Not Eating Enough for Activity Level?

I'm 9 months post-op yesterday. Pre-op weight 253, current weight 155, goal weight somewhere between 137 and 151 (although based on my body at 155, I'm leaning more toward 137). In the past month, I increased my exercise activity to probably double what it had been previously. Before, I was doing cardio 3x/week for 35-40 minutes. Now, I'm doing 5-6x/week, minimum one hour of cardio and 2 of those nights adding strength training as well. So in the past month, I lost 4 lbs. The month before (with a lighter workout schedule), I lost 8. I did lose inches this month, but it wasn't super dramatic. I tried increasing my protein part way through the month and that did nothing, so I'm thinking I might need to add some carbs back in to my diet to help compensate for the increased activity. But, I'm not sure which carbs I should be adding. Can someone advise me?

Jennifer, You're right!  As you increase your physical activity your burning more calories and firing-up the metabolism therefore your requirements are also increased.  The more you burn the more fuel you need to put in the furnace.  Increased protein, calories and carbohydrates should help meet your needs.  In moderation, the carbohydrates will not hinder your weight loss and will give you the extra energy giving you an even better workout and better results.  Recommendations for carbohydrate options would be:  whole vegetables, whole fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole cereal grains.  These will not only help you with your energy but also help keep you fuller, longer during the day fighting off hunger that can often plague those with higher levels of physical activity.  Don't discount the protein either...increased protein will help build lean muscle which in turn helps facilitate the fat-burning process.   Good Luck!  Cards Fan

Springfield, MO

Jennifer,  I agree with cards fan but I also think you should keep up the protein and eat it with the added healthy carbs. Sometimes it takes a while for my body to see a difference, yours may be the same.  When I have plateaus I try to just stick it out and do what is best and pretty soon I always start losing again. I am pretty close to my goal. Good luck, Julie

Besides varrying your food  You may want to vary your work-out a bit Your body may be adjusting to the routine change the routine change your body's responce

Hi Jennifer, I have been/am currently in your shoes.  Firstly, congrats on your dedication to your exercise routine, THAT is fantastic!!! For the past 4-5 months, I have increased my exercise a lot too.  I find that now I can do things I've never been able to do ever, and it's just so great to have that ability to do stuff.    I love playing tennis, I just started running (NEVER thought I would do that in a million years), I really like kickboxing and other things....well, while I increased to these high calorie burning exercises, my weight loss kinda just stopped.  It was very strange to me.  Then my hunger level went THROUGH the roof....  I got really nervous... I called my nutritionist (who is a part of my surgeon's staff) and she did indeed tell me that I wasn't getting in enough carbs when I told her what I ate in a day.  She guided me through what to eat.  I have to eat some type of a healthier carb before I exercise and then have a small portion of a healthy type carb after I work out.  This works for me and also curbs the intense hunger I feel during the day.  I didn't realize how important (healthy) carbs were in our lives when exercise came into play.  Protein is very important, but you need a source of energy which is found in carbohydrates.  (I don't want to sound like a medical expert, I am in no way one...) Do you have a nutritionist or eating specialist through your surgeon's office that can also lend you some assistance??  I hope you are able to find that balance and I bet you will.  You are doing great!! Congrats and Good Luck!!

Jennifer, How are you? This is always a good question and causes much confusion.  The "Cards Fan" above has provided you with several great sources of carbohydrates. Quite frankly he has a pretty complete list there ,so I will not suggest any other foods. One thing I will do however is explain how to shop for high quality carbs. First of all, whole foods such as the beans, legumes etc..... are great sources that do not really require  you to be able to read food lables. On the other hand when you are shopping for foods like bread, it may say "whole wheat" or "whole grain" but what are you really getting? A good manner to determine the quality of a carbohydrate is the fiber content. For instance, one whole wheat bread will have 0-1 gram of fiber per serving while another will 3-5 grams of fiber per serving. This may be applied to nutrition bars, cereals and just about any carbohydrate rich food product you buy other than whole foods such as fruits and vegetables (obviously whole foods such as fruits and vegetables are not processed). Another example would be cream of wheat versus oatmeal. Cream of wheat has very littel fiber while oatmeal has 3 or more grams of fiber per serving. Don't be fooled by products that simply say "WHOLE WHEAT!" Flip over to the nutrition facts and check out the fiber content. Foods with higher fiber contents generally have lower glycemic indexes and provide longer lasting energy than high sugar/glycemic foods/carbohydrates.   Another thing to look for is sugar. Some sugar is ok while too much can obviously cause problems. You have a better idea about how much you can tolerate.  Also keep in mind that all sugar is not created equally. Many WLS patients can tolerate sugars found in fruits but can not tolerate the sugar found in coke, syrups etc.... This is due to the type of sugar. Fruit has furctose and Coke contains high fructose corn syrup. Fructose many times is ok while high fructose corn syrup (and many others) is not. Ok, so how do you tell? Well there is no full proof method but here is something that will help. Below the nutrition facts is an ingredients list. If a product says has 10 grams of sugar per serving and you look on the ingredients list and sugar is near the top of ingredients listed, you know that sugar has been added and not contained naturally in the food itself. If there is no type of sugar listed and there is ten grams of sugar in the product, that means the sugar is naturally contained in the product.   A couple of more things: 1) carbohydrates are the preferred source of energy for the body.....meaning, in terms of exercise and performance (as well as everday function) your body will more efficiently use carbs than fat and/or protein (amino acids). If you body needs to it can utilize fat stores and muscle tissue for energy production. This however is not optimal when you are trying to increase and/or optimize performance. You want your body to have ample access to an easily utilized substrate.....CARBS!!!  2) Carbs are protein "sparers." So, by consuming sufficient carbohydrates you will make protein more available for the things it is best for......wound healing, muscle building etc... You want to limit the amount of protein used to meet your energy needs and consuming sufficient carbohydrates will do this.  3) Carbs are not your enemy.....I don't care what stage of WLS you are in, they are not your enemy. You simply need to be careful about the type you consume. This is not only because many sugars (not all) cause dumping but because even for non-obese, non-WLS individuals, lots of high sugar foods are not good for steady energy production. High fiber - low glycemic carbs are your friend. I hope this helps.  Jeremy Gentles, CSCS ObesityHelp Professional

Jeremy; Thanks for the reply! Everyone is so anti-carb, that it's comforting to hear from someone with a better education than mine that they're ok as long as they're the right ones. I've been worried about adding them back in, but now can do so with more confidence. On a really positive note, I decided to check measurements last night to see if the workouts were having an effect in other places than the scale. Overall, I was down 4.25" in two weeks (I'd lost 2 lbs. that 2 weeks). The biggest changes were 1.5" off my waist and 1" off my hips, so I'm pretty happy with that. Thanks again for your feedback.

First of all, it is Wonderful to read a post from someone who does not outright demonize carbs!!!  So many posters think that all carbs are bad ... and tons of protein is the only way to go.  Wish you posted on this more!!! Anyway, you said all stages of wls require carbs.  I was just put on pureed foods, and the pickin's are slim.  I am allowed milk products, including SF yogurt and cottage or ricotta cheese, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, or green beans.  I am assuming these are easier to digest??? I am going to follow my surgeon/NUT's recommendations, but just wondering how many carbs you think is appropriate so soon after wls (11 days)?  Don't expect an exact amount, but just a general guideline if you have it. Thanks!!! Annette

Annette, How are you? If you are 11 days out after RNY you are probably getting close to 400 calories a day. Your individual surgeons recommendations will determine your caloric goals and consistency of foods you should consume (liquids vs. solids). Let's say you are consuming 400calories a day right now where a portion of those calories are coming from 50 grams of protein. Each gram of protein has 4 calories so 50 x 4 = 200. So 200 of your 400 calories are coming from protein. Now we have 200 calories left to fiugre out where they are coming from. Let's say 20% of your 400 total calories come from fat (make sure these are good fats though....fats are another word that many people associate with bad foods but there are plenty of healthy fats out there). There are 9 calories per gram of fat so to get 20% of your 400 calories (20% of 400 = 80 cals) form fat you will need to consume 9 grams of fat per day.  Now you have eaten 200 calories from protein and 80 calories from fat for a total of 280 calories. That means you have a 120 more calories left to consume from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram and 120 calories divided by 4 = 30. So, 30 grams of carbohydrate. I hope I have not gone so far out of the way to show you how many carbs "might" be appropriate. As you said you should listen to your physician but in this case,40 grams of carbs would be ok. Jeremy Gentles, CSCS ObesityHelp Professional