Question:
Does eating too little slow down weight loss (Am I eating enough?)

I am 7 mos post divided RNY. I have been eating around 650 calories a day... a protien shake in the morning (55g protien, 300 cal). I eat a balanced diet for the other two meals (salad, chicken breast, fruit, cereal, nuts, etc.). However, around 3pm and 8pm I'm hungry. My weight loss has slowed to nil in the last month. I noticed today after eating 900 cal. I had more energy. My blood work has been fantastic. Am I eating enough, and will eating too little stop my weight loss?    — Lisa P. (posted on July 13, 2003)

July 12, 2003
It sounds like you are eating the right stuff, altho the shake does seem a little high in calories. I find that when I eat more (of the right things), I lose more. At 7 months out, our lose generally does slow down. And it could be that you are on a plateau. This is only temporary.
   — Delores S.

July 12, 2003
Maybe you might try splitting your shake in half and drinking it twice a day. With WLS we can only digest a max of 30 gms per meal. Good Lux
   — Robert L.

July 12, 2003
At about 6-7 months, you should start eating a bit more. I think you should be at about 900 cals a day at this point. If you had more energy at that amount, your body is trying to tell you something. Listen to it. And, yes, eating too little will stall your weight loss, as your body goes into starvation mode, thinking it's a famine and holding on to every ounce it can to survive. When you feed your body enough good food, it's not worried that it will not get another meal, so you lose weight.
   — Leslie F.

July 13, 2003
At 10 weeks post-op my surgeon told me that I had to have at least 1000 calories a day and he would prefer 1200. As soon as I upped the calories, my energy increased and so did my weight loss.
   — Patty_Butler

July 13, 2003
At 6 months out I too eat around 900 calories a day and I continue to lose weight very regularly. Eating too little can deffinitely put a kink in your weight loss and your energy.I would bet if you did that for a week you would start to lose again.
   — Carol S.

July 13, 2003
A lot of this depends on your activity level, but I would suggest more like 900 calories/day. But focus on protein first.
   — kultgirl

July 14, 2003
my dr. advises 800-1200 cals once we are more than 3 months post op.
   — carolsaunders

July 14, 2003
The other post are correct. I too was only eating 3 meals a day. Before surgery we were told that was the way to lose. That rule doesn't apply after surgery. In June I was eating only 3 meals and I lost only 8 lbs. I bumped it up to 5 to 6 small meals a day and I lost 13 this month. The best part--I feel better and I don't get that starving feeling. You will find with the meals more often you actually are eating less.
   — june22