I Don't Know About This (Nut Recs from My Trainer)

I shared a week's worth of food diaries with my trainer.  He got back to me tonight with his recommendations. 

He says I'm in a rut with my food choices and that a lack of variety can cause intolerances to certain foods if sustained for long periods of times (I'll admit I have my go-to favorites).  He also wants me to eat less processed foods (and he includes cheese under that banner, which bums me out) and full fat/full sugar/full salt food instead of the "diet" alternative (I knew he wanted me to do this, but I'd already bought that sort of mayo, butter, soup etc., and wanted to finish what I had before I bought anything new).

What really bothers me, though, is his calorie count and the proposed breakdown of said calories.  He says he ultimately wants me to be at:

1388 calories/day
624 calories from carbs = 156g carbs
485 calories from protein = 121g protein
277 calories from fats = 30g fats

He knows I can't hit those goals now (because I keep telling him that).  But within a month, he wants me to be here:

1000 calories
113g carbs
88g protein
22g fats

That seems daunting to me too. My current averages look like this (based on the week's worth of data I gave him):

802 calories
81g carbs
29.5g fats
60g protein

So there's work to be done!  I don't see how I can reach 88 grams of protein on a regular basis (let alone 121!) without doing a minimum of two protein shakes a day (I do one a day most of the time now).  And I'm still not comfortable with eating just to eat.  I'm not hungry.  Shouldn't I take advantage of that while I can?

Argh.  It's times like these when I wished I had a bariatric nutritionist to bounce this plan off of.

What do you guys think (remember, I'm only four months out from my surgery)?

I still don't see anything wrong with his plan from a nutritional standpoint, and I wholeheartedly agree with him about eating clean ie food in it's natural state and not processed!  It's how I strive to eat and is proven to be the most healthful way!

I don't think his calorie limits are ridiculous - you will find yourself able to eat more and more as the months pass, so just do what you can within the plan.

There are some people who say eat low fat, low carb, drink protein shakes, or eat protein bars, but  what he is recommending is an excellent plan for your long term future and health!

I think he's worth his money and I wish some of the NUTs that people on here see had as much up to date knowledge on nutrition as he seems to have!

Thanks for the opinion.  I'm glad you think this sounds reasonable.

I'm just under 6 months out and have seem a huge difference in my tolerance of the amount as well as variety of foods in just the last 6-8 weeks. At least his ranges are reasonable for someone with RNY, not like the trainer I spoke with who told me I needed at least 2000 cal each day and wouldn't listen to reason. I have to say that getting to 121 gms of protein without cheese would be tough on me, especially since I can't stand yogurt.

I am assuming he got your 1000 cals because he plans on working your butt off? What's your surgeons plan say for 5-6 months out?

The protein counts scare me a little bit.  I can usually get in 60-70 grams a day without a problem (though there were two days last week when I only got in 50-60, which is why the numbers he got were low).  Doubling that just seems unimaginable, particularly because dense proteins fill me up faster. 

He works me pretty hard.  I see him two times a week and then I work out an additional 2-3 times.  He doesn't seem a lot of value in straight cardio work, but I'm planning on at least one of those days being a treadmill session.  I need a day in between the more vigorous core/weight work, at least at this stage.

This sounds like good advice. What does your surgeon say. I keep wanting to go the clean food route. I also want to use real sweetener instead of artificial. I have also found that many fat free products are higher in sugar sometimes. My surgeon reccomends low fat or fat free foods and sugar free artificial sweeteners. I would really like to eat more whole foods instead of processed.

Good luck with everything

I think whole foods are much better.  If we're going to eat highly processed stuff, then probably low fat and sugar free is a good idea.  I mean, if we are choosing between regular potato chips and baked potato chips, the baked would be a better choice.  But real food would be the best choice - a baked potato (with real butter on it) would be a much better choice than even the baked chips.

My biggest issue is I'm flying blind when it comes to follow-up from my surgeon and his team.  I live in the Middle East.  My surgeon isn't even in the same country (he flies in once a month to work on patients--I never saw him after my procedure).  My food plan is pretty much wide open.  I got a two page instruction sheet when I left the hospital and under Regular Food it reads:  add regular food as tolerated.  So I'm kind of doing this by the seat of my pants.  I don't have nutritionist consults, my next doctor's appointment isn't until November--I wasn't even told not to take my iron and calcium together.  I had to learn that here!  Mark, my trainer, is a great guy.  But he doesn't really have experience with bariatric patients.  So that's why I'm leery.

Thanks for replying!

His advice seems reasonably good to me.  How do you feel about it?  How does it match up with your dietician's recommendations?

As I told another poster above, my food plan is vague at best.  I wasn't given a protein count to strive for, no one told me not to take my iron and calcium together (I learned that from you!) and I've never been told to take a B12 sublingual.  I've been coming to the forum to learn those kinds of things.  The plan is broken down by category--clear liquids, full liquids, pureed, soft and regular.  The earlier stages have some guidelines in place, but under Regular, it reads:  add regular food as tolerated.

There's a lot of leeway there. 

I feel like 1,300 calories are a lot of calories and I'm really worried about getting in over 120 grams of protein.  I just don't see how I'm going to do that when I have to really think about getting in 60.  Dense proteins fill me up, so I'm only able to eat about 50 grams or 2 oz at a time.  I'm still not hungry, and it's really counterintuitive to me to eat when I feel full.  My energy has been good and I'm losing on average three pounds a week, with only minimal plateaus (one of seven days and one of eight).  This feels like a big change that I'm not sure will pay off.

Of course, my exercise level wasn't anywhere near as intense as what Mark and I are working on now.  So I get that something may need to change.  I can see shooting for 1,000 calories (but more over time than say...today).  1,300 plus 120 protein seems kind of crazy to me, even though intellectually I understand it's no doubt reasonable for someone who is working out as I am these days.