Calories! Calories! Calories! HELP!

Hey everyone!

This is my first post. I'm reaching out for some help.

I had surgery on 9/11/2017 and have lost 25 lbs since surgery. It's been 6 weeks today since surgery and a few weeks back my dietician told me to keep increasing my calories from 700-800 to 1100-1200 at 6 weeks. I haven't lost weight in 2 weeks. And I can eat 1200 calories no problem! And I eat healthy protein rich food. What I'm finding is most people in my Facebook groups are not getting that many calories in bc "they struggle" Ha! I wish! Apparently most people I'm finding from these forums are at 600-900 calories a day for months. How?? I'm so stressed and annyoyed I want to call my dietician tmr and tell her that something is wrong. What are most of you eating each day to get only 700 calories with out just drinking shakes and eating greek yogurt or cottage cheese? Thanks guys! I really need feedback :(

Congratulations on your surgery!

I'm over a year out and just recently started eating closer to a 1000 calorieS. But my goal is 700-900, during losing phase. I'm about 25 pounds from goal. It's definitely do-able. At your stage, I looked back at My Fitness Pal, and I was mostly eating 450-500 calories max. Still drinking two shakes a day plus so,e dense protein. That was it. I suggest checking out the daily menu threads. Tons of ideas and support there.

This far out, my meals mainly consist of Mostly different combinations of:

protein: Chicken, eggs, shrimp, fish, pork, beef, deli meat, tofu

lower carb veggies in small quantities: peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, onions, zucchini, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, radish, etc.

flavours: tomato sauce, curry paste, soya sauce, shriracha, tamari, mustard, ketchup, gravy, salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika (my favourite!), Montreal steak spice (a close second), basically my whole spice rack.

dairy: Greek yogurt, skyr, cheddar, Brie ( if we have company or else, I eat the whole wheel) cream cheese, coffee cream, premier protein ( in my coffee)

fats: butter, veg oil, olive oil, avocado.

fruit: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries

Drinks: decaf coffee, tea, iced tea, crystal light, and other brands of flavourings. Protein drinks.

im sure I'm missing some things, but that's probably 99.9% of my diet. I have been dealing with a lot of head hunger lately, but it has nothing to do with actually hunger, or lack of choice.

good luck, keep reading and posting!

edit to add: I forgot to mention. I keep my calories at this level by choice, to try and get to goal as fast as I can. I was never one who struggled to meet my daily calories! the further out you get, the harder all of it becomes.

What foods are you eating to make 1200 calories? While you likely can't eat a lot, I'm sure you can eat a little often. It's adds up quick.

IMO that is way to high for just shy of two months out. I'm 2.5 Years out and aim for ~1000 calories a day.

If you call your nut, be prepared for her to try and talk you out of lowering your calories. Everyone be here will tell you otherwise. Personally I'd skip the call and find what works for you.

Thanks for your reply! I'm very upset ??. Why would I have to eat 800 to lose just 2 lbs a week at 300 lbs? Lol This is just mind blowing to me. And why if that's what's needed do our dieticians tell us to eat 1200 calories at 6 weeks! I'm going to lose it on them! Lol

I also don't try to eat 1200 calories- I'm trying not to rely on protein shakes for my food. I'm also trying to eat a balanced diet with healthy carbs and veg - with protein as primary. Seems like it's the norm to drink protein shakes and just protein to really make this work. Not sure how I feel about that. Thanks for the tips everyone. I'll do my best.

If your dietician is telling you to eat 1200 calories at only six weeks out, (s)he is not telling you what the vast majority of dieticians and surgeons recommend! That is too many calories for only 6 weeks out. You ought to be eating only about half of that.

Lots of people use protein shakes because they cannot get in enough protein via food. They are NOT necessary, however, if you can eat enough protein.

How many times a day do you eat? Are you tracking what you eat? Do you know how many grams of carbohydrates you are eating? My concern is that your "balanced diet" might have too many carbs in it. Carbs are the weight loss killers. Most people at six weeks out are only eating protein and very small amounts of veggies, etc.. Yes, early out it is important to eat primarily protein in order to get the results you want.

Lora

Perhaps I should show my dietician this forum? Lol And yes of course I track and am absolutely aware of how many grams of carbs protein sugar etc I'm getting. I've been tracking for half of my life. Nothing new. And I'm very aware that too many carbohydrates can stall weight loss. I get all of my protein and then some daily. I also only eat low carb options. I've done every diet imaginable. I don't want to have to keep "dieting" and avoid a "balanced" diet lol. I eat 4 to 5 times a day. So I guess going forward if I want to see more of a loss it's all protein and super low carb veg. I feel like I could've just done that without surgery. But I guess I'd be hungrier. Anyway. I'm just annoyed and upset with my dietician and all of the mixed and misinfo. Feeling lost, and to be honest, criticized. All I wanted to know is what most people ate calorie wise at this stage and what they ate would help as well. I'm only doing what my surgeon and dietician told me to do. It's not like I designed it.

You would certainly be hungrier if you tried to do a super low carb diet without the surgery. I tried it a few times years ago, and took off about 30 lb, but gained back 40. There are lots of people who manage to add some carbs back in once they hit maintenance.

>> I also only eat low carb options. I?ve done every diet imaginable. I don?t want to have to keep ?dieting? and avoid a ?balanced? diet lol

Sorry, but you're in for a bit of a rude awakening. Even after surgery, you will need to watch what you eat (probably logging daily) and make a habit of avoiding certain foods for the rest of your life if you want to maintain a healthy weight.

Surgery is not magic.

FYI I do log daily- have done so since 2001 when people had to rely on calorie books. And I never thought it was magic. I'm looking for advice and what other people have been told/doing. I was told that I would lose 2 lbs a week on 1200 calories and I believed that! I was on 2000-3000 calories before that. So please don't make assumptions about me, and check your attitude.

You 100% could have done this without surgery. The surgery is only a tool to make it a smidge easier. But, it's not unicorns and rainbows for the weight loss process. But, it does set you up for longer-term success if you use it correctly!

However, having RNY, your honeymoon period is finite so making the most of it by eating stupidly low calorie for as long as you can and getting to goal fast is in your best interest. That goes against all the fake science that we've been programmed to believe for years. Slow and steady wins the race! WRONG. It's safer to lose slower. WRONG. Use your malabsorption now and let your body consume your multitude of fat stores!