Good Morning. What's worth counting and when?

Ok, all you anal retentive folks are excused.  lol  

1) What do you actually count and has what you count changed over time through the course of your journey so far? 

2) Do you think you would benefit from counting something you don't count day?

3) Do you plan on changing anything?

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1) I only count the protein grams in my protein shakes and I weigh myself almost every day. I used to take my measurements every month, now maybe every 3 months. I used to count carbs but haven't since hitting normal BMI, I just avoid them when I think about it. I also used to count the number of 'glasses" of liquids to ensure I got 64+ ounces a day.

2 & 3) I should probably start counting carbs again. Five years post-op is when DSrs can see regain starting.

1. I count grams of protein and oz of fluid. I'm mindful of the carbs.
2. I'm ok with what I'm doing now.......still losing phase.
3. No

I still only count proteins, carbs and sugar. I dump pretty bad so I make sure I dont go overboard.
Maybe I should count fat but I eat so little of it, I even switched to light cheese and ave pretty much cut that out all together. No not planning on changing anything.


You say 5 yr mark is when the Drs see regain? I know a girl on my street was 3 something, lost 150 looked amazing and I have noticed how she is definately regaining, she is 3 yrs out, is that normal?

I keep track of my protein, calories and carbs.  I make decisions about what I am going to eat based on those but I don't usually see the totals until the afternoon or evening when I put the info in the tracker.  I don't usually make changes at that point but make note for eating another day of how that turned out.  I still at least mentally track fluid intake.  I just know I need a big mug of something between each meal and morning and evening proteins.

I don't track fat.  It scares me a little because I don't even always put it on my tracker which means my calorie count could be 100 higher.  Maybe further out, I will need to track that also.

Not for now.  This seems to be working well.

Clearly, I am not nearly as obsessive as I need to be with my counting. 

I count protein and just this week I've started count my carbs. 

I'm not sure I need to count more, I think I need to be better an planning my food.

Happy Friday!

Good Question Gina! 

My NUT told me to just count Protein.

When I first had WLS I counted Protein and avoided carbs.  I couldn't do the Protein drinks in the beggining and counting my proteins in food made me feel like I was on WW again and going to fail.  I hated Counting!!!

About 8 months out I started doing the Protein drinks and life got so much better and easier.  I felt that if I had 3 or 4 Protein drinks during the day I didn't need to count anything.

After I got to maintenance and started increasing my food intake the carbs started creeping back in and I swear they are the devil!!   They actually made me feel like I was on a diet again.

Now I use my new love.....fitclick.com and it makes all of the counting so easy once you get it set up.  I post on it a couple days of the week or if I feel I'm having trouble with the carbs that day. I usually go for precentage rather than totals.  I try to stick with at least 50%+ Protein and under 30% carbs and fats.  I an still pretty strict on "bad" carbs.  Bread, Pasta, and  Potatoes are usually a once a week food and even when I have them it is in very small amounts.  It's the sweets that I can't have around the house. 

I haven't measureed for awhile (I'm scared to) because everything seems to be moving south again and I know those numbers are going to be higher.  I can tell my bra is getting lose and my pants are getting tighter. I think size 4 is in the horizon...ugh.

I count EVERYTHING, calories, protein, fat, carbs, vitamins (A and D), fiber, cholesterol, calcium, sodium, potassium, iron, magnesium (always low), water, exercise, weigh daily. I use Sparkpeople daily and the program counts everything for me, based upon what I enter. Measure every couple of months. Mostly go by the scale and how my clothes fit.

I just had my body fat tested hydrostatically and I am at about 11% body fat, which is important for my RMR. I have a lot of lean muscle mass, which I attribute to the strength training that I do twice/week, plus the other aerobic exercise. This number is more important than any number on the scale.

I will continue to track these things, because in the past, when I have stopped, is when I have regained weight. I refuse to go back to where I started from. It is a lot of work, but the alternative is worse.

Gail

I have changed my counting a couple of times since surgery.  I started out just counting protein.  Then I got a program to track protein, carbs, fat and calories.  I did this up until about 1 1/2 years out.  Now I do a protein count in my head with my protein shakes and a running total of fluids for the day in my head.

I weigh every day also which helps me to stay accountable.  When I see the scale go up a little, I try to get it back down pretty quick.  I bounce around within a 3 pound range.

I should probably count carbs also since I've let the little devils back into my life!!  I just downloaded myfitnesspal on my iphone to use, but have not started using it yet....

Linda

I used to count everything. I didn't really focus on everything but I used an online food tracking journal so everything got counted when I put the food in without any work on my part.

Mostly, though, I focused on protein and carbs. If I got in enough protein and limited carbs, calories and fat would take care of themselves.

I weighed every day when I was at home too.

These days, I don't track anything. I still mostly weigh every day but I haven't the past couple of days just because of what my mornings have been like.

I tracked my food for 3  years, starting about 7 months pre-op. It was a very good exercise and I think it's a key to why I was so succesful. But I always had the goal to be able to eat intutively and I'm happy to report that I have stopped tracking and this time I am doing great, not gaining, not losing, not using not tracking as an excuse to eat junk.

I applaud your ability to eat intuitively. I don't think that I will ever be there. The tracking helps me to be accountable, mindful, and focused on what I eat. I have been doing this for almost 1.5 years, and started about 3 months pre-op, which helped me to lose the weight that I needed to lose prior to surgery.

I think that if I was able to eat intuitively, I wouldn't have needed WLS. Maybe, it is a skill that I can learn, the further out that I get. I'm not there yet.

Gail