Search the Community

Hate food. Having trouble finding "healthy" stuff that I like and can tolerate. Never ate much Wendy's chili before surgery, but after, that has become a staple. One of the FEW things that go down, don't hurt (on pureed, but told I didnt have to as long as I chewed until the consistency was gone). I like some mashed potatoes and gravy, but those are carbs and fats and dont really want to go down that road again (or Wendys for that matter), but, they taste good to be right now, and I am having trouble getting my calories in, so, I'll take it.

Ditto ditto ditto......what everyone else said. the reality is you cannot maintain a low calorie count long term. Your body will likely fight by stalling and then gaining more weight than you lost especially before surgery. I would follow the guidelines completely. After surgery there will be several months where your intake is at or below 500 and honestly it is not a good place to be, you dont want that situation long term. I stayed at 900 calories for the first 18 months while i was losing and now i have slowly had to get my calorie count back up to 1300 to 1500 to maintain. I have gained and lost 5lbs several times now trying to figure out my sweet spot. I raised my intake because i wanted to stop losing and allow myself more calories because at 2 years i noticed i was hungrier and could not stay on 1000 to 1300 calories. I think I am very close to the right intake for me but it probably should not have taken this long to figure it out.

You need to go into surgery as healthy as possible. That is why my surgeon's pre-op didn't limit calories, just starches and sugars. My pre-op diet was designed to shrink my liver but to still be nutritious. Basically, Atkin's Phase I. The last thing he wanted was for us to go into surgery malnourished. Definitely talk to your NUT.

Not sure where to post this and I looked for the exercise thread, can't seem to find it though. Anyone else have terrible shin splints from Running? I started walking April 2nd and added running into part of my routine last week. I have tried warming up, stretching, squats, anti-inflammatory, pain meds, creams, lotions UGH :help: Any other solutions that might help? I can run 3-5 min and Im ok, then I walk when I get tired, run again and BAMMMM killer shin splints that I have to slow down and walk out and wait 5-10 min of walking again. Maybe 80 oz of Water daily or 900 cal isn't enough with this much exercise? I am burning 140 calories on average each time.

Okay, so I went and got another fill, right? Awesome, restriction. I can finally not eat a whole plate of food. My band is TIGHT in the mornings, which is fine. I'm not too worried about that. Still chugging along with the crab meat breakfast. The protein sticks with me all day, on the plus side, on the negative side, all my co workers hate me because they say the crab meat stinks. It probably does. Sorry guys, doing this for me. I normally eat one packet, which is actually 3 servings, breaks down to 145 calories and 30 grms of protein, how can you beat that? Then about 3 hours later, a peice of fruit, followed by a some baby carrots or something a few hours after that. Protein for dinner with some veggies. This is the longest I have managed to be on a 'modified eating plan', which is what i am calling it, because if you say diet, I take off running in the other direction. I have lost about 30 pounds. I have a new goal, I want to lose 40 more pounds by 4/22. I KNOW this is lofty, but I also know that I havent been giving this surgery or the lapband my all up until about 2 weeks ago. I wasnt ready to get rid of my friend. I miss food. How stupid, right? Let me make this clear, I hate food. I hate being worried about it, I hate thinking about it. I hate feeling fat, I hate being fat, so I guess the question is, how far am I willing to go outside of my comfort zone to change it. I woke up at 4:45 this morning. I had my alarm set to get up and work out. I had to lay in bed for a second and ask myself, how commited are YOU to your fitness goals? How badly do YOU want to lose this weight. How much does it mean to YOU? So, I got my ass out of bed, and did the Power 90. I am not ready to join a gym yet, I am still too self concious. It makes me nervous, and I feel like most gyms are just meat markets for the skinny anyway. I know I should be able to ignore that, but I cant, not yet anyway, so I am going to continue working out at home until I have made my goal of 40 pounds by 4/22, then I will join a gym. Lucky for me, I have my friend Ray who really supports me. My relationship with Ray is causing me alot of strife that hes not aware of, that I dont want to drag him into. Its kind of a running joke, everyone at work thinks he really likes me, and that he wants to date me. He says he does not, and I believe him. We are just super duper close. Besides, even if I DID want to date him, hes already slept with my exroommate and I dont do sloppy seconds. In either case, I am worn out and tired today. I have my yearly employee evual today, and I dont really want to do it. I dont know if I am going to be getting a raise, I probably will. Its never much, but everything helps, right? All and All, I feel very positive about my surgery, and I feel very positive about what direction I am headed in life. I am a little worried about my situation with the anti depressants. I have been on cymbalta and wellbutrin for about a year and a half now. Its not working the way it used too. My doctor wants to move me to an antidepressant patch, its supposed to be really strong, which is great, but sometimes, anti depressants make me feel like a crack head. Its like, if I dont take it for a day, I get all dizzy and pissy and mean. Sometimes, I wish I had never started taking them at all. Having said that I know they are the major reason I have been able to hold down my job. So thank God for that. -A :confused_smile:

You need to tell us what you are eating. If we knew the amount of calories and carbs you are eating, we would be able to advise easier. I really like my fitness pal. It has everything in the data base. I was eating a lot more calories than I thought, once I started tracking my calories and carbs.

Even with a nutrient dense pre-op diet, 5-600 calories is too low. My preop diet had me intaking at least 850-900 cal/day.

Okay thanks, I thought that I needed to up my calories, but since I am not eating bread, Pasta or sugar I thought "how am I going to do this?" So should I just add nuts and avocado to more items and increase my amount of food? I just feel like eating 3 meals and two Snacks is NOT what you are supposed to do. What do yall recommend eating to increase my calorie intake without eating bad foods?

Okay thanks, I thought that I needed to up my calories, but since I am not eating bread, Pasta or sugar I thought "how am I going to do this?" So should I just add nuts and avocado to more items and increase my amount of food? I just feel like eating 3 meals and two Snacks is NOT what you are supposed to do. What do yall recommend eating to increase my calorie intake without eating bad foods?

As everyone has said, follow the guidelines that they gave you. I will say this much anything you can do now only helps you with your upcoming journey. Practice Practice makes perfect. You defintly don't want to cut your calories to love before it won't allow your body to heal li8ke it should after surgery. After surgery we have our tool to help us eat less calories. Hang in there. Come to this site with your ?'s for sure but...do follow what they tell you to do. It is very IMPORTANT to start making the changes now.

Thank you all for your responses. I found a website where I can track my calories so I will start to do that. I have my first fill next Friday so hopefully I will start seeing some results. Thanks again! :thumbup:

ok. I have been band for 48 days. I had one fill. My weight keep fluctuating day to day. This morning I was up. I work out 5 sometimes everyday of the week for 1 hour and sometime more. I make sure I get my Protein in. I use fitness pal to track all calories. I am always under my 1000 daily. Why is the weight not coming off. What will it take for me to lose the weight,

These first few months can be so hard. Hang in there -- your body will get the right idea and start shedding. Could you be a little low on calories, is that possible? Or could you fluctuate one day to the next, switching off as in carb cycling, etc.? Just a thought. Good luck and don't worry -- it's happening even when we feel like it isn't. TMF has a great idea about measuring. I always notice that when the scale isn't moving that's exactly when I am ready for a new size of jeans. I'm not setting the world on fire with my weight loss but I'm pecking away at it and just have to be grateful it's going in the right direction -- even when I'm UP one day then down the next, etc. That's also when I usually drop to a new number on the scale, when I've gone up first. Or if I've had a splash out the night before. Makes no sense but there it is.

I said the same thing this morning. I'm 11 days P-O. Returned to the gym for the first time last night since surgery and again this morning. I lost 10lbs last week and thought...hmm must have hit the 3 week stall early!!! Man. The calories I burned last night were more than I consumed. So I basically did not eat yesterday. I've always wondered about starvation after the surgery. How is that supposed to help aid is in weightless. Keep up the good work!!! I never thought I could survive this long on liquids and almost caved (a few times). I'm chugging along and determined to get to a size I've never seen!!!

Stay away from the scale? I can't do it. We went away for the weekend and I had no scale and couldn't stand it. I have to know the number, especially right now, when i have no restriction! Mostly, I check often to be sure I haven;t gained. If the scale goes up or doesn't go down even a little in five to seven days, then I get back on to 800 calories for two days. Problem is, I want to be feel full on 800 calories and I don't.. Right now with no restriction, calorie intake has climbed to 1200. My next appt is tomorrow! I hope, hope, hope to get at least a little restriction at least for a week! My dr has been willing to fill about every two weeks, but they are small fills and I had nothing placed at surgery like some others. I can live with going down slowly and I can live (unhappily) with staying the same (until I get good fill) but I can't take going back up at all.

Ate out again today... This time at Houlihans... I felt like I was being so spoily and got the Tuscan salad like I used to get, except just the side salad portion, and could only eat about 1/3, and had a few fried pickles... Totally full!!! Amazed I am so full and satisfied on about 200 calories of food!! I love my sleeve!!

Trust me, the 800 calories was just two days and it did seem to break the barrier of the scale not going down. At 56 years old and being relatively inactive right now, I have to avoid 1200 calories, but 1000 seems ok. My new worry... I have my dr's appt tomorrow and I just had the worst "stuck" episode I've had. I've had one or two mild stuck events in the whole six weeks and now the night before, I get a bad one? I tried the papaya enzyme and pineapple juice ( even tho' it seems impossible to drink or chew when you're stuck), i walked around for about 10 minutes and it finally came up. I was eating some fresh berries and I guess I didn't chew it well enough. But in the last week, I've felt like I didn't even have a band until tonight's event. I have a 10cc band with I think 3cc in it.

Trust me, the 800 calories was just two days and it did seem to break the barrier of the scale not going down. At 56 years old and being relatively inactive right now, I have to avoid 1200 calories, but 1000 seems ok. My new worry... I have my dr's appt tomorrow and I just had the worst "stuck" episode I've had. I've had one or two mild stuck events in the whole six weeks and now the night before, I get a bad one? I tried the papaya enzyme and pineapple juice ( even tho' it seems impossible to drink or chew when you're stuck), i walked around for about 10 minutes and it finally came up. I was eating some fresh berries and I guess I didn't chew it well enough. But in the last week, I've felt like I didn't even have a band until tonight's event. I have a 10cc band with I think 3cc in it.

I get a brand called "Max" from GNC. They have discount pricing during the first week of each month. The one I especially like is "Cookies and Cream". One scoop has 28 Protein and it is under 120 calories. I usually do one scoop with a little Water, 1/2 a banana and ice and blend it all together. You really don't need milk with this one. It really tastes like a icecream shake. They also have other flavors. Helen

Hey Mary! Happy New Year! I'm on 42g of Protein minimum. Was told not to be bothered about a 'maximum'. (Although, if I eat too much more, I get bunged up) 800-1200 calories a day. 1500 ml of Water minimum Trying to avoid bad fats, excessive carbs and sugar. Simples

That early out I was doing 400-600 calories a day and 60 grams protein. No sugar.

Except me. Whole food plant based advocate here. 👋🏽 No calorie counting and definitely no low carb-ing, and still losing weight and getting healthier. 😊

I'm with you and can relate. I was banded November 28, 2012, and am down 47 lbs. I did not get fat on processed or fast foods. I ate way too much of lots of good, fresh and even healthy foods. Even tofu and vegies can be bad if you eat a ton at one time. I do a lot of recipe searching and modify ones that are too high in carbs/calories. I even eat out some, just order from the appetizer menu. It takes work, but it's worth it. I could not do this if I were eating plain chicken and vegies every night.

April Good lord dear, where do I start? :thumbup: First what are you doing for exercise? That is KEY to getting off a platue. How many calories are you getting in? Do you track them? The burping sounds like your bodies way of telling you it is unhappy, does it do it with everything you eat or drink? I do get yucky sounds sometimes, but not all of the time.

I stalled at around the same time as you, and I actually gained 5 pounds from my lowest weight. It took me almost 3 weeks to get back to where I was seeing actual weight loss. I definitely did stall, but I had lost 30 pounds since I started the preop diet. My surgeon told me that my body was reacting to the fact that I went from over 3000 calories a day of high-fat, high-carb foods to 500-700 calories a day of Protein. Made sense to me. I also reached out on the forum and I was told the same thing-don't worry about it so early on. I am now losing steadily again, thank goodness. I just followed the requirements for each stage I was in (I am still in the soft foods phase) and I keep my carbs below 25 grams a day. It reminds me of when I was on the Adkins diet, but without the bacon, lol. I also got severely constipated during the same time frame so I blame some of the weight "gain" on my body reacting to that. Turns out I cannot handle the Iron in 2 Flintstones Vitamins a day.