between the exercise and malabsorbtion you should still lose nicely. I'm on maintenance and trying to stay within 1500 calories a day.
   — Sheri A.

October 11, 2007
Liz, I feel you. I'm about 8 months post-op and there are days that I could just eat, eat, eat, but I'm recognizing that those are the days leading up to my cycle. I'm tired, cranky, and hungry and on the other hand due to my workout routine I know that your metabolism can kick in like a tiger and you want to eat -- therefore when you do eat something, make sure it's not something that is going to cause you discomfort. At 6 AM I started on a Dr. Atkins protein shake and finished it about 6:45. By 9 AM I was hungry again and went to the cafeteria and got a piece of ham and ate that with some salsa. Noon I had a 12 ounce cup of chili with beans and I ate that in about 45 minutes time. So what's normal -- heck if I know. We are all different. We all have different body builds, didn't weigh the same the date of our surgery and different foods treat us certain ways -- so what is normal -- good question.
   — the7thdean

October 11, 2007
I agree with NaDine...what's normal? We're all different (though basically the same) and our metabolisms work at different paces. The best thing to do is ask your surgeon or nutrionalist; they know you better than we do. Good luck! Cherry
   — cherryj

October 12, 2007
This may not be the place to do this, but I have a question vs. an answer as a result of one of the comments listed above. I haven't had my surgery yet, but am hoping it will be soon. Here goes, is "malabsorbition" something that only occurs for a time following surgery? If a person post op has a smaller pouch (I know it can be stretched) and caloric intake is reduced as a result, isn't that factor alone what not only causes the weight loss and maintains it? (I am not discussing exercise and the other factors here.) I don't understand the comment about "still malabsorbing". Any clarification would be appreciated.
   — Lori.Z

October 12, 2007
Hi Amy, my first question would be which surgery did you have, RNY or GRDS? if you had the GRDS you are doing fine, the dr told me some days I might be able to eat what seems to be alot and other days I night not eat much at all, as you heal inside you will be able to eat more but you dont want to stretch your new stomach so if you're just eating till you feel full then you're doing fine. Also, my dr told me to go by how much I ate before surgery and how much I'm eating now, you dont want to eat as much as before, you want to keep it to about 1/4 - 1/3 of what you use to eat. I hope this has helped, Good Luck at being a loser and remember Protein and water first!! Mel
   — purpleangel0909

October 13, 2007
Hi everyone. I'm almost embarassed to post, but I must speak. I had my surgery Sept '04. For the first 5 months, I lost 60lbs. I didn't lose a pound after that! My doctor said she made my pouch larger than what you see advertised a lot of times. My surgery weight was 290. I got down to 230. Since then, I'm back up to 247-253, back and forth. I can eat as much as I did before and quite often. I think one of my problems was trying to see just how much I could eat. And when I realized how much more I could eat and not get sick or vomit, I kind of stayed at that eating level. I also do not dump and can eat anything sweet. And so my biggest problem right now is the same problem I had before the surgery. I feel like such a failure because I hate that I put my body through this surgery (open RNY) and didn't allow myself to fully benefit from it. And now I hate the side effects (loose skin and stinky poop). I was very firm and solid at my heaviest and now I shake some. I want so badly to start over, but my motivation is lacking. It's almost like I tell myself "told you that you couldn't do it". So as a person who did "fail", I want to just say, make sure you follow the program. Don't "test" to see how much extra you can eat or try to eat the forbidden foods just to see if you can handle them. That was my mistake. I wish you the best on your journey. And ALL of you for that matter.
   — poodie

Click Here to Return