stumped on this one... help!!!

for those of you who are mamc patients, i am sure you are aware of the nutritionist switch. heidi had a different program from colleen. heidi told me i should be consuming about 1000-1200 cals a day and more than 65 grams of protien, which was what i was hearing from other post ops too what their nutritionists were saying. colleen steps in and as soon as she saw how many calories i was getting in flipped a lid. she said between 700-850 cals a day and 125 grams of protien every day. now call me crazy, but doesnt it seem kinda odd how she doubled the protien in take and cut the cals in half?? i could work with heidis "program" a lot easier than i can with colleens. my thing is though, who is right? who do i listen to? colleen also gave a goal weight for me, which is 175, she is an inch shorter than i am but she was also active duty, which makes me wonder if she is going by army standards. sure its realistic if i want to bust myself in the gym for 3 hours every day, but since ive been following colleens "program" i feel like i am kinda depriving myself because i dont want to go over the 800 calorie limit. how do you keep the calorie limit when she wants you to eat 6-8 times a day?? i dont get it... but i am getting frusterated coz she said if i continued eating like how heidi said, i would have to have another surgery because i would gain all my weight back. immmmmm sooooooooo confuuuuuuuused!!!!!! someone help me!!!!!!!!

Well, my nutritionist offers no guidance on this at all (which is why I'm switching nutritionts as soon as my prepaid period is up in March). I have only seen my doctor once since surgery, about three weeks out, and at that time he said to shoot for 800 calories/80 grams of protein, which is what I've been doing. I'll see him for my 3 month checkup in two weeks, and I plan in getting more info from him at that time. L.

I still follow Heidi's program because I havn't seen the new nutritionist and not sure I want to! I've averaged in the last two weeks between 700-900 calories per day. Not bad to my way of thinking and I chart or at least try hard to everything that goes in my mouth except liquids. I know everyone harps on folowing what a nutritionest says to a T but I find it nearly impossible! There are things they want me to eat that I just can't or won't! So I try to do what I can with what I will eat. I do get in more protein then you do, but then you know that already. But then I drink a couple of protein shakes per day without fail. If I had to eat all my protein that's all I'd be doing all day; eating! And I will admit, there have been days I've gotten 1000 calories, or pretty dang close. On those days I just work-out harder. ~Tanja 448/298/148

you would be so proud of me... i finally went to vitalady and got some protien, i got the fuzzy navel nectar, coz i really liked it that day you made it for me. i did a double whammy with 2 scoops and 16 oz carb countdown juice. i also got some cookies, that have 20 g of protien each and i ate one of those today as a snack. not too shabby for clay cookies lol thanks for the kick in the butt the other day lol i needed it lol ive been taking my iron too. hopefully i can get back to feeling like my old self again.

Hi! I know where Heidi went if its any consolation.....she's at St. Joe's in TAcoma and I go to the weight loss support group for that hospital. I just like the feeling I get from that group rather than Madigan........not so preachy and much more supportive. I say, go with what YOU are more comfortable with.......who you feel respects you more as a person and who you clicked with. Again, go with your gut.......especially where Madigan people are concerned. If Heidi's plan was working for you, stick with it. And don't let this new person freak you would with those threats of "have to have another surgery cause you'd gain all your weight back".......there are some people out there that use that fear we have of that very thing! You keep working the program that works for you! Stacie

If it makes any difference to you apparently Colleen is the one who wrote the "green guideline book" given to us at Madigan. I would assume from that that she knows what she's doing. I actually have gotten more "caring" information from her than I ever did from Heidi. Heidi didn't seem to be as compassionate. Sometimes I don't even think she was listening. It could be because I started seeing her shortly before she left and she may have just been fed up with Madigan.

Hey, you can't slid in here after not posting for two months and not give us an update. How are you doing? Hat