Flexible dieting/Tracking Macros

Hi guys, i'm new to this forum. I had the sleeve in 2010 and since then i lost 90lbs then got pregnant and now i'm on a mission to lose the 30lbs to get me back to pre pregnancy weight along with another 30lbs to reach my goal so i can have this panni removed. i'm serious and determined to getting to my goal. I recently started tracking my macros. i have 2 friends who started at 200 and 230lbs respectively that have been super successful in getting into incredible shape. i have seen their transformations and i'm blown away. they have agreed to guide me through the process. so far i think its great. i don't feel deprived at all. in fact i feel like i'm eating ALL DAY LONG. but here's the problem i'm having, because of WLS i can physically only eat so much in a day. i find myself averaging about 500 calories less than i should every day no matter how hard i try. my fats are too high from yrs of low carb dieting. and i'm struggling with trying to get more cals from protein and good carbs. but like i said, i can only eat so much. right now i'm feeling like i'm forcing it and i don't wanna stretch my pouch. unfortunately my friends don't get it bc none have had WLS. so i was wondering if any of you folks have heard of and practice flexible dieting/ counting macros and if you've run into any similar issues. i need some pointers from someone in my similar situation.

right now my current goal is to not worry too much about getting ALL the calories in but just trying to find the right balance with my macros in percentages. i'm hoping this will be ok. but since i just started its hard to tell. any feedback would be greatly appreciated. thanks!!

meli

I do not even know what you mean by 'counting macros' but I do know that if you are eating too much fat, you need to dial that back. Doesn't matter if you ate low carb or low fat or whatever. Today is a new day-don't lean on a crutch of yesterday to get you through today at anything less than full steam!

Focus on dense proteins, if you can only eat so much, then let it be that food source first and you won't have room for the junk.

I appreciate your response but it seems you aren't familiar with counting macros/flexible dieting. It's slightly different from what we're told after surgery. It's more about proper balance. Yes proteins are important but not the end all be all. Basically you're tracking calories in terms of protein, carbs and fat. And aim for a certain percentage of each. In my case 30% protein. 30% fat and 40% carb. But again this is a very generic explanation of a more complex philosophy. Anyway I'm really just looking for ppl familiar with this concept to get their feedback. But I appreciate your response.

Ah, I understand. And 'flexible dieting' is what got me to 333 lbs, lol. 

I guess in an odd way I do it as I aim for 65-70% protein and then divide my fat/carbs with what is left over, but I do also count calories. I will be looking on the internet to learn more about the macro counting. Love what I learn here!

trust me, if this got you to 333lbs you were doing it wrong! lol. no but the term flexible dieting is misleading. it just means you count calories and try to hit your macros and it leaves you room to be flexible as in having a donut here and there or having some cookies, etc. no rules about what food you can eat, no rules about what time to eat them, no deprivation. its actually pretty complicated. it took me a WHILE to wrap my head around it because it kind of goes against everything i've learned. but its all very mathimatical! i have 2 friends (non wls patients) who started at 200lbs and 230lbs respectively and i have seen them transform through my very eyes using this method. they not only lost weight they built muscle and toned and they just got a whole new outlook on life. at first i thought, how is counting calories sustainable? i hate counting calories. thats why i had wls to not have to do that **** but i've been doing it for 5 days now and i have to say its really interesting! it takes some trial and error and at first i was like i can't even eat that much. but now because i eat all the time (small meals) my metabolism is speeding up and i'm hungrier more often. and because i eat so much and there's no rules as to what to eat i never ever feel deprived. i'm starting to see how this could be sustainable as a lifestyle. i started out having 600 calories surplus at the end of the day, then 500, then 300. i've noticed if i pick the right foods i can get all my calories in without eating too much food. i'm hoping to get through all my calories today. they say its really important to eat all your calories because if you're getting enough calories your body says ok more food coming, burn this to make room. where as when you go long stretches without eating (like i did, thinking eating less was better) your body stores it because it doesn't know how long it will be till it gets more. which is why it was so frustrating when eating less calories and low carb was doing nothing for me. my body was in starvation mode. my 2 friends are so transformed they want to become fitness instructors. i should mention a big part of this is exercise and building muscle. i have a bum knee right now so i can't do anything intense so i'm focusing on the nutrition part and just being more active. and the scale is not important, you go buy pictures and measurments because you're building muscle. its amazing how you can see 2 pictures side by side of someone who weighs the same in both pictures but their bodies look drastically different. its amazing. anyway its becoming very popular now. mostly with the weightlifting crowd (actually they've been doing it, its becoming new to the rest of us). if you wanna know more about it go to iifym.com that stands for if it fits your macros. or just do a google search for flexible dieting or counting macros. also you can go on instagram and search for things like #macros #iifym #flexibledieting and see some of the pictures that people post. its interesting and motivating as well. :)

yesterday i went above my protein intake, and low on my carbs and fat. the goal is to hit the numbers exactly though. by the way i use (and almost everyone who counts macros uses) myfitnesspal. alot of wls patients already use it. but they have a great thing where they calculate your macros for you. but i wouldn't go by their initial calculations. they aren't very accurate. there's better calculators on the sites that talk about macros. aaaaaanyway. i know that was a lot of info that you weren't really asking for but i just wanted to put that out there.

i really appreciate it and i think i shall also try for the weight loss by reducing the calories intake.

the way my friend explained it to me is that she calculated my maintenance calories (the amount of calories i have to burn to sustain the same weight) and subtracted 250 calories. thats the amount of calories for me to lose weight. if you just did that you would lose weight. slowly, but steadily. now if you add workout on top of that you would burn even more. but if you just wanted to do the nutrition part thats ok too. but try to do some activity. its not healthy though to subtract more than that because you would be getting too little calories and it wouldn't work. because your body needs the calories...too little and starvation mode. now, how do you find out your maintenance calories? i have no idea. lol. my friend did it for me!! but you can find a calculator online and at sites like iifym.com. 

the principle behind "macros" is that you focus on 3 macronutrients. the big ones. protein, carbs, fat. you want to stay within your calories and there's a pie chart on myfitnesspal that shows you your percentage of those 3 things. and you wanna aim for 30% protein 30% fat 40% carbs. what makes it so appealing is that as long as it fits your calories and has the right amount of protein/carbs/fat or whatever you need you can eat whatever. you can eat a donut. now, you can't eat like that all the time. you want to get the micronutrients in there as well. better for your overall health. BUT nothing is off limits. thats where the term "if it fits your macros" comes from. because if you've been tracking your calories and see you have enough left over for a cupcake, you eat the damn cupcake! lol. i have found it to be super liberating! and actually knowing that i can eat these foods makes me feel better and  i don't feel like i need them. when i know i can't have them thats when i want them. no deprivation. its all about moderation and mathematical calculations. its super fascinating. so far i've been doing it for almost a week and i love it! its really a well rounded approach. 

I would really love to learn more about this....I have at least 40 more to loose.

you know i found a really interesting article about how with moderate exercise and a 250 calorie cut daily (which is my goal for calories daily with counting macros) you can lose a lb a week. it kind of breaks it down for you. i'm gonna invest in one of those heart rate monitor watches so i can know how many calories i'm really burning because right now i'm just kind of flying blind in that dept. i know whats going in but not whats going out. lol. 

http://www.fitsugar.com/Weekly-Exercise-Schedule-Weight-Loss-23529009

it seems totally doable. you're not killing yourself at the gym and it gives you a variety which i like.

but to learn more about the macros go online and look around. i'm sure you'll get a more in depth description but i pretty much gave it to you guys in the easiest to understand way i know. lol.