On days you guys don't plan right and at the end of the day you find you are well under 800 calories but not hungry, do you eat again later in the night anyway to try to get to your 800 calories, or do you stay at 600-700 and just plan better the next day? Has anyone asked their Doc how to handle this?

I wish I could tell you, I don't count calories, in fact my doctor doesn't want me too. So that being said, I was measuring my food until my first fill. Now he wants me to practice eating until I feel full. If my calories go too low I end up gaining way or staying the same weight. I would recommend not worrying about it if it is ONE day. If it is constantly, then you need to find a way to include some extra calories through a protein shake or something.

I've been on an extremely low calorie diet since being banded. But I did it to myself because I found that I don't lose weight when I've eaten 800 calories in a day. So my normal day gets me 477 calories (I'm also doctor monitored because of this).

So if I have a day that I'm lower than this, to be perfectly honest... I get up and do another workout and pray for a bigger loss the next day. It almost always works. LOL

Wowza! That is so low. Is there a medical reason why you don't lose weight when you eat 800 calories? I don't know how much you weigh (or how tall you are), but I'm at 204ish, and am only 5'2 and burn (before exercise) around 1750-1850 calories a day. That seems strange that you wouldn't lose eating 800 calories a day as I've never heard of someone only burning 800 calories in a day. And is 470 calories a day something that you are attempting to maintain forever?

Starvation Mode is a horrible myth. I hate that people use it to justify no weight loss. If you eat fewer calories than you need to maintain, you WILL LOSE WEIGHT. Your metabolism will slow, yes, but you will lose the weight.

I agree. Calories in < Calories Out = weight loss.

I had a fill today and asked my doc the same question. Do I need to be sure I get 800 calories a day? His response was, no you dont. As long as you are getting 60-70grams of Protein you dont need to worry about eating any more. You have enough reserves to last you a LONG time,.

So, I am not going to try to meet 800 calories now and will see what happens.

I have never counted calories, but in the early going when I felt that I hadn't eaten enough, I tended to throw a protein shake at the end of the day.

i talked to the nutritionist last Friday at my 2 week post op visit and she looked at me like I was crazy when I asked how many calories should I have per day. She said my surgeon's philosophy is that you don't count calories but eat until your are satisfied / full. I also asked what foods can I not eat ... she said none! After 4 weeks they expect I can eat anything I would like but just eat much smaller quantities than I did pre-surgery to feel satisfied.

This does help me to take off some of the stress of meeting some targets but I have self imposed from 1000 - 1200 calories because that seems to be a range I have read from this site for many people. I am using the Spark People site to track my intake and it helps me track fat, carbs, etc. relatively easy. I never have gone over on my calories and most of the time I am eating less than 1000 calories per day.