Hi all,

I started out fine with my surgeon's suggestions for diet. No more than 40 carbs a day, high protein, etc. Now, however, since I'm down as much as I am and have upped my exercise to jogging I don't think the same diet applies to me. All my magazines on running say that runners need more carbs. I've emailed the surgeon's office asking about this and was told emphatically that I should be following the same diet 'everyone else is'. I just have a hard time accepting that someone who weighs 300 lbs who just had the surgery should be on the same diet as someone who has lost 85 lbs and is doing high intensity type exercise 4-5 days a week. Anyone have any personal experience with this kind of situation? I have been tempted to make an appt with the nutritionist at the surgeon's office but since she works with them I imagine their approach is what she pushes.

I am only 3 weeks out so I personally have no experience but I thought I would comment.

I have a dear friend who is the ONLY person I know to lose weight with diet and exercise and actually keep it off. She works out hard and she is looks fantastic! She hardly ever eats carbs. She focuses completely on protien. She of course does have carbs in fruit and there is carbs in protien shakes but never ever bread or Pasta.

Since like I said I am only a few weeks out I just thought I would throw my little knowledge in that yes I do think that a low carb high protien way is probably the right way. But then again i could be totally wrong! haha

Hi all,

I started out fine with my surgeon's suggestions for diet. No more than 40 carbs a day, high Protein, etc. Now, however, since I'm down as much as I am and have upped my exercise to jogging I don't think the same diet applies to me. All my magazines on running say that runners need more carbs. I've emailed the surgeon's office asking about this and was told emphatically that I should be following the same diet 'everyone else is'. I just have a hard time accepting that someone who weighs 300 lbs who just had the surgery should be on the same diet as someone who has lost 85 lbs and is doing high intensity type exercise 4-5 days a week. Anyone have any personal experience with this kind of situation? I have been tempted to make an appt with the nutritionist at the surgeon's office but since she works with them I imagine their approach is what she pushes.

guess it would depend on how fast you want to lose the last 35lbs. if you stay low on the carbs, you will burn fat. keep up and increase the protein to prevent muscle loss.

I dont follow the no more then 40 carbs rule. I dont want to be on a diet the rest of my life and low carb is a diet to me. I am teaching myself to eat right and that includes having good carbs in my diet. You need the carbs to be working out and having energy. You dont need to follow what your surgeon says as long as its not hurting your band. If you can lose weight with adding more carbs to your diet, then go for it.

I had a situation preband where my surgeon wanted me to go on a 500 calorie a day liquid diet (HMR 500). I asked him whether the fact that I did an hour of moderate cardio 7 days a week would be a problem. He said "No, I have people on this diet all the time." Well that does'nt really answer my question. Are these people sedentary? How much do they weigh? I did this diet for 4 days continued to exercise and lost nothing. On my own diet I was losing 2 pounds a week with the exercise and being at about 1,000 calories a day.

So while I respect the doctors knowledge I do think they can get stuck in "one size fits all" mentality.

My surgeon has a nutritionist, psychologist & nurse to help you with each step.

In each part of your journey they assess your progress, go over what you need, what you're getting and how it affects your life.

I dont think I could ask for anything better... that being said, if there is something I need to change, they are happy to let you and monitor your progress. But that's just how they do it here....

Rach.

My surgeon also has an in-office nutritionist and both gave me the same diet:

Eat at least 100g of Protein a day... 150g if it's not filling you up.

Eat three to five, 1/2 cup meals throughout the day. Try not to eat more than 3/4 of a cup at any one time.

I wasn't given a calorie limit, but I limit myself to 1000 a day. (50-65% protein and the rest is usually divided evenly between carbs and fats.)

I tend to agree with you, although I am trying to follow the diet. I am a fairly intense exerciser myself (running/fast walking/elliptical/weights) and have ALWAYS been able to lose 1-2 pounds a week on WW, which does not focus on high protein, low carbs (at least back when I was doing WW). In the month since my surgery, I have been eating 70-100 grams protein per day, but find that my carbs are usually about equal. I try to keep it less than 60 as my doc suggests, but find that is a little hard to do especially since I was not able to advance to hard cruncy veggies yet (I LOVE salads and they are a great no-carb meal). I am not sitting around eating white bread and pasta either. All the carbs I'm getting are coming from healthy sources. But then again, when I find myself in the situation where I think I know better than the nutritionist and the surgeon...I get a little freaked out and rememeber that it is this way of thinking that got me to this point! When I submitted to have lapband, I vowed to turn myself over to the experts...so that's what I'm trying to do. I hope to do better on carbs now that I can begin eating salads again

If our doctors are well-informed about nutrition (and the tricky part is figuring out if yours is), then their recommendations are based on a solid foundation. The fact that each sees scores of bariatric patients, and can form a well-educated conclusion about what works well for most, should offer reassurance.

You're right, though, that no single plan is right for everyone. And as the "owner" of your body, you have the right to make autonomous decisions about that body.

That said, I follow a low-carb regimen, as recommended by my doctor, and exercise a lot. And I have NOT upped my carbs. When my body no longer has fat stores to draw upon, I will. But as long as I have the "reserve," I will demand that my body use it for fuel.

When our doctors tell us we don't need to adjust our diets--it's not because they are rigid and dispensing cookie-cutter advice; it's because ALL of our bodies have fat stores we want to deplete. And following their regimen fosters this depletion.

I have not suffered any ill effects from low-carbing with a very active lifestyle.

However, if you want to add more carbohydrate, I'd recommend doing it in small increments. Journal your intake, so you can make note of when/if your loss is affected by your changing intake. It will take a little time to figure out your threshold--and that's easier to do if you keep track.