Question:
so many weeks out

At 11 weeks out how much food should you be able to eat at each meal? Any suggestions on what to eat at a meal. Getting tired of the same stuff. Also what happens if you go to a resturant?    — cuppaloopy (posted on March 23, 2010)

March 23, 2010
Well, if you're asking how much your pouch should hold, at three months, we were told that from 3 to 6 months, our "optimum pouch size" is approximately 3-4 ounces. Now when I say ounces, I don't mean WEIGHT. I mean VOLUME. I mean that whatever you can FIT in a container that holds 3 ounces is what you should be able to eat, and that includes at least 75% of that container being protein. As far as how many calories we should be eating at 11 weeks out, well, when I asked my nutritionist this...she jumped all over me and basically told me this: I don't care HOW MANY CALORIES you are eating, you should be getting 65 to 85 grams of protein, up to 120 grams of carbs, and no more than 40 grams of fat, and you should NOT be getting any of your protein from shakes anymore!! And if you're doing that, you'll naturally be eating within the boundaries of the program!!! Well, that was good and bad for me....good because I didn't have to spend all that money on protein drinks, but bad because there were some of them I really enjoyed. Anyways...at this point in time, you should be able to eat anything you want to eat, just in tiny amounts, and chew-chew-chew. And at 3 months out, you should be eating approximately 900 - 1300 calories per day or about 200 calories per meal. For breakfast, I have the same thing all the time - Eggbeaters scrambled up with fat-free great value turkey breast lunch meat from Walmart, a couple of tablespoons of diced mushrooms, 15 grams of Weight Watchers cheese, and maybe a chopped up piece of asparagus from dinner. You can also eat Kashi Go Lean Vanilla Flavored instant oatmeal (has lots of fiber), but I always freak out about the carbs and the lack of protein. With my breakfast, I have sliced strawberries sprinkled with Splenda, and half of a firm banana. For lunch, I have tuna salad made with hard-boiled eggs, dill relish, and Best Foods Light Mayo. I also make chicken salad the same way. Most of the time, I eat it by itself, but sometimes I will eat it on half of a whole grain double-fiber English muffin, or on whole grain crackers. I sometimes eat shrimp with a couple of tablespoons of cocktail sauce for lunch. Once in a while, I will have a Hebrew National 97% fat-free all beef hot dog. Or, I'll have a container of yogurt with a couple of tablespoons of fiber and a scoop of unflavored protein powder in it. I also make a mean ham salad. And I'll eat fat-free cottage cheese with a dash of Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing mix in it if I wanted it savory, or a couple of tablespoons of sugar-free Polaner Strawberry preserves with fiber in it if I wanted something sweet. I also developed an addiction to Oikos plain greek yogurt mixed with a tsp of vanilla extract, a package of Splenda, and two tablespoons of the above-mentioned Polaner. Goodness, was that delicious!! For dinner, I was cooking tilapia, or salmon, or stir-frying chicken, or having turkey moistened with a tablespoon of gravy. Or maybe I'd have a portabella mushroom marinated in a little olive oil, chopped garlic, and tamari sauce, then grilled. I had a hard time (and still do) eating red meat. As far as going out to restaurants, I was eating sushi (not the rice and the seaweed, but just the finely chopped fish - salmon and scallops - made with Light Mayo that I would bring from home) within 2 weeks of coming home (hey, it was as smooth as eating any yogurt, and it had lots of protein and omega-3). I would "save up my fat grams" and go to this Mexican restaurant, where I ate the skinless, boneless, shredded chicken with plenty of broth on it to moisten it, and a side of "jalapeno cream cheese". At other places, I had turkey moistened with a tablespoon or so of turkey gravy, and I'd ask for a fruit salad and a floret or two of broccoli. Often, we'll go out and my partner will just order something we both like, and I'll eat off of her plate. If we go to an Italian restaurant, I'll order the chicken saltimboca or some other meat dish, and if we go to the Olive Garden, I'll ask if someone wants to share some of their meat with me - I usually end up with at least half a sausage or a meatball or two, and sometimes even chicken, crab, shrimp or lobster! I try to stay away from the pasta, and stick with the meat and veggies, and MAYBE, a bite of whole wheat bread or a few bites of salad. If someone orders dessert, I will ask if I may have ONE bite. That always satisfies me...and I don't feel deprived or left out. I've even been able to go to buffets... I just take a dessert-sized plate, and whatever I can fit on it is all I eat....and I usually can't even finish that. I will admit that restaurant eating tends to make me sick. I mean, whether it's because I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing and not chewing well enough, or inadvertently I eat too much, or what, but I generally end up throwing up - sometimes before we even leave the restaurant. Finally, I even found a fast food fix.... I go to Qdoba, and order a side of the shredded pork (because according to their nutritional info, it's the leanest thing on their menu), and have them put a ladle-full of the 3-cheese queso on it, and I have a meal that will MORE than fill me up, for about $3.22. Anyways, I go out to restaurants at least once a week, and most times two or three times. You just have to be careful about how much you eat and how fast... and that you don't drink anything while you're there or for 45 minutes to an hour afterwards.
   — Erica Alikchihoo

March 23, 2010
Well, I am 7 months out and I still really can't eat out. I can't tolerate most protein, so my NUT tells me to supplement with shakes. I do eat beans, Greek yogurt, nuts, cheese and surprisingly beef, go figure. Fish makes me hurl, so does chicken.
   — FSUMom

March 23, 2010
Eggface.com and bariatric eating.com have recipes especially for wls patients. There are even recipes to jazz up your shakes.
   — MargaretHM

March 24, 2010
Barbara....you posted this SAME question on March 17th. And you got a couple of really good answers. One of them was to go to the www.bariatriceating.com site, where there are lots of recipes for WLS patients, and also suggestions on how to jazz up your protein shakes. Another was to go to www.theworldaccordingtoeggface.com. There is another source of good recipies. There's also http://www.froedtert.com/SpecialtyAreas/BariatricSurgeryProgram/Recipes/ And http://www.bariatricchoice.com/free-bariatric-weight-loss-recipes.aspx And several others. And they're all FREE. Before I had my surgery, I ordered the sample box of protein supplements from BariatricEating.com, and it came with some extras, including the book "Before and After" by Susan Maria Leach...over half of the book is recipes for bariatric surgery patients, and they're really good. Why don't you try a few of them out? There's lots of variety.
   — Erica Alikchihoo

March 24, 2010
You should only eat til you are satisfied and that is all...By now you should be listening to your pouch and no longer your eyes and head...We all progress at our own rate...Eat healthy foods high in fiber and protein, low in sat fat and sugar...It's really that easy! At a restaurant I often ordered an appetizer of shrimp or would eat off my famiies plates until they began complaining that I was eating too much and needed to order my own meal! I am 6 years PO and still cannot finish a meal at a restaurant...I order the light meals or soups if I cannot find something that looks healthy or lighter. You can ask for a light version and some restaurants will accomodate you...Often I get online and look for a menu of the restaurant I am going to so I can plan what I will order. (You can look up the item you want and see the calories and grams of fat/protein etc online!)
   — .Anita R.

March 26, 2010
Barbara, you seem very confused about a lot of this weight loss journey. Most of it is really trial and error. Not everyone is the same. Not everyone can eat the same amount of food etc. In the questions section on this website, as I mentioned to you before, there are questions that people have asked before that you might find helpful. if you scroll through those first, before you post the same question as a member just mentioned. You really should not be going into a restuarant until you are closer to a year out. You just barely made it to solid food. If you aren't sure what to eat, take everything you made your family, and put it into a blender with broth and eat until you are satisfied. (NOT FULL) I did this for awhile. It does get boring but you really need to use your creative thoughts when cooking. Look at the post op meal questions that others have already posted. Hope this helps.
   — Kristy