Percentage of Calories from fat??

Hello,

I'm 8 months out from RNY. My height is 5'5" and my current weight is 147.8 lbs.

My Nutritionist has me at 1,000 calories per day. I generally work out 3 - 5 days per week and burn about 2500 cals per week.

My question is...what percentage of calories should be from fat? Right now I'm averaging about:

25% (28gms) of fat per day - mostly non-saturated, non-trans & Omega 3's

40% (100gms) Protein per day - mostly lean meats and legumes

35% (88gms) Complex Carbs per day - mostly veggies and high fiber cereal

I take all my recommended vitamins and minerals too.

Does this seem about right to you?

I still have 7.8 lbs to go to make it to goal.

Thanks for your time!

Jules

 It sounds good to me.  I shoot for 40/40/20 (protein/carbs/fat) but often find I'm closer to 40/30/30.  Today my fat is at 31%, which is perfectly fine with me.  We're not on a low fat diet so anything around 20-30% is about right for my body.  

by the way... if you only have 7.8 pounds left to lose, you need to start thinking about the maintenance phase of your eating.  At 1,000 calories a day and as muh as you work out.... you are at risk for losing too much weight and having trouble putting it back on.  So have a serious talk with your nutritionist about how to add calories to your diet.  

It took me almost 2 months to increase from 1200 to 1400 and I still struggle to get up to the full 1400 most days.  I'm still losing and have about 20 pounds to go to hit my surgeon's goal weight. 

Just something to think about...

Pam

Hi Pam,

I wanna thank you for your replies to my post.

I have to admit that I'm scared to death to even think about the maintenance phase. I've never, ever been able to maintain any kind of weightloss and I guess I'm afraid to even stop losing weight!

According to the following website:

http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm#fram e

With a Medium Frame, I 'should' weigh 127 - 141 lbs.

Although I set my goal at 140 lbs, I am hoping to be closer to 130 lbs.

I don't know.

I have my next appointment with my surgeon on March 9th. I'll ask him at that point. And ask my NUT what she thinks when I see her next month as well.

I like what you said about Everything! And your percentages seem reasonable to me too!

Thanks, again, so much for replying.

Jules

 

According to the RD (who has specialized in WLS post-ops for years) that did my MedGem test, calories should be broken down to:
50% carbs
25% protein
25% fat

What sort of reaction do you get when you tell other wls folks that you're recommended to get 50% carbs and only 25% protein? That's what I was recommended too. It frustrates me a bit that people seem to forget fiber and a lot of nutrients, antioxidants, etc. come from carbs and yes, simple ones, like fructose from nonsense like fruits and glucose that is used by the brain.

I donate plasma and tend to exercise a bit so my protein intake is a little higher but it's probably around 40 carbs, 40 protein, 20 fat. Hurray for carbs!

I don't really get any reactions to it (so far).  I figured I would - but I haven't. 

I have seen a LOT of people on here though (not talking to ME, but to others) about limiting carbs.  It's nonsense.

If people really RESEARCHED how the "Atkins" diet (low-carb diets) work, they would realize that they don't work longterm.  The majority of weight loss people experience on low-carb diets (like Atkins) is water/fluid due to the way they are FORCING their body to change the way it uses/converts energy.  That is why the majority of losses on Atkins come in the initial stages of the diet.  This is what the Atkins diet so attractive to some people - how the weight seems to just fall off initially. 

But carbs serve a purpose and should not be eliminated or even severely limited post WLS (or for anyone else). 

The problem is when people (especially ignorant ones that have not researched carbs and the way the body NEEDS and processes carbs) think of carbs, they think of sugar, white bread, cakes, cookies, etc.  (They think of the WORST carbs there are.)  When SMART post-ops think carbs, they think whole grain toast, stone ground wheat flour, apples, bananas, etc.

As far as the 25% protein, I don't really get any reaction to that either.  I get in much more than the minimum 60 grams of protein per day.  I take in about 1700 calories per day, so 25% of those calories from protein is about 106 grams of protein a day - which is way more than required.  I don't even get much reaction when I caution people about getting TOO MUCH protein.  (I have seen that problem on here almost as much as I have seen people getting in too little protein.  The ones that get in too much simply don't REALIZE that they have a problem because they haven't done the research to learn that too much protein has been linked to certain cancers.)  I have even seen people say you can't get too much protein.  (Morons.)  But that's neither here nor there.

I get extremely frustrated to see the ignorant advice given out on here with regards to protein and especially carbs too.  When will some people learn, THIS IS NOT THE ATKINS DIET!!!!!!

Are you familiar with http://www.5daypouchtest.com/plan/theplan.html ?

 

Nobody seems to notice http://www.5daypouchtest.com/Kaye/KayeBailey.html

 

If you read her description you'll see that she's not a medical professional, she's not even a medical student. Her qualifications to offer this invented “test" are as a self proclaimed author. Wow.

 

I'm reading a forum post referencing her talking about that poster's take on the 5 day pouch test as a simply a way to 'decarb" and "get jumpstarted back to basics". Back to basics? What is that exactly? Is there a thought that going back to 64oz of water (a minimum mind you) and 60-70g of protein (again, minimum) is some how appropriate for someone years post op? Really?

 

This poster then suggests it's not intended to be a way of life, to yo-yo. But that's exactly what it's used as. That exactly what back to basics is used for.

 

I had someone in a yahoo forum tell me once that if they slipped off the wagon one day they could even it out by pure protein the next day. Liquid protein the best of course. So one day of falling off the wagon, one hour, one week, you're doomed unless you pay some day or other length of time of penance in the protein prison? They actually have some elaborate connections to all of this insanity.

 

How about weight? Ever ask someone when they fret about gaining five pounds what the composition of that weight was? They'll even go so far as to say, "I didn't gain any waist size and I've been exercising more or eating better or something" All sorts of antidotal information/evidence desperately trying to ferret out the cause to find a cure. These are people who weighed hundreds of pounds over normal weight. Hundreds.

 

I hate to even see the 5 day pouch test MENTIONED.

It is such total crap.

Nutritionists and RDs have evern reviewed the 5dpt and said that it was extreme and that there was NO need to resort to some gimmick like that.

If someone is journaling their food/calorie/fat/carb intake, they will KNOW why the are gaining.  They won't need to do any "pouch test" (as if there was such a thing to "test" whether or not your pouch was failing or not).  HELLO.  99.9% of the time, POUCHES do not fail.  People do.

If someone ballooning back up to obesity, they can rest assured that their POUCH is not the reason... THEY are. 

The 5dpt is nothing but a desperate attempt by a WLS post-op to stop destructive behaviors.  (If she had been journaling her food/calories/fat, she would never have gotten in the position to NEED to create a desperate attempt to stop destructive behaviors.  She would have realized she was doing them as they were happening.)

I hate seeing post-ops though resort back to "fad" diets that don't work (like the 5dpt).  They should SOOOOO know better - especially as WLS post-ops who should have learned that diets don't work by now. 

Part of me feels sorry for them.  Part of me feels anger that they didn't do the simple things they needed to do to make WLS work. 

Something fun to try next time you hear about 5dpt or the whole "I'm about to give up" crap. Ask them, what do you mean exactly? So you've taken the 5dpt and something's wrong (yeah okay) or you feel you're not losing enough weight (whatever that is) fast enough (ah, it's a race now is it). What is it you're going to do, exactly? What extreme measures, as you've pointed out, do they feel they should take to fix it all up and make everything alright?

Haven't most of us done this fade diet stuff? I must have missed the meeting with my surgeon's staff where they explained the fad diet that you combine with wls to get yourself back on course.

What I see the issue as is 30+ minutes of exercise, 64oz minimum water, 60-70g of protein, etc. is boring as hell after years of maintaining. There's no excitement talking about not failing, not succeeding, just maintaining. They need to have either failure or rah rah rah test test test fix fix fix. Come on...TNT knows drama, I'll jus****ch that.

The irony is the steady increases in exercise and diet over the years have been uneventful but have lead me to what others consider extreme. To me they're just a level of maintenance, one that's a challenge, for me, to maintain. Maybe if I get bored I'll through in some purposely self distructive behavoirs, a test or two and then some witchcraft to get be back to goal weight. Gotta be at goal weight ya know. I never had a goal weight. Woe is me.

Nice kabitzing with you.