Poll:

I am just curious. Now that we are past our 16th month, what is your calorie intake and are you at goal? I am eating 1200-1400 calories per day. I don't really log but I do keep mental track of what I am eating and I put protein first the majority of the time. Not at goal yet...not really sure if I ever will and I am okay with that. I am still losing about 4 or 5 pounds a month. Usually in the week before and the week of my TOM. I am just weird like that. I am trudging along... Where do you stand?

Hi Elaine, yes I am at goal well, I just had PS so 8 lbs above goal because of all the water weight. I am not really losing anymore and I am good where I am at, healthy not too skinny. I watch how much I intake vs calories. I don't have the time to do fitday and track. But I really watch what I eat for sure. I know what the right choices are and try and stick with them. Erin

Hi Elaine, I am at/under goal and trying hard not to lose anymore. I try to eat at least 1600 calories a day, but sometimes I don't make it. I have added Trader Joe's crackers to my diet and I eat them with Laughing Cow cheese. I get most of my protein from dairy products as I eat no red meat and don't want to start. I have maintained for about 6 weeks but I still worry that I might be on a plateau and wake up one day a couple of pounds thinner. I still secretly smile when I think about losing, but I am 'so thin' now that I want to stay right where I am. nancy

Hi, Nancy! I'm in a similar boat to the one that you are in... I eat small amounts of chicken, tuna, pork, and turkey, but limited red meat. I get a lot of protein from cheese, legumes, + veggies. I have continued to lose weight and now average 1500+ cals per day. I added "night eating" to stabilize the current loss, but it hasn't helped. My Nutritionist was glad that I did add the "night eating", as it should have worked. I will have more testing done next week to try to figure out the reason for the continued drop in weight. BTW, Thanks for the tip about the Laughing Cow cheese... bought the Garlic & Herb today... Yummy! Ro

Hi Elaine, good questions. Until recently I was very good at logging on sparkpeople and usually my calories would end up somewherre from 1200-1800. A pretty big swing and it is reaally easy to get even higher than that. I'm currently under goal by 9 pounds and have been hanging around 135-136. During my TOM this month I gained about 8 pounds which totally freaked me out. Then the week after that I slowly get it off...hate that! Wish I could keep the gain from occuring in the first place and then wished that it went away faster. Like you, I try to keep protein my top priority and my second priority is water. Maybe I have those reversed or just equal but my biggest two challenges are carbs and grazing.

Hi Elaine. If I am being a good girl, I am eating around 1200-1500 calories in a day. This is to loose weight with my normal activity level and exercise regimen. I would venture to say its more like 1800-2200 cals a day to maintain but I honestly am not sure yet. I basically keep going on and off plan.. losing the same 5-8 lbs over and over again. I do know that by cutting out a lot of carbs i can get y weight back down rather quickly and to stop my weight loss I have to eat more carbs. Hope this helps some. I also lose the most around my TOM.. or did anyway.

I am just so curious how we are all so different. On the main boards I see all the time how post-ops over a year out are still eating less than 1000 calories a day (some even drastically less than that). If I ate that little I would feel starving! For the longest time I thought I was pushing the envelope and eating too much. But whatever I am doing, it is still working for me. Goes to show that what works for one does not work for others. Sometimes I also have to wonder if everyone is counting calories, protein, carbs the same way. I wonder if some don't count the calories from the protein drinks, but counts the protein, cause some of those are very high in calories (muscle milk is one). No judging anyone here. Maybe I am just over-analyzing again

I think you have hit the nail on the head Elaine! By the way.. LOVE THE AVATAR! Nice to put a face with you! You are beautiful!!! We have missed your beautiful face! This is *MY Theory on the calorie thing with people on OH.. lol.. are ya ready? Just like you said..They are *LYING*. They are eating more than they are saying they are.. they have to be. No way is anyone eating 1000 calories and not losing.. unless the following reasons. a) they have destroyed their metabolism from all the years of yo-yo dieting preop. b) they have a metabolic disorder or a hormonal disorder (thyroid) they are unaware of. c) they have lowered their metabolic rate to this standard (yes you can do this by not eating enough, then you are DOOMED to gain in the future when u do eat more). d) they do nothing but drool on themselves all day and get no movement.. even then they should be losing.. lol. Otherwise they are in denial about the little grazing they are doing and not counting that through the day or they don't know how to count cals right.. I agree with you. There is no physical way possible. Elaine.. for the longest time i let this get to me and I still do when I see it on the boards. I LOSE at 1500 calories with my activity.. and lose WELL. I eat A LOT to keep my weight where it is.. more than I should. I struggle. I can eat over 3000 calories and finally gain.. so there ya go, you guys realize how much I eat on a given day most days.. its sad but at the same time I am so glad that I can maintain around my original goal of 140 lbs and not be hindered by how much I eat. I know that it can change and will in time so I am being careful. I was a binge eater preop and I can binge now postop.. sad but true. I am getting help for it. I have great days and really bad days. Hang in there.. and don't believe everything u read on here... look at Ro she is DILIGENT about her eating.. she has increased by a lot of cals and still losing.. and she weighs very little..

I am greatful I can eat "normally" and not mentally feel like I am starving. I really feel bad for those that either litterally can't eat more than 1000 calories a day and gain or mentally can't eat more than 1000 calories a day. I was just telling my surgeon how easy it could be now to forget the "rules" and go back to my old ways. I have to stay diligent or I could lose it (control) and I have to stay diligent to keep losing (literally). It just seems so easy to me to get in plenty of calories and not starve when I see so many say they can't get in half what I could. And, I wonder if it is physical or mental or just outright lies. And the real kicker is...I don't exercise at all like I should. If I did, could you imagine the amount of food I could eat? You aren't alone in feeling like you eat a lot...I feel like this almost daily. I stay at 1200 a day only because I still want to lose. I could easily get in 2000 or more a day if I did not pay very close attention. And, on occassion, I have. I am so glad there are people out there that "get it". Thank you!

Hi, Everyone! My calories increased little by little as advised by my Nutritionist, who mentioned that he usually eats 1,100 calories / day. Good enough for him... I did it. Everything was going fine until DH & I drove to Florida (8.5 LB loss in about 1.5 weeks then another 1.5 LB after that drop). After we returned home, I lost another 5 LB in 1 week so now I've been eating about 1500 calories, 50 fats, 200 carbs, and 80 protein just to stabilize my weight. Did it work... NO! This morning I was down 1/2 LB. (CW: 129.5) I have a call into the Nutritionist and will get more info tomorrow on what to do to gain / maintain. It will probably take a few weeks to know if the new plan works so I'll update on the results. Never thought that I'd have this problem. Even when I have explained that I wasn't trying to lose more weight, I been asked, "But, really are you trying to lose more weight? It won't be healthy, if you do." This is well intended so I just send out a hug instead of a frown! Don't you just love... the YOU'RE TOO THIN comments... Uh... NO! Ro