Question:
How many calories do you usually eat in a day?

I am 3 1/2 years post op and need to lose again. I was just at a nutrution class at my gym and he said that watching your calories and fats are the best thing to do. Not all proteins, or low-carbs, just watch your calories. Of course, when eating carbs and protein, eat the better ones. So I was wondering, should I try and aim for about 1000? What do you do? Thanks!!!    — Robin A. (posted on February 2, 2006)

February 2, 2006
I shoot for 1200. Do you use logging software, such as fitday.com? It makes it so much easier to do. Also, you should Google "daily caloric requirements" and put in your info. It isn't as accurate as a BMR test, which you can/should ask your doctor for, but it will give you a good starting point.
   — Jeanie

February 2, 2006
My surgeon recommends a 1200 calorie a day diet. I also discussed weightwatchers with them and using the points system it is 22 points per day. WW is a great way to maintain the loss wls helped us with!
   — LauraA

February 3, 2006
I'm 3 yrs out today. On a good day I eat about 1700-2000 calories. On a bad day about 3000-3500. I have gained some weight, but have found that exercise more than anything will drop the weight for me. We recently did Disney World for 8 days. I ate many sweets and other carbs but came home 8 lbs lighter because of the walking. Right now I am up about 25 lbs but with a moderate effort can get that back to more like 15 lbs. I could possibly get that back to a zero lb gain but truthfully I am not interested in eating 1000 calories a day and exercising 2 hours a day to get to a level my body cannot easily maintain. I am very realistic. I started at 442 lbs and if I can manage to maintain losing 50% of my former weight I can definitely live with that for the rest of my life. I got as low as 190 for about a day and managed to hang about 195 for around 6 months. But ever since my last PS in Nov 04, I have not been below 210. The strange part is I went into surgery at 197. Came out at 213 and basically stayed there, yet the swelling did go down. Guess it was too close to the holidays or something. 215-220 is my goal these days and better than 50% of the time I am in that range. Although right now I need to drop a few to get back there. My birthday was last week and let's just say I ate way more of my favorite birthday cake than I should have. It's the first time in 4 years that I have had it. But now I am pretty much overdosed on it and won't be interested for at least a year and maybe even 2 years. Everything comes down to choices. Nothing wrong with losing some weight and I would agree that once we are further out a balanced diet probably works best, rather than super high protein. I don't find that the very high protein does much for weight loss for me anymore. It sure did the first yr though. I'd go by the old adage. Reduce your intake by 500 calories per day and that will amount to 1 lb a week. Faster than that will be difficult this far out. Good Luck! Chris
   — zoedogcbr

February 3, 2006
I generally eat 1500 - 1700 calories a day. On 1500 cals a day, the calorie ratio recommended to me as a person who works out regularly 4-6 times a week for at least an hour each time - 40% carbs (4 calories /gram) , 30% protein (4 calories /gram) 30% fats (9calories /gram) that is 150 grams of carbs, 112.5 grams of protein, and 50 grams of fat. I started at 260 , and have been at 130 - 135 pretty consistantly for 2 years now. I was a little lower after plastics, but felt I did look too thin in my face. I don't think I would go less than 1200 calories , and I do follow a balanced diet. all the crazy unbalanced overly restrictive diets preop never accomplished what I needed so why would they now? A big part of maintainence for me is accountability. i track what I eat on a regular basis, so I cannot lie to my self about what is going in. If you are estimating portions rather than measureing, you are probably eating 30-50% more calories than you think you are (this is from research I have read, that most people consistantly underestimate their intake and in a structured/ supervised envirionment when they were fed exactly what they had written down that they ate at home with out supervision, they lost weight.
   — **willow**

February 8, 2006
And I do just the opposite. I don't care about calories or fats, only protein g and sugar g. I get about 1300 in protein supps alone. I don't really know in food, but I'm guessing it pulls the total up around 2000. I am distal (the most rdical RNY), but the one thing that brings the weight back fast is sugar. A little here, a little there, not enough to make me sick, only enough to make me fat again. Fats won't make me fat, sugar will... FOR SURE. You might want to get with others who are far our from surgery, too. Here's the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG
   — vitalady