WHY

I know that everyone says that protein is essential when you're post op but what I want to know is why? I'ver hear people say that if you don't take your protein then your weight lost will yeild or even stop. Is it true? I have been at a 2 week weight stall mostly due to me not taking my protein as i should or is it just my body becoming accustomed to my eating patterns? Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I am taking my vitamins and working out as well.

troybear, The thing I was told is that since we are able to eat so little, protein needs to be the first thing.  If you don't get enough protein in, your body realizes you are 'starving' it, and goes into starvation mode.  Your metabolism slows down, and your body holds on to everything it can. I can tell ya, I have a hard time getting my protein in.  If my loss slows down, I add up my protein.. usually it will be low.. I increase it... and my loss speeds back up. Also, besides the weight loss,  it is essential to slow down hair loss... something especially important to me.. LOL. Dale

the way I was told about the protein thing: " Your body doesn't produce protein, so you have to keep feeding it protein.  Because you are now malabosorptive, you will also need to take certain vitamins.  Your body can go a very long time on the stored energy (fat) that it has already and a decent time on the vitamins that are stored" So basically... you don't make protein, so you need to add it =) it also feeds muscles... and the brain =)

There's the metabolism answer, that starvation mode slows your metabolism. There's the energy answer, that low protein leaves you tired, meaning you'll burn fewer calories through exercise (or almost-exercise, like just walking around). But the main issue (IMO) is that if you don't get enough protein to support your muscles, your body will tear down muscle to get energy (or simply because it is dying from lack of replacement parts).  At first, this may actually lead to slightly faster weight loss.  But in the long run, muscle burns 3 times more energy than fat, so a person with 10 pounds more of muscle will have greater calorie needs than a person with 10 pounds more of fat, even if they weight the same, meaning the former person will lose faster and keep it off longer. Also, losing muscle is a major issue long term.  You can lose 50 pounds of muscle in just a few months.  Even with good nutrition and a good workout routine, it will take years to add that much back.  So much better to keep it than to lose it and try to build it back.  Protein and moderate exercise will do that.  (BTW, strenuous exercise without the protein will have the opposite effect, you break muscle fibers but without the protein to fix them they are killed off instead of getting bigger.)

I recently started doing 40 minutes of core work (abs and back) and this increased my strength and stamina in all exercises.

Why am I posting this here? There was an actual study that showed a tendancy for WLS patients during the initial period of weight loss (and maybe beyond) to lose a large quanity weight from their core muscles.

What I'm getting at is, low protein and little anaerobic activity (weights, vigorous exercise) could very well mean you get weaker and  more prone to weakness and injury as you age.

This could be a very big problem also for those who have joint or back problems, since the muscles also support the joints and spinal column.

Not an airtight argument, but something to think about.

Best Wishes,

Dave

I know that when I went back to work, 6 weeks after I had my surgery, that I experienced numerous issues with my back. I ended up going to the chiropractor 2-3 times a week for nearly a month until I started to hit the exercise really hard. Once I started doing a bunch of the CORE type training my back issues went away.   But I always made sure that I got my protein in. 90-130 grams of protein a day. Even with the back issues I kept losing weight at a decent clip. Now that I added more carbs and not as much protein my weight is staying constant... Now I need to hit the protein and lose the carbs, so that I can lose the last 20 lbs.