Calories

Hi! I am almost 8 weeks post op and just curious as to how many calories your doc has said you can have per day. My says 800-1200 (a wide range I think, I am in shock at the 1200). Also, I know about the 60 grams of protein per day but what about fat grams and carbs? Thanks!

My nutritionist says 800 - 1200 cals a day (your base metabolic rate is still more than this...without exercise!), 65 - 70g of protein (although I require more b/c of my workout regimine), no more than 10-20 carbs per meal. No mention of fat except keep it low and look for good fats vs bad fats. Brightest Blessings for a Wonderful Day~ Jamie M. aka Lady Autumn Weight- 257/215/146 BMI- 44.1/36.9/25 Height- 5' 4" lbs lost: -42 Open RNY: 1/19/05 My WLS Journey Site: home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-LadyAutumnsWLSjourney No matter what size, we are all Goddesses inside!

Hi Jamie: I need some advice. I had my surgery the day before you did and I started at 305 and had open rny. I am now at 266.6 and have been for about the last 2 weeks. I lost 35 lbs the first 3-4 weeks of surgery and then have lost and gained the past 4-5 down to 265 since then. What are you eating? How many ounces at one meal? Are you eating any type of bread or crackers? What type of exercising are you doing? Your always so positive on the board and I am really becoming frustrated like I could have lost a pound every other week with out this major surgery. I know people plateau but I wasn't expecting it this soon. I am trying to fit a mile a day of walking in but I work full time, have a child and husband (I know excuses) and just started back to work last week and really have been tired and have been falling asleep around 8:30 every night since I started back to work. Help me out of this funk will ya!

Well I have a long battle between my nutritionist and my surgeon when it comes to intake so I am meeting them in the middle! LOL! Let's See.... Supplements, Meds & Such: Centrum MultiVit x2 a day Calcium x2 a day Allegra 180 x1 a day b-12 sublingual x1 a day biotin x1 a day folic acid x 1 a day (I have a genetic disorder that forces me to take folic acid everyday for the rest of my life...OYE) Food & Drinks: I am not a breakfast person so my day starts with drinking a smoothie with protein mix in it, or having oatlmeal with protein powder in it, half a banana. Sometime if my morning is really busy then I will eat an Atkins protein bar. Then I drink crystal light, diet snapple, or water until lunch. At lunch I eat one of those weigh****chers, lean cuisine, type of frozen meals things. I make sure to look for high protein, low fat (or healthy fats), I try and get one with a good mix of veggies. I also look at the sodium content and stay away form anything that is over 600mg. Now I have a huge break between lunch and dinner, not to mention I exercise in that time period, so I do a healthy snack here. Typically lunch meat and cheese, or a piece of cheese wrapped around asparagus, or soy chips with hummus, or some refried beans with cheese, guacamole & sour cream. Something that has both carbs AND protein so that I have both energy sources until dinner. At dinner I typically eat whatever I cooked for the family. However these days with hubby deployed and my 6 year old being a picky eater, I am doing the same frozen dinner options OR eating leftovers from my weekend of cooking. (Yes, I spend most of the weekend cooking for friends and family and I set aside small 1/2 c servings for myself and freeze them for later in the week. At night I finish up with a high protein snack like cottage cheese, or I do a protein drink. Of course throughout the day I drink and take my meds. Now for portion sizes, it depends on the food. I can eat 1/2c. of mushy foods like beans, cottage cheese, manacotti, stuff like that. If it is a chicken breat or something that is more filling, then I can typically only do 1/4c or 2 oz. Now on the smoothies and protein drinks, it depends on how close to it that I ate a meal. If I ate in the 2 hours prior, I only get down about 7-8 oz in 25 minutes. If it has been a long time since my last meal, then I am doing about 12 - 14oz in 25 minutes. Now exercise... Right Now... I wake up earlier than everyone else and do a 25 minute stretching session. (I have these cool am and pm tapes from Gaiam) Then at 10-11 I have water arobics and i make sure to use the little tools that make the work out harder (leg floats, arm floats, etc...). Afterwards I drink a bunch of fluids and then spend the next 30 minutes doing laps, using the kick board or pull bouys. So I spend total about 2 hours at the pool. IN the afternoon after I get my son from school we practice our Taekwando (TKD) together for about 20 minutes. 2 nights a week we have a 1 hour TKD class. And at night I do another 25 minute stretching session before bed. The pool is about 5-6 days a week and the stretching is 7 days a week. However I just got off the phone with a lady from my son's school and I have an interview on Monday for a Teacher's Aid job. SO my workout regiment is definitly gonna change if I get hired! So check back with me next week and I might have a whole new game plan! (I applied for this job a year ago and now they finally call me....LOL! Gotta love how long it takes the federal government to do ANYTHING! ---yeah it is a dept of defense school.) Wish me luck! Anyways, my advice to you is find some stretching or yoga tapes that you like. Then get up 30 minutes earlier and do that. And then do them again 30 minutes before bed. Stretching really helps muscle tone and health and helps you to relax after a long day. When you go to work, park further away from the building and walk in, do not use elevators, go walk outside during your lunch break, or if you have smaller breaks talk with your boss and see if you can combine them so that you still get a 30 lunch and then take your two 15's and combine them for a walking time. My favorite form of exercise is walking late at night once the kiddos are in bed. I either take the dogs and go by myself or I take hubby with me and leave the dogs at home. When hubby was home we had worked out a compromise that I would cook dinner but he would clean the kitchen so that I could walk while he was cleaning. HTH! And THANKS for the kind comments! Brightest Blessings for a Wonderful Day~ Jamie M. aka Lady Autumn Weight- 257/215/146 BMI- 44.1/36.9/25 Height- 5' 4" lbs lost: -42 Open RNY: 1/19/05 My WLS Journey Site: home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-LadyAutumnsWLSjourney No matter what size, we are all Goddesses inside!

Hi Lisa, Jamie puts me to shame. My surgery date was Jan 18th and I am down 37 pounds as of this morning. This is my program: 800-1000 cals a day 70 g of protein atleast 25 g of fat (Crazy, I know. I stay at 25 g and have been losing since I stepped it up to 25g from under 10 g) 1000mcg B12 3 flintstone's complete 3 tums 20-30 minutes of walking on the treadmill at 2.5 - 10% incline at 3.0 mph I can tell you this... when I eat less and don't walk I don't lose. I was stuck for 4 weeks at 22 pounds. I lost 20 pounds by week 2 - 2 more two weeks later and just started losing losing again. Just remember that what works for one person may not work for the next. Make sure you stay healthy and listen to your body. I will keep you in my thoughts! Jen

LOL! I don't mean to show up anybody, trust me. LOL! I am definitly paying for it this weekend, my whole body is achy and stuff... I hope to god I don't have the flu. OYE! Brightest Blessings for a Wonderful Day~ Jamie M. aka Lady Autumn Weight- 257/215/146 BMI- 44.1/36.9/25 Height- 5' 4" lbs lost: -42 Open RNY: 1/19/05 My WLS Journey Site: home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-LadyAutumnsWLSjourney No matter what size, we are all Goddesses inside!

I go by the protein first rule..first..last and always. Using the BMI calculator I am able theoretically to eat 1200 a day...but would never do it..and CANT imagine eating that much protein..I just added salads if there is room. We are not supposed to STARVE...though some will lead you to think that...weight loss will actually stop if we do. It is not easy learning to eat again, no??? I want to eat a well rounded diet..meaning more than just meat..meat and more meat! Can't worry about fat if you are eating high protein and the carbs are supposed to be complex carbs from fruits and veggies at around 21-25 g per day. I am supposed to eat a MINIMUM of 60gr of protein...that's the bare bones...and a minimum of 64 oz of water...I feel as though I am eating and drinking ALL the time! Sher'

Actually we do have to worry about fat.... just because we malabsorb fats does not mean we havea free ticket to fatty foods. Especially if you have not had your gallbladder removed. We need to watch our fat intakes and keep it to acceptable limits and if we have a choice of fats we need the omega fatty 3 fats and we need to avoid saturated fats. So keeping fats in mind we need to select GOOD protein sources such as lean means and fish. Personally, I too think that balanced meals are more important to lifelong committment to this lifestyle change. If we continue to deny ourselves the things we want we will eventually cheat or fall off the wagon entirely. I mean lets be honest with ourselves, humans are creatures of habit and eventually we will crave the things we have denied ourselves. What I find that works for me is that I make myself a plate with 2-3 oz of protein and then I set myself at least 2 TB. of a startch (with some kind of added protein like cheese or something) and then 2 TB. of a veggie. That way I can typically get in the entire meal. For every 3 bites of protein I take 1 bite of the other side dishes. Of course this is just works for me! LOL! Brightest Blessings for a Wonderful Day~ Jamie M. aka Lady Autumn Weight- 257/215/146 BMI- 44.1/36.9/25 Height- 5' 4" lbs lost: -42 Open RNY: 1/19/05 My WLS Journey Site: home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-LadyAutumnsWLSjourney No matter what size, we are all Goddesses inside!

Hmmm..sounds reasonable to me..I do eat chicken and tuna and lean meats..not bologna..lol...I like your meal strategy...sometimes I think getting the hang of all of this is SO tiiring...but I agree with the self denial leads to falling off the wagon..it always did before..so why not now! What's weird to me is that somedays I can hardly eat a thing and then others, I feel like a bottomless pit...I wonder what that's all about? Thanks! I learned form you today! Sher'

Thanks! Tonight I ate mostly chili for dinner but since I have been missing baked potato so much I made sure to sprinkle some protein on it and then serve the chili on top. Granted I did not get much of that tater, but at least I got a small taste! LOL! And for dessert I had 2 slices of fresh pear... YUM! Having "raw" fruit that was not a 'nana was so nice!!! Brightest Blessings for a Wonderful Day~ Jamie M. aka Lady Autumn Weight- 257/215/146 BMI- 44.1/36.9/25 Height- 5' 4" lbs lost: -42 Open RNY: 1/19/05 My WLS Journey Site: home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-LadyAutumnsWLSjourney No matter what size, we are all Goddesses inside!