Liz, are you here?

Nope not me...I found out if I eat JUST protein and fat at a meal, my blood sugar bottoms out (as in to the 50's). I have to have some carbs, even if it's broccoli or a slice of bread. I've never tried to truly ATKINS low carb...but I do stay at about 100.

As you know....I feel your pain!!  I am losing...but VERY slowly compared to what I was in the first 5 months.  I lose about 3-4 lbs a month now.  It is frustrating and I have done all of the 'tricks' too....drinking more, eating more protein/fat, having a KK donut, super low carb, super high calories/carbs, exercising more....both aerobics & strength training, eating smaller meals all throughout the day to avoid 'starvation mode', etc... and it does not seem to help me lose any quicker/slower than I already am.  I have thrown the scale out of the house & only weigh once a month and today was the day!  I have lost 80 lbs & I see that you have lost 84 lbs....I would think based on your tracker that you should be around 156 lbs.....which is great!!!  I am at 151 lbs & have noticed that I can fit into size 10s pretty comfortably now.  How are your clothes feeling.....any better?  Even if the numbers don't change on the scale, maybe your building muscle & losing fat & so the scale numbers don't change but your body & sizes are changing? 

I too watch everything that goes into my mouth...again, you know this about me.  I am eating a bit more than you...about 1600 calories per day...100g fat, 50-60g carbs, & 120g protein...and absorbing about 700 cals.  On the weekends...it is more like 2000 calories per day with high fats & proteins...absorbing around 900 cal.  I do add in high carb days once in a great while as well.

I have my 9-month follow-up appt with my surgeon at the end of October as well as my endocrinologist....I think I am going to try to convince one or both of the them to get a metabolic test done to understand my resting metabolic rate.  I don't know if it will help anything other than to give me some peace of mind that my metabolism is working properly.  They will probably think I am 'nuts', but I am gonna ask anyway.  Maybe reach out to Dr. K and/or his support staff to see if they can offer any other advice.

I have been working on the house, building a deck and painting doors, etc.  So I can go hours without eating.  That's how I lost the last 4 lbs.  I notice that when I sit and rest for a couple of days, I gain those pounds back.

Normally I keep total carbs around 40-50 per day.  My protein is at 110 gms, fat is 50 - 100 gms a day.  I have been trying to get my carbs to 75 per day, or even higher.  I seem to be able to drop a little weight by adding back more carbs.

I am gaining muscles as I work on the house.  My clothes don't fit any loser.  I am still a size 14.  Almost all of my weight is in my belly, and man that is a tough place to get the weight off.  I have a normal back, legs and arms.  But still have this huge belly.

It's really hard to not slash all the calories to get to 135 lbs, and then tenaciously try to hang onto that weight through the bounce back....  I know.  It won't work for long.  But I hate being stopped so close to goal.

UP your protein AND fat.

50 grams of fat to a DS'er is about 10 grams to a normie and a MINIMUM to be healthy is higher than that. Remember, you don't absorb about 80% of the fat you eat. Normal humans need about 30 grams a day...that is 150 grams a day to a DS'er.

Protein...the vets THINK we absorb about 60% of that...no study done on that one, just supposition. So that 100 grams of protein is about 60 grams to a normie. And as hard as you are working, you probably need far more.

And as to why calorie counting doesn't work for a DS'er...see the fat absorbtion rate. If a fat gram is 9 calories and we can eat 150 grams (1350 calories) while absorbing only 270 (30 grams)..that is like eating 1000 calories FOR FREE!

I STILL have my belly...the rest is nice and "skinny" compared to it...it's one reason I much prefer NORMAL waisted pants...low waisted just make it MORE obvious.

Mine is genetics/age. I NEED a tummy tuck but good Lord only knows if I ever will be able to afford one...I just deal with it.

Liz

You do have a point.  I have added 2 more shakes into my day now while I'm working on the house.  I still feel robust, but I am struggling to get the 110 gms of protein in every day.  I'm just too tired to eat at night.

I have done the math on how much protein I need every day.  I've added in another 40% for the malabsorbtion.  My labs are good for protein lately.

Patty was the one who tried the extreme low carb for 20 some odd days, then a total carb fest, then back to the extreme low carb.  I've sent her a message with a bunch of questions on how this worked, and was it effective.  I never thought about adding days of high carb into the mix, but it does make sense.  It would be a shock to the body, and keeps it off track enough to stop it from getting into a comfort zone. 

I will pass on what I learn from her about this strategy.