Were is a good goal

Im  almost nine mos out and I weigh 139. My doctor wants me at 120 by my year mark. This dosent seem possible to me. My scale has about stoped im lucky to lose a pound every 2 weeks I would love to get to 130 though. What is the best protein I can eat to get the best results and how many protein shakes a day should I do now Im still doing one a day. I know this is alot of questions but I wasen't given a dietian and have been on my own for this whole time. Thanks so much.                                                             Misty

Dear Misty, First of all, how tall are you? If you are around 5 feet tall, 120 lbs may be a good goal. However, if you are much taller than that, 120 lbs may be a unrealistic. May surgeons try to get you a bit below your goal weight as usually after 1 year people put on about 25 lbs (gasp!). So, sometimes we shoot for a lower goal weight so that if you do gain a bit after one year, you're still within the healthy weight range. Make sense? With that, if you are 9 months out and less than 20 lbs away from your goal, you're doing fantasitc! Weight loss at this point should slow and 2-8 lbs per month is normal. Changing your protein shake probably won't do much to increase your weight loss; however, picking up the pace in your exercise will. Try to increase your activity - how much are you exercising now? You should continue your protein shake until you are 12 months post op. Once you pass your 1 year marker, you can ditch the protein shake if you want. Some like to continue it, but it's not totally necessary (unless your pregnant). At this point, provided you are not protien malnourished, I would recommend taking one shake per day until you are 12 months post op. Each one of your meals should contain some type of protien. Could be fish, chicken, eggs, beef, lamb, tofu or other soy, cheese or other dairy, nuts, legumes ... Try to get around 65 grams per day. If you can do it without the shake .. GREAT! Hope that helps ... Sara Nejat-Bina, RD eNutritionCare.com

Thank you so much for all your help. you don't know how much this has helped me. Im 5 ft 5 inches tall by the way. All i do for exercise is walk and clean house I know I need to get to the jym but I don't know what to do there or what is the best exercise for this lifestyle.

Misty, At 5'5", I think 120 lbs is a bit low. I'd recommend you aim for 130-140 lbs, which makes you right on target. However, you probably should try to pick up the pace in the exercise department. Getting into a solid exercise routine will help you keep the weight off and be obestiy-free forever. Look for a gym that has group classes. Maybe a water aerobics class or something like that would be fun. Take a good hard look at your exercise interests and find something you like to do that is fun. Having an exercise partner also can be helpful. :) Take care. Glad I could help. Sara

Sara, I'm gasping at the "usually after 1 year people put on about 25 lbs."  Is that a foregone conclusion, I'm going to gain about 25 lbs???  Or is it a percentage of what I lost?  That would be gaining 25% of what I lost!   Is it possible to keep that from happening??? Marie

You have control over your weight loss & keeping your weight off. What I've seen in my practice is a 25 lb weight gain -- some people keep everything off, some gain more. It's an average. Keeping up with your exercise will help keep weight off. I was responding to the first post regarding a very low weight loss goal. Sara Nejat-Bina, RD eNutritionCare.com