How Do You Do It??

Hi Friends! I have a puzzling question to ask you. Do we, as formerly morbidly obese individuals, have permanently screwed up metabolisms? And, is caloric intake and weight loss different for us than it is the average person? The reason I ask is this: I started a weight loss plan to get rid of 15 pesky pounds that crept back on over the course of about 2 years. I mentally prepared myself for 3 whole months and did not choose a fad diet or crazy plan that would make me nuts. Just a low calorie, healthy, balanced diet. I've lost 9 pounds! I lost 5 pounds in the first 2 days so we all know that was just fluid. So - if you take that 5 pounds out of the equation I've lost 4 pounds in just over a month. I have cut out refined sugar completely (except for 1 small piece of Birthday Cake and one time when I ate a small amount of Reese's Pieces - that's it for 35 days) A typical days meal for me would include: Oatmeal with Splenda and s/f Caramel flavoring for breakfast - 200 calories. 2 Healthy Choice Hot Dogs for lunch - 290 calories. Protein Shake - afternoon snack - 160 calories. Healthy dinner (whatever the family is eating) 400 calories. Protein Shake - 220 calories. That's 1270 calories. Every once in a while I'll throw in some Smart Pop Microwave popcorn or a Banana or something. I'm trying to stay well within a normal balance of protein/fat/carbs/calories. No milk - no sugared beverages - no grazing. I'm drinking 80+ ounces of water, crystal light, etc. every day. With this healthy eating plan I am doing well and am emotionally healthy too (not crazy like when we do some fad diet!). Every day I walk on the treadmill and burn 250 calories. So my total daily calorie consumption -including calories burned - would be around 1000 to 1200. When I look up how many calories it would take to maintain my weight it tells me something like 2133 calories per day. If I ate that much I'd blow up like a balloon! Still, I am not not losing the 2 pounds per week that ALL the information I am reading says I should be losing. It's pretty early in the game for a plateau as well. Let me clarify that I'm not complaining. I'm very curious about this. I wonder if all the yo yo dieting has permanently screwed me up and if it will take a unrealistically low amount of calories per day to lose the rest of the weight. I've heard this can happen because we've messed up our metabolism. I'm also still wanting to lose 15 pounds in spite of my current 9 pound loss because I can't see it in the mirror (can we ever? LOL) and it has not affected my clothing in the least. At my highest weight 9 pounds wouldn't have made a difference but at this weight 9 pounds should at least be recognizeable in some way. Having rambled on and on - what's your thoughts on this? I can't be the only long term post op wondering about this. I actually have heard stories of people having to eat 600 or 800 calories a day to lose or even maintain their weight just because all the dieting destroyed our metabolisms. Could this be true? (If so you can bet I'd be one of them - ha ha) I'm anxious to read your replies. Thanks!!!

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