Keeping it honest - Day 3

Well here I am again. REALLY BAD food day. I mean the calories aren't too high, but the ratios suck and I really didn't eat enough, but I'm really REALLY tired and going to bed in about 20 minutes, so I'm done for the day. I MAY sneak in a vial of Protica before I crash, but kind of doubt it. IF I do, that ups my calories by 100 and my protein grams up another 20. Cup of Coffee - Sweet & Light Feeding One: 5 Nalley Baby Crunch Dills; 2 Moz Cheese Sticks Cup of Coffee - Sweet & Light Feeding Two: 3.5 ounces Jack Link Teriyaki Beef Steak Nuggets Cup of Coffee - Sweet & Light 1/2 Diet Pepsi Cup of Coffee - Sweet & Light plus cinnamon and vanilla Feeding Three: 1/3 cup hashbrown potatoes; 1/3 cups sausage with about a tablespoon of 'gravy' made from milk, carbsimple pancake flour and Gram's zero-carb thick'ner. 1 and 1/2 small Parkerhouse dinner rolls. Lots of Crystal Light today. Calories: 1204 Protein: 71 Carbs from Grain: 28 Carbs from veggies: 3 Carbs from other: 22 Total Carbs: 53 Fiber: 7 Total Net Carbs: 46

Tooter, I know you won't read this until Friday, so I hope you're having a better day. What numbers do you aim for each day (calories, carbs, protein, fiber, sugar, etc.) What ratios do you aim for? Also, I remember reading you had a formula for calculating the ratio of calories vs protein to determine a food's "pouch worthiness". What was that formula and what is a "worthy" number. Thanks! Vickie J. 277/146/142

Hi I'm up late lol...or rather I got BACK up. pfft. Ok, what I try to do for me and my body is TRY to keep what I eat having more protein than carbs. Of course, this is theory and doesn't always work in practice. I do find that if I'm craving something (like toast) and I put it off too long, then I'll over-do on it. So if I'm craving toast, I have a piece of toast w/ some peanut butter or cheese or ...but more protein than carbs in a meals totals is what I try to achieve. As you can see, I'm not always successful with that Feeding one and two I did great, but feeding three had a bit more carbs than protein. Anyway, I try to get in about 1500 to 1600 calories a day (more if I'm active - and this is the amount I need to LOSE, not maintain - in maintenance I do 1600 to 2000 - but remember I'm six feet tall and have a large male frame). Protein I shoot for between 50 to 100 grams a day, or an average of 70 to 100 if tallied and divided by the 7 days in a week. I shoot for about 40 carbs from grains and 40 to 60 grams from veggies. I try and keep the overall carbs for the day at 100 or less. I don't count fat grams. If the fats too high I know that my calories are too high - so it all works out in the end. Hope this helps! Hugs, Toots

Thanks! That is the kind of info I need. Neither my surgeon, dietician nor my nutritionist will give me "hard" numbers and since I'm a bookkeeper w/ a slightly "anal" personality, numbers are my life! Thanks again! Vickie J.

I have the same problem with figuring out what I should be eating and the conflicting advice being received. My dietitian now says to "eat like a normal person", as if I know what that means. I know that she works with bariatric patients, but sometimes I'm not sure that she has a clue, however much I dearly love her. Before the bariatric program existed, she used to plug her ears, cover her eyes and repeat "no no no" whenever I mentioned the word "low carb eating". Last summer, my surgeon told me that my 1000 calories per day wasn't enough, but didn't give me a number of what he thought was an appropriate number. I upped it to 1200-1500 daily. My scale losses have slowed, stopped for the last 2 months. Now at my last visit, my surgeon tells me that my 100 g protein daily is way too much, that I should cut it to 50 g daily, but not to replace those calories with carbs. So I'm supposed to eat more than 1000 calories daily, but eliminate 200 of the protein calories I've been eating, and not add more carbs. I don't think I can eat enough broccoli or other green vegetable each day to make up for those 200 calories. Maybe I should knaw on a stick of butter. I don't really mean that, but perhaps you sense my confusion. I'm going back to the only thing that worked for me before surgery, 2 protein shakes per day and 1 meal consisting of protein and green veggies. Sue O.

Wow, how confusing! I think this is one BIG reason I do a lot of research. I argue with health care er um Pros - I want facts and whys. Don't just tell me what to do - tell me WHY to do it. What their reasoning is, etc. Never again will I be a sheep led meekly to slaughter. I did that most of my preop life with the medical community. Didn't get me anywhere. (((HUGS)))

I'll play...I'm a 3rd shifter so my "feeding" schedule is odd but it all balances. I sleep noon- 7ish pm, and work 10pm -8am 9pm - 1/2 c hormel chili no beans + 1/4 c cottage chz + 1 TBSP grnd flax 12am - 1/2 c cott chz + 1/2 c fruit mix w/ splenda 2am - skinned apple + 1/2 c sliced strawberries 5am - south beach wrap meal The jar of peanut butter in my locker called my name several times, so I prolly had about 2 TBSP over the course of the night - evil evil! 830 I do an hour and half at the gym 5 days a week, todays a walk/run day, with some leg machines and lunges afterwards 10am AchievOne vanilla nut protein drink, this is the one thing left in my lunch bag when I leave work...my post gym reward I call it. No gym..no reward LOL depending on my will power I may or may not have something before bed, maybe some carb count milk w/ waldenfarms sf choc syrup 32 oz decaf coffee with protein powder 30 oz orangle crystal light 30 oz decaf orange peok blac**** tea w/ splenda (so far) 2 centrum, 1 citrical, biotin, nexium, KCL I have a gum fetish, when the flavors gone I grab another and another, so I factor in prolly 100 calories for gum ..sigh, but it keeps me away from food ...sometimes about 1400 calories about 115 g protein I just recently added protein powders in, I was getting 60-80g a day but I am expirementing and preparing for plastics in the next month or two..hopefully Michelle 324/155/154

I am so glad I'm not the only one who lives on a funky food schedule lol. KCL - potassium? Is yours low?

My PCP runs towards the over cautious me thinks, but he's a keeper . My K was sitting on borderline low, so I have been on low dose KCl for about 6 mnths and it stays right in the mean. Now he is looking at my liver enzymes and worrying. ALT and AST are about 2X's the normal level, but being a lab tech I have seen much worse so I'm not really worried yet. He had me cut out alot of my extra meds 2 mnths ago B12 (my level was >800), Iron(amazing how my level went up when I went off the Fe), Zyflamend (herbal anti-inflammatory), Profen (sinus). So I'm on basic vits and prescrips. A Hepatitis series was done, all negative. And yesterday he had me draw some other tests...ceruloplasmin (copper), alpha-1-antitrypsin, ferritin, ANA (lupus). And since my mnthly went away 3 mnths ago and the 10 day regimine of progesterone from the gyno didn't bring it back yet he also ordered an FSH. He made a comment about trying to rule out other things before subjecting me to a liver biopsy...ack! I wonder if I am falling apart or he is is just being overly cautious. My surgeon says there is no prevalence of GBS patients developing liver problems, most have problems in the beginning due to fatty liver(I did not), but now its probably medication induced. Since I work in a lab I do my own if we perform them at my facility, so I am hoping as is my PCP the enzymes will go away with out the extra meds. We'll see. Babbling Michelle

Babble away lol - Then I won't be the only babbler I assume you don't take much tylenol? Ever tried Milk Thistle? It's grand for bring liver enzymes down. Just a thought. I hope it turns out to be a fluke test. Lordie, I'm sure working in a lab you've seen lots of those lol.