Been told I am not eating enough! Aaaahh!

[EmmaLouise81]

I am 3 months post op, had my bloods done yesterday and my potassium is very low but had that problem after op so nothing new. Had my B12 shot and then spoke with my dietician.

Most days I have some sort of vegetable for dinner but yesterday was a busy day so it is not a great example but I had a piece of cheese in the morning, the for lunch I had 1/3 tin of spaghetti which I added basil and a little mozzarella cheese too.

For dinner I had another 1/3 of the same spaghetti, basil and mozzarella.

For snacks I had 2 tuc crackers and 3 wotsits.

Some days I have half a yoghurt for breakfast or the whites of 2 small boiled eggs. Apparently I should aim for 1200 to 1500 calories....now I am not all that active so should probably aim for 1200.

I am not stoping myself from eating in fear of not losing weight, I just eat when hungry but my dietician says my body will hold on to every calorie if I do not eat more.

So....should I start eating a little bit more even if I am not all that hungry? I am vegetarian too, most nights I end of with a vegetable with some gravy.

All confused as I want this bypass to be a success but don't want to eat too much. Just feel a little lost!

 

[jen007]

Trust in your dietician....They want you to succeed and also remain healthy!
Just try a little more each day and I'm sure you will get to 1200 cals. x

 

[Neeta]

Could you not try and put some Tofu in your diet such as a stir fry with tofu, nuts & seeds (if you could eat these) or even buy some protein powder to put in to soups and stews etc so that you are getting some protein. It all helps. x

 

[Josiegirl]

It is a very strange feeling being told to eat more isn't it? Yesterday I had my appointment with the dietician and laughed when she told me to start trying to eat 150ml per meal instead of 100 ml. I am two and a half weeks post op and am not hungry in the slightest so know how you feel. However I am going to try and do as she says.

I know how you feel though but presume that asking you to eat a bit more will be balanced by the mal absorbsion factor. Good luck

 

[penelope1008]

Try quorn or soya to lots of protein for you and a few extra calories. I had my op in July & if I actually sat & worked out what I eat like you I am eating far to little still. My loss is a constant 1lb a week after the initial bigger drops & after a days work I'm to tired to exercise but I must try to do some as I'd hate to fail in this from lack of it & the right foods. I plan these wonderful meals but never quite get there or they stick at the moment. It's a big old steep learning curve but the results are proving if nothing else it is oh so worth it. Good luck in your journey.

 

[Big an Bouncy]

Drink milk if you are ok with it.

 

[happy days]

Actually this really confuses me iam 8 months now and average 7-800 Cals a day. I cud eat more but iam scared of eating for the sake of it.

 

[phatmomma]

I never have a problem eating I wish i could stick with 1200 calories a day but i don't think i can....

I would be concerned at the fact i eat 3 wotsits though, to know exactly how many wotsits you've nibbled seems a bit obsessive to me...

Listen to your dietician, add your protein products as suggested by the others. Obv go for the low fat cheese as you don't want to dump. If you don't feel hungry then kill two birds with one stone and have a milky coffee or nas milk shake... Food n fluids in one hit and the calories are coming into play for you!

What have you got to lose except more weight?

 

[EmmaLouise81]

I never have a problem eating I wish i could stick with 1200 calories a day but i don't think i can....

I would be concerned at the fact i eat 3 wotsits though, to know exactly how many wotsits you've nibbled seems a bit obsessive to me...

Listen to your dietician, add your protein products as suggested by the others. Obv go for the low fat cheese as you don't want to dump. If you don't feel hungry then kill two birds with one stone and have a milky coffee or nas milk shake... Food n fluids in one hit and the calories are coming into play for you!

What have you got to lose except more weight?

Thanks so much! Truly I thought I was doing ok but my dietician has phoned a few times and asked what I have ate that day...I only remembered about the 3 wotsits as it was from the day before and had not tasted crisps in so long!

When dietician mentioned she and surgeon talked About me and malnutrition worries I started worrying!

 

[xxsarahxx]

Hi Emma, i'm 3 months post op and i never feel hungry but after a slow start and a stretch i'm now eating well. If it helps this is an average day for me...

Breakfast - 3-4 tbls of cereal
Lunch - a slice of danish/nimble toast and 2tbls baked beans.
Snack - 1 yogurt
Dinner - 1 faggot, 2 small potatoes and 1tbls of veg

It's taken me 4 weeks since my stretch to get to this stage. The main thing i wanted to say was if i waited til i was hungry to eat... i wouldn't !!
Just try and find a routine hun and eat at regular intervals. I try and do 3 meals and a snack.
Good luck x

 

[Miss Tickle]

The advice is very confusing. If I ate 1200 cals a day I'd freak out. I've read that some pot opper MAINTAIN on that ammount and that at my stage 600-800 is the goal. I put in about n600 cals a day, but it doen't always remain in, if you know what I mean.
An average day form me is:
B- 2-3 tbsp baked beans or half an Oatso Simple or about 3/4 of a weetabx
L:- 3 melba toasts, and 3 tablsppons cottage chees or ww small tin tuna ( the 70 cal ones) or a small mpot of good to Yourself Hummous.
D: Chicken ( about 3 oz), or quorn and a tablspoon veg and sometimes a portion of Aunty Bessies Mash
Snacks: 1 Laughing ow Ligh Triangle, one small banana. I was having NAS reduced fat peanut butter with this but have knocked it on the head as it's very high in calories and I kept wanting to pick at it ( head hunger, as never really hungry lol).
Also have a fat free actimel most days, and up to half a pint of skimmed milk if I can fit it in. I've stopped looking at food as food and see it as nutrition or fuel now. I know when I need some nutrition, but don't feel hungry. I haven't had the urger to have things like Wotsits though I used to love them, I just can't see any benefit in them for me. Eating is quite an effort and I get bored chewing my protein but am disciplined and stick with it. I just couldn't be bothered with 'empty' calories. I do hope this phase lasts a long, long time !! Oh, I try to have a Bovril as well as one cup has 5g protein.
I am 10 weeks post op.
The only food that gives me pleasure is cottage cheese and the mash( and the now banned peanut butter naughtiness lol). Everything else I could just leave

 

[penelope1008]

I have a colleague at work who eats a low carb low fat diet as part of her lifestyle, when I open my lunch box with a selection of different foods in it I always get the comment thats a lot of food I thought you couldn't eat much. Each time I reply I won't eat it all but I have a selection of different foods incase what I try sticks or I just can't face. She doesn't seem to grasp just how little I can eat and how tough it is at 6am to select what to have for breakfast let alone what to have for lunch when you have no appetite and inclination to bother with food but know you must to stay healthy. I am concious enough about what I am eating with out her commments making me even more self concious especially on the days when something sticks and I sit there feeling awful waiting for my body to decide which way it will send the food. Thankfully on the two occasions this jas happened I have been supporting a pupil not teaching immediately after and in a classroom not to far from the toilets for the ejection to take place in as discretely as I can manage it, & cope with colleagues concern for me as they come in and out. If I didnt feel so bad at each time it would have been funny.