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...and the salad train keeps on going... 294 calories. (romaine, cheddar, apples, pomelo (like a grapefruit), jalapeño, anchovies, turkey & vinaigrette & spices) Am currently about 1/4 through it...

DISCLAIMER: The following is what *I* did based on my own research and trial end error on how things affected *MY* body. I am NOT advocating to NOT listen to your team without educating yourself. With that said: Edited to add: I didn't realize this post would be so long, sorry! My program was to consume pre-defined "portions": each meal was supposed to consist of 25% protein, 25% starch and 50% non-starchy vegetables, and to work my way up to 1200 calories per day total with a min 60-70g protein. They also said to avoid added sugar. The didn't specifically mention to go low fat, but I mean if I followed the guidelines listed above, it would naturally be low-ish fat. Needless to say, I didn't do that. First, I couldn't get that amount of food in, Second, I tried it out, saw a swoosh in weight, and figured that going low-carb was very effective in weight loss for ME. I kept losing weight, so I just kept doing it. Why fix what ain't broke, right? More on this later... So for the majority of my weight loss phase I went ultra-low carb...was averaging less than 20 NET g of carbohydrates per day (i don't count fibre nor sugar alcohols), aimed to reach 60g protein per day, and let the fat fall where it may. My cals were about 300-400 in the first couple months, and by the time I reached goal, I was at about 800 (yes, I know this is on the low end compared to most, but it worked for ME). P.S. I feel the need to add that my nutritionist was made aware of what I was doing. And while she tut-tutted me about it, she didn't overly object. Also, all my labs came back satisfactorily during this period (and still does), and my surgeon was pleased. ***WARNING, MATH TIME...*** Given the total calories I was achieving, I wasn't truly doing KETO proper, as my fat consumption did not reach the levels required for my protein intake. True KETO is 70-80% fat, 10-20% protein & 5-10% carbs. Since I was doing 60g of protein, I would have needed to do ~75g of fat, which would have put me in the 1100 cal range...and I wasn't even coming close to that level. **** So really, I was probably doing more a version of Atkins Phase 1 (ultra-low carb). Now that I'm 3 years out, I am no longer so strict about my macros. I still *kinda* limit carbs, but not really. I eat bread on occasion, and sugar pretty regularly (in small amounts)...but i very rarely eat pasta or rice. I think its just habit now? Looking back, here is my take/opinion on going this route: TRUE Keto is very difficult to achieve in weight loss phase while keeping cals low. There is a relatively big drop in weight in the beginning of each period of going low carb. There is a bunch of science to explain this, you can google it. Going low carb makes a difference in how my face and body looks. While it looks good on my body, cuz you can see more muscle definition, its not so great on my face cuz I look gaunt. I've come to the conclusion that FOR ME, in terms of weight loss/maintenance ONLY, the ingestion of carbs has much, much less impact (if any) than calories consumed. It doesn't seem to matter if 1000 calories is made up 5% carbs or 50% carbs, I'll lose weight on it either way. Good Luck! ❤️

Stalls are fun. NOT! The shocking with extra calories seems to work for me. If I hit a couple of weeks with no real loss, if I splurge on something, I drop like 5 the next week. I think it has something to do with Leptin levels, but I'm not a medical pro or a nutritionist so take that for what it's worth.

I had a two week liquid diet without a lean meal so I feel you!! I tracked mine in my fit pal because I was supposed to get 750-900 calories a day and I wasn't even clearing 500 with 3 shakes a day plus soup. After talking to my nutritionist, I started making my own shakes in the morning with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Somedays it was almond milk, chocolate protein powder and PB2 powder. Other days it was almond milk, vanilla protein powder and frozen fruit. The almond milk really helped to bulk it up with some extra calories and it was super helpful. Some of this you DO just have to tough out. Your body is going WTF! Where's my goodies?!!! But you are stronger than that. If you do "mess up" just shake it off and move on. Don't fall into a guilt spiral. I'm really bad about that and then one little slip becomes the whole house on fire. You can do this!

Obviously you should be talking to your medical team. Most of us were not on a completely liquid pre op diet and were able to have some lean protein one meal a day. It sounds like you are not getting nearly enough calories.

Hi everyone! I am having surgery in exactly one week from today (Nov. 2) and I couldn't be more excited. However, I am one week in on my pre-op liquid diet and I am crashing... bad. I can't even stomach food anymore. I get approx. 300 calories a day from protein shakes, and even that leaves me nauseous. I feel super dizzy and exhausted all the time. I am so sick of broth and shakes! Any advice on new "liquid" foods to try? Or even how to manage this stage? So far I've had: broth, protein shakes/powder, skim milk, sugar-free jello, and baby food once (🤢). I know I will probably have to just tough it out, but it can't hurt to try to get some new meal ideas, right? 🤷‍♀️ I am going through this process completely alone, so if anyone is currently dealing with the same issues right now, I would love to hear about your experiences!

Dinner tonight was homemade mandarin chicken and rice. Definitely picky eater approved in my house. Came in at about 235 calories and 13g of protein for what I ended up eating.

I start from the day I called the surgery center. I had a higher weight years earlier, then lost 100lbs through tracking calories, but then gained MOST but not all of it back, the last 30 lbs of that during COVID. I lost 50 lbs during preparations for surgery, but only 2 lbs of that was on the "pre-op diet".

I'm still not able to get much down beside liquids. I've been able to successfully drink some protein shakes and some juice but I am extremely apprehensive about anything more substantial than that. I'm in a unique situation because I had surgery 3 hours from where I live. My surgeon's office had me to go to the emergency room for a scan to determine if the shoulder pain was a blood clot and to have a blood panel run to see if I was dehydrated. Long story short, between COVID patients and drug overdoses in the sad Appalachian city I live in, I was in the waiting room at the ER for 7 hours with no timeframe for when I might be seen, so I just left. I was to a point where I felt like I was going to pass out from a combination of no liquids, no calories, and having to wear a mask that long when I wasn't feeling well (with my gross, dry mouth puffing away in it). The good news is that my partner's behavior last week was just a bad day, and he has been wonderful since then. He did some reading and found out my recovery is more normal than not at this point and has completely stopped giving me crap about it.

Wow! That's really low calorie. By 6 months out I was expected to hit 1000-1200 per day. These days a "high day" is 1300 cal and a low day is 1000. I find if you eat too little, your body stalls faster too because it thinks you are starving. I try to vary each day by at least 100 calories when I am paying attention and actually loosing. So glad to hear you are going down again this week. That's wonderful! And yes, I agree. On a longer stall, I have totally slipped into the mindset of "Oh well, guess that's it for weight loss. At least I weigh less than I have since I was 19!" I mean, I wouldn't even mind stopping loosing weight at 180. At my height that's still way too much but 102lbs down would be such an amazing thing regardless.

UPDATE: the Mapo Tofu is NOT yum. After one bite I scooped it out of the bowl and dumped it. So updated calorie count is 476 cals. Actually I'm going to round up and log it as 500 cals to account for the bite I ate (yes, I'm THAT nit-picky).

Like what alot of folks have just been saying, I normally have at least one salad a day, cuz I'm a salad-lover. Here is today's. Its actually hugely high in calories because I dumped about a cup of leftover Mapo Tofu (stir fried ground pork and tofu with a Sichuan sauce) on top, and a whole bunch of gorgonzola and cheddar (i'm a cheese lover too!) A whopping 766 calories for the bowl contents shown. I KNOW i wont eat it all right now, but *may* finish it by the time the day is over.

I totally know what you mean. When the stall goes on for so long it can be easy to just be like "well, this is where I am, so I might as well just eat whatever I want!" Honestly I think part of the problem might be that I'm not eating enough (usually only between 500-600 cals a day and like 5 grams of carbs) and then that also causes you to not have as many/as frequent BMs!! I found that when I bumped up my calories, added some more fiber and carbs that I felt better, but I also started going to the bathroom better and that seems to have helped - I lost about 2lbs in the past week! It can be so easy to slack though! Hopefully we are all moving through this! I"m going to throw myself an actual party when I finally hit 199 - we are so close!!!

100% what @Arabesque says. If your weight stays the same longer, you can try "shocking" your system by going up in calories for a few days or drinking more water. You can also change up your exercise routine. Also, make sure you're tracking your intake (like on MyFitnessPal or Baritastic or something) to ensure you're keeping track of what you're eating and drinking to see your macros - are you getting enough protein? Enough water? You've got this!

It’s likely just a stall. We almost all experience at least one, some experience a lot more. They usually last 1-3 weeks but can be longer. It’s just your body coming to terms with the changes: weight loss, reduced calories, etc. Your physical body gets stressed too & just sometimes needs to take a breath like we sometimes do emotionally & mentally. Keep doing what you’re doing & you will start to lose again. Congrats on your weight loss so far.

This lovely uhhh “warm salad” is just what I needed today. Massaged kale and spinach in avocado oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and Himalayan pink salt. Sautéed for about 30 seconds to a minute. Topped with pan seared, skin-on salmon and balsamic vinegar caramelized red onions. Would’ve been about 415 calories and 35g protein if I had finished it all but I’m saving the rest for breakfast or lunch tomorrow. Definitely made my heart happy.

One thing I got early on was a set of body composition scales - like Tanita. There are lots on Amazon. This tells you a lot more about yourself that just your weight. As you’re small like me (I’m 5ft 1 inches) we need a lot less ‘maintenance’ calories than the average for a woman. It’s not hard with an unmeasured calorie intake to be having too much. Equally, if you deprive your body of maintenance calories too long your body will try to conserve rather than spend your fat reserves. Starving yourself is not a good option. It may be that some of the foods you’re eating are too high calorie for you. Because you’re a sleeve patient rather than bypass you won’t have the same issue with malabsorption and it is possible a year out from surgery that you’re simply eating too many calories. The gas and nausea doesn’t sound nice though and I would not have expected this a year out, so good to have a talk to your physician about this. Maybe you’re just going through a difficult period - you’ve lost over a third of your body weight from your start date, which is amazing! I wish you every success getting to your goal.

I don't count calories so I would have to guess. Probably around 1000

Hi! Do you know how many calories a day you consume on average?

You are absolutely correct @RickM. Though I should have explained that maltodextrin is used to sweeten (& thicken) foods. So the labelling while correct is also misleading. Maltodextrin is just a sugar alternative they use so they can say no added sugar but it has the same calories as sugar, will spike your blood sugar levels more than sugar & does nothing to reduce your craving for sugar & sweet tasting foods. It is a real challenge to find foods that don’t have added sugar, sugar alternatives or artificial sweeteners in them these days - nigh on impossible. I swear they’re all out to get us & keep that addiction going strong. It took time & effort but I’ve neutralised most of my desire for sweet things & find sweet foods are crazily too sweet. If I want anything sweet I go to fruit. Reading the nutrition panel & ingredient list is really important so you can make the most informed & best decision for you. But as I said the protein component is the most important consideration in the first weeks.

At your current weight of 229lb, 20lb per month is excellent. Way more than most. A lot of people only lose that much in the beginning Weight loss slows down as you we all progress, its natural as you don't have as much fat too lose and with a lower weight the calorie deficit isn't as big as it was in the beginning. As you progress further weight loss will be lower and slower, this is not out of the norm at all. You are doing great.

I am still following my plan. I do not exercise but I am not a couch potato either. I walk 3-4 days a week. I am also having a lot of gas and nausea, which I am working with my Doctor to find out the cause. We have ruled out some things and are investigating others. I would like to start a bit of light aerobics and weights, which I hope will help with that calories in vs out balance. I know this is a life style change, just feeling a bit discouraged. Thanks for your comment.

Are you still following your plan? Actually following it, not waving at it from a distance? Most of our plans, regardless of particulars, come in around 1200 calories [adjusted for activity level] at a year out. Some a couple hundred more or less. Where does yours fall? What is your activity level? Sedate or super-athletic? No wrong answers here, only honest ones. It all comes down to calories in vs. calories out. Balance = little weight change. Adjust where you need it but be sure you can sustain it. You're not on a diet you're on your life now. Good luck, Tek

Maltodextrin is closely related to corn syrup & contains the same number of calories as sugar so the no added sugar line is really just twisting words so you think it’s better/healthier for you. What’s the protein content per serve? After surgery looking for a high protein content is important - gotta aim to reach that 60+g a day goal. Protein shakes are are the better choice because of their high protein content. Also try some bone broths. Don’t rely just on the low fat, no added sugar, lite, etc. labels on products - a lot of misleading advertising. Checking the ingredient lists (listed from the largest percentage to least) & nutrition panels will become a way of life. Good luck & hope your surgery goes well.

This is a weird suggestion, but it's worked for many people here—have you tried *increasing* your calorie intake by 100-150 or so a day? Especially if it's (good) carbs.