Getting my energy back :)

I've been struggling with getting my energy back - I did ok for a while after surgery, and then suddenly hit a wall and was constantly tired/fatigued, but it looks like I might be over the wall.

I had to try experimenting a little bit, but I found that increasing my carbs (I was trying to stay around 40 but I've increased them to 60-80/day) by adding some fruit and veggies and eating about 1000 cal/day has worked for me. I've been able to get in some hard workouts - about 45-60 min a day.

Im sure there are some people cringing at the thought of eating that many calories and/or carbs at 3 mo out, but hey, it works for me, and in the last week, I dropped 5 lbs which is probably the biggest loss for one week with the exception of the first week for me. And, I feel sooo much better. There is no "one size fit all" with this surgery, so if the standard 600-800 cal/ under 40g carbs isn't working for you, try something else. 

Alison,

Glad to see things have turned around for you.  I feel if it works for you and you are happy with the results, have at it!

For me, I have found that I have had to increase my protein to 80-100/day and my workouts I have to rotate them (water aerobics one day and then weight training the next).  Yesterday I even invested in a personal trainer (hopefully money well spent).

Continued success to you!

I think many folks really underestimate the toll this surgery can take on them.. I too was really fatigued until about mo 4 or so, and only in the last couple have I totally rebounded again! After asking around on another board, it sounds like between the surgery, and the lower cals... bouncing back is not always a fast process, but I'm happy to say my energy and stamina are back! 

I admire the way you never give up and keep looking for an answer to your challenges. Thanks for sharing your story - I am inspired by your honesty!

Thank you for talking about this!  I am only 3 weeks out and I feel really, really *good* physically (meaning, incision pain, eating, etc.).  But I don't have the stamina I used to have.  I am tuckered out in the evening, and still wish I could take a nap every afternoon.  I am not doing anything harder than walking yet, but when I imagine going back to my Pilates class, I crumple on the couch, grateful it is still a few weeks off.

That's some great information. I too struggle with slight fatique and I'm really looking to get back to working out/swimming and because the calorie content is so low that I just didn't have the stamina. And I have been given the "Okay" from my surgeon. As soon as I get out of "Pureed" foods....I'm going to get with my nutritionist and discuss. 

Alison - soooo glad to hear you found something that made this better for you!!  I know you've been struggling with a couple issues and it's nice to cross one off the list, huh??

I am not back at my normal energy/stamina level yet either.  It's a little concerning, but I've read about others not fully getting it bac****il 3-6 months out, so I'm not panicking (yet).  I also still have this damn C diff infection so that's probably partly to blame.

My losses have slowed down to 1.5-2 pounds per week, which is nothing to sneeze at.  But I just can't help but wonder if I could be doing better than that.  I think I need to switch it up some.  Maybe add a few carbs (the only ones I get now are from the fruit in my greek yogurt), add a few calories, mix up the exercise, probably would be good to jack up my protein some too.  Ah, the magical mystery of figuring out what, how and when to eat now.

I hope that infection goes away. Experimenting is the only way so I try things for a few weeks at a time. I tried the whole 600 cal, 30 g carbs thing for 2 weeks and lost close to nothing so I just increased from there, went to 800 cal, lost a little, went closer to 1000 and lost a lot.

I am scared to do this but I can't argue with your success!  I may give it a try for a week.  How bad can one week of 1000 calories be?

It's so odd to hear myself talk like this now... before VSG I would have been happy to stay under 2500 or 2000 calories a day.  I'm definitely making the mental transition, slowly but surely.

Thanks for posting this. I also find that a balanced diet and a little more calorie count work best for me, and I think I'm losing as fast as most people and still feel great. I'm always saying, there's more than one way to make things work. You have to be flexible!