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Well, i averaged 300-400 calories A WEEK for the first two weeks. Then 300-400 cals A DAY for the first couple months (i went through a serious case of food aversion) I *think* this is “sustainable” (for lack of a better word) for a small while in the beginning because we have LOTS of fat storage that our bodies can use for energy. If I did 300-400 cals a day for an extended period of time now, I’d probably be in the hospital. As for boosting cals, others have already mentioned above: healthy fats (avocados, nuts, nut butters, olive oil, etc.). I personally relied on chicharron (i.e., cracklins/pork rinds), as its high in cals and protein…but i realize its not for everyone and the high fat content may cause dumping in some. Good Luck! ❤️

There is likely going to be a bit of a learning curve to figure out what your maintenance calories are. If you track your food intake, this process can be a little easier. Step one: figure out what your average daily intake is (by tracking calories) and weigh yourself regularly (to determine how this intake amount affects ur weight) Step two: if you are gaining or losing over a specific period of time, drop or add some cals, monitor for a while. Rinse and repeat until u find ur sweet spot. As u get further out and your activity levels change, you may need to reevaluate again and again. It took me 2-3 months to figure out my maintenance calories, and i lost a further 10+ lbs in the process. Since then i’ve been happily maintaining my current weight for over 2 years. I decrease cals when I exercise less and increase when there is more. Its an ongoing thing. Good luck! ❤️ P..S. Full disclosure: i don’t always eat healthily, but i generally always stay within my calorie range (on average).

I am only seven months out so I can’t say from experience but if I were you I would slowly add in healthy fats like avocado, nuts/ nut butters and healthy oils as well as healthy snacks but maybe at 100 calories at a time till I found my maintenance calorie amount. You may lose a little more doing it this way but you can always gain it back if you really want to. Many people have about a ten pound gain after they reach their goal anyways.

I’ve had my surgery last year June and struggling mentally, fear of going back to the way I looked before… I’m constantly wondering if our bodies will gain weight faster then people who haven’t had the surgery do you know what I mean? even if we eat healthy will we gain weight faster or more because we have had the surgery?! Questions: once we have reached our goal weight do we follow a normal ‘healthy lifestyle’ and calorie intake for maintenance that you can set on my fitness pal? Or do I still only consume + - 1000 calories? I’m so confused because I do not want to my old self but I also can not lose more weight because I have gone under. PLEASE HELP.

Thanks both. The 60mg was a typo, yes I am getting 60g. You raise an interesting point about why premier protein lists 160 calories and 30g protein though. I am following a modified blend of clear and full and two until we know I’m stable enough, nausea and vomiting-wise, to consume other foods listed on the full liquid guidelines. I did have trouble with the sleeve, but still was able to meet 800 pretty quickly. The powdered non-fat milk was a tip from the nutritionist (add a tbsp to boost protein by a couple of grams), so I take some in my tea. I reached out to both surgeon and nutritionist this morning :-) Thank you! Rachel

I was only consuming 200 - 300 calories a day to begin but I was a low calorie eater most of the time (about 900 by goal at 6 months & 1200-1300 to maintain now) - you can only eat what you can eat. The number of calories you consume will increase as you heal & are able to eat more. How much were you eating after your sleeve surgery? Did your surgeon or nutritionalist give you a caloric goal for this surgery or just protein & water? Are you following the eating plan you were given? (Same old basic questions. 😉) Have a chat with your nutritionalist &/or surgeon if you are concerned or to reassure you that you’re on the right track. Out of curiosity why are you using powdered milk? My dietician did suggest I add powdered milk to my milk when I started maintenance to boost my protein & calories but I found it too sweet. May be give some lactose free milk a try just in case you are sensitive to it at the moment? Glad they got the post surgery issues under control & you are feeling better.

60 grams (not milligrams) of protein is 240 calories—there's 4 calories per gram of protein or carbohydrate, and 9 calories per gram of fat, regardless of type. I spent four weeks (one pre-op and three post-op) on basically that diet and did fine. Dropped two and a half stone in three weeks.

Hello all, I had my surgery October 1st, so this is day 10. I spend the first three nights in the hospital, and went home feeling pretty good. By afternoon the following day I was nauseous and I began to vomit. Because I could not keep water down I was re-admitted to the hospital. I struggled with potassium and magnesium, and my blood sugar straddled the line of low (68). We got the nausea under control and I have been home for two days without problems (yay), but I am still on clear liquid until I see my doc on Thursday. Before the complications I was advised to wait a week before starting supplements (I think partially to avoid sickness). However, my current diet is 60mg protein (320 cal), soup broth, sf jello and decaf hot tea with powdered nonfat milk. Naturally I feel no hunger, but how long can one sustain with such a low intake? Any suggestions for boosting those calories while avoiding dumping would be helpful. Thanks! Rachel P.S. For context my surgery was a revision from sleeve to bypass due to GERD. The first surgery was six years ago and I lost 120lbs. After a concussion in 2019 and 2020 Is gained about thirty back. I say this because I wonder how it might impact things….

It can be frustrating when the surgeon/Nut do not give caloric guidelines. I did not get any either. I was told to just watch protein and water. I need more structure than that so I watch my carbs and fat intake too. I just keep my macros where they should be- and the calories seem to fall in the 900-1200 range for me most days. I am 7.5 months post vsg. If I go lower than 900 calories I seem to hit a stall. My protein goal is higher than 80 per my Nut due to my exercise/activity level.

I'm a little over 2 months post-op (VSG to RNY revision) and am averaging 676 calories a day. I am on the fence whether to up it or ride the honeymoon wave. I asked my surgeon on my first post-op appointment, and he said to stay around this calorie range to lose more weight, that's about all the information I got.

Been using the app called Libra. It shows graphs, BMI, rate of weight loss per week, how many calories less you ate a day, goal vs actual... Etc.

I'm 20 months out and am eating around 1300-1400 calories a day. Of course, I have days where I eat less around 1050-1250 and days where I've eaten more high calorie foods and had as much as 1680 in a day, but I generally eat between 1300-1400 calories a day.

Hi Soonlee_W! I'm sorry that you feel like you are losing slowly. It is frustrating when you feel like you are putting all this work in and not seeing the results you expected. I am Just throwing some questions and thoughts out there to see if perhaps they might be helpful. Was your doctor's only advice to increase exercise? Did he/she suggest modifications to your meal plan or suggest seeing the nutritionist? Are you having difficulty eating foods or just get full fast? Did you try looking at other food plans to see how it compares to yours? I know my plan put limits on the number of egg yolks per week (3). Are you looking at calories, fat, carbs in addition to volume of food? Do you track your food (i.e. Baritastic), so you can see if you are eating enough nutrients? Perhaps there is nothing to change, and it is just matter of following the plan & waiting it out. I think seeing a nutritionist might be most helpful, maybe they can help you find targets for calories that would maybe increase loss. Thank you for sharing, as others might be having this challenge as well. I hope you figure out what is causing your progress to stall & start seeing results that you are hoping for. 😊

Whether your body absorbs more protein into the blood from GENEPRO2 or eggs or beans or steak is not the point. Nutrition labels are required to state actual amounts, not imaginary "up to 30g" amounts with double asterisks and shady bro science after it. They can make claims on the rest of their label, but not in the supplement facts section. If it's 58.7 cal and it's got 0.3 g fat (9 cal/g) and 0.6 g (4 cal/g) carbs, then it has 13.4 g (4 cal/g) protein in it. Calorie counts are allowed a 20% leeway by law, so it could be as much as 70.44 cal in which case it's got 16.335 g protein in it. Or it could be as little as 46.96 cal in which case it would have 10.465 g protein in it. Period.

+1 to the above responses. To your question: At 5 weeks, I was at about 300-400 per day At goal (7 months), was at 700-800 per day 1-2 years post, doing 2000+ per day (LOTSA exercise) Today at 3 years post, at about 1800 per day (moderate exercise) But that’s just me. If you are losing, it’s probably safe to assume your calorie level is just about right for YOU. No need to fix what ain’t broke, I’d figure. Good Luck! ❤️

yep - I agree with the others - programs are different. Some want their patients on very low calorie diets the first few months - others on higher calorie diets because (I think) they feel it's more sustainable. Some don't want you counting calories at all. As long as you're seeing a general downward trend in your weight, you're fine.

So ive read over and over and over how Genepro protein powder is lieing about having 30 grams of protein per serving and how it cant have 30 grams of protein in it if it only has 58 calories in it cuz protein has 4 calories per gram and on and on and on and yadda yadda yadda! UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU READ!!!!!! They are saying that their serving size gives you THE EQUIVALENT AMOUNT OF PROTEIN THAT WILL BE ABSORBED BY YOUR BODY AS IN A 30 GRAM SCOOP OF WHEY PROTEIN!!!!!!!!!! 1 tblspn of Genepro 2 will give you the same protein blood level (actual absorbed protein into your body/blood) count as a 30 gram scoop of whey protein because whey protein has a very low rate of absorption by the human body!!!!!! I agree the label can be a bit tough to understand unless you read what it says EXACTLY! You will see the 30 gram statement followed by ** and when you go down to what ** means/relates too, its the clinical study that showed just what ive stated above...that 1 tablespoon of Genepro 2 will give your body the same amount of ABSORBED PROTEIN AS 30 GRAMS OF WHEY PROTEIN! Whey protein has a very low rate of absorption...approx 30-45% MAX absorption rate with most being around the 30-35% which means a scoop of whey protein that contains 30 grams of protein gives you about 10-12 grams of protein that is actually absorbed by the body. 1 tablespoon of GENEPRO 2 gives you approx 10-12 grams of protein absorbed by the body! Clinical study proved that 1 Tablespoon of GENEPRO 2 would give you the same amount of ABSORBED PROTEIN as a scoop of whey protein containing 30 grams of protein! GOT IT???? LOL! Thats laymens terms of course but i think thats what is need here and it needed to be repeated a few times for normal folks to grasp! LOL! AGAIN...BOTTOM LINE LAYMENS TERMS...1 TABLESPOON OF GENEPRO2 GIVES YOU THE SAME AMOUNT OF PROTEIN ABSORBED BY YOUR BODY AS A SCOOP OF WHEY PROTEIN CONTAINING 30 GRAMS OF PROTEIN. Genepro2 has a very high absorption rate...so consider a scoop of Genepro2 will get you approx 10-15 grams of protein absorbed by your body! ABSORBED BY YOUR BODY IS THE IMPORTANT FACT/NUMBER ETC AS WHATS NOT ABSORBED DOESNT DO YOU ANY GOOD! Some vitamins are the same way, examples being D, magnesium and others...to get 50 mgs ABSORBED BY YOUR BODY YOU HAVE TO TAKE 5 TIMES MORE/250 MGS SINCE ABSORPTION RATE IS SO POOR. I hope this helps and remember that 1 serving of the GENEPRO2 will get you about 10-15 grams of protein absorbed by the body. If you need to get an extra 75 grams of protein above what you will eat in your food then you will need to take 5-7 scoops/serving sizes. FOR BEST RESULTS AS FAR AS TASTE OR CHEMICAL SMELL GOES...DO NOT HEAT UP PROTEIN AT ALL! MIX IT COLD WITH SOMETHING AND POUND IT DOWN QUICKLY! I have always lifted weights and worked out seriously and have learned over the years how much my body can absorb of any given protein product. Your body will only absorb its max amount of protein and then it will come out your rear end! We have always tought other people that were lifting weights and taking supplements to gain lean muscle mass to find that max point with which ever protein product you are using and then back down from there. Work your way up to max rate when your body will get rid of excess and then slowly back down servings until you hit that happy point. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL!

There are so many plans with different expectations & requirements. As @Hop_Scotch said if you’re following your plan all is good. My plan didn’t have a caloric goal only portion size. If yours doesn’t either & you would feel more comfortable with one, ask your surgeon & dietician for some guidelines. I used to check my calories randomly for my own interest. I had a low calories intake - only about 900 calories by goal. I consume about 1200/1300 (3 meals & 3 or 4 snacks) to maintain my weight as it is now at almost 2 1/2yrs (am in my mid 50s, small frame, not overly active). If I was more active I’d eat more calorie dense food. Good luck.

Hi all, Just curious. How far out are you and how many calories are you eating a day? I'm almost 5 weeks and am around 900-1000 everyday and I'm concerned maybe too much? Curious where everyone is.

Thanks! I increased my calorie intake.

You look great! Curios: how did you change your diet to build muscle (more calories/protein)?

Are you on regular food? I can’t remember if I was at one month but if so Hershey’s makes zero sugar candy bars that taste exactly the same to me. And one serving is FOUR little bars so if you eat just one it’s not bad calorie wise. It’s of course not on plan because it’s empty calories so I shouldn’t recommend it but i had them. I figured if it’s this or the real thing this is a better option. Just make sure the first time you have it at home cause the artificial Sweetener (I think it’s called malitol) acts like a laxative for some people. Another option would be quest candy bites. They caramel one is really good and at least that has some protein in it so it’s more on plan. The only problem Is they don’t seem to carry them in stores (at least not near me) but they sell them on Amazon and they are very tasty little treats. The Hershey’s brand candy bars they sell at Walmart.

Today starts a 3 day long weekend of LOTSA FOOD, as its the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I had planned to just wait until tonight's dinner party to eat, but I'm kinda hungry now so....salad it is to tie me over till then. Romaine, carrots, cucumber, feta, bacon, & some canned tuna (with mayo, seafood sauce and spices): 378 calories. Aiming to eat just enough of this to satisfy me as I wanna same room for the food goodness-es tonite, lol. We'll see how it goes!

So i did JUST say i would cut down on eating cookies, but that doesn’t mean I can stop baking them! I find I am a late-night-boredom baker and here is a batch of ginger snap cookies that I whipped up last night due to the aforementioned boredom. I haven’t eaten any (yet?) but if I did, one would be 100 calories.

I'm going through a version of this with my "better half"--he was originally planning to have the same surgery after we get married next year and he can be on my much-better insurance. After seeing what I've gone through the last 3 weeks, he has decided it's not for him. He is 6' tall and about 290, and even after me losing 32 pounds already my BMI is still 2 points higher than his. He has a LOT less weight to lose to be comfortable with himself (he has a very broad build and quite a bit of muscle, and feels he would look best around 230) than I do, and I keep telling him that once my diet expands to a point where I can cook for both of us again, the weight will likely come off on its own because of the reduced portion sizes. I've been cranky a lot lately because I can't seem to get anything down--I'm on week 2 of purees and I am so sick of yogurt and shakes, and try as I might unless I'm really forcing myself to eat I seem to keep ending up falling short of my protein goals and am eating way too few calories. He's been very patient with me but anyone would be frustrated by that.