Nutrients at 4 1/2 years out

Hi Everyone!

I am 4 1/2 years out from my RNY. For those of you this far out, how many calories, fat, carbs, protein are you recommended to eat a day? I need to lose some regain and want to be successful.

Thanks!

Hello! By chance, have you seen the daily menu thread? There are several of us that post our menus regularly and lots of us posts totals for the day.

I have, but everyone is at different stages. Just looking for people who are at least 4 years out.

Yes, very true. There are a few of us there that continue to post after that length of time and most try and list time since surgery (TSS) at the start of their menu. I am over 5 years out.

After four years the only thing that really changes weight is less calories than you burn. You burn about 10 calories a day for every pound that you maintain. So if you want to maintain 140 pounds, you eat 1400 calories.

Some people do Keto, Atkins, Vegan, Weigh****chers, or many other programs. There is no magic, but you succeed if you find the right program for you and stick to it.

There are no special macro needs because you had RNY. Most of us find that we are less hungry with higher protein but weight loss is only from fewer calories.

I am over 11 years post op.

For me to be successful in maintaining or even losing some regain when I had that, was to follow more keto-paleo type diet. My pouch is still normal, matured pouch, and when I eat dense proteins, my size of my pouch restricts how much I can eat. On the other hand, eating carby food, even so called "healthy" carbs like even fruits. allow me to eat much more volume, and calories. Plus carbs affect my body insulin and that sometimes could trigger reactive hypoglycemia, low blood sugar that would force me to eat more food, even if I were not hungry.

When I eat a lot of carbs, I want a lot o carbs. When I eat proteins, fat and some non starchy veggies, my appetite is a normal person appetite. I may even forget to eat a meal if I get busy.

I am currently below m goal and I had to add carbs to my diet.

I seldom drink alcohol, because when I do, even just a few times a week, just socially, it triggers my body to gain weight.

Making sure I take my supplements and get good blood results is also important for me to be able to maintain weight, or to lose a few pounds of regain.

This is a good opportunity to ask people to make sure they have their surgery date and type visible on their profile. It helps enormously when giving advice and support.

An avatar of some sort is great too as it makes you more recognizable to members and honestly, it really makes people more likely to respond too!

I agree that this far out, calories are the most important. You have to experiment with calorie ranges to find your sweet spot since it'll be different for everyone. A lot of us eat somewhere between 1000-1500 a day to maintain, but a few can eat more than that. Start tracking your food and figure out after a week or two what your average calorie intake is. Then cut it by 100 calories per day. If after a couple of weeks you're not losing anything, then cut it by another 100. Rinse and repeat until you start losing weight again.

I've never counted fat grams - and I don't think many of us do.

most WLS patients are told to eat 60-80 grams of protein a day (I have to eat more than that - 100+ - because I malabsorb it).

I don't really pay a lot of attention to carbs at this point, either, because I'm not particularly sensitive to them (although many of us are), and the ones I eat are usually the healthy variety. But many of us maintainers do have to cut carbs to jumpstart weight loss again. I kept mine under 80 grams when I was in weight loss mode, but there are a lot of people who try to keep theirs much lower - like under 20 or 30.

I am also 4.5 years out, and I have learned not to compare myself to others. I am 4'11" and 130lbs. I have absolutely destroyed my metabolism after years of extreme yo-yo dieting, and although I try to be somewhat active, I have a very sedentary job... so my macros look really different from someone else who is also 4.5 years out.

Some people on the menu thread can eat 1500 calories a day, but I find that I maintain between 800-1000, gain over 1000, and lose at less than 650 calories a day. I am also very carb sensitive and my body seems to be happiest with carbs under 20, even though I struggle to do it.

As for nutrients, revisit your instructions from when you were a new post op and keep up with all of the vitamins they recommended. Get your labs done, if you haven't recently, and see if you have any deficiencies!

Good luck!

I had a metabolic panel test done last year because I was struggling with gain and they provided a range.

you could also ask your surgical program- usually they have a nutritionist on staff that can see you.