How many calories??

Hi everyone, this is my first post on here. I was just wondering how many calories you are all taking in each day on average..I'm a slow loser and my dietitian said that I'n not eating enough. Who would have ever thought? I was able to get in almost 700 the past two days and just over 700 today. I feel stuffed! YUK!! Water and protein are not a problem, just the calories. My poor, poor starving body. No wonder I've been losing at a snails pace. Kim -18 pre-op -53 post-op

Just a little check point for you ... At your weight it seems that you're actually losing weight fairly quickly. I started at 370, lost 10 pre-surgery and, so far, 78 total and had surgery 10/12/04. Also am probably older than you at 51. It seems that you're doing okay. Hope that makes you feel better! For me, my body image and weight images are so distorted, I was losing 5-10 pounds and feeling that I must be gaining - so it is hard to get a reality check. You are looking so much better and I hope feeling better, too!!!

Guess I didn't really answer your question though!!! Duh. Calories vary - most days 6-800, some days I can't stand the thought of drinking water. Rarely, I'll be able to sit down and have a meal which is probably too large. In the big picture, it is all going to present weight loss eventually. And when I've slowed down on loss, sometimes I try to eat more to fool the body out of starvation mode or whatever it is doing. The dietician said start with 600 calories, after 2 months go to 800 - after that I'd be interested in knowing what others calorie count is at this point in time, too. (My surgery was done out of the area and I've not talked with the dietician since November.)

Most days I get in 700 - 800 calories. I was told by my surgery group that I should try to get close to 1000/day but that is absolutely impossible. I always get in my protein first and try really hard to get in all the water. Some days are better than others. I usually go for a week or two without losing anything them BAM down 3 - 5 lbs. I notice on the days I eat more I seem to lose but I just don't want to start a pattern and stretch my pouchie. I still weigh and measure my meals, limiting myself to 4 oz in one sitting. I really want to keep losing for as long as I can. Some say you stop at 6 months others say you can keep losing. I just don't want to be one that stops at 6 months! I think all of us October dudes and dudettes are doing great. Sheryl -86 334/248/190(my personal goal is 170)

I sneak in my calories by eating a frozen low carb/high protein dinner! They average 250-400 cal. depending on which one you eat. I eat best at noon(lunch time). I take my time and eat it over about 1/2 hour and get the whole thing in. It is delious and helps get in more calories. Janee

Just talked to my nutritionist (works with my surgeon) last week about this. My surgery was 10/29 and I'm getting about 750-850 a day, which she said was appropriate. I get a good bit of protein from a drink called Nectar in the early morning, it gives me 24 oz of water and 24 grams of protein right off the bat, which means I can have fruit or veggies for snacks instead of protein, which I really like. Nutritionist said 700-800 cals a day was appropriate, and on the days that I do cardio exercise (3-4x week for me) to stay closer to 1000. I do that by adding avocado for fat or having some nuts or bleu cheese on my small spinach salads for snacks. On the days I do strength training, too, she recommends about 90g of protein instead of my target 65g. Without the Nectar I could never get to that, so I'm glad I found a drink that didn't make me want to gag. I just do double the Nectar powder in my water (I mix in some crystal light sunshine orange for flavor) in the morning and then vanilla s/f pudding made with Unjury brand unflavored whey protein isolate mixed in, which gives me another 15g.

Your post brought up some questions for me. Can you taste the Unjury in the pudding? Which flavor of the Nectar? I couldn't stand protein, so tried the Fuzzy Navel flavor recently with a sprinkle of C.L. sunshine orange and that works really well in the morning for both protein and water intake - (protein and water intake have been routinely deficient since surgery). Have struggled with the powders not tasting good so far. Have heard that the body can't absorb more than 30 grams of protein in one sitting. Also, that protein powders need to be consumed within 30 minutes of preparation or bacteria starts to develop. Not an expert (obviously)- so that that is guessing. NOT!

I can't taste the unjury, I use the unflavored (it was the only whey protein isolate powder I found in unflavored). You can't boil or simmer it, so I use the instant s/f pudding. I can only add one scoop to the pudding mix as I make it, which gives me an extra 5g per 1/2 cup, added to the 4g per 1/2 cup for the milk. Two scoops makes the pudding watery after a day, and as you may suspect, it takes more than a day for me to eat 2c of pudding . I use fuzzy navel nectar, too, with the sunshine orange crystal light. Tried the very berry since I love cherry, but it tasted too milky for me, and tried the lemonade, which is fine but tastes a little "off" compared to regular lemonade. Something about the orange tastes ok with that milky taste whey protein gives everything. I confirmed with my nutritionist and surgeon both that 30g was the limit for protein at one time, and that it's ok to let the protein drinks sit as long as they're refrigerated. I always drink mine over about an hour for the 24g of protein, always iced so it stays cool. THe double batch I make I drink 1/2 over an hour, then wait an hour with the rest refrigerated, and drink the rest after 30 min break. You bring up a good point. I wonder if I need to wait longer....hm, will have to ask the Dr.

Hi Kim I have just been wondering the same thing. Me and my friend went through the gastric bypass surgery on the same date and she is only eating 300-400 calories per day while I am getting in 700-800 calories. She is losing sooo much faster than I am and I was wondering if I was eating too much. That doesn't seem to be the case. I am focusing on protein and trying to get in at least 60 grams per day. Good luck to you all Kolla Before pre-op diet -> 304 Day of surgery -> 282 Today -> 220 Goal -> 140

All right, as usual my answer is so much more than anyone elses...even though I see my nutritionist every two weeks and she says I am right on target. I average 1,000 calories a day and 60g of protein. As of last Friday, I am 16 weeks post-op and have lost 71 lbs. The only thing I can think of that may make mine so different is that my surgeon and nut do not have a policy of no carbs. So I do have a diet that includes good carbs which do add up. Just my 2 cents. Joyce D 284/213/???