how many calories a day?

I was wondering how many calories a day you all shoot for? I'm really trying to work on getting mine up a bit. I was somewhat working on it, but then I weighed in on Sunday, and I was the exact same as I was Wednesday morning. I know it was only 4 days, but I should have lost something! I tried not to get upset since I know I've been eating alot of the chinese soups and so I may be retaining some water. But I'm trying to get close to 1000 calories a day. Wondered about you guys!

I have no idea, but I've been reading so many of these posts and I feel so behind! I'm having trouble eating (I'm allowed to eat loosely packed meat, etc now) and drinking due to nausea and pain. I HOPE I'm getting in my 600 calories (which is the goal per my doc).. but as I'm barely getting 32 oz of water a day and maybe 25-35 grams of protein I doubt I'm at 600... I really like the idea of egg flower soup so I'm going to try that! Good luck! I was told our eventual goal is 900 - 1500 calories a day, 60 grams or more of protein and at least 64 oz of water! It sounds like you're doing great! Remember not to weigh yourself so often or you may become obsessed with the weight loss and won't see the true 'success' of the surgery (ridding yourself of health issues). Base your weight loss on inches, rather than pounds since muscle weighs more than fat

My doc recommends 60-80 grams of protein supplement per day. This would be on top of whatever food I am able to eat. I pee on a ketostick every day to make sure I am burning fat. If I don't get my protein supplement in then I stop burning. I don't worry about total number of calories - as long as I get protein from supplements and at meal times then I think my body should have enough to function - well plus the other vit/mineral supplements. Since people have different body types and more/less muscle it probably varies. Did you see a nutritionist as part of your pre-op program? You can get the ketosticks at any pharmacy/drugstore. They are usually behind the counter. Atkins people use them to make sure they are getting enough protein/calories to burn fat. That might be the best measure for you - since if you are not getting enough protein and/or calories and/or vits/minerals and fluids your body will not cooperate as readily and burn as much.

Dawn, Thansk for teh great tip; I hadn't thought of getting the ketosticks. I think that is a great suggestion! Lori

Some days I get only about 385 cal's per day - some times it's as much as 600. It's just so hard to eat when you're not hungry and you're eating pureed food!!!

I keep track on fit day. I usually get in between 400 - 650 calories. I'm on the high end if I drink a Atkins Advantage protein drink. My doc doesn't want us to have shakes but we can add protein powder to our food (like cottage cheese). I still like to have a Atkins shake occassional it gives me a energy boost!! Don't worry about weight....I've stared at the scales for weeks then drop 6 lbs overnight and then 3 more the next night. I skip a few days and then the scale catches up. Remember water weighs more than fat. So it could be water (the downfall of Chinese food) Good Luck, Summer