bambam31

There are a lot of TDEE calculators online such as this one.... http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html .... You can do an internet engine search and find quite a few....

Brad

I only lost 5 pounds for the three months after surgery. My doctor thought I was filled enough and advised me to eat no more than 1000 calories a day. So, I cut out the Protein drinks, the yogurt, cheese, and fruit and started to follow Tim Ferris's Slow Carb Diet (in The Four Hour Body). It's just meat/eggs, veggies, and Beans 6 days a week. I track it all on My Fitness Pal and keep it under 1000 calories. On the 7th day, I eat whatever I want and seriously boost my calorie intake. My body doesn't think it's starving because of that one day. I've lost 25 pounds since I started this diet 12 weeks ago.

This is calorie cycling. It is a VERY effective method for fat loss when combined with exercise. The same cycling can be done with carbohydrate. I have used calorie cycling for quite some time... It is a tried and true method used by body builders in a cutting phase... You just have to be careful not to push the deficit too hard or you'll be at risk for also losing a higher percentage of lean muscle tissue along with the fat - and that is counterproductive long term. Losing lean muscle tissue will also make the scale go down - so a decreasing scale number alone is not a good measure.

Brad

Well, you look like you know what your talking about . Nice work.

My alot is 60 minutes of Zumba followed by 60 minutes of Body Pump. I do that 3 times a week, which is a lot in one day for me. I'm starving on those days.

I'm happy with my restriction level, but I always feel like I'm "cheating" on those days I eat 1600 calories! My Dr. sort of scowls at me too. I don't think they even always understand how the band "works"

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it!

Teresa

Good Job Teresa! An hour of Zumba is definitely in the "a lot" category! Zumba is tough and burns lots of calories! You would have to run the calculators with your specifics to know for sure, but I bet you are still pushing a significant deficit on those days even at 1600 calories. Keep up the hard work and thanks for the kind words.

As for the doctors, I think if nothing else there is just a big disconnect. It's one thing to read literature and preach... It's another to live the experience. Shedding body fat is very hard work. Last numbers I saw was that patients lose on average 60% of excess body fat with the Lap Band... Maybe that is acceptable to some - but not me... I didn't get cut on to lose 60%... I made up my mind nothing less than 100% was acceptable... And even 4 years out I'm still slowly stripping body fat... The last portion of it is very difficult to get rid of and a very slow process...

Brad

I was on a 1200 calorie diet before...I lost barely anything. When I started to eat about 800 calories a day...weight finally started to come off. Right now I'm doing Atkins so I'm not counting cals.

A drop in calories that low will yield some results initially. But there is no way to avoid long term nutritional deficiencies on that few calories. Health isn't 100% about fat loss. Everyone is always fast to blame too many calories for the reason they stall out or aren't losing. It makes us afraid to eat. The real answer is to success is normally the opposite approach... Increase activity level while very slowly increasing calorie intake. Once your metabolism is more energized the fat will start coming off again.

Brad

It drives me batty seeing all of the posts on LBT using body variations as a crutch... Yes, everyone's body is different - A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT... not elephant Vs. mouse different though... We all still have human bodies - and no human body is best operated at 800 calories while getting sufficient exercise... And no human body operates efficiently without any exercise. The only people that get a pass on that are those bedridden or have such a debilitating disease that there are NO muscle groups unaffected. If that's not you - then you must exercise or you will not reach your full potential. Why would anyone accept less than their full potential?

We are all muscle bearing - and muscles need exercised. It's just the ugly truth that many obese or unmotivated people don't want to hear... And that at one time was a fair description of me - I was obese - I was unmotivated - I didn't understand how the human body was properly fueled or used fuel. But with a lot of hard work, research, and real life trial and error I learned. And I hope that with a reality slap I drag a lot of people with me, because every day life is so much better.

It takes a lot of food and a variety of food to get optimal nutrition (Macro and Micro nutrients) I am convinced that doctors are telling people to eat so few calories because they know that even though they tell the patient to exercise - they aren't going to. So hopefully with that little intake it's their only hope that the patient will lose some weight and get motivated before they completely crash and stall out.

The bottom line is the truth aint always pretty peeps...

Brad

I shoot for 1200 but somedays I exercise a lot and then I'm starving and usually end up at about 1500 - 1600. I think I am in need of a fill.

These numbers are likely about where you want to be if you are exercising "a lot"... Of course everyone's definition of exercising "a lot" is going to vary but you should eat more on days of most intense exercise. I would run some calculations before seeking a fill. Eating too few calories will snuff out or at a minimum inhibit your metabolic potential.

Kudos to you for getting good exercise! It will carry you a long ways on your journey!

Brad

Let me get this straight...So my calculation is 1687. That is the calories I need to maintain my weight right now...right? If I want to lose 2 lbs per week (3500 x 2) that is 7000 cals. 7000 divided by 7 days is 1000. I would need to subtract 1000 cals per day leaving me with 687 cals per day. Am I right?

If you eat 687 calories a day you will most certainly develop long term problems... Unless a person is bedridden or has a debilitating disease I can't for the life of me justify eating less than 1200 calories a day and at least exercising lightly and building onward and upward from that point.

Brad

If you are increasing calories do it SLOWLY... I wouldn't increase more than 100-200 every 5 days or so... Successful long term fat loss needs to be managed from both sides of the fence (calorie intake and activity export) ... If you are exercising sufficiently and maintaining a calorie deficit you aren't going to gain fat. Your lean body tissue may hang on to more fluids and scale readings typically variate so it is possible to show a gain. Odds are, however, that if you are truly in a decent calorie deficit those gains are not fat gains nor muscle gains but Fluid gains. It's always important to drink copious amounts of fluids, especially Water. In time your body will release those excess fluids and you'll see a quick drop on the scale. It's not at all uncommon to, from time to time, see a 5-10 pound drop from one week to the next. These quick drops are also Fluid related. Every pound you gain or lose is going to be a percentage of fat, lean tissue, and fluids. We just want to keep that percentage as focused on fat loss as possible. It takes about a 3500 calorie deficit to burn a true pound of fat.

Brad

You have made it to Bandster Hell!!!! Welcome! Most all of us were there and for me it was also exactly 5 days post op. Until you get fills it aint going away... This is the period where any fat loss is gonna come from will power only. Its tough - but I assure you it gets much much much better! Hang in there and do some searches on LBT for bandster hell. Unfortunately, major parts of the band journey aren't explained at the outset so people don't truly know what to expect....

Brad

I prefer 4-6 days of cardio ... about 40 minutes a session, while continually challenging yourself. As things get easier - up the intensity - but no need to increase the duration. If you're exercising hard enough then 40 minutes is plenty and your muscles need time for recovery. Add in 1-2 full body strength training sessions a week and you should be good... I highly recommend a heart rate monitor to be certain your exercise is of sufficient intensity and allows you to more accurately track calories burned.

Brad

My fitness pal... FitDay... Etc... I would pack your own meals rather than eating overprocessed stuff...

Brad

oh and your Protein should be at least as much as the last two numbers of your birth year. I was born in 75 so i should get at least 75grams of Protein a day... thats the dietician rule

That is a new one! Bizarre calculation indeed...

At this point I would probably turn to a calorie tracking program for awhile until you are able to roughly calculate macro nutrients in different food choices. Exercise sufficiently and create an alternating 500-750 calorie deficit. I think that would be a good starting point.

I dont believe in that starvation mode crap if you take in less calories at some point your body will have no choice but to lose weight. Anorexics dont get to be 95lbs or less by eating 1700 calories a day. They eat hardly nothing and the body loses. I stay at least at 1000 to 1200 because if I eat more then I gain. I dont care how much you excersise the whole point is to burn more calories than you take in to lose weight.

The term starvation mode is misleading and people use the term to describe totally different things. When relating to eating very low calorie diets I think a better description is that it creates a dysfunctional or depressed metabolism. As auntielle indicated, someone with a depressed metabolism can't rely on calculations by programs such as MFP or FitDay because they just aren't accurate. Their bodies have slowed down and their metabolism is depressed to the point they don't burn anywhere near the calories those programs calculate. (Another arbitrary calculation are the ones from fitness equipment - they are in some cases not even close to a ballpark figure) ... The way to fight against a depressed metabolism is to increase activities - especially dedicated exercise, while at the same time slowly increasing caloric intake. It's like taking a turbine from a slow lethargic revolution and adding the jet fuel to it. There seems to be the lack of LBT posters who indicate "I lost 100% of my excess body fat while eating 1000 calories a day with no exercise and wow is my skin tight and firm." Kinda sounds like a lot of infomercials that are too good to be true - and that's because it is.

As far as Anorexic's, lets not confuse people who are having difficulty losing fat to people who are typically already underweight and force their body to remain in a catabolic state. People with Anorexia Nervosa are on the extreme side of calorie restriction, but in addition have a high incidence of comorbidities which complicate their situation. Anerexia also has a mental illness component so it's comparing apples to oranges.

Brad

I agree with much of what Jacqui said. No doubt your body doesn't recognize intake/export based on our schedule. There is no midnight reset button. And in the grand scheme of things it does boil down to calories in versus calories out. Thats the macro issue but there certainly are many micro issues that stem from that. Not every calorie is equal in the sense of hormonal response. 100 calories of chicken breast is not going to generate the same insulin response as 100 calories of white sugar. Hence the term we are what we eat...

No two people have the same genetic makeup, metabolism, or activity level. Those are what determine how many calories you should be eating in order to lose fat. Ideally, we want to be able to consume a cornicopia of nutrients to nourish our bodies - so ideally we want to consume as many calories and food choices as we can - while still achieving adequate fat loss. That requires an in-tune optimized metabolism - and that won't be achieved eating less than 1000 calories and not exercising.

Brad

You should see the look on some peoples faces when they look at it and you say "hey - wanna feel my port?" :lol: :lol:

Brad

No doubt you can "lose weight" without exercise... But will you have the same body composition? No way! Will you be as healthy? No way! Are you gonna look as good in front of the mirror? Assuredly not! If we're going to great lengths like surgery to accomplish our goal, then lets tip that scale as far in our favor as we can.

Brad

@says_simon... Any exercise is better than none. Start out doing what you can and increase intensity - not necessarily duration - if/when it becomes easier... The most important thing is that you are continually increasing the challenge. If your lower body limits you, try to do as much upper body work as you can to fill the gap.

Brad

Has anyone been counting calories and eating low carb at the sametime? What calorie number goal have you made for yourself? How much have you lost?

I certainly have to wonder if any of these doctors or nutritionists have any real practical and personal experience from these methods - or are they just preaching from literature... These methods never caused me to do anything but lose a quick chunk of weight and then stall out... Low calorie and low carb is so counterproductive in the long term...

Is there anyone out there who made it to goal solely on a low calorie or low carb diet and then continued to live that way for years happy and fullfilled without gaining any weight back??? Because if these methods really worked LBT should be chock full of these people... But normally what you see is people complaining because they are living low calorie like their doctor or nutritionist says but they aren't losing or their losses ceased - and they're a LONG way from goal...

Everyone talks extensively about their intake side (eating)... but the export side (exercise and activities) is just as important! You can't effectively assess one without the other...

Brad

Ha ha... I can feel the port no matter what now... It sticks out like a damn tumor... I'm seriously considering naming it...

There are low profile ports and different port placements that can help hide it.

Brad

I'm approaching the 4 yr mark... (August)... I have been so fortunate to not have any issues with my band. I hope you all find a manageable solution and share what that is!

Brad

What foods you can tolerate varies so much from person to person - as well as over time. It takes a lot of careful experimentation to find which foods you can eat successfully. I think one of the easiest to start with is scrambled eggs... And I think it's still best to start your day with a Protein shake if you can. Your body has fasted during your sleep period and needs some quick nutrition. Most people have trouble with solid foods directly after waking with a properly restricted band. A quality whey product is best IMO. You just have to find a product that to suits your palate.

You're also less than a week out so as you heal your going to find you can probably eat far more than you are able to today. In fact, most people's hunger comes raging back before the end of the first week.

Brad

If I have food in my stomach I find it easier to lay on my side rather than my back... I'll also do some stretching if I feel pressure...

Brad