Protein intake 1 yr +

I stopped losing some time ago, around the 6 month mark, I am now 18 months post op. Disappointed with this I went to a registered dietitian for help. I found her ideas interestiing and totally different from everything I have read on this board. I was taking in up to 150g a day with supplementation. She told me that had to stop and that I had to start eating like  a normal healthy person and not a post op person. According to her there is no medical research anywhere to support taking that much protein. I too looked at the bariatric guidelines and it really doesn't say you need over 100g. She advised I get down to 80-90g per day and eat more carbs, at least 150 or more per day in the form of 2 fruits and 2 veggies per day. Since starting this I have gained a bit instead of losing. Getting even more discouraged. Anyone have any comment on this?

hi there,
i saw my dieticain from my surgeon office.
she gave me this paper called bariatric food guide pyramid. well the paper  i should eat 11 protein foods,4 vegetables, 4 fruits, 4 starches, and 4 fats. the results of this eating 1,200 - 1,400 calories per day. she said i should have 60- 80 proteins a day and 130+ carbohydrates a day . i wanted a food list but she didnt give me one it does have some idea's but not what i wanted. i have gained so i am trying to lay off the sweets. i dont dump. i wish i did sometimes.i was disappointed as well.
i saw the dietition since my surgeon gave me a dixie cup and said only eat that amount. i went home and measured the cup with water and it was only 1/3 cup. so now i am trying to eat right and stay away from sweets. i did take a long walk today so need to do the walk everyday. i am 5 years out. anita

Carbs are the fuel for the body and either you give your body the fuel or it has to consume the fuel it already has (aka: the fat).  if you're trying to lose weight, giving your body carbs seems counter productive so that is why I think 50% of your calories from protein for weight loss seems optimal when combined with daily cardio excercise.

I also don't care much about numbers of fruits and vegetables since calories are king.  If you eat the number of calories per day you need, the rest can take care of itself.

My Rd is adament that I need the carbs, especially for a good cardio workout. she said no one can live forever on very low carb diets. It's just not good for your health. As far as calories seem to go that's not making a big difference for me either. I have a gowear fit and have used it regularly for a year. I know what my intake and output is and there is plenty of deficit but not a loss on the scale. So I have to believe it's something else.

Sometimes I think it's possible for a body to go into a starvation reaction mode.  Basically, you cut calories and the body says, "Hey, we are starving" and dials down the metabolism to hold on to the fat as much as possible.  At that point, excercise will leave the body with no choice but to burn the fat.  Conversely, all that excercise may lead to an increase in muscle mass which would not yield a weight loss on the scale even though you would see body fat percentage go down.

I also think that humans have genetic differences regarding what macronutrient levels are needed for weight loss.  Evolutionarily speaking this probably kept the entire civilisation from being wiped out by the same famine as bodies responded differently to the crisis.

50% protein still seems like a good place to start without going to crazy Atkins type levels.  This wold allow for up to 50% carb (tho fat reduces it to more like 30%) so that carb intake helps moderate any starvation reaction.

I would be back to start size in no time at all with that kinda eating. it's not about calories for me, it's about how many carbs, how many proteins,. Simple formula.

I also use the whey protein to help control cravings and portion size, so it's not all about How Many Grams I get, but about how much it helps me use the other tools.

Someone in another post mentioned more foods in a day than I eat in 3 days. 11 proteins, 4 fruits? If by fruit, she means a single berry, all righty then, I can do that, But if she (the RD) meant 4 apples, WOW, that'd be my whole day! I'm 16 yrs out, but I STILL have a functional pouch and can't even eat a whole apple, let alone any large portion of any fruit. And believe me, if given a choice, I'd take the fruit over any of the other choices offered. LOL

You ARE a post-op person. You always WILL be a post-op person. You are not normal and never will be normal. All we do is put a fatal physical disease into remission. To take it out of remission, simply add carbs.

My pouch doesn't seem to be a pouch at all, from day one I have never felt the restrictions like others. Nothing is a bother to it! I too use whey protein, usually 1 protein chai tea a day, I was using additional supplementation with bars, this seemed also to help with my cravings for sweet things. The nutritionist felt I should lose the bars too, which I'm finding difficult due to the sweet cravings. I wish I could eat like you with one berry or half an apple. I have no problem eating a whole apple or even half a canteloupe in one sitting. My RD insists a healthy body needs the carbs, especially when working out. It seems so many on this board get different advice. I cannot find anywhere online the rules for eating 6mo +. Does someone else know where you can find this info? I'm starting to wonder what info is right and I think it's just been passed around so long everyone thinks it's right but it may not be.

Just the fact that she is telling you not to eat like a post op person is telling you that she is not familiar with WLS.  80-90 grams of protein is good for someone that is 9months out not 18 months out and having trouble losing weight.  I was just at my NUT and told her that now at 18months I am having the problem that I started to gain a few pounds = only 5-6 pounds but it is a start and I don't want it to creap up higher.  So, we went over what I am eating and she said that I wasn't eating enough.  My protein was high at 120gram per day but my calories were only at around 800 or so.  She said I need atleast 1000 or preferably 1200 calories per day.  She is fine with drinking my protein drinks 2 times per day but wants me having meals 6 times per day  - every 3 hours.  This helps increase your metabolism, maintain your blood sugar at an even level and prevent you from getting hungry.  That isnt' a problem for me - I am never hungry which is  I guess why I don't eat enough.  Well, as soon as I started increasing my calories with more protein at my meals, I immediately lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks.  It works.  At each of the 6 meals, you need to have protein at each meal.  2 fruits per day is fine.  Veggies can be unlimited.  1 starch per day (bread, rice, potato, popcorn, etc)  There are days that I have 2 starches but not very often.

So, please dont' cut your protein.

thank you to jl, vitalady and rbb       ...i am 5 years out.  ive been trying to lose weight since March 29, at first, the weight came off pretty quick ..i had increased my water to 100 oz/day, had up'd my protein and cut out all sweets and grazing (crackers, popcorn, pretzels) the slider foods.  then, shortly after i started seeing results, i began exercising ..woo hoo..now it should REALLY start to fall off .....NOPE.     my weight hasnt budged in almost two weeks.  my body is in starvation mode.  ive been logging everything, went back and found that i wasnt getting but maybe 800 calories/day.

recently spoke with a coworker of mine, who is also a personal trainer and he concurs.

these guys know what they're talking about!

-hugs-
dawn

I completely disagree with your RD.

First of all, it's not protein or carbs that make us fat per se. It's calories. If you want to lose more, you need to eat less and move more. Changing your calories from protein to carbs, but keeping them the same, won't do anything. (And it sounds like following her plan has caused your calories to increase.)

That said, some foods work better for some people. Some people get bad cravings for junk food if their white carbs are too high. Some people need a lot of protein because their smaller stomach doesn't process it efficiently. Some people do really poorly on a low carb diet and other people do really poorly on a low protein diet. If you are insulin resistant, than you really need to limit your carbs because your body doesn't react to them nicely.

For dieting, I think more protein is better than less though. Most people find that carbs don't really stick with them and they are hungrier faster than if they eat protein. Also, if you are dieting, you risk losing some lean muscle mass and taking in more protein helps combat that.

But the real key is to log your food and find out exactly what you are eating. Studies have shown that people who don't log their food consistently under-estimate how much they are eating. They also over-estimate how much exercise they get.

If you really want to go high-tech, get your RMR (similar to BMR) tested or buy a GoWearFit / BodyBugg and figure out exactly how many calories you burn every day. Then don't eat more than that.