Food Tracking Assistance

I'm at 6 weeks out. You are welcome to take a look at MFP and see my daily numbers.

Ladyblu

I had problems with my original NUT. She told me I should be taking in 200-300 calories a day and only eating once every 24 hours. That is crazy and bull***. I now follow the recommendations of my surgeon tempered with the advice of the all the successful people on OH.

Calories: I try to hit 500-800 calories a day.

Carbs: I shoot for less than 40/day and I try to make them "good carbs". I avoid all processed flours, sugars, breading, etc. I try to get my carbs from vegs and beans and other veg protein sources. I do allow myself the carbs in jerky (within reason) as I love teriyaki, but as with everything else, I shoot for every few days on the more carby choices. When I do indulge, I have 2 cheez-its or a teaspoon of pasta or potato. I try not to completely restrict myself from anything as then I feel deprived. So if I want some of that hamburger helper that I made for the family, then I have a itsy bitsy little taste. I have almost entirely cut out fruits (sugar) and only have a tiny amount once or twice a week.

Protein: I go for 80+ grams a day. I don't make it some days. I supplement with unflavored isopure powder in liquids like soup or broth and I can't stand the sweet shakes. Adding it to egg drop soup is a huge source of protein for very few calories. I try to limit my protein sources to lean meats but have had a bit of pork chop and a small piece of bacon on occasion.

Fat: My surgeon told me not to worry about fat. She said that fat makes you feel full longer. So I avoid saturated fat and trans fat, but don't worry too much about it as long as I am making good lean meat choices and low fat dairy choices when possible. I do Oikos Triple zero yogurt, LF string cheese, Lite laughing cow cheese and Fairlife milk. I also use FF half and half in my coffee and unflavored unsweetened almond milk.

I also track EVERYTHING. Even if I go back later and 'fix' it. I will decide to having something and log it, then decide if it makes my number goals. This is why many times, my post on OH doesn't match my actual MFP diary. Also, I pay close attention to my pouch. No matter what I "plan" to eat, when my pouch says it's full, I stop. I then just reduce the amount I logged.

Sometimes I won't log in advance. I will weigh my plate (eating a turkey wing is a good example). When I'm done, I weight it again. That tells me how much meat I ate since it is hard to determine how much bone and skin there was.

Tracking and measuring everything works for some people. And doesn't work for others. Find what works for you. If you are losing and your blood work numbers are good, and your hair is not falling out then keep doing what you are doing. If you run into a problem then log and trac****il you identify the issue.

What you are setting up for yourself and the changes you are making are going to have to last you for life. Make them sustainable and make sure they fit into your lifestyle. And also remember that every doctor, nutritionist and counselor has an opinion or a plan and they are all different. There is no single path to success.

I just went through and read all of your posting history and I have some questions based on observations.

What, exactly, do you like to eat? You repeatedly state that you don't really like anything with the exception of chicken and deli meats, as far as I can tell. But you don't want to eat those all the time since you don't want to get sick of them.

Pre-op, what did you think your post-op way of eating was going to look like?

You state that you don't have time to track your intake, but you've got to figure out how to make the time. Do it on your phone while you're sitting on the toilet each morning, do it before you go to bed for the next day. Set aside an hour each weekend to make up your meals for the week and enter them then. If you don't know what you're consuming, you can't possibly know if you're on target or not.

If you feel like your plan from your surgery was incomplete, contact your surgeon and ask for clarification. You had surgery almost 8 weeks ago. You should be at, or close to, your forever diet at this point.

If you're getting hungry often, this is likely because you're not getting enough fluids in, something you stated you were having trouble with earlier. Fluids are your job. Hunger could also be due to stomach acid. If you aren't taking a PPI already, start taking one and see if that helps to mitigate your hunger.

If you're a picky eater, yes, your diet might be boring for a while, but if that's what you've got to do to stay on track, then that's what you've got to do.

Early out my Dr was more concerned that I get my protein & water in, not so much emphasis on calories or carbs. I aimed to get in 80oz of protein & to get it more often from real food. Dense protein like meat, chicken & eggs. Protein drinks were more to help me get over the hump when my numbers were running low.

I also ate Quest protein bars, but I still think of them as the better alternative to candy bars. Plus Quest used funny math when it came to the carbs & often when I was trying to do low/lower carbs, the bars & shakes would throw it off. i.e weight stalled or was losing more slowly.

As time went on & I got lower I had to change my carb, calorie, water & protein ratios. Usually changing those numbers up got me moving again. I suggest that you track diligently to set up a base & work your way up from there. You won't know what to change if you only have a broad idea of what you're doing.

If you're getting diet fatigue, visit the What are you eating menu threads to get some ideas. Or go to Shelleys The World according to egg face blog site for ideas.

Life will often have periods of normalcy & chaos, finding a way to navigate your way thru will be challenging. Set some time aside, yes, make time for you & pre plan your foods for the week & stick to it, or if a week is too much preplan for the day b4.

It has been about six years so my numbers might be a little fuzzy. I do recall putting up a blog post on this so feel free to peruse that. If I recall correctly in those first early weeks I was well under 800 calories. By maybe 6 weeks or so closer to 800. After 2 maybe 3 months I went up 100 or so calories. At month 4 went up again and somewhere near month 5 leveled off at 1200 calories. I am very tall at 6'2'' and I also exercised religiously during the weight loss phase (1 hour or more of serious sweat or walking 4-5 miles). I did have stretches during the weight loss phase where I could not exercise due to surgical recovery needs (cancer-related, not vsg caused). I did try to go low carb (under 40) for the first 3-4 weeks- my blood sugar kept tanking (hypoglycemic). By the end of the first month, I abandoned low carb and tracked carefully to figure out I needed 30 net carbs at a meal and 15 at a snack. 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day. That kept the blood sugar levels happy without triggering cravings. I hit goal in 8 months working carbs at around 100 or so net carbs a day. I consistently did high quality carb- whole grain, green leafy veggies, berries. I stayed away from pasta as it spiked my sugar too much. I could only do a low carb wrap or a half slice of bread from Great Harvest.

I am one that tracked carefully during the weight loss phase, but now spot check. I have maintained well overall.

My range is 500-900 calories, with a weekly average of 713 or so. I stay under 30g of carbohydrate and shoot for 90g of protein. The protein is the #1 important macro for me, and fat is #2. Doing this I am literally never hungry.

There are no "bad" or "good" carbs. "Good" carbs like sweet potatoes and quinoa and the like can cause some people to gain weight just as much as a snickers bar. We all have different genetics and different levels of obesity. Despite that, typically most nutritionists here say that 100-130g/day is the max for carbs, which is still quite low carb by conventional standard American diet standards.

I work 80 hours a week, work on 1-2 articles a week, and do 10-20 hours of research a week, and still track my food. MFP makes it quick and easy. On days when you find you do not, I'd assess the reasons why. In my case, I invariably am too busy to track when I ate something I know I shouldn't....so I write it down anyway and talk to my own therapist about it.

While apps are all the rage, even pen and paper is v. quick, portable, and easy to use if available, too :)

I remembered answering a similar question recently: http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/6023902/MFP-food-diary -calories-VSG/