Daily Calorie Totals

Hi Gang Just want to double check as to how many calories we September 2004 post ops should be taking in on a daily basis. I was never told any amount but was wondering if some of you were given a number and what that might be, this way I can judge if the weight loss has slowed down normally or if I may be just eating too much. Thanks Hugs Marianne

Hi Marianne, My surgeon has told me anything about calories. I did however ask his nurse about how many crabs and sugar daily. She said don't eat anything over 15 carbs & 15 sugars. The sugars seem like a lot to me to have. I dump easily on sugar. I can't even eat a piece of orange. Oh, and not to go over a total of 45 grams of carbs and 45 grams of sugar a day. I must admit that I don't count the carbs, but I do eat healthy. And I do watch how much I eat in a sitting. God Bless, Jo 444/414/297/-147

I have between 1000 and 1200 per day depending on my level of activity for the day. For example on days when I have meetings and only work out in the morning I have 1000, on days whn I am walking all over Suffolk county I might hit the 1200 mark. I also try to eat well-balanced meals, protein first, then veggie and if room a carb. Hope this helps.

First- most of us are finding our weight loss slowing down right now, that's part of the process for many at this point post-op. Second- ask your doc if he/she has philosophy on number of calories. Not all docs want you to count calories. That said, I am a calorie counter. I fluctuate between 1200-1350. That's just where I seem to land. It's a bit more than I'd prefer it to be, but I have lost weight every single week since my surgery. (I weigh every monday morning on my parent's dr. scale) Lately I've had a lot of slow weeks, but I've also had a few higher calorie days here and there, but thank goodness I am loving the exercising, and it helps keep the scale going down. I highly recommend looking up a bmr calculator on google and plugging in your stats using your GOAL weight to determine the number of calories you need to maintain your GOAL weight with a sedentary lifestyle. If you don't exceed that, you will eventually achieve that weight, sooner rather than later if you exercise and undercut those calories a *****ances are you are eating much less than this number already and just experiencing a natural slow down on your loss. This system is working for me. I track on fitday and I make sure that I always overestimate rather than underestimate my calories if there is any doubt. Err on the side of weight loss! ~Sue

Sue- WHOA! I'm on information overload right now . . . but in a good way! I've heard of BMR but always thought a doctor needed to determine it. Never knew there were websites out there with all that great information. Figured out my BMR and was kinda bummed til I continued reading and found out I could multiply it to get the "Harrison Benedict" equation! Who is Harris? I LOVE that man!!! Makes me want to run down to the gym right now so that I can eat more, haha! Now I have a new toy and (in the immortal words of Junie B. Jones), that new toy's name is: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ Thanks Sue for enlightening me! I needed something new to obsess about LOL! Hugs, Sandy

Hi Sandy, Thanks for posting the link! I'm glad you found the bmr stuff interesting. I just find that it gives me a solid bottom line instead of one doc's theory vs another. Speaking of a solid bottom, I'm going to the gym in a few minutes! Too bad we aren't all in the same area, wouldn't it be cool if a bunch of us from this board could meet and work out together? Have a great day! ~Sue

Sandy, I'm like you... gotta love new toys but at my age understanding the darn things can be the challenge!!! Question... My BMR for a goal weight of 138 was 1344... now according to Harrison B... for sedentary lifestyle multiply by 1.2 that equals 1712.8... can that be right??? 1700 cals/day to get to 138??? I know I am no where near that (even with chocolate!!!) Just wondering? Thanks wanda

Marianne - My doctor is very conservative, but I can't argue with success! From the time of surgery til 6 months out it was no bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, beans, rice, or fruit. 70 grams of protein and 30 carbs, no mention of calories. At 6-month visit, same deal except I can have fruit occasionally and limit of 800 calories/day. I probably manage that 5 days out of 7. Hugs, Sandy 268/160/136

My doc and nutr. refuse to give us numbers with the exception of protein... minimum 60 gms / day and sugars... nothing with more than 6 gms of sugars... I have asked repeatedly because I do better with guidelines, they tell me "life isn't about guidelines, its learning new behaviours" and I said ..."ya da ya da ya da"... I have really slowed waay down on losing but I think I'm gonna borrow some of the numbers posted here and see if it makes a difference. wanda