Yeah, I log every day -- and like you, carbs and protein were enough -- but now -- the calories really do matter ... and it does suck.  I mean, sometimes I cannot believe how little I've eaten and not lost anything.  LOL.  

Okay, so to answer your question about hunger -- I don't think I am of help to you here.  I was an insulin dependent diabetic before, so I am part of a study at the Cleveland Clinic and use the metabolic diet after WLS.  I was very well controlled before my surgery working with the endocrinologist and bariatric program -- and the diet for my diabetes was a lot different than what the American Diabetes Association recommends (thus the research aspect) --- which had failed to get me excellent control.

One of my issues then was that exercise made it hard for me to keep consistent low numbers.  If I exercised, I would drop low, need to increase my carbs, then go too high and be hungrier -- have to take an insulin bolus to bring me back down ... then be hungrier -- horrible cycle.  One of the things that I learned from this --- and that the program taught me, is that there is a fine line during weight loss between exercising too much and enough.  One of the reasons that walk 3 miles every day is that it is enough for me to benefit from the activity -- but not enough to increase my hunger.  I work out at the gym three days a week to build muscle strength -- and to vary my walking routine -- sometimes after that I am hungry.  I use a protein shake to combat that -- and to help fuel muscle growth.  For me, as a diabetic in remission, my whole goal is to do everything possible to stay that way -- I want to be here as long as I can be for my little boy.  Even now, with too much exercise, my blood sugar falls to the 50 to 60 range -- and I am starving.  I have to fuel those numbers -- so I avoid it.  

That's probably not much help to you, because if I remember correctly, you were fortunate enough not to have diabetes.  

Thanks for talking about your diabetes I've never been one but my wife is in remission now. We are on very similar diets. Her blood sugar doesn't get very high anymore but she can crash easily. She didn't have Rny but lost about 100 pounds and triggered a remission. What do you eat when you are crashing?

I've had reactive hypoglycemia since about 19 months out. When I get really hungry and shaky I have to eat. I hate when you have to spend all day chasing it. 

Deb T.

Truthfully, I don't crash anymore -- and I do worry about getting reactive hypoglycemia, which does seem to be an issue for a lot of post RNY patients come 16 to 24 months out.  Before surgery, when I had good control using the metabolic diet and insulin through the clinic,  I ran about 105 fasting and between 125-140 post prandial -- a low was between 70 and 85 -- with severe lows with exercise down to the 50's.  The way I avoided lows was to eat protein based foods every 3 to 4 hours and before going to bed.

 Before that, my numbers were terrible and largely the result of my denial and lack of concern for truly caring for myself and my disease.

Now, after surgery and off all meds, my fasting numbers run between 70 and 85 with post prandial at about 90-95.  I have gone up to 105 a couple of times - - but both times I dropped back to my normal numbers very quickly.  A couple of times post surgery, I have dropped to the 60's -- but unlike before, I felt just fine.  In fact, my fasting numbers now were my "too low" numbers before -- which is quite amazing to me.  Again, I still eat every 3 to 4 hours -- snacks are never more than 100 calories and include at least 10 g of protein.  

I am not sure if I answered your question but I hope I did.  You may want to post or search about reactive hypoglycemia -- as perhaps that's what she's experiencing.  There are several vets here that have learned to manage this well and could probably be of great assistance.

Hey Kat,

Can I ask what a typical 900 cal/35 (40) carb/80g protein day looks like for you?  What a standard menu?  I find that in order for me to lose weight I need to be in the same range, but man am I struggling with my menu choices lately and it's like I can't remember how I ate 900 cals for so long.  I need some inspiration :) 

Are you on Myfitnesspal?  If so, if you tell me your name I would be happy to friend you and my diary is wide open.

I am, I'm DodgersR1 in CA :)

Dr. Atkins had a trick for that and it is what I did.  For about a  month or six weeks, I don't really remember now, I stopped eating protein and consumed all carbs, except not white carbs.

Dr. Atkins said if you go on a high carb diet, the body will respond and it is also good for your mental health in some ways.  So I ate fresh melon, fresh pineapple, grapes, cherries, apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, carrots, onions, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, salad greens, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, spaghetti squash, red and green peppers, peaches, pears, asparagus, mangoes, anything is the produce aisle that was fresh and colorful.

The rule is either high carb or high protein but not both at the same time.  I did not eat big servings, I did garnish the fruit with sugar-free Cool Whip.  I roasted or stir-fried the vegetables or ate them raw.  I drank lots of water.  I ate no meats, no cheeses, no protein powder, no milk, no eggs.  

It took about a month to go from 142 to 128 and after that I went back to high protein, low carbs and maintained on that for about a year.  When bounceback hit, I went back to 142 and now am careful to stay at my goal of 136.

Did it trigger any cravings for you?  Are you a carb addict -- and also, have you ever had diabetes?  If so, did it affect you negatively at all -- this is an interesting concept to me!

It did not affect carb cravings or blood sugar levels.  I still ate very small amounts of food, just cut out the protein for about a month.  I just had, for example, a bowl of melon cubes with sugar free Cool Whip for a meal and the calorie count was under 200,  

I did not eat any protein for about a month, just fruit and veggies.  For me, carb cravings come from white carbs.  I had and still have diabetes.  I had been on Lantus for about ten years before surgery and did not get cured.  Now I take Metformin and still test daily.

It was just a way to shake my body up and worked for me.  My doctor was aware of what I was doing and happy with the additional weight loss.

HI White dove.

Can you explain this further. Is like one meal high protein and other high carb?  Or is it all high carb but no meat for a month? You post seems to implie that. Did you eat beans (like legumes as in black beans, pinto beans, etc).

I can see how the meat + north african vegetables would violate atkins principles as I am eating those at the saem time.

Thank you for your response. I just want to be clear before I go off and do something wrong.