maybe im just dumb but...................

I never had any counseling or nutritional support after my VBG in 2002. I started at 387 and got to 178 and now im 225. Trying to lose those 45 lbs. I exercise religiously 1 hr a night, switching between cardio and weights and pilates is the bomb. i stay away from carbs almost always, eat about 70 to 100 grams of protein a day (just started that about 4 weeks ago) and drink an average of 64 oz of water (which is real hard for me to do). HOpefully i can up my water intake soon, but i gotta do it slow, it grosses me out LOL. i do not drink nothing bu****er, milk (1%), and decaf coffee.  my question is.. why is so much protein required? i just had labs done. my chlorestel is great. My vitamin b12 is 1065 which he said is 265 higher than it should be. my RDW blood cell is high. My sodium is way good. My sugar is great. I do not see a protein reading on the blood results. Is it under a different name?

Quick cut and paste about protein:  "Protein is the nutrient that the body uses to build new tissue. It is important to get enough protein right after surgery, to make sure that wounds heal properly. Over the long term, protein in the diet will help preserve muscle tissue, so that weight can be lost as fat instead. Foods like lean red meat or pork, chicken or turkey without the skin, fish of almost any type, eggs, and cottage cheese are high in protein and low in fat. " My logic:  Preserve muscle tissue ==> The heart is a muscle ==>  Protein is very important! :) ----- Vitamin B12 - That looks like a pretty good number, actually! :) Now... let me ask you because you don't mention it... how are your iron numbers?  I ask  because I learned a while back that high RDW + low MCV could mean iron deficiency.  Of course you need to look at ferritin, TIBC, etc... but that just caught my attention... Just something to look for, ya know? :) Angie

I believe that would be listed as albumin.

 

Sher

my total protein is 6.4 and my albumin is 4.1. are they good?

wbc 7.5 rbc 5.0 hgb 13.7 hct 41.9 mcv 83.8 mch 27.4 mchc 32.7 platelet count 246 rdw 15.5  H appears all the ones that start with M are low side

The amount of protein you need is calculated by dividing your weight by 25 and times that number by 9.  That's Mayo Clinic's recommendation.  Anymore protein than that can cause osteoporosis and damage your kidneys. For me, at 159 lb - 159 / 25 = 6.36 X 9 = 57.24 gms of protein a day needed to maintain a healthy body.   Once you are maintaining and not in rapid wt loss, (I only wish) we need to move toward a more normal diet, whi*****ludes more fruits and veggies, less protein than early on.  Early in our journey, we are losing wt so fast that we need more protein to keep from losing muscle mass.  Now that shouldn't be an issue. You should also have your iron and ferritin levels checked.  You can be iron deficient even with a normal hemoglobin. Ferritin is the test that most hemotologists go by. I have a normal hemoglobin and hematocrit, but I am iron deficient and get iron infusions.