How many calories??

Hello all.... I don't post much but I'm always on here reading. I'm almost 4 months out and have lost 60 lbs. I'm at a plateau right now so I'm feeling very frustrated. I'm also a bit scared because I find that I can really eat anything without getting sick, and sometimes I make poor choices, and I think I end up consuming too many calories. This scares me a lot because we've all been down that road before.... initial success and then long term failure. I don't ever want to be there again... that's why I had WLS! But I digress.... what I really am wondering is approximately how many calories folks are eating each day. According to the nutritional guidelines of my program, I am at the stage of eating 4 ounces per meal, about a 2:1 ratio between protein and carbs, with one snack of fruit or veggie each day. However, sometimes I think a calorie range would be a better guideline, because it's not always easy to count ounces, and it doesn't account for protein supplements. I usually have at least one 20g/120 calorie protein drink each day. Anyone have any calorie guidelines that they follow that they would like to share??

I attended my monthly support group meeting Wednesday. I asked my PA, Jodi what our calorie intake should be. Her response was that right now while we are wanting to lose we need to keep it at at least 700- 800 calories (this will go up to about 1100 when we reach goal and want to maintain), 60-70 grams of protein (minimum), and no more than 30 grams of carbs daily (these carbs should come from milk and fruits). I track my intake on sparkpeople.com and I'm only getting about 650 calories in each day, about 65 grams of protein, and only about 10-12 grams of carbs. Mandy 332/258/150??

this seems really strict to me....

I am getting nervous. I feel I eat way more than that, too. When I log onto fitday.com, my fat intake is also very high according to this website. No wonder I am still so HUGE . Sometimes I can eat so much, I feel like I have never had the surgery. Its as if the doctor forgot to make me a pouch. At other times I can barely eat anything. Thanks God for my WLS therapy group on Saturdays, will have to discuss this latest "issue" with them .-----Suzette ----

Suzette, Danielle Hoffman and i were just talking about this today. How there are days that we feel like we can eat "normal" again. It scares us that our pouches may have been left too big. You're NOT alone!! *hugs*

I track mine on sparkpeople also and usually have 60+ gr of protein and around 1100 calories. Most of what I eat is protein. I do have fruit only in a while and have not had many veggies - I know - Bad me!!! I have had bread a few times and it was OK but I do not make a practice of having it. I eat oatmeal, cottage cheese, cheese sticks, chili, pinto beans & cheese, deli cheese & meats. These are my staples! Today I had celery with peanut butter. That tasted good. Also, cherry tomatoes have tasted real good.

I heard back from my nutritionist on this issue. She indicated that at this stage (4 months out) my program nutritionists tell people that they should be eating between 1000-1200 calories per day, and a minimum of 55-65 grams of protein a day. This made me feel A LOT better, because I have to say that this probably reflects what I'm doing most days. I know many programs are different, but I was glad to hear I'm working within their parameters most days. (If she had come back and said 650, I'm not sure what I would have done, because that seems impossible to me, especially with regular exercise!) I agree with many of you.... sometimes it feels like I can eat a lot of food, and make just as poor of choices as I did prior to surgery. That is very scary to me. I've been so complication free, I've sometimes feared that the surgery didn't take. However, I have a definite limit now that I didn't have before, so it is definitely working, but I think it's just so easy to be insecure and fearful of screwing up! Thanks for the feedback... I just wanted to share the feedback from my nutritionist as well.