Need help losing weight

I'm just over two years post op with a DS.  My wt loss slowed WAY down about 11 months post op and came to a hault about 13 months post op - having lost about 115 lbs.  I've recently started to gain some weight.  I tried going on a diet and after accounting for malabsorption I was getting in somewhere around 700 to 900 cals.  The weight (I suspec****er wt) dropped off the first week but then got super stubborn the second week and I even experienced some bounce back.

I get in between 130 to 160 grams of protein every day - during my wt loss push most of that has been achieved via egg white protein powder coffee drinks.  During the wt loss push, I worked very hard to keep my carbs down to 50.  I can't do 30.  I know some people do but I get brain fog and feel shakey.  Can't go That low.  As for fat, it has tended to be down at the same level as the carbs during this wt loss push.

Someone made the point that I was doing a starvation diet after the malabsorption cals were counted up and that of course would cause my metabolism to slow down.  (I do not exercise much and I know I need to change that and I know that would help my metabolism.)  So, I decided to focus on getting in about 1,200 cals after malabsorption and see if I would lose wt while doing that.  But, I cannot figure out how to get my cals that high while keeping my carbs low - and it's controlling the carbs that I've read time and time again is the key to the wt loss.  But, once again, I'm trying to see if my body will respond to wt loss when not cal starved.

So, can anyone help me figure out how to get in enough cals while keeping carbs low?  Or does anyone have any wt loss tips for 2 years out or any new info I might have missed about malabsoprtion changes that occur this far out?  I appreciate the help!!!

I can't help you because I can't do the DS math to figure out how many calories I eat.  I count carbs and protein and get plenty of fat and water and the weight comes off.

Perhaps your common chanel was made extra long?  It might be that you are just a high absorber of protein and/or fat.

I actually don't know anyone who has tried to count calories.  I would suggest posting everything you eat on the Bites and Vites thread say for one week and see if the feedback there is helpful.

~Becky

That's a good suggestion about the Bites and Vites.  Thanks, Becky.  I think I might track that thread and see what others are doing, make adjustments to what I'm doing, and then post if I need help further than that.

As to the math, I use myfitnesspal to track my food intake and then I have self-created exercises set up to track the malabsorption.  So, if I eat 100 grams of fat, I plug in 100 minutes into the Fat-exercise calculator and it says I "burned" (or malabsorbed) 720 cals.

I mostly use the site to make sure I'm getting in enough protein but lately with the wt gain I've tried to track carbs more.  It's just that getting my carbs down alone wasn't doing it so I started looking at overall cals.

I have no clue about my absorption but I would love to know.  I'm concerned that maybe I absorb more than 20% of fat or maybe my protein absorption has gotten better or maybe my body just really likes being a certain wt.  Grrrr... I'm trying though.  I really need to get consistent with exercise.  That is going to be added in soon.

I've never counted calories.  I think of fat and protein as free foods.  The only thing I ever worry about is carbs.  For me to lose I have to go under 10gr per day.  Nothing else works for me.

Damn!  That's nuts!  How do you even manage with carb grams that low!!!  I would have trouble putting a sentence together.

Okay, this is what is throwing me so much.  If we met someone on the street who said I am only eating 700 calories a day, we would have the reaction of oh my gosh, what are you doing?!?!?!?!  You're starving yourself and ruining your metabolism, etc. etc. etc.

I took Becky's advice and looked at the Bites & Vites thread but I really didn't see that many calories being taken in. 

Let me break it down a little:

Calories / gram with malabsorption:

1 g protein = 4 cals - mal 40% = 2.4 cals
1 g fat = 9 cals - mal (80%) = 1.8 cals
1 g carbs = 4 cals - mal (10%) = 3.6 cals  (I'm making an assumption that there are some complex carbs being taken in)

So, if a person is taking in 140 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbs (I know most aim for lower), that gives you:

140 grams protein = 336 cals
50 carbs = 180 cals

Which equals 516 calories after malabsorption.  (If taking in 200 g protein, the figure goes up to 660 cals a day.)

Let's say you take in 100 grams of fat. That would equal 180 cals.

Bringing the grand total up to 696 calories for the day -- basically 700 calories.

I've been trying to cut down my carbs and what I discovered was that my carbs are a big driver of my fats.  If my carbs are low, my fat tends to be in the same range unless I'm doing things to force my fats to be higher. So, while dieting I was having around 700 to 800 cals a day and I had this sensation like my body was starving -- not so much a physical sensation of hungry just a sense of calorie deprevation, a sense of my body being starved.

It is recommended (via one website) that women not drop their calories below 1200 cals a day and that was the amount recommended in pursuit of wtloss, yet with the DS we are taking in WAY less calories than that if we are keeping our carbs low.

If getting in 140 g protein and 50 g carbs, we would need to get in 3420 cals of fat to get us to 684 cals after malabsorption to get us to a grand total of 1200 cals for the day.  WTF! (Feeling frustrated.)

Do we seriously have to hold our absorbed calories down to 700 cals a day to maintain or lose weight!?

And, what is the big deal about carbs? What's wrong with getting in 400 cals worth of healthy carbs (fruits, veggies, and grains) versus piling on the fat?  Why is it about the carbs that are driving everything in such a severe way?

And, what is the big deal about carbs? What's wrong with getting in 400 cals worth of healthy carbs (fruits, veggies, and grains) versus piling on the fat?  Why is it about the carbs that are driving everything in such a severe way?

The big deal about carbs is, you absorb all of them. Our bodies are really not made to release fat, if you eat carbs. 

Fruit?= sugar

Veggies?=sugar with some fiber. (depending on the vegetable)

Crusiverous veggies are good=very little sugar

grains?= also sugar.

Fat you do mal-absorb. So if you eat some cream cheese, most of it you will not absorb. Spread it on some Hard Salami and put another slice of Hard Salami on top and you have a protein fat "sandwich" which gives you the fat and protein you need. Or Ham, or Roast Beef slather on Mustard or Mayo roll it up and eat. No carbs there either. 

There are many ways you can avoid carbs, carbs are detrimental to anyones health. Not just us DSers. 

Low carbing is all about keeping the carbs low enough to get your body into Ketosis.  Ketosis is your body burning your stored fat for energy instead of the sugar your body stores for quick/emergency needs (glycogen).  And all low carb diets tell participants not to cheat - not even a little, because once your body drops out of ketosis it becomes a calorie game (and a miserable one).

Everyone is different, so the amount of carbs that throws your body out of Ketosis is specific to you.  Some one else could be above 60 carbs.  Yours seems to be below 30 carbs. 

You are going to have to cut your carbs - or exercise to burn the extra carbs/ sugar stored (glycogen).  I suggest cutting the carbs because getting into Ketosis is a lot easier way to lose weight than working out.

It's hard the first couple of weeks when people cut carbs really low.  But your body adjusts.  It take me about 3 weeks of 'ketosis blues' before I start to feel better at low carbs. And the older I get, the lower the carbs have to go. 

Thank you for the tips about that my body will adjust to the low carb part of things.  Just on happenstance a friend of mine caught up with me to tell me she just started a low carb diet.  She also said that the body is suppose to be able to adjust to it after some time.  That's super good to know.  Lets me know it's something normal and that it is just a phase to work through.

Go back to measuring your food and logging it into fitday or myfitnesspal.  I suspect your body is in starvation mode. Are your 130 to 160 g of protein coming mostly from protein powder?  That may be the issue.  You body needs food first and then supplement with powder if your low on your protein.   You shouldn't get brain fog and be shakey from low carbs - you would get that from not eating enough.