How many calories to lose again?

OK, I posted a few weeks ago about having my rny revised to a distal rny due to a 50 lb. weight gain.  Because I have progressive MS and have been wheelchair bound to 10 years, I think you guys talked me out of it. So my new question...in order to loose again, how many calories should i be eating, and will I loose at the slow rate of a regular, no WLS person or is the weight loose still amazing, or is it somewhere in between?  I know I need to quit eating the processed carbs etc. I just want to know about calories and rate of weight loose...anybody know?

The stock answer is to eat less than what you need.  Your question though, goes beyond that to "how much less?"

What I did was a Google search for myself, putting in "how many calories to maintain [insert current weight here].  That is how many calories you need to not lose weight.  And that is your starting point.  Eating less, or burning some up through exercise so that you run a deficit is how you will lose.  Getting away from the "bad" carbs to protein, good carbs, and lots of water will help with that.  As for how fast, we are all different, so your results will be different than mine or anyone else here.  But this is how to get started.  

Thanks Billy, I'll find a web sight and find the answer!

Whatever you need to maintain, cutting 500 calories per day will make you lose one pound per week. But as you lose, your maintenance number will drop also. And, we have to be really honest with ourselves about exactly how many calories we are eating. We like to lie to ourselves about that.

Grim makes a good point. As you lose, the number of calories you need to maintain decreases, unless you are building up muscle. Are you getting any PT to help you maintain muscle mass as you can? You can ask your doctor to prescribe it. You may not be able to do as much as someone else-but you can do something.

Scott

For me not only calories but what I eat matters.

Calories are just an estimate for each food type.  It is not only what or how much you eat - but how much your body can absorb and process ...

I.e. some food cooked well - super processed - would net more calories you can absorb. 

Some foods that is heavily processed - may not require much of an effort for out body to absorb it very fast. Too much of a good thing at once may cause some of the calories to be store as fat...

I.e protein shakes, smoothies, protein bars..Etc - that is so processed that our body get dumped all that almost all at once. 

Cooked veggies vs raw veggies, nuts vs nut butter... Etc. 

Just Google "calories are not equal" and you can come up with a lot of blogs and articles......

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/theres-no-sugar-coating-i t-all-calories-are-not-created-equal-2016110410602

https://authoritynutrition.com/6-reasons-why-a-calorie-is-no t-a-calorie/

 

My big thing is getting back to the basics. You may not even realize (I didn't) just how many you are not doing any longer and contributing to your weight gain.  Here are some steps I hope will help you. They helped me...  

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery?  How many meetings, classes and such did we attend?  We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success.  And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods.  Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits. 

Journaling

Get back to journaling.  This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life.  Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating.  It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband.  It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food.  Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker.  Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself.  Make them realistic and small.  Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea?  I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass.  So I was either pushing to be diabetic or get cancer.  I found once I started carrying a bottle of water around 24/7 (yes had one at my bedside) I lost the cravings for the sugar and I KNOW those artificial sweeteners are not good for me. Look I am old and if you add up all the artificial sweeteners I have consumed I am sure I am at the rat in the lab getting cancer threshold.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving.  If I could not go to the gym I would walk. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back.  So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV.  Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group.

Keep me posted on how you are doing.

I'm just a 3 months post op and down almost 50 pound. I didn't lose any weight for three weeks and am suspicious stalls happen if we are do I g everything right.  On Sunday got out my journal and food scale and started logging my food (carbs/protein), water, vitamins, activity... well everything I logged for the first month.

 

It's Wednesday and I am down 2 pounds.