How many calories can we take in and still lose weight?

I am 4.5 years out from RNY and I have regained about 30#s and I hate it.  I am going to work on getting back down.  I was wondering how many calories can we take in and still lose weight.  I have never heard anyone say whether it is different for us than someone who has not had surgery.  Please help me. Thanks, cowboy54sgirl

How many calories are you taking in now? Have you recorded your food intake in a food journal like www.fitday.com? How much protein are you eating compared to carbs and fat? Are you drinking with your meals? Are you eating sweets or refined carbs? What does a typical day of eating look like for you? Are you taking your vitamins and supplements? What are you doing for exercise?  How often?  How intense? Answers to these questions will help you exaime your eating and exercising habits to determine what needs to change to get those 30 pounds back off.   You know as well as I do that it's not all about the number of calories we eat --- the type of calories we eat plays a big role too.  Also exercise can't be neglected - it's essential to maintaining a healthy weight, you can't do it with food alone. You can check your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) using any range of online calculators or having it done professionally by a doctor or trainer.  The online calculator will give you a rough guesstimate of how many calories you need to take in to maintain your current weight --- but it's often not accurate for those who have been morbidly obese.   Pam

You should be able to pull out your doctor's manual or call the office...  do they have written guidelines?  Anytime someone from our doctor's office gains or wants to lose, he tells them, "Back to basics" and drop down to a 600-800 calorie a day diet.  Just as it was in the beginning.  But your doc's office should have guidelines to go by.