My post-surgical dietician appointment...helpl

On Friday 5/2/08 I met with my hospital's dietician for my post-op appointment.  Weight loss has been a bit slower for me than some others (40 pounds in 11 weeks).  I was somewhat shocked at the dietician's recommendations.  I have been taking in between 700-900 calories per day.  I was told that is way too low and to bump up my calories to 1000-1200 per day.  Additionally, I was taking in a lot of protein and very few carbs which I thought was a good thing.  My dieticians recommendation was that EVERY meal I eat should have a protein, a vegetable or fruit and a starch.  I was under the impression that fruits were sort of a no no this early in the game.  So over the weekend I ate the way she recommended (including snacks of genisoy soy crisps) and Barbara's Puffin cereal and I lost NO weight.  I will give it more time but I really do feel like 1000 per day is too much and eating wasa crackers, wheat pasta, brown rice etc. are not a good idea at this time.  What do you think? 

At my 3 month check up, I was told to increase my calories to 800-1000, and to add fruit or veggies to every meal and limit starches to 1 or 2 per day.  I'm at 5.5 months out right now and my calories rarely hit 1000.  Today was 850 and this is a pretty typical day for me.  I got 91g of protein with those 850 calories, had a serving of green beans at lunch, strawberries in my protein shake at breakfast and had mushrooms and tomatoes on my tortilla pizza at dinner.  So I got 2 servings veggies, 1 serving fruit and 1 serving starch.  I personally think that 1000-1200 calories is way too much at 3 months out for you.  That sounds more like what you'll be taking in at about 9-12 months out.  I have my 6-month appointment in 2 weeks and I don't expect my calorie range will be increased (but who knows for sure).  And by the way..... 40 pounds in 11 weeks is AMAZING!  That's an average of nearly 4 pounds per week.  When have you ever been able to do that before?!  You're doing good.  Stop the negative self-talk and focus on all the great things you've accomplished so far. Pam

It really will depend on your NUT, your surgeon, your program. My program has been allowing "up to" 1200 calories daily since the transition to solid food began at 4 weeks post-op. I wasn't able to take that much in, but that was our "allowed" amount. More important was meeting our protein goals, and getting in vegetables, fruits and whole grains for fiber. The goal was a minimum of 60 g of protein, 3 to 4 servings of veggies daily, 1 to 2 servings of fruit daily, and 1 to 2 servings of dairy...and then round it out with whole grains. Your dietician's plan sounds very much like mine and it's been fine for me. :)