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Gaining weight back after surgery

comptonelizabeth
comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
edited July 2023 in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
A month ago I had a partial glossectomy (removal of part of the tongue)after being diagnosed with oral cancer.
Recovery is going as expected; it's slow and painful but I'm getting there.
For the first 3 weeks I was on a liquid diet. I've always needed to eat around 2400 calories just to maintain my weight and it was harder than I thought to get those calories in liquid form, plus I've read that more calories are needed for recovery. .
Long story short : I've lost 6 kg I could not afford to lose,plus muscle mass.
I'm gradually eating more solid food and trying to include nutritious high calorie foods. I'm pre-diabetic so can't really have things like ice cream etc so it's not easy.
My question is this : to regain the weight,can I do this by sticking to my usual maintenance calories or do I need to eat more on top of that ? I've also given up alcohol (given that it could well have been a cause) and so that means I'm already on fewer calories than when I was drinking a couple of glasses of wine.
Thanks for reading this.

Replies

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,875 Member
    edited July 2023
    You'll need to eat just a little bit more. Have you tried some of the higher calorie protein shakes?
    ETA: I ask because that's what I used when I was having a hard time and unable to eat enough due to undiagnosed celiac disease.
  • comptonelizabeth
    comptonelizabeth Posts: 1,701 Member
    Hi,yes I tried those. Problem is I'm pre-diabetic and most of them are loaded with sugar but maybe I need to not worry about that for now ! Thank you for your reply
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,311 Member
    comptonelizabeth wrote: »
    Hi,yes I tried those. Problem is I'm pre-diabetic and most of them are loaded with sugar but maybe I need to not worry about that for now ! Thank you for your reply

    Or make your own with calorie but non-sugary ingredients? Protein powder, nut butter, that sort of thing?

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