introduction

Hello everyone, I have been a poster on the main board for quite some time, and just discovered this one : )  To tell you a little about myself... I am a 26 yr old female, I had RNY 8 months ago...started at 355 and am currently 185...a weight loss of 170 pounds in 8 months.. well about one month ago I really started to pick up on the exercise...so I have been doing minimum 2 hrs cardio per day..mostly the elliptical, treadmill or zumba class... so my question is that I still have about 35 more pounds to lose to get to goal.  but should I be increasing my caloric intake because of the amount of exercise I have been doing?  or should I keep it where I Have been...around 800 to 1200 depending on the day?  thanks for your help : )

That few calories seems awfully low for THAT amount of  excercise... How is your energy level aside from your workouts? I would consult with your nut first but I would think you might need a little more energy (calories) than that. Congrats on the tremendous loss, and keep up the great work. Welcome, and I hope you become a regular here!

thanks for the welcome : )  I have contacted my nut altho she has never given me a number for calories...she says 3 meals and 2 snacks...I even asked the doctor about it, and he told me to talk to the nutritionist (which I already have) lol  I just dont want my body running low, I want to feul it because besides the minimum 2 hr cardio I am an active person.  I feel good, except I have noticed that a few days when I woke up in the morning I felt like I didn't have a leg under me...I was so weak and drained.. so I looked at my caloric intake for the day before and it was pretty low.. so I ate a good healthy breakfast and snack and felt better. 

I would say you should gradually increase your intake. When you don't give your body enough fuel it will use your stored fat AND muscle for energy... You might / probably are negating alot of the muscle / tonning gains you are hoping for by not eating enough. Try adding in a few good carbs. Complex carbs primarily... Oatmeal, granola, etc... I would say to shoot for 1200-1500 and see how you feel. Best of luck...

i had the same issue w/ my nutritionist (from my surgeons office)... so i "fired" her.  i then consulted a couple of sports nutritionists that had experience with bariatric patients, these folks are rare but do exist.  after that we put together a program that took into account my requirements due to surgery and my workout regimin.  i saw positive energy results immediately.  i also had my RMR/BMR tested @ the gym so i had some metrics regarding what my body needs daily.  good luck!

I had the same issue with the dietician and nutr. at my Dr's office.  I explained the amount of exercise I was doing and asked her for a calorie goal to help make sure I had enough energy for the workouts.  I was getting dizzy when I stood up and actually fell a couple times.  At that time I was eating 800-1000 calories a day.
She would not give me a calorie goal.  She couldn't think outside the box.  All she could do was repeat what was in their patient handouts.  Their system was 3 meals a day, no snacks.
I talked with another dietician and they said I needed more calories.  Something before and after my workouts.  Since then those feelings of weakness have gone away.
She did caution though.... If you stop working out, or reduce the workouts, you need to cut those extra calories back out of your plan.

Good luck.

Scott

 Ditto on the nut - I get a lot better advice reading through here and doing my own research I guess.  My own experience is I felt a whole lot better and recovered so much better from workouts now that I added in carbs and  have SLOWLY increased my calories.  That said, I also have not lost weight in a couple weeks, but I am not too worried about it as I know I am making gains in muscle and endurance.  I think its a tough transition for us wls folks to make (realizing we're no longer fat people who need such drastic caloric restriction or carb restriction (at least good carb restriction) .