Food: confussion, irritation, upset, quesitons (xpost) thought you all could help

I posted the other day that I was going to 'tweak' my eating plan. I done a lot of researching eating plans for the VSG and none of them had the restrictions that I am on. I am restricted from foods I have always eaten and feel so deprived that I know when I do get to them that I am going to over do it.
I know from me having PCOS that carbs are my eneny. I acknowledge that, I understand it, but I don't have to like it.

So me and my husband were talking and I have a thought/question.
How can we NOT loose weight if we are only consuming 600-800 calories and exercising (with limiting carbs)?
I use to eat EASILY 3,000-4,000 calories a day and not exercise.
Now I consume 600-800 a day. I have extremely limited my carbs and I exercise 1 hour a day for 6 days a week buring around 300-600+ calories a day.
So I guess I am wondering why it should matter what meat my protein comes from???? I am not frying it!

Is it okay to have a bite of the thing we are craving once a week or once every two weeks? I just can't see how depriving ourselves is a good thing. Isn't that what makes diets fail? They go without for so long and then over do it with the item that was kept away?

Yes- I am doing good so far but dag blasted I am SICK of chicken and turkey! I put pork in my diet yesterday and I stayed fuller longer AND I got closer to my protein goal for the day. I felt better all day and had more energy.

I am going to have a very long talk with my surgeon and nutritionist Tuesday. I think I am loosing my mind and I know I can't be the only one. I even thought about just doing the Atkins diet straight up for right now; especially with so much restriction.

I am not trying to say that we should throw our eating plans out of the window but I can't stick with this eating plan if it is going to drive me crazy.

Is anyone else in a similar situation or have been in a similar situation? Has anyone not exacty 'followed' the doctor's eating plan and still lost the weight?

LaToya,

You may fall out of your chair at this, but as I say "Your results may vary..."  I was plateaued, and frustrated, "I am being good, low crabs..." Then I wondered, was I going too low on COMPLEX carbs? I added some carbs, and BAM, started losing again.

Now, I want to say this may not work for everyone, and I also change up my diet to keep my body from getting too used to anything.

Beef, I eat it ALL the time.  When I met Chef Dave, I CHALLENGED his statement about lean beef -- I USE a pressure cooker, and have ALWAYS used the leanest cuts possible in my meals.  I also eat pork, soy, whey, dairy, poultry & fish protein -- I think that covers almost all of them???

Our bodies get used to a certain amount of calories, and as you lose your calorie requirements actually go down.  Here is another thought - any chance you aren't getting ENOUGH nutrition?  When I exercise a LOT, I bump up my lean protein, and allow more complex carbohydrates.  Oh, and did you forget the water?

We all are going to hit plateaus, they suck.  But maybe change things up a little.  I hate to admit this, but the two weeks of traveling & Holiday eating, I gained five pounds -- even WITH exercise.  I got back home, back to my usual, and lost the five in less than five days.  Changed up things ;)

Sadly, being obese, your body is READY for famine.  We have trained our bodies to hold onto calories, and now you have to break the cycle.

Do you eat breakfast???  Most say NO.  My own daughter lost over 100 pounds by just eating breakfast - no kidding!  No surgery, just breaking the fast from the last time you ate the day before (break fast - breakfast).  Your body is efficient, when it isn't fueled, by meals at a set amount of time (for me, every two hours), it will hold onto calories.

Hope some of this helps.  Have you talked with a licensed nutritionist???

Brenda : )~

Thanks Brenda! I do eat breakfast, try my darndest with my water too. Luckily I have not plateaued (sp?) yet but I do wonder if I eat enough for the ammount of exercise I do.
Thanks for the response!

 The danger with having just a bite or two of "our favorites" is that they are trigger foods - if you think about, we have never stopped at just a little bit. Those "favorites" were usually consumed in large quantities. Yes, we have a smaller stomach, but that would not stop me from consuming a lot of chocolate. It pretty much melts into liquid and my surgery would be a useless tool at that point. 

I have a list of foods that I dont touch. I cannot touch them. I may, in the future, but for a good long time, I have no intentions on eating them. I have really made my focus on eating what my body needs. Hell, some days like today, that including 140 g of carbs, and 60 g of sugar. (but I also spent 2.5 hours on my bike). But in general, my body doesnt need that, so I dont eat it. 

I have not been a "low carber" post op. I was definitely not low carb pre-op when I lost 85 lbs, so I dont believe that low low carb is necessary to lose weight. I have never kept my carbs under 40 except maybe the first couple weeks after surgery (and even then, the low cal G2 added up fast lol). A normal day for me, my carbs around 60 or so. I eat bread a couple times a week. Some people might get a look of horror at that thought, but it works for me. I also eat fruits and veggies which some people have sworn off in an effort to keep their carbs as low as possible. I dont think it has impeded my weight loss much. But again, my focus is on what my body needs to run and what i need to keep my body healthy. And honestly, those favorites of mine have no place there. So, I avoid them completely for most part. I have not had any candy/chocolate (outside of my work out snacks) since surgery, nor have I had any traditional fast food or anything (i will get an egg from mcd or beans from taco bell, but that's it). 

That is a good point, I will talk to my nutritionist tomorrow to discuss more of what I NEED as opposed what is on thier recommended diet.

Hello,

Thought that I would put my input in there today. I am no expert but I can tell you that I eat all protein meats and make sure that I cut all fats I can off of it. Leaner cuts are the best. I however do not eat ground burger meats. Not my thing that I care for. Me personally, my body needed some carbs, my doctor actually said for me to increase my carbs and this helped me a lot. I had been getting dizzy and not feeling well. I have had no issue with that when I added a few more grams of carbs. I have occasional bread, but normally for me it is a couple of small bite, just simply cause it is harder still for me to really digest. For the most part I do not eat "desserts" that are fatty and sugary do not miss it. I say for the most part as about three times since surgery I have tried a few bites of sugarfree low fat dessert. But did not really care for it. I love my surgar free pop cycles so I guess that is my dessert. They are 10 cal each. I have found a love of cooking and trying to think outside the box in creative cooking that is healthy and full of nutrition and tastes! I have my favorite foods. I work out all the time. I always look at my calorie intake and excersize. I would not like to be limited to just chicken or turkey. Not sure why so restricted? If your doctor has good reasons you may want to follow their advice or maybe get other opinions. Definitely sounds like you are on the right track to connect with him regarding this. In life long success I would think it is going to be learning to incorporate a variety of foods that healthy and the excersizers that will bring on long term success. Reality is yes, if you go crazy it could drive you to fail and give in to those foods. I think there are so many ideas out here that can keep your foods interesting. Experiment using guidelines and anther thing, is our bodies are all different and handle foods and excersizers differently. It is finding your bodies needs title by little tweaking to see how it goes. Brenda is right, changing things up or down when you hit plateaus is going to be one good trick to keeping this going.
Is there a nutritionist that you can email or talk to you at your surgeons office? I mainly do the proteins as that is my first in priority. But I also never feel deprived with my foods. I use a lot of variety in herbs and spices.... Seasoning can make a difference. I do eat vegetables and fruits. Have and rice and pasta. Usually rice noodle. But I say that, it usually is a tsp to a Tbls of this... But it satisfies me if I want it.

Today foods consisted of split pea soups with onion and carrot in it and smoked Canadian bacon. 1/2 cup serving and 1 scoop of protien powder mixed in it. That was what I had for my second and third meals. My first meal was 1/2 cup of Quaker oats made with water, then added 1oz of fat free yogurt and one scoop of protien powder. Then the last meal was 2oz of cube steak, two small bites of a bagel, 1/2 tsp of steak sauce, 1/2 cup of carrots and peas. Snack 2 sugarfree pop cycles.
12 oz hot tea, 33 oz water, 12 ounces of flat seltzer flavored water, 12oz vitamin water.
Vitamins through out the day.
Today I did a 9 mile bike ride on my stationary bike, 15 minutes of yoga, and 15 minutes of arm excersizers.

I very everything always, so that my body does not get used to one thing. I want to make sure that my body muscles all get movement through out the week, so I do many different excersizes. Walking and swimming are my favorites.

This was a bit long but hopefully gives you ideas of what I do. Like I said everyone's bodies are different. You will find what works for you!! Try things and if you find they are not working try something else. See how your body handles things for your success. There is no "one way to manage this".

The primary thing I beleive are the components of EXCERSIZE and EATING nutritionally to equal weightloss and maintenance. (nutritionally for no malnutrition and for healthy weightloss).

Thanks-- I really appreciate all the info

LaToya,

Everybody gave you great information, so I don't have anything new to add.

I do want to add this however; In a previous post I said you seemed to me to be a strong woman, and you responded that you were.

"...feel so deprived that I know when I do get to them that I am going to over do it"
Would a strong woman over do it?

The reality is that the right plan is what works for you Long Term. About five weeks post op almost anything will work, but in 6 months you may regret developing habits that defeat the surgery.

Your body is mostly recovered and adjusted, but your head is still mostly pre-op. The head adjustment take longer.

Eye on the prize. In this case the prize is a healthier LaToya.

Hang in there you can do it. Your a strong woman.