Ok so last night i went through my mountain of info from my dr bc i am stumped as far as what to "count" calories, carbs, sugar, Protein, etc. And i pretty much found no answers. Oh wait, i did. The answer was every body is different and find what works for you however focus on high protein foods. They did tell me eat protein first then veggie. I use myfitnesspal and for weight loss it says 1270 cal. So what am i suppose to do? Track calories for a few weeks and see what happens? Then if i dont lose track carbs? So that way i can see "what works for me". Let me tell you what i like. I like the south beach diet way of eating. I have done ww and atkins and i like sbd. So i was thinking of pulling out my sbd book and refreshing myself. I guess im just confused. I want to find a system that works for me however to me this is a lifestyle. What that means to me is that even if i am following a particular way of eating (say sth beach fot example) if i choose to have a peice of cake for a bday thats not cheating. Im in this for the long haul and have to continue to live. I am stumped.

J

Bandef 9/22

I use myfitnesspal.com too and I go by there guidelines with the exception of lower carbs and higher Protein. I don't eat nearly the amount of carbs that they have for me to eat and I am not having a problem getting in my protein either. It is working for me so far but I don't have my first fill till Oct. 25th though so we shall see after that. I am still losing weight though but not as fast since I am in the mushy stage now and eating more normal food. I don't think I will follow any 'diet' but just make sure the protein goes in first As far as the bday cake goes.... my dr. told me I can't totally restrict myself from things like that so I still need to enjoy life's celebrations. Good luck!

Dawn

Dawn, when you get your Protein in and stay under your personal carb count are you also under/at the calories it has for you?

J

Dawn, when you get your Protein in and stay under your personal carb count are you also under/at the calories it has for you?

J

Yeah, I usually stay around 800 calories.

I track calories and Protein. I stay under 1200 calories a day. And try to eat at least 75 grams of protein. I usually plan ahead all my meals so I know that if I am eating a dinner with some carbs in it I try to stay away from carbs for lunch and Breakfast. For instance, tonight I'm having crab legs and shrimp for dinner so I had a 1/2 of a bagel for breakfast. Here's my opinion(which sounds like it may be similar to yours)- this is a lifestyle change. Not a diet. I always quit diets... And I want these changes to last forever. Therefor, I'm not going to put myself on any diet. As long as I stay under my calories for the day, I allow myself to eat whatever I want. I usually make healthy choices but for instance yesterday I had a mcdonalds cheeseburger and a small fry. Am I proud of that? Nooooo. Haha is that something I would do everyday??? Absolutely not. But I'm blaming that time of month.... Haha And I still was only at 1040 calories for the day. So I'm ok with it.

I know I kinda went on a little rant, but that's how I approach it. It works for me though. I average 3 lbs a week with no fill. I'm happy :-) best of luck to you!

I'm jedi9393 on mfp. U can see what I eat. I do low carb and low calorie. I too eat around 800 cal but I was told by my surgeon to do low calorie and low carb. I eat 60 g of protein. I'm rarely hungry. I'm pretty much forcing myself to eat to prevent me from passing out.

I give myself a window of 800-1200 calories a day// If I go over, say from a sauce at a Restaurant,,, O well ! so it happened. I try to stay low though, but I am not going to kick myself hard for a mistake. (I did enough of that...)

I keep my Protein between 60-80-G a day.

I really don't worry about the rest of the numbers, because I eat a lot of Protein, and a little bit of Carb is a kicker for the Protein.

So I know I am trying, and doing, and that's what matters to me.

When you take the W O R K out of work, it goes a little easier.

That's how I Roll.

Shirley..

I set my fitness pal to 1000 calories, 50 carbs and 28 fats so it has my proteins at some wildly high number. I usually eat around 700 calories a day and manage to stay on track with the carbs, fat and get in at least 65 g protein. Today I did 900 calories, less than 30 carbs, way over on my protein but also over on my fats. I had prepared some chicken thighs which my nutritionist suggested over breasts for ease of eating. Between that and my scrambled eggs my fats went too high, so won't do those two foods on the same day again. Anyway, I figure it all balances out in the end as long as I stay in the right calorie range and keep my eyes on the carbs. Some days if my calories drop for a few days in a row I start feeling weak and will intentionally eat something that has more calories. Like after 3 days of baked fish for dinner, I have been eating some noodleless lasagna with ground beef,part skim ricotta, fat free mozarella,spaghetti sauce and parmesan . It is a learning process and I am cooking more but I am enjoying the food more than mindless eating of a whopper and fries and afterward feeling bloated and tired. I am not getting hungry until 4 - 5 hours after eating and feel satiated when I finish my meals. So far so good. Also trying new to me foods is exciting. Harvarti cheese with dill, hummus with flatbread crisps and baked fish are just a few of the new things I have found that I am enjoying. I thought fish had to be catfish and fried, cheese on a sandwich had to be american slices or velveeta and never considered eating hummus and the flatbread crisps over potato chips and dip. Really am not missing the carbs and last weekend I went to a grandson's birthday party. There was chocolate cake which I used to love and I had absolutely no desire to eat any. That made me really happy. Sorry to be so long and rambling but I really am enjoying learning to eat healthy and it really is satisfing me which totally surprises me. Plus I am consistantly losing and feeling better with more energy.