Feel like I’m done with food

[Mightykeith]

It’s been a little over two weeks now since my surgery and I just don’t feel like eating. I’m following the guidelines mostly., over 64 oz of water a day, drinking my three protein shakes and a little soup. I’m not at all excited about increasing my diet to include more solid foods. But I know that around 500 calories a day is not a sustainable plan. But I’m not hungry at all and don’t want food. Has anyone else felt this way?

 

[Lulu72]

Hello mighty I’m almost 3 weeks post surgery and I’m also managing 500-600 calories per day and don’t get hungry. I’m forcing myself to eat my purée food. I can drink only 48 oz of water a day and the 60g of protein. You are not the only one but We just need to keep trying because we don’t want our bodies to go on starvation mode.

 

[Mightykeith]

Hello mighty I’m almost 3 weeks post surgery and I’m also managing 500-600 calories per day and don’t get hungry. I’m forcing myself to eat my purée food. I can drink only 48 oz of water a day and the 60g of protein. You are not the only one but We just need to keep trying because we don’t want our bodies to go on starvation mode.

Keith, do I remember correctly that you are an athlete, or at least a gym rat? If so I would definitely start immediately adding at least one if not two more protein shakes. Make sure you're getting more than 900 calories and 80 grams of protein.

If you continue to fail to adequately take in enough calories and protein, your body's metabolism will get all screwed up and it will begin taking energy from your muscles, and not from your fat stores.

Good luck!

Thank you,

 

[Roseanne37]

Keith, I have been reviewing my bariatric booklet (my Bible, as I refer to it) and this paragraph was in a couple to places. "Keep in mind you may be in the "honeymoon phase" and not have any interest in food, but your body truly needs and wants at least 3 meals a day, even if only a "cube-full" of pureed meat, so hang in there! Protein supplements containing at least 20 grams of high-quality protein, 3 times a day can really "fill in the gaps" until you're able to get in more protein at one sitting and/or per day. Hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[Mightykeith]

Keith, I have been reviewing my bariatric booklet (my Bible, as I refer to it) and this paragraph was in a couple to places. "Keep in mind you may be in the "honeymoon phase" and not have any interest in food, but your body truly needs and wants at least 3 meals a day, even if only a "cube-full" of pureed meat, so hang in there! Protein supplements containing at least 20 grams of high-quality protein, 3 times a day can really "fill in the gaps" until you're able to get in more protein at one sitting and/or per day. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Thank you Roseanne, That totally helps. I had an extra protein shake tonight and feel like a glutton. I know I have to increase to real food and will.

 

[WazzuCoug]

I suspect you'll start to feel differently after you move into purees and soft foods. Now that I'm in the soft food phase, things are feeling a little more "normal." It's still different, though. I'm not desperately hungry, I can just feel it is time to eat. There are still times, however, when I miss a normal mealtime. When I visualize what I'm going to eat, it is small amounts of things that are healthy and tasty, and then I make them. I'm eating 700-900 calories per day, but I am satisfied after eating. You will get there. In the first few weeks, our bodies are making a lot of adjustments. The biggest challenge it to rebuild our relationship with food in a positive way while we are in the early months post-surgery.

 

[Mightykeith]

I suspect you'll start to feel differently after you move into purees and soft foods. Now that I'm in the soft food phase, things are feeling a little more "normal." It's still different, though. I'm not desperately hungry, I can just feel it is time to eat. There are still times, however, when I miss a normal mealtime. When I visualize what I'm going to eat, it is small amounts of things that are healthy and tasty, and then I make them. I'm eating 700-900 calories per day, but I am satisfied after eating. You will get there. In the first few weeks, our bodies are making a lot of adjustments. The biggest challenge it to rebuild our relationship with food in a positive way while we are in the early months post-surgery.

Thank you for the encouragement, you’re the best

 

[sportsdad]

It’s been a little over two weeks now since my surgery and I just don’t feel like eating. I’m following the guidelines mostly., over 64 oz of water a day, drinking my three protein shakes and a little soup. I’m not at all excited about increasing my diet to include more solid foods. But I know that around 500 calories a day is not a sustainable plan. But I’m not hungry at all and don’t want food. Has anyone else felt this way?

MightyKeith I am almost at two months post op and still only getting about 600 calories a day and never feel hungry and have lost about 100 pounds and per my FitBit during about 6500 calories which 1000 calories are burned from exercising. One of the other patients that I went to support meetings with had his surgery the same week that I did and is eating solid foods and at about 1200 calories per day. For the life of me I still can't eat solid foods.

 

[gzar]

Yes I also felt amazing post surgery a couple weeks and was not interested at all in deliberately increasing my calories. I felt finally free of the lure of food, and wanted to just run with it.

It will change. You are going to get hungry, and you will want to eat. Especially after you crank up your activity.

 

[sportsdad]

Yes I also felt amazing post surgery a couple weeks and was not interested at all in deliberately increasing my calories. I felt finally free of the lure of food, and wanted to just run with it.

It will change. You are going to get hungry, and you will want to eat. Especially after you crank up your activity.

Gzar I have no idea if has any factor on when you start to get hungry after surgery or not but do you think that the starting point has anything to do with it? My highest weight was 481 pounds and now at 390 after 2 months and exercise for at least an hour a day but only eating 500-600 per day most of it is protein but not feeling hungry at all. On the flip side if I started the weight loss journey at 300 pounds for example since in theory there is less fat on the body and that you start to feel hunger sooner because the body is not using as much fat to fuel the body? Not even sure if this makes any sense.

 

[WazzuCoug]

Gzar I have no idea if has any factor on when you start to get hungry after surgery or not but do you think that the starting point has anything to do with it? My highest weight was 481 pounds and now at 390 after 2 months and exercise for at least an hour a day but only eating 500-600 per day most of it is protein but not feeling hungry at all. On the flip side if I started the weight loss journey at 300 pounds for example since in theory there is less fat on the body and that you start to feel hungry sooner because the body is not using as much fat to fuel the body? Not even sure if this makes any sense.

I would imagine the starting point could be a factor because some hunger hormones are triggered by fat loss, some in the gut, and some in the intestines. I imagine it could be different for two guys who were exactly the same weight as well but have different body compositions. When I was at 312 they did a body composition and my fat weight was 117lbs and my bones/organs were 90 lbs, with the remaining 105 lbs lean muscle. I would imagine there is a lot of variance in that lean muscle to fat ratio for people, and how your body reacts and deals with the reduced calories, exercise, hormone release, and the rate of fat burning is going to differ immensely depending on multiple factors. The science of it is pretty fascinating, I wish I knew more.

 

[sportsdad]

You can't always gauge your progress on your post-op feelings. You are going through a lot of emotional changes and there is a strong hormonal after effect. If you weighed a lot when you started, you are going to lose a lot. You can't go from eating 10,000 calories a day which is not an exaggeration to eating 1200 calories a day without losing an enormous amount of weight. Remember, 3500 calories lost equals 1 lb. and a Whopper with cheese is 1000 calories. Do the math.

I encourage you to keep a journal of your feelings during this time. Also, you will be so happy later if you take the measurements of your body now. Chest, hips, waist, thighs, calves, upper arms, lower arms, even measure your feet. I lost a whole shoe size.

Stay off the scale and don't let your Fitbit confuse you. I'm not at all knowledgeable about how to use those things, but I think it is undeniable that writing down the weight and measurement of each morsel of food you eat will make sense. I think you will be much more accountable to your Journal then you will be to your Fitbit.

And if I may offer one more piece of advice, act like you have already reached your goal. In other words, if you visualize your body as the body you want, it will be really hard for you to obsess about the way your body is.

Dianneseattle that is a great piece of wisdom in terms of thinking and acting as if I already reached my goal weight. In the digital age the FitBit device also has an app that is very accurate in terms of keeping track of my nutrients, calories burned (who knows if that is accurate), daily steps, activity and the calories for basically anything and everything that I eat. If I had to actually write it down I would never do it. By doing it on the Fitbit web app or on my phone i can never give myself an excuse that I forgot to log it and if the food is not one in their library I just take a scan of the barcode or enter the data manually so it keeps me accountable. As usual you are spot on when it comes the emotional or mental piece. My issue was not my eating during the course of the day, it was basically eating or pigging out for lack of a better term right before I would go to bed. Pre op my nutritionist would comment that my diet was great......until the evil hours of the late night or early morning depending on when I would go to bed. She would say that there is no reason why I should not be loosing weight but then when i truly opened up and showed her what i was eating at night from a calorie point of view she was shocked. I would basically consume the same amount of calories right before i would go to bed that I consumed during the course of the day.

It is ironic that you mentioned going down a shoe size. My wife gave me a pair of sneakers back in December and never wore them because my mid foot seemed to be carrying extra weight as well and for the life me i could never get them on. Now they fit perfectly and even a little wig for my toes.

 

[RobbinMI]

MightyKeith I am almost at two months post op and still only getting about 600 calories a day and never feel hungry and have lost about 100 pounds and per my FitBit during about 6500 calories which 1000 calories are burned from exercising. One of the other patients that I went to support meetings with had his surgery the same week that I did and is eating solid foods and at about 1200 calories per day. For the life of me I still can't eat solid foods.

Is that normal/healthy to lose 100lbs in 2 months ?

 

[sportsdad]

Hi Robbin, and welcome to your support group. That is a very good question. It is not good for you but it is possible to lose a hundred pounds in 2 months without going into the starvation mode.

Sportsdad has been having trouble eating more than 600 calories a day and he hasn't been taking in solid food and barely tolerating protein drinks.

Now I am going to take on the amazing feat of mathematics, at which I am no good. Please make sure the net is tautly stretched out under me in case I fall off this mathematical tightrope.

But first, a word from our pretend sponsor, the Mayo Clinic.

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I noticed they applied the 3500 calorie formula to fat, not muscle or water. I have read that during weight loss, if not done correctly in such a way that you feed your muscles and burn stored fat from your organs, your body will start wasting by taking energy from your muscles, reducing their size and health.

My son is genetically tall, slim and muscular. He eats a ton of food everyday and most of the time he cooks, but sometimes we've gone through the McDonald's drive-thru when they had the 2 for 1 or whatever.

Typically he will get two Big Macs, one chicken sandwich, a large french fry, and a large fountain drink.

If he included a diet fountain drink he would be getting more than 1700 calories and 42 grams of protein. However, he always gets a regular fountain drink, so his meal goes up to almost 2,000 calories.

I'd be willing to bet there are people in this group who get exactly the same meal I just described.

In a lot of research about obesity, I have read that the super-obese which is about 300 lb in women and 400 lb in men, easily consume 10,000 calories a day. We have had one member here who managed to get up 2 more than 700 lb.

So, it is possible and even feasible that a super obese person could lose a hundred pounds in 8 weeks on a diet of 600 calories a day. And he wouldn't suffer, because he would probably still be getting enough protein.

But the toll that would take on one's body would be devastating. Rapid weight loss is always advised against because of the horrific effects it has on your organs. It is well known that rapid weight loss leads to gallstones and usually they are large gallstones.

The possibility of dehydration is also multiplied by several degrees.

Now, there are people here who are much more skilled at figuring this kind of stuff out but I just went to the USDA site, FoodData Central, and entered in brand names and products and came up with these figures. I even underestimated because, for instance, the USDA site lists the Big Mac but in parentheses it says "(without sauce)."

You know that sauce contributes at least another 100 calories. Just read the side of your bottle of thousand island dressing in the refrigerator. And they base their caloric content at 2 tablespoons. I'll bet McDonald's puts at least four tablespoons of their Big Mac sauce on their product. So that would be an extra 200 calories, just for sauce.

Sportsdad also mentions that he is expending a lot of calories, perhaps more than he consumes in a day. That's not likely so there is probably some mathematical discrepancy there. But it doesn't matter. He has still managed to drop 90 pounds (I noticed the math error when I re-read his post above). If he is not being medically managed, he has nothing to look forward to except more disease and an earlier death. Sorry, Sportsdad. You might defy the odds and live to be a hundred.

Having an eating disorder that runs your life is exactly the same as being an alcoholic where booze runs your life. When you have no control over your habits and consumption, you have a serious disorder.

And the only way you can continue to have this disorder is to be able to go deeply into a state of denial about your habits. I cannot tell you how many potluck dinners and picnics I've sat at with my relatives and listened to them complain about how they just can't seem to lose weight no matter what they do, all the while chomping on a mouthful of potato salad.

So thank you Robbin, for asking that question. And Sportsdad, Robbin may have just saved your life. If you haven't been seeing your surgeon and nutritionist, you should do so immediately.

And please tell me, how is this Fair? I had lost about 90 pounds here and my junk food eating son was still buying bags full of fast food.

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That is a great insight and a lot of information. I actually do not have any issues with protein and my softer foods like cream of wheat and no issues getting in my water so I have no issues with dehydration. My calorie intake is at 600 or less per day, the rare occasion is when I make my own protein shakes rather than the 30grams of protein that I receive in each FairLife pre packaged drink. When I make my own shakes it ends up at about 200 calories per serving with only 1 gram of sugar. Thankfully, I am under medical supervision still at this point and I have come off all my medicines for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, no longer borderline diabetic, and some other medicine that was used for swelling in my feet/lower leg. The last thing that I need to get is another sleep test to see if I can get off of the sleep apnea machine but the doctor has advised to wait until i am one year post op to see if I need the machine any longer. The doctor has not been concerned with the rapid weight loss because the activity pre surgery vs post is so different, with the only recommendation being that I should add additional water to ensure I stay hydrated. The dietitian/nutritionist whose supervision I am still under as well had mentioned that I should try to increase the protein intake to between 80-100 grams daily either via food or the shakes. The one side effect of the rapid loss has obviously been that with such a large daily deficit that I am loosing muscle mass (i use that term loosely) or maybe lean muscle has been lost at the same time. I am fine with whatever muscle loss I have had. It is better than not being able to be as active as I am now.

That is amazing that your son is able to eat at McDonalds and not have any fat. There is always that one outlier that can eat whatever they want and never have to worry about gaining a pound! Envious in a sense because as I read your post I could really go for a Big Mac then the reality smacks me in the face that I would not be able to eat or finish it.

 

[sportsdad]

Is that normal/healthy to lose 100lbs in 2 months ?

Hi RobbinMI Dianeseattle has a good post about in this thread about the numbers. One thing to keep in mind with my journey is that before the surgery I would literally get up each morning..commute 50 steps to work (i have worked from home for the past 9 years) and sit at my desk for 8-10 hours per day and would rarely exercise.

While I love working from home it was also the one thing that was the start of my downfall. Years ago I had weighed 410 pounds and was able to get down to 250 pounds from diet and a lot of exercise to the point that was running 50 miles week and working out 4-5 times per week sometimes first thing in the morning, then a run at lunch time and then a work out or spin class in the evening. Then it all stopped as I started a new job and focused on my career. I had grown up playing hockey and baseball and then when in high school it was football, hockey and lacrosse. I then went to college and played football (i will not start to get into how the college exploited my relationship with food there). Even when i was in the 4th grade I was 5'11" and weighed 210 pounds unfortunately after that I actually didnt grow too much more (well that is a lie my belly did as I went thru college). Over the years since I started my new job I basically stopped all the exercise and dieting that i was doing well at and just like the classic examples of everyones weight increase I went from 250 to 300 and then the scale numbers just kept going up and up. After fighting with my own internal demons about this weight increase I went ahead with the surgery. Prior to the surgery the doctor put my on the liquid diet and lost 20 pounds and since then it just continues, there are periods of time for a few days where I will not have any weight loss and then it will come off in groups of 2-3 pounds. Pre surgery I was averaging 2000-3000 steps per day and now I am averaging 16,000-17,000 per day and at least 60 minutes of activity on my Peloton bike or tread at least 5 days per week.

 

[sportsdad]

Yeah but did you check out that six-pack? He doesn't even go to the gym. He's got a lovely sculpted muscular body without doing anything at all.

He's eating better at home and I don't think his McDonald's trips are all that frequent but I don't know. He tells me his partner is a total carnivore.

His father died at the age of 54 and his father's brother dropped dead of stroke at the age of 40. On my side of the family we have stroke and diabetes all over the place. He really should be more circumspect about his health, especially because he has asthma and smokes pot all day long.

But on the other hand he will canoe for 10 or 12 or 15 hours at a time on a river with a current. He loves canoeing more than anything else. Cut his teeth on it. But he has taken it to a whole new level.

It would be hard to beat that aerobic exercise he's getting to burn all those calories.

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Ok dianneseattle you are killing me (no pun intended nor making light of your family history) with the picture of him with the basket of fries and the real ketchup bottle!! From all the time in a canoe I can see how he would have that six pack!! Hopefully, he will buck the trend when it comes to the diabetes and other alignments that have plagued the family. From the pictures it looks like he has been around canoes for a long time!

 

[SunnyD]

It’s been a little over two weeks now since my surgery and I just don’t feel like eating. I’m following the guidelines mostly., over 64 oz of water a day, drinking my three protein shakes and a little soup. I’m not at all excited about increasing my diet to include more solid foods. But I know that around 500 calories a day is not a sustainable plan. But I’m not hungry at all and don’t want food. Has anyone else felt this way?

For me hunger didn’t return until the 6-7 month time frame when I was able to really return to my normal exercise schedule. And to be honest, I don’t know if it’s so much hunger any more as it is my brain adjusting to scheduled eating and telling me it’s time. My program warned me not to get hungry or I’d likely overeat or eat to fast and make myself sick. Increased exercise ability definitely made me want to eat more. So I switched from 3 meals a day with a protein shake as a snack to adding an extra meal of a half cup Greek yogurt with blueberries or watermelon and pepitas and that seemed to curb the sudden need to chew.
Food doesn’t taste good anymore. I don’t crave things. That kind of carb hunger or stress hunger is gone for me. I have a friend who says it comes back — but at this point I’m ok with not getting any joy from food.
Btw-I’m 9 months out and I hit between 900-1000 calories on average. I spent 3-4 months at the 500-600 range. When you can only physically eat 1/2 cup — mostly of protein — at a time there’s no way to really eat more.
I’m guessing you’re still working your way through soft foods. They aren’t appetizing, I know. It does get better. All my best to you.

 

[sportsdad]

I think I got really lucky with him. He was a gigantic baby and just was such a joy to me every minute of his life. I am very outdoorsy myself and we lived in a teepee for a while and I have photographs of myself on solo canoe trips on big lakes in the North Cascades. Of course I taught him how to canoe and his father taught me how to canoe. It is just one of the most enjoyable things in the world to do. I prefer solo canoe though. Avery can go anyway except once when he overloaded the canoe with people and swamped it. They lost a lot of gear and could barely get the canoe back out of the water.

Me the second time I was ever in a canoe on the lake in Texas:

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7-day solo canoe trip on Ross Lake, 2008, about a year after my surgery.

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I get what you're saying about temptation when you're looking at a french fries and stuff like that. I get that same feeling when I look at a picture of a canoe or a tent pitched on a little island. I would rather be outside for the rest of my life than live in a house.

By the way sportsdad, you're a great addition to our group. Thank you so much for telling your story. I hope you stick around and have good advice for others.

And even though talking is very important, I confess that some of my favorite posts are filled with photos, cartoons or actual pictures of family and our fellow members.

Thank you. I do plan on being here for a long time. While the team that supports me on the medical side, and the support group is good most of the patients that in the group are seem to be all people that are 1 year or more post op. This group is great because we have people that are in my shoes two months ago and prior and those that are currently one week post op and years post op. While I am pleased with my results now I do really wonder what my association with food will be long term. This forums seems like a great place to gain information as to what people are going thru both the positives and negatives no matter if it has been a month or year since their procedures.

Your pictures are great and I wish that I had the motivation to get a kayak or canoe and get my exercise that way. In my town we have a lake and hiking trails literally steps from my house. I have no desire to be confronted by a bear on the trail which is common place but maybe someday I will get a kayak or use my daughters and venture on the lake.

 

[sportsdad]

For me hunger didn’t return until the 6-7 month time frame when I was able to really return to my normal exercise schedule. And to be honest, I don’t know if it’s so much hunger any more as it is my brain adjusting to scheduled eating and telling me it’s time. My program warned me not to get hungry or I’d likely overeat or eat to fast and make myself sick. Increased exercise ability definitely made me want to eat more. So I switched from 3 meals a day with a protein shake as a snack to adding an extra meal of a half cup Greek yogurt with blueberries or watermelon and pepitas and that seemed to curb the sudden need to chew.
Food doesn’t taste good anymore. I don’t crave things. That kind of carb hunger or stress hunger is gone for me. I have a friend who says it comes back — but at this point I’m ok with not getting any joy from food.
Btw-I’m 9 months out and I hit between 900-1000 calories on average. I spent 3-4 months at the 500-600 range. When you can only physically eat 1/2 cup — mostly of protein — at a time there’s no way to really eat more.
I’m guessing you’re still working your way through soft foods. They aren’t appetizing, I know. It does get better. All my best to you.

Sunny I am with you. Liquid wise I can drink water all day long no issues with the amount and the same with my shakes. My desire for food is similar to what you have mentioned as well. I will have a bite or a few bites of something but then do not have any desire to have more. My wife had made a version of what she calls cheeseburger pie and has adapted so there is no crust or anything, used to be a favorite of mine but now I can't even have more than a bite. I used to eat half of it. Have you had any issues with watermelon?

 

[SunnyD]

Sunny I am with you. Liquid wise I can drink water all day long no issues with the amount and the same with my shakes. My desire for food is similar to what you have mentioned as well. I will have a bite or a few bites of something but then do not have any desire to have more. My wife had made a version of what she calls cheeseburger pie and has adapted so there is no crust or anything, used to be a favorite of mine but now I can't even have more than a bite. I used to eat half of it. Have you had any issues with watermelon?

I had issues with all kinds of foods in the beginning. I named my sleeve Tiger because she was so loud whenever I ate new foods. It’s a little bit like sharing my body with a second being because food I used to enjoy or be ok eating — Tiger can’t stand (Strawberries, pork, ground turkey, lunch meat, etc.) I came into watermelon around month 5, before that it made me gassy and didn’t taste right. The first fruit in my yogurt was a banana mashed for all of month 3-4. Then I moved on to blueberries, which I used to be just ok with and now I think they are my “favorite” food. (That’s probably because they’re the sweetest food I eat all day long.) I had to try tuna 3x to figure out Tiger has texture preferences. She won’t do albacore in a can. It has to be the chunk light stuff from a pouch. My first successful food coming out of the softened/blended stages was a bean free chili. Even though she hated ground turkey she was fine with 90% lean ground beef if it was wet enough. And wet has become her preference. She likes stews, which is ok with me because I like cooking things you just throw in a pot. A person in my support group recommended an Instant Pot. So I got one at Christmas and I use it once a week, most successfully lately with Korean short ribs. Are you grieving the loss of interest in food? I know this sounds silly, but for me, there was like a mourning period. The not feeling hungry helped move me forward.