Planning a Change, any thoughts?

 Morning guys.  I need a little input.  You all know I made my goal, stayed the course, etc.  I couldn't really wrap my mind around a "final" wt loss number.  I was playing "how low can I go " for a while.  I was getting a little bony.  You can count all my ribs just by looking at my chest now.   The old girls have totally deflated (TMI guys, sorry).  ANYWHO.... I've decided to set my range at 123 +/- 2 lbs.  I think that's a reasonable wt. for me.  Here's what I've been struggling with though.  I want to eat a balanced diet.  I've been trying to up my calories a bit to the 1000-1200 range.  I've been trying to add in fiber and get off the Miralax.  I have been trying to eat more veggies and fruit.  I've been reading a lot about vitamin supplements being not so good for you, so I want to get my vitamins the old fashioned way.  I don't know that it's doable at 40 carbs.  I'm sure you guys have all been there/ done that.  Any thoughts?
Marie

Marie, I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. I was sitting at 134 for a month or two and thought I was done losing, now I'm at 131 / 132. I guess I was in a stall and didn't know it!

Anyway, I want to stop my weight loss so I've been trying to pack in more calories, but I'm having a hard time. Between taking my vitamins, drinking 2 shakes to get all my protein in, and trying to get in enough calories I don't feel like I have enough room left to eat fruit and veggies. There just aren't very many calories in those darn things. Usually this is a good thing, but I feel like I'm in a catch 22 between trying to eat right and trying to get in more calories to sustain my weight!

Sorry I don't have any answers for you. I'm curious to see what others have to say!

Jen

well i feel the same, although my low was 134 and now im at 138/139 im small enough infact smaller than i was at 134.. i dont see all my bones on my chest but i certainly can see all my rib bones from the sides and have a sunk in look from the front.. so i have no desire to get any smaller even my size 4's are getting loser on me

I too want to eat a balanced diet and for that to include veges as well as meat .. i have even been adding 1 table spoon of mashed potatoes to my meal. and one of spinach.. when i eat salmon i been eating it  on wasa crispbread and have added in 3 prunes a day for fiber...

I think part of maintenence is finding what will work for you and ajusting it as you need to.

good luck..

Sounds like you have found your weight range that you are comfortable with and thats good. Many of us have experimented with how low can we go and found a happy spot a little above that. I had a little trouble stopping weight loss but did so by adding more almonds and a daily blob of peanut butter. Also more fruit.

I do reccomend prunes to get off miralax. Three per day works pretty well, they taste good and I just read they have some benefit against bone loss. Yes they have a few carbs but you can probably up your carbs to 50 or 60 and maintain at 1100 to 1200 calories which is about what I do.

Regarding the vitamins, I still take a double dose of chewables per day and will do so for life. Vitamin deficiencies are nothing to mess around with. I take these because my surgeon says to and he is the expert. Not sure what your surgeon or PCP say on this but I think most barriatric surgeons recommend vitamin supplements for life and there have got to be studies on this. I never took vitamins before wls but do now. My full vitamin panel last spring was perfect on all counts. I take cheap kids chewables from costco.   Anyway, its one opinion.

Congrats on finding your happy place.   Diane

First thing, we need to take our vitamins. There are good supplements out there. The key is not to over do it. The program that I am in, recommends a multivitamin, B-12 (we had 80-85
% of our stomach removed and lack the "intrinsic factor" to produce Vitamin b-12), needs to be sublingual, calcium citrate 1500 mg/day, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B1 (thiamin), iron (if necessary).

Personally, I am eating 1300-1500 cal/day and I know that I am not getting all the nutrients that I need, so I continue to take my vitamins. My labs are monitored, so I know what needs to be increased or decreased. I also supplement with fish oil and eat wild salmon a couple of times/week.

What does your bariatric program recommend?

I can't eat enough veggies and fruit to get all of the needed nutrients, so supplementation is necessary. We don't have normal stomachs and even "normies" have difficulty getting all their nutrition from their diets. Our foods are very processed and even with minimally processed foods, it is difficult for us to get our needed requirements. We normally don't eat breads, brown rice, and other carby foods. 

40 carbs/day will NOT give you everything that you need. I eat around 100-130/day. During the losing phase, I ate around 40-50 carbs/day. I need the carbs for exercise and it helps with the constipation issue. You also need healthy fats, like avocado, nuts, olive oil, etc., in small amounts. My carbs come from organic sugar free and salt free oatmeal a couple of times/week, approx 2 fruits/day, some green veggies, skim milk, and Greek NF yogurt. Salsa  and low sodium V8 juice are ways to get more Vitamin A, potassium, and other needed nutrients in a fairly low calorie and low carb manner.

I have been maintaining within a 2 lb range since mid-April on 1300-1500 cal/day, protein approx 100 grams/day, carbs 100-130/day, fats 30-50 gr/day. My labs are good. I weight train, so I have built up some muscle, which has helped my metabolism and uses up the carbs.

Do you track other nutrients, besides protein and carbs? The online trackers allow you to choose which nutrients to track, so that you can keep an eye on, which nutrients need to be increased.

Just my 2 cents worth and what seems to be working for me.

The keys are exercise, weight training, and tracking your intake.

Vitamin deficiencies DO occur with VSG and every reputable provider recommends supplementation for life.

Check out:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/publicASMBS/GuidelinesStatements/Gui delines/bgs_final.pdf

Gail

"I've been reading a lot about vitamin supplements being not so good for you, so I want to get my vitamins the old fashioned way."

No, no, no. A thousand times NO!

There is no credible scientific evidence that supplements are bad for us and plenty of evidence that we need them post-op.

Something to keep in mind about a lot of the nutritional advice you read:

-it's intended for the unaltered
-it's often bunk based on wishful thinking and/or junk science

As for being boney, weight lifting can help with that and it's better to put on muscle than fat. Well, unless your body fat % is too low, I guess. But most of us haven't got that problem, unfortunately.

Oh I'll stay on the vitamins.  I never intended to stop the sublingual B12.  I'm going to swithc to chewies though, the Centrum Silver makes me sick to my stomach.  Thanks all.

Hey Marie, I'm gonna add my 2 cents as well! My lowest weight was 130 (for about 2 days) and then went up to 132. I was consistantly at this weight for about 6+ months. I really wanted to see 128 just so I could say I lost 100 lbs but have finally realized I'm ok with not seeing that number. It really is NOT about the number on the scale (ok, yes it is-j/k!!).

I honestly did not like the way I looked. You could def see every rib I have on my chest and my collar bones are/where very pronounced. My bottom rib bones stuck out further than my stomach and boobs. I seriously looked like I have 2 sets of boobs. I absolutely hated it.

I have made 2 changes. I have intentionally gained 5 lbs (yes against most of the other vets advice) and I have started weight training. I have quit smoking again (yes I know I need a kick in the a$$ on this one) and walk every other day. I honestly feel and look so much better right now. My stomach has filled out a little and my face is not as skelatal. Unfortunately there's no hope for the boobs without plastics and that's not happening anytime soon. Other than this I actually like the way I look right now.

I am trying to eat a well balanced diet. I eat about 100 gr each of protein/carbs a day. I'm eating dairy, fruits, veggies and whole grains along with my protein. Sometimes I will have a snack of veggies (carrots w/ranch greek yogurt) a couple of times a day because I cannot get it all in with my protein. I'm also hypoglycemic so I have to eat something ever couple of hours or my sugars tank however it is better now that I've changed my "diet".
 
I do still track my food (calories) daily however I'm no longer "obsessing" and it feels great. I am eating 1200-1500. My weight has been steady between 136-137 daily for the past month. I'm also religously taking my supplements, this will NEVER change.

So all this is just to say, you have to find what works for you so that you can find the peace within.

Good Luck Marie!! 

There was a report in the last few days that in a group from the Ohio Women's Study, appx. 40,000 women age 55 and up, half of whom take vite supplements and half of whom don't, there was a 1.x% increased death rate among those who do, presumably after filtering for contributing factors.  (Can't remember the exact percentage.)  There's more to the story, including deltas around those who take certain types of supplements.  I remember iron is one of them.  Anyone who wants more info could certainly google it.

However, these women are not WLS patients, although there may be a few in the population.  There may be an issue with people getting too much of certain elements, by getting what they need from food and then adding supplementation on top of that.  But that's not us.  We don't get what we need from food, generally.  For myself, I will continue to supplement.  What I did do, though, is cut back from a multi twice a day to once.  I also feel that a 1.x% difference in death rate is nothing more than a statistic; my own personal behaviors will more accurately predict latter day health.

Well said.  Thanks