After my first fill, I had an appointment with my dietician. Her advice was never to count calories again. The band should work just by eating the right stuff to feel full. Her recommendation is to focus on the texture of food and not the calories in it - ie, eat bulky or crunchy food, don't eat slider foods, no smoothies or milkshakes, yoghurts only if "bulked up" with fruit, no runny ready meals, preferably everything bulked up, eg with potatoes and veg, so that the band will feel full. On this theory, the band should work without counting calories. And yet people here are still counting calories? Do people in this forum agree with the advice to forget calories?

I don't count calories, fat, carbs, etc. The only thing I focus on is getting enough protein and drinking enough water.

That is one of the things I like best about the band. I don't want to feel like I am on a diet and all the things that come with that. I eat what I want but stop when my band tells me to.

I do not count calories at all. I measure my food. I never eat more than 1cup each meal. I try to stick to Protein..Protein...Protein...1st.... then green veggies.

I still have some starches sometimes, potatoes, and whole wheat angel hair Pasta, but not very often.

What I am doing is working for me.. I love my band!

I recently discovered cooking bags. It makes any meat very soft. Love them.

Good luck on your journey.

Hmm...my guess is just like every surgeon has different "rules", every nutritionist may as well. For me right now I am at beginning and getting in enough of anything seems to be difficult, so I do track calories. I do not "count" them trying to stay under a certain amount or anything , but I do log my food to be sure that my calories are within a certain range, much like I track my protein grams to be sure that I am getting in what I need to.

I agree with your NUT. I have lost 80 pounds in about 8 1/2 months and do not count anything. The band keeps me well below 1000 calories a day, so it is really a waste of time to write them down and count them. Like the above poster I try to keep my protein up, but do fall short on that sometimes. The band works for me without all the tracking and counting.

The nutritionists at my surgeon's office pretty much have the same advice as yours. They said that the ONE thing the band does really well is portion control (once properly adjusted) so there is no need to count calories or measure food. They prefer us to focus on a handful of rules instead. They are the rules that most people know of on here... Protein first, 30/20/30 (stop drinking 30 min before a meal, do not eat for longer than 20 min, don't drink for 30 min after), eat only 3 meals a day (no snacks), no liquid calories, 64+ oz of Water per day, exercise.

Personally, I have a bad association of tracking/measuring food and calories (or points) from being on WW so much and all the hunger, deprivation, and failure of regain the many times I've been on that program. Its a real struggle for me to break free from the diet mentality (being 'on' or 'off' a diet my whole life). The challenge for me this time is to really make it a lifestyle change. And, so for me (based on my history), writing everything down and counting/measuring everything would just put my in the wrong frame of mind for the real work I need to do now... getting real about what it means to create a new lifestyle for myself.

For bandsters who have not had a long history or bad association w/tracking or counting calories and measuring food, though, I think it could be really useful. It is eye opening to learn what a serving size is and to see where you stand as far as calories in vs. out, etc. The psych who runs our support group says he finds that either way (counting or not counting) will work w/the band. And, he finds a lot of people like me who just cannot 'go there' w/the counting anymore because of negative feelings about regaining after those sorts of diets. He says that no matter which way you go, the important thing is to not feel like you are on a 'diet'. Nothing wrong w/counting and measuring just for the information of it as long as you are not using it as a means for deprivation.

I agree as well, I don't count calories at all. I just each protein and veggies measured out each meal to 4 or 5 oz.s. Love my Band! :thumbup:

when i first started the program the nutritionist told me to do the low carb.high protien.write down what i eat.i lost 40lbs before my surgery.but now i do not count calories.i just eat a portion of everything.an believe me the band will stop you.an in my case everytime i get a fill i lose between 5-10lbs each time.

I counted calories in the beginning, but not anymore. I do journal what I eat, though. I do it on myfitnesspal.com, which tracks your calories, fats, and Protein. I pay attention to how much protein I eat, because that really is vital. My daily calorie intake is somewhere between 800 and 1100. I couldn't fit in more than 1200 calories when eating the right things. I keep that info on hand when meeting with my surgeon, which helps to determine whether or not I have good restriction.

Best of luck!

I don't "count" calories per say.. but I am cautious about what goes in. I too try and often fall short on the protein. If I had to count the calories it would probably be between 800 and 1000 per day. I exercise daily and eat a lot of fruits and veggies to "feel fuller" as snacks etc. This was very hard not to "diet" so to speak but rather make wiser choices with smaller portions- but so far so good- it works!

i just had a meeting with my nutritionist today for moving to mushies. yay! one of the other folks in there asked about counting calories and she said nope. we don't have to do that. like the others have said, it's about portion control and eating the right stuff. :Banane20:

Yep have not counted those since I had my band back in July. I am a cook and I focus very much on texture and flavor. I love to experiment on things like various spices and such. And let's face this the band if it was done properly and you have no issues with it will do the work on food for you.

Just enjoy this time to mix it up some..

Michele

Michele

The band works for me that way. I still eat some carb foods like oatmeal, wholegrain bread etc and LOTS of salad and vegies precisely because of the bulk, it keeps me full, satisfies me quickly with few calories.

I actually dont really even think about Protein, we're just not told to do that here.

So, really, I count NOTHING. It never worked for me and to me is a dysfunctional behaviour that I wanted to give up.

I'm new enough to the game that I do track what I eat on fitday--but really, for informational purposes. I want to see what it is that works for me.

I don't know whether I will continue to log my intake forever--but for now, it's useful to me. I suspect that once I have appropriate restriction, it will sort of become a non-issue; I foresee the band doing just what it's supposed to do, and things just falling into place.

My nutritionist told me the same thing but I found that I wasn't eating enough calories to have successful weight loss. Before I was eating 1100-1200 calories a day and I wasn't losing anything, in fact my weight was going up a little bit. So I bumped it up to around 1500 a day and I started losing again. I talked to my doctor yesterday and she said that to do whatever I needed to lose the weight (obviously within reason!). I'm not a calorie counting nazi or anything but I'm also very aware of how much I'm getting. I have an application on my iPhone that helps a lot.

I'm just starting on solids tomorrow... so my plan is to track what I eat and how much, as well as my hunger levels so that I'll know when or if I need a fill. (I don't have restriction now, so don't really get "full" when I eat my small portions). When I do get restriction, I don't plan to count anything -- except maybe occasionally if I'm at a plateau or gaining and I need to figure out what's going on.