Calorie Intake Progression?

I know that there is a thread similar to this, but my question is more detailed.  I had my surgery on July 27th, and since then, my intake has ranged from 270 to 1,040, with an average of 648 per day.  My nutritionist never gave me a number to aim for.

I had a scary experience last night when a friend pushed a meatball and a sugar cookie on me. I did give in (bad idea), and aside from feeling uber guilty, I really started questioning what my caloric intake should be, seeing as I have over 200 pounds to lose.

So, with that said, I wanted to know how ya'll progressed with your calorie intake from the beginning to maintenance.  This is the only place I can go where others have had this surgery, so I consider OH my oracle!  

For me, I'm getting all my vitamins, water, and protein in every day, exercise very little (slowly working on that though), so am thinking of keeping my intake around 700 for the first few months and ultimately always under 1000 once I've lost most of my weight.  

Do others have any input, advice, and most importantly, can others list how what their caloric intake was in the beginning and how it evolved?

Many, many thanks in advance!  *hugs to all*

655 today,

-LB

My plan calls for 600-800 calories per day through weight loss phase with my goal for weight loss being 132 pounds. Of that, 60-80 grams needs to be protein and I have less than 50 (usually no more than 30) grams of carbs. And only HEALTHY carb... Veggies it fruits. I stay away from all breads, pastas, rice and cookies! Don't sabotage yourself! Get past the cookie, move forward and your head cravings will go away. The more carbs, the more cravings for carbs. Good luck!!

Thank you, TimeForMe61!    Your caloric intake sounds similar to what I'd been thinking of-  I love that everyone's is different, yet we seem to balance it out.

I hadn't even thought about the carbs...  I definitely need to watch that, as I was a carb queen- and you're spot on about eating carbs just feeds the hunger for them.  What is that saying?  I've come too far to take orders from a cookie.  

Indeed,

-LB

I am nearly six months out, and am eating between 650-900 cals per day. At three weeks I was eating about 200-300 cals per day; I was in the hospital that week and they kept serving me food, then taking me for tests. Cold, pureed hospital beans are no good; neither is tuna with mayo that's been sitting out for three hours. I had mostly broth, propel and decaf coffee that week. The kitchen admitted to having greek yogurt but refused to send any to me, and there was no cottage cheese! I was sad but really not hungry. 

My surgeon's office does things a little differently. They have you eat only when hungry, stop when satisfied, not full. I've found this much harder than weighing and measuring, which the dietician actually told me to stop doing when she found out I was doing it at six weeks out. However, following this method has seemed to keep me in line with what many here are doing. I had to keep a week's food journal for my PCP last week and discovered my average daily intake to be 860 cals, about 75g protein. I'm at the tail end of my weight loss, and likely taller than you, so YMMV.

Hi CGCL,

That's interesting about the eating until satisfied, not full. I'm glad that it's working for you. I was only in the hospital for 3 days, and averaged 15 calories a day.  Being home is different though, and most of my calories come from my protein shakes.

Good to know about the height difference. (I'm 5'6.) I imagine every doctor has a different suggestion on intake-  It will be interesting to see what my nutritionist suggests-  Congrats on being at the tail end of your weight loss!

Progress,

-LB

I'm 3 months out and eating 800-1000 calories a day. I tried to stay at 600-800 and was just hungry all the time. My nutritionist said the cure for hunger was to eat more (I know, rocket science, right?) I'm still losing, although not as fast as some people. I think part of that is because I lost 46% of my excess weight pre-op though. If you can survive on 700 calories a day, it should certainly put you in a good place!

Thank you for your input, 4FurKids!   (What are your fur kids?  I have fur babies, too!)

That's interesting that just a little bump up in the calories helped- Numbers really do count, don't they?  (No pun intended, I promise!)  

Thanks for the vote of support-  

A bit at a time,

-LB

No problem! I wish I'd been one who could stick to fewer calories, but I just couldn't, and my NUT keeps telling me there's no way I'm "overeating" on 1000 calories a day when I'm regularly getting over 100g of protein, so I'm not too worried.

I have 2 cats and a dog, but sadly in June I lost my bunny, so I'm actually down to 3 furkids. I keep trying to talk my husband into getting our dog a playmate though...he has horrible separation anxiety and could certainly use a buddy during the daytime. What kind of fur babies do you have?

Judging from how much you have progressed, your NUT is right!  

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your bunny.  *hugs*  I hope your husband agrees to a playmate for your dog.  They are social creatures!

I have a maine coon calico cat (Radio) and am albino gerbil (Algernon).  We used to have a fish (Frank Sinatra), but she passed on about a year ago.  Our apartment is too small to allow anything else, really.

Pets are the best,

-LB

Wow that is much more than I am having right now. I had my surgery on July 31st.  My plan right now is 25 grams of protein and 500 calories or less. Next week when I start soft and moist foods I am to do 45 grams of protein and 500-800 calories. After that I am supposed to aim for at least 60 grams of protein and 1000 calories or less. That may adjust when I see my dietitian at the end of the month.