Question:
What excatly is grazing?

I was just wondering what grazing is. I mean how do you tell if you graze or not? another question i have is how long does a plateau last? I had surgery on 3-25-2002 and ive lost about 95lbs. Ive been on a platueau for about 1 1/2 mths. Im scared im goin to start gaining weight or that im not goin to lose anymore weight. I still have 75lbs to go until i reach my goal. At surgery i weighted 315 i now weight 225lb. Please someone tell me they went thru the same and that they still reached there goal... Thx in advance    — Deanna B. (posted on October 14, 2002)

October 13, 2002
Grazing is snacking throughout the day. Munching on this and that. Even regular food. It doesn't have to be junk food. Plateaus are normal. The farther out you get, the slower the weightloss will become. If you ARE grazing, stop right now. To get the weight moving again, try upping your protein and water. Stay away from bad carbs, and increase your exercise. If you're not exercising, maybe you can start taking a walk everyday. I am 10 months out and my weightloss has slowed down to a pound or 2 a month because I am almost at goal. The closer to goal you get, the harder it is to lose the last few pounds also. UGH!
   — Kim B.

October 13, 2002
Kim pretty much summed it all up. No matter what you eat, if you eat and munch between meals, it is grazing. It is one of my worst enemies right now. As far as the plateau, they are completely normal and the time spent on them varies from person to person. If you are really worried about it, talk to you doctor, but you should start losing anytime! you can also do some things like up your exercise and possibly go on liquids for a couple of days to kick start it. hope this helps!
   — sammygirlwpc

October 14, 2002
Eating frequently can actually be beneficial as long as you eat several small meals a day. My dr recommends every 2 hours but I can't stand doing that, so I usually average about 3 hours between. Grazing would be keeping something on your desk and eating it over a period of time. If you eat for longer than 20 minutes, your pouch starts to empty and you will eat more than you should. Also, drinking while you eat will empty your pouch faster and make you hungry sooner. Plateaus are part of WLS (unfortunately) but sometimes they can be helped by eating enough (not too much or too little) of the right kinds of food (high protein, less carbs), adding exercise, and keeping up with your water. www.fitday.com is a free tool that lets you track your food intake. How many calories are you consuming? How much protein? It also shows how many calories your body uses per day. If your calories are FAR below that number (but above starvation mode--800 or so), I would say cheer up, your plateau is probably just another bump on the road to weight loss. If you are eating too many calories thru grazing or whatever, you'll have to modify your behavior. Hope this helps. Good luck!
   — ctyst

October 14, 2002
Grazing is my worst enemy...lol. I had surgery 2/22/02. I am also on a hideous plateau...and I am still over 50 lbs from my goal. I can eat like a cow if I let myself. I can snack on easily digested foods...like nuts...crackers...all day if I let myself. I am hardly making time for exercise. I know exactly why the scale is hardly moving for me....for the same reason other dieting attempts never worked for me...all my bad habits are there. At least I am not able to eat large meals anymore and maybe I will not gain too much of the weight back. I really want to make it to goal, but I know from here on out...it is up to me. There is a big difference between snack grazing and eating small more frequent meals....the later is a great idea to maintain energy levels especially early on after wls. Best of luck to you...I guess to the both of us...lol
   — SARose61

October 15, 2002
hello! grazing is eating all the time, like keeping a bag of something on your desk at work and just munch munch munching. a typical day for me is like this: 12 oz coffee with protein powder & vitamite in it (about 30g protein), several hours later i eat breakfast (all my meals are centered around protein...like i might have a scrambled egg with cheese in a tortilla with the extra tortilla torn off..just enough to hold the insides in!) then a couple of hours later i eat lunch...then i usually have a small snack (some high protein chips - get them at the health food store) or string cheese then dinner a few hours later. i allow myself small amounts of sweets if i want some. i have to eat something every few hours or else my blood sugar gets too low and i don't feel good. my "meals" are all small and eaten over 30-60 minutes depending on what i am doing. i not only reached goal, i am below it. on a plateau (which the first usually hits around 4-6 months)- just up the protein, up the water and switch around the exercise. if you walk, do aerobics. if you do aerobics, swim. and be patient. it takes time -- my first plateau lasted 6 weeks! take care, kate open rny 6-14-01 pre op: 268lbs goal: 135lbs current: 126lbs
   — jkb