Help with daily diet- and demystifying the confusion

Hi all-

I'm 3 years out & struggling with my daily intake of food. I know low carb works best for me. I've joined weigh****chers on & off... I just find it all overwhelming and confusing. Like- why is fruit a "free" food? makes no sense to me.

Where/who can tell me exactly how much protein/calories/carbs I should have daily to be successful? Its a real question. I dont know anymore. Should I see an endocrinologist? Can they take your blood and then tell you based on your metabolism what your intake should be?

I'm overwhelmed. I really need to lose 30 more lbs...

If any of you could share your daily diet I'd appreciate it. I'm 46, female, low exercise, slow metabolism... (for reference)

Hi! I'm seven years out from surgery. Here are some things I've learned...

1. Are you tracking your eating at this time? If not, I highly recommend you start. Even if you do not modify your diet at all, the simple act of tracking will allow you to tune your diet.

2. People can argue about diets all day, but over and over what seems to work (long-term) for weight AND general health:

Lean proteins (chicken/turkey/fish) and lower-starch vegetables and olive oil and maybe some nuts. You can moderate the protein/fat/carb ratio all you want within this. If you want ketosis, you add fat, and really watch which veggies you eat. But within this simple plan, if your sleeve is working at all, you probably can't eat more than an appropriate amount of the above, especially if you start your meal with the protein, and eat low starch veg. Personally I find that lean, white-meat chicken can only eat a few ounces even 7 years out. Fattier meats like steak I can easily eat more. Everyone is different, so you have to find your "limiter" food.

3. Three meals a day max. Minimal snacking.

Cut out all processed food - anything in a box or a bag or from a drive-through window. I can eat processed carbs without limit. Sleeve or no sleeve. I've done that experiment (haha) several times. Sometimes it comes in handy - I have done many long-distance bike races and sometimes you do need energy... but daily it's a must-not-do.

4. Make meals ahead and have them ready to go.

5. Up your exercise. Really. The health benefits are ridiculous. Forget about weight control. Just do it. A good mix of resistance training (body weight is fine, don't need to join a gym), and movement (walking is fine). For big benefits add a bit of interval training (short bursts of higher intensity). It won't cut weight, but it will improve overall health. I find exercise and the quality of my eating are very very linked. The more I exercise, the better I eat and vice-versa. I can't explain why this happens, but it's not uncommon.

Hope that helps. Let me know how I can help further.

T

Keep it simple. At first. If you can nail the above for 6 months, you can get fancy.

This is so good. Concise and specific and science based.

Have you checked in with your nutritionist lately? They might be able to help you to adjust your eating habits and give you a better idea of what you need nutritionally speaking. Also, perhaps think about getting a personal trainer to help you step up your exercise game if needed. Maybe you can change things up by simply finding a new exercise program that's a bit more challenging. I'm keeping that as a last resort for when I get closer to my goal weight if it gets tougher to get that last bit off and to help sculpt my new body.

I agree with romanceauthor, My WLS team told me if I go more than 4 weeks without weight loss to make an appointment with the nutritionist. They would rather we come in and get it corrected early than come in having gained back most or all of the weight back. Also it's good to be accountable to someone other than yourself.

On low-fat diets, raw fruit is generally considered a free food because:

• It's hard to consume an excessive amount. Even without surgery, consuming five oranges would be a daunting task, but consuming the equivalent amount in candy bars or ice cream would be easy enough.
• It provides lots of nutrients.
• Although it contains sugar, that sugar is packaged with fibre in a way that slows its absorption.

As far as whether it's better to be on a low-fat diet or a low-carb diet, the most reliable research suggests that there isn't much difference in effectiveness, so you follow the type of diet that's easiest for you to stick to.

I'm female, a year post-VSG. I find that at an average of about 800 calories per day, I lose weight at a nice rate. That seems to be typical for females on this forum. I haven't reached my goal quite yet, so I don't know how many calories I need to maintain. From other female posters, about 1000 calories seems to be typical.

The amount of protein you need depends on who you ask. I average 55-60g per day, and my dietitian is satisfied with that. Some people say you need more. I think the best answer for this would come from a dietitian who works with WLS patients rather than a doctor or surgeon. (Men need more protyein.)

My best tip would be to track everything you eat, as the post above suggests. Then look at the foods you eat most often, and see if there are any small changes you can make without feeling deprived. Don't try to change everything at once.

Drink lots of fluids. That's necessary for weight loss. Also, often when I feel hungry it's actually excess stomach acid rather than actual hunger. Drinking something often makes the "hunger" go away.