Question:
Please give me the definition of GRAZING
Hello all im sitting here reading and i came across a post-op person that said it took her from 4pm to 10pm to eat a whole sub from subway, and she was told it was grazing. I don't consider that grazing if she took the sub and cut it into 4 pieces and ate it. Isn't it true that u need to eat 5-6 mini meals a day,so what i feel she did was, she had 1/4inch of her sub in 4 sittings, or am i wrong. If so please give me the definition of grazing, and it is not said that u can't eat the same thing every 2 hours right? — sexysag37 (posted on December 12, 2003)
December 11, 2003
My surgeon's program requires me to eat three meals a day - I haven't done
the 5-6 mini-meals. But I've also learned that we should eat our meal
within about a 20-minute span of time and then be done with that meal.
Otherwise our stomach will be continually digesting and we'll be able to
take in as much as we did before surgery - just over a longer period of
time. That will not accomplish our goals of losing weight. I stick with
my three meals, within a short time frame, and my have some fruit or cheese
sticks in between. I've had great weight loss.
— Judy R.
December 11, 2003
In my opinion, and only mine, that is indeed grazing. If she is eating 5-6
meals a day that means spread out over the entire day. Assuming you eat
breakfast at 6am and go to bed at 10pm, that's 16 hours, which would be a
little less than 3 hours BETWEEN meals. That meals at most she should have
eaten is 2-3 meals during those hours. However, most people who eat 5-6
meals would not eat 1/4 of a whole sub. If all she ate for the day was
subs then she would eat 1-1/2 whole subs, which is a ton of food in my
opinion. By whole sub I am assuming you mean a 12" sub and not a
6" which is really a half sub.
<p>There is nothing wrong with eating the same thing for every meal
as I do it quite frequently, but in her case she is getting a lot of carbs
from all the bread and therefore her portion of protein is probably on the
light side. For me if I was to eat a portion of a sub for a meal,
including the bread, then the other 2 meals for the day would be 75-100%
protein. Most days I do eat something at night but it's protein usually
and not a whole meal. The big thing is you need time between feedings for
your body to use the fat off of it instead of only using the food for fuel.
If food is constantly coming in then there is no need for your body to
burn it's stores. Did she indicate that she stopped eating for at least 2
hours between? If not, and just kept taking bites all night long then her
body likely did not use any if it's stores for energy. Won't necessarily
gain, but wo't likely lose either.
<p>My plan is 3 meals a day and for a normal meal I would probably be
able to eat 1/2 of a 6" sub, but probably not with all the bread. I
tend to still stay quite protein focused as that's what has worked for me.
<p>To each his own!
— zoedogcbr
December 11, 2003
I, too, have to agree that this is grazing, even if she cut the sub into 4
portions - even if it was a 6" sub. And it depends what was on it and
how far post of she was. I have Subway once in a great while - three times,
to be exact, in the last 14 months since surgery. I eat what I can eat and
throw whats left away - which is usually more bread than anything! There is
no way I could have choked down all that bread early on - nor would I have
tried to. I also eat pretty much the same thing every day, focusing on
protein first. When I was a new post op, I was taking in something about
every two hours, but I meal plan set up by the dietician who works with my
surgeon. I would have something like oatmeal with Lactaid milk at 8AM, the
4 oz of Choice DM at 10A, then 2 oz of protein,and 2 oz of fruit at noon, 4
more oz of Choice at 2pm, etc. Even then, I couldn't get all the food in
that I was supposed to have! That changed after the first few weeks. Now I
eat maybe 3-4 times a day, not including my protein shakes! I think eating
every two hours as an "older" post op would be grazing, and you
wounldn't get to know the "full" sensation.
— koogy
December 11, 2003
I too agree it is grazing, we need to watch that. At 6 mos + I could
never eat that entire sub even over a long period of time. My Dr's program
is 3 meals a day and try not to snack but if you have to it should be a
wise choice and only once a day. Sometimes that is easier said than done.
The bread alone from that sandwich would cause me trouble. Everyone is
different, but try not to pick..Good luck MaryLyn
— Kriola
December 11, 2003
I'm 17 months out and eat every 3 hours because I typically get the shakes
if I stretch it to four hours. That said, if I were to consume that much
bread (empty carbs - even their wheat isn't whole grain wheat, but enriched
wheat flour - blech!), I'd want/need to eat a whole lot more often because
simple carbs make me crave more, food more often. And I don't eat a full
MEAL every 3 hours. I have, for example: Breakfast (4 cheese sticks);
Snack (yogurt); Lunch (1/2 meat sandwich on low-carb bread); Dinner (2 to 3
oz meat, 1/2 cup cooked veggies, a couple bites of starchy carb); Snack
(4-6 tablespoons chocolate Redi-Whip); Snack (Jerky). This starts between
5am and 7 am and I usually go to bed between midnight and 2 am. Definitely
not grazing :>)
— [Deactivated Member]
December 12, 2003
At nearly 13 months post op..I REALLY need to watch what I eat..Grazing for
me is VERY easy- and I often find myself doing it.. A little nibble here, a
little nibble there. I try to stick to Lunch and dinner and 3 small snacks-
(usually cheese and jerky) a little helpful hint...put a pre-op pic of you
on the fridge...when you go to find something- just look at it, and ask-
"are you SURE your hungry" best wishes Kim
— WABBIT F.
December 12, 2003
I also eat every 3-4 or so hours, small amounts and ensure that I have
protein at every meal or if I don't on occasion, I'll supplement with a
shake. I have Subway every few weeks and can eat 3 inches of a 6 inch sub
with the bread (I am almost 22 months post-op and have been able to eat 3
inches since 14 mo or so post). If she ate nothing but the sub between 4
pm and 10 pm, starting at 4 pm, that would be 3 meals spaced 3 hours apart
and 4 inches for each meal. I do not consider that grazing, however, did
question her meal plan for the day which had far too much carb and not
enough protein. Grazing is that mindless eating of little bits all day
long, a bite here and there, a few of this and a few of that in addition to
meals....
— Cindy R.
December 12, 2003
HELLO EVERYONE I AM THE SUBWAY EATER SHE IS TALKING ABOUT...LOL.
AND YES I DIDN`T REALIZE IT BUT I WAS DEF. GRAZING ON THAT SANDWICH.
IT WAS A HAM AND CHEESE 12" SUB DOUBLE MEAT AND CHEESE AND IT WAS CUT
INTO 4 PIECES IN MY OWN DEFENSE I DID NOT EAT ALL THE BREAD I TOOK OFF BOTH
ENDS AND THE TOP I THINK I SHOULD MENTION THAT AS I DID NOT MENTION THAT IN
MY BOTTOMLESS PIT POST...LOL,IT IS EASY FOR ME TO GRAZE AS WELL,I AM A
STRESS EATER AND WITH HUBBY IN IRAQ I HAVE BEEN GRAZING SINCE HE LEFT...I
TRY TO STICK TO PROTEIN BC I AM A CARB ADDICT BUT IT ISN`T ALWAYS EASY,AND
I AM HUNGRIER WHEN I EAT ALOT OF CARBS,BTW I AM 16 MONTHS POSTOP PROX RNY
W/GALLBLADDER REMOVAL I HAVE NOT GAINED BUT I HAVE NOT LOST AND AFTER
POSTING I SEE WHY... I WILL NOT SAY FROM HERE ON OUT I WILL EAT ALL PROTEIN
AND AVOID CARBS BC I AM GOING ON VACATION AND IT IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE FOR
ME AROUND THE HOLIDAYS BUT I WILL BE SETTING MY SELF STRAIGHT BY JAN.2 TAKE
CARE EVERYONE...START WEIGHT 261.5/156/126
— nice n sweet B.
December 12, 2003
Well that sub is over 1000 calories!! If that is all one ate during the day
I would say that it wa sok once in a while. However I think that it is way
too high in fat and not a whole lot of protien.I also have the feeling that
there was food intake before 4pm. If you ran 3 or 4 miles or did 1 1/2 to 2
hours of heavy cardio it would not be a problem either. The problem with
grazing is all the calories that one takes in.
— Robert L.
December 12, 2003
It's me, the grazing definer. She was terrified that she was getting too
much volume, so was just pointing out that we can eat darned near anything,
given the time to do it. And it's dangerous. She has alarm bells ringing,
so she was hearing them! Good! I'm a lil slow on the uptake personally. I
don't hear them til my pants are too tight. lol. If she (this is any she,
not picking on this one!) ate 12" of sub in 6 hours, that's 2"
per hour OR 1" per half hour. OR 6" at a time every 3 hours. See?
It's bad news no matter how you look at it. I have NO problem with anyone
eating a sub, unless it's a trigger food (of course), but even 12" for
4 of your meals might be pushing the limits of space. I can eat half a
6" (9 yrs), but then I don't want food for many hours. However, our
poor lil poster who prolly feels picked on, and everyone means to support
(including me), was not eating bread. I do eat the bread. It's no good to
me without the bread. Yuck. But I never do go back to the other half. I'd
rather have something else for my next feeding than a soggy 3 hour old
sandwich. LOL!
— vitalady
December 12, 2003
HELLO IT IS ME THE SUBWAY GRAZER....LOL..I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS
MICHELLE THAT IS EXACTLY IT!!! I FREAKED OUT WHEN REALIZING I COULD EAT
THAT MUCH IF GIVEN THE TIME , AND THE BELLS IN MY HEAD WENT OFF SO I POSTED
...LOL. I MUST ADMIT I DO FEEL A LITTLE PICKED ON, BUT NOT IN A NEGATIVE
WAY, I PUT MYSELF OUT THERE FOR ALL OPINIONS AND ADVICE, NOW THAT I KNOW I
CAN EAT THAT MUCH IF I TAKE 6 HOURS TO DO IT, I WON`T BE DOING IT AGAIN..IT
WAS WEIRD AS I FINISHED THE LAST PIECE THAT IS WHEN I LOOKED OVER AT THE
CLOCK AND REALIZED I HAD BEEN EATING THAT SUB FOR HOURS ON AND OFF AS I
DIGESTED IT...VERY BAD,AND YOU ARE RIGHT I DID NOT EAT ALOT OF THE BREAD AS
I SAID I TOOK OFF THE TOP AND THE SIDES AND ONLY ATE ENOUGH TO HOLD IT IN
MY HAND...BUT NOW I KNOW I WAS SO GRAZING AND I AM GOING TO WATCH IT FROM
NOW ON...AT 16 MONTHS OUT I CAN EAT ALOT MORE THAN I COULD BEFORE AND I
DUMP OCCASIONALLY BUT IT IS USUALLY NOT SUGAR....I DID POST INITIALLY BC OF
THE VOLUME AND THINKING MAYBE THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY POUCH,BUT
FOUND OUT I WAS ABLE TO EAT SO MUCH BC I TOOK 6 HOURS TO DO IT(GRAZING) NOW
I KNOW BETTER,LESSON LIVED, LESSON LEARNED..TAKE CARE AND THANK YOU AGAIN
OPEN RNY 8/14/02 261.5/156/126 5'2.5" TALL
— nice n sweet B.
December 12, 2003
Thank u all for answering my question about grazing. Good luck to the
original postie of this question.sw260-cw178-gw 150-160
— sexysag37
December 13, 2003
I do 5-6 mini meals each day, per surgeon's orders and protocol. That is
NOT grazing. Grazing is constantly picking at or nibbling between meals.
I know there's a big debate over how many meals per day postops should eat,
but I have found if I don't eat every 2.5-3 hours or so, I get weak and
shaky and nautious. I discussed my surgeon's protocol with him and with my
nutritionist, and trust their advice. It works for ME. It annoys me when
others assume THEIR way is the ONLY way, and attempt to prove themselves
right by labeling my way derogatorily. Just because it works for you
doesn't mean it works for me, and vice versa. There's lots of advice
floating around this board. If you're concerned about your eating habits,
consult your medical professionals. After all, you put your life in their
hands .... I'd hope you trust them to advise you about how, when, and how
much to eat!
— Dragon G.
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