How do you eat enough?

Hi. I never thought in my life I would ask how to eat more but here I am.

I know that I am not getting very many calories. I am a little over 3 weeks out and am eating stuff like yogurt, cottage cheese, beans, eggs, etc. I have been losing steadily up to this point and assume that this is a stall but my concern is that I am truly not getting enough. I hadn't thought about it until the losing stopped and I started going up that I figured up the calories. One day it was under 300. I ate 3 times that day. YES, I know this is not enough, which is why I am here. I'm not trying not to eat.

So I have started trying to eat every 3 hours (which is harder than it sounds), some protein of some sort. I am not hungry but going by the clock instead. I eat about 1/4 cup each time of something. I am drinking my fluids in between.

Am I on the right track?  I can deal with a stall but I want to ensure that I am getting enough fuel so my body won't hold on to everything.

So far today I have had:
9:00am - 1 hard boiled egg mashed up with tiny drop of light/ff mayo and a few spoonfuls of carbmasters yogurt
12:00pm - same


Yesterday:
7:30am - bariatric fusion shake
10:00am - cottage cheese
1:00pm -  1 hard boiled egg mashed up with tiny drop of light/ff mayo
7:30pm - hummus

Thoughts and feedback are welcome :)

Amy

Give it time, almost nine months post op and still told by friends and coworkers that I am not eating enough. They are so against the 600-800 calories a day and they keep telling me that is why my body is in a stall. A personal trainer even told me it wasn't enough but I told them during my weight loss that is where it is suppose to be and it is enough if I eat lots of high dense protein.

If I were you I would try to get another protein drink in for sure, in a few months ypu will be trying to keep it around 600 and ya probably go over that.

Ok. So don't really worry about calories now? Just continue to get the protein and fluids and as my body heals i can count calories?

Amy

Jackie is right on. I was eating under 300 calories most day early out. It's OK, just concentrate on getting more protein in, I too would suggest another protein shake.  Once you can eat at least 60 grams of protein from dense sources, I would give up the protein shakes, but not until then.  Good luck and you are doing just fine. 

 How much protein are you getting!  If you are getting the protein you need and getting your vitamins, then it's ok to be under your calorie count.

Great! Thats exactly what i needed to know. I will add another shake. Thank you all so much!

Well just record everything in myfitnesspal or a program of your choice and keep track daily, this should tell you if you need another protein shake or not. There is definitely nothing you can do to break a stall even though someone has mentioned fish oil vitamins that I totally forgot to take during my recent stall so I can't say anything about them.

Stalls are frustrating but one thing I missed most during my recent one was I didn't notice the inches coming off like I did in my 3week and 3 month one. I was later then those dates but if the scale not moving is going to bother you definitely pay attention to the inches, clothes will get loose and I used a belt that I brought new and actually can no longer wear it anymore, I went through all the holes. All my pants are mostly tight 14's now but refuse to buy anything and waiting for another 30 lbs to get into my daughter's clothes then we can fight over clothing as well

I am right there with you, Amy.  Never in my life have I had this probelm!  I am just over 3 weeks out and I am struggling to get in my protein and enough liquids in daily.  I don't enjoy the protein shakes, but it is the only way to get 60g of protein in.

I am not worrying about calories right now, just the protein and enough fluids.  The weight isn't coming off very fast for me compared to other posts that I read (22 pounds total since my week of pre-op liquids only).    I seriously feel as though I could go the entire day without eating at all and drinking just a little, but my stomach does let me know when I've gone too long without eating.  I just continue to try to push myself.

I too am just hoping it gets easier as I realize that I am still healing --- I had a lot of swelling so I was in the hospital a lot longer than normal. 

Hang in there---I keep telling myself that this is a journey!

Suzette

The more you keep to 500-600 calories...the less protein stores you will loose and the more energy for exercising you will have!  Also, in 6 months, the lower and less protein you took in early on, the more hair loss (per my nutritionist). 

If you like peanut butter, you can add that to your chocolate shakes or get the PB2 powder - try a few tablespoons of non-fat plain yogurt in there as well - you would be surprised how much it tastes like a chocolate shake.

Add the unflavored protein to your cottage cheese and humus and yogurt...it mixes in nicely and you can't taste it.

Try to eat about every 2-3 hours a little bit.

Good luck!  Your hair and skin and organs (heart and brain) will thank you for your effort!!!

I have a thing about textures. I have tried mixing the unflavored protein powder with yogurt and pudding and it didnt dissolve so i ended up with 'sandie' yogurt and pudding. I bought high quality so that wasnt the issue.

Since becoming more aware of the calories and protein, i will have 65 gms of protein today and that is adding a shake. I added all my foods into myfitnesspal and i will make sure i do that from now on so i know exactly how much of everything i have had. I am not going to worry about calories right now as long as my fluid and protein are the right amount.

I cant thank everyone enough for the responses.

Amy