Do you count calories and log your food daily?

If so, what is your goal for daily calorie intake, and what has been your experience with meeting that goal?

I plan to weigh/measure/log everything as I did when I had successful weight loss without the surgery. With challenging gym workouts and doing a 40% protein/30% carb/30%fat diet of 1600 calories I was successful at losing ~2lbs per week, but I did battle hunger and it eventually made me sick of the whole process, thus, weight re-gained and looking for a more successful long-term approach.  I am wondering what I might expect with the band.

Thanks!

I use fitnesspal.com and log what I eat and how many calories I burn.  My dr. says to not go over 800 calories a day while I'm trying to lose and then no more than 1200 for the rest of my life.  I make sure I get lots of protein in too.

I log everything and have since I started on solid foods 4 weeks out.  My surgeon said his patients lose best between 800-1000 calories.  I fall at around 950 a day when all is said and done.

I aim for 100 grams of protein a day, although I am happy when I hit 80.  The recommendations are 60-80.  I keep my carbs around 40-50 net and fat around 30 grams.  I'm usually pretty successful in doing so.  Yes I end up eating the same thing day after day pretty much, but that works for me!

Good luck!

Sorry, formatting gone wrird and can't seem to change it.

We all need to do whatever works for us.





For me counting calories always made me obsess about food. So my band released me from that pressure and allowed me to put food in its place. Nice stuff, necessary, enjoyable but not in my mind all the time.





But for some people, the discipline of counting works best.







I did a check every now and then and it was always about the 1200 cal level. In the UK, medical advice is not to stay on a diet less than 1200 for any length of time as you would require lots of supplements to get a balanced diet. I lost very effectively on that.



Kate

I've been logging my food and tracking calories and macronutrients since I started the puree post-op diet phase (tracking that stuff would've made me crazy when I was restricted to liquids - I didn't worry about calorie intake at all then as long as I managed to drink 4 protein shakes a day).

My calorie intake has increased over time, mainly because my exercise has increased so much. For the first month or so post-op, I ate 800-900 calories a day (as recommended by my nuritionist). Then I ate 900-1100 calories until I got to my weight goal. I tried to "spend" my calories thusly: 35% protein, 35% carbs, 30% fats.

Now that I'm maintaining, I eat 1500-1800 calories a day, 30% protein, 40% carbs, 30% fat. The higher carb intake is in the morning, which is when I work out.

Calorie counting may not suit everyone - as Kate says, it makes her obsess about food, which is the opposite of the way she wants to live - but studies have shown than people who keep food logs lose more weight than people who don't. I got lazy about my food log for a few months last year, then made a New Year's Resolution to do it daily this year. When I started up again, I was unpleasantly surprised to see how salty and sugary food had sneaked back into my diet when my back was turned!

Jean

Calorie intake is different with the band becuase you have to consider capacity.  I lost my weight on 800-1000 calories a day and now try to maintain around 1200-1400 calories. 

Once you have a couple of fills the band should help with hunger but until then it's just like dieting pre-band. 

When you're eating 1/3-1 c of food per meal it's hard to eat that many calories unless you're eating junk.  I know it sounds amazing, but 1/2 c per meal is enough for me.

I've been truly blessed by my band.

Best~
Lisa O.

What do you guys eat to keep your calories that low and your protein high and carbs low? I can't figure it out!

hi Rachael,

I always lead with protein first.  I start with a protein shake with skim milk and that gives me about 28 grams of protein to begin the day.  Lunch is always protein heavy, usually a piece of chicken or fish, etc.  I usually can't add anything more to it as the protein fills me up.  Lunch is usually 20-30 grams of protein, depending on the choice of "meat" or fish.  Dinner same thing.  I like to add a little bit of vegetables with dinner, again around 20-30 grams of protein.  Sometimes it's just too boring to eat just protein, but often that is all that fits, the protein.  So right there you have between 60 and 90 grams.  4 ounces of chicken is around 22 grams of protein.  A fat free chobani yogurt is 18 grams of protein.

I totally stay away from anything like crackers, potatoes, pasta, rice, etc.  There is just absolutely no protein value in that for me.  YMMV on what people choose to eat in carb land.

I keep mine under 1000 and usually do very low carb, sometimes under 25 carbs a day. Of course there are days when it all goes to heck but for the most part I try to keep track.

For me, I tracked everything I ate when I was first banded, for about 4 months. I did it low tech, just a pen and paper. It started to feel too much like a "diet" and not lifestyle change so I stopped. I had gotten into a routine in terms of my eating.