I am almost 3 weeks post op and starting to work out, but I am only taking in around 600 calories a day and I don't want to fatigue while working out, but what I am eating is keeping me full. Where should my calorie intake be at this point and with a healthy workout???

Kati

I discussed this with my surgeon yesterday at my one week post-surgery follow up (he gave me the OK to start mushy food, thank God). He recommended working up to 1000 for the time being but my food / calorie intake should be monitored and adjusted as we work through the different food stages and see how my body reacts weightloss wise. On the liquid diet I have been getting to around 500 calories a day and it left me feeling really weak, headachy even tho I was hitting 60-80 g of Protein a day. I definitely need more carbs. I am planning out my food a day or two in advance and have an account with "My Fitness Pal" website which allows you to enter your food and it gives you all the totals of calories, carbs, fats, protein etc. - it's another great tool to use to keep track of things. I will be adding things like sweet potato, campbells condensed cream Soups made with skim milk, etc. I am eating 1/4 cup of 4% cottage cheese and figure once I am eating regular foods I can adjust to the lower fat versions when other foods contribute more calories and carbs. I would be careful of eating too few calories because you may pay with malnutrition effects on your body (hair loss etc.) if you starve yourself.

Its a major learning curve, isn't it...?

My dietition said that I need to be around 800 Calories a day. If I droped below that my body could go into starvation mode. 800-1000 works well for me, but everyone is different and has to find their spot. Food diaries help to figure out where your "spot" is.

I actually just talked with my nutritionist about this yesterday. I'm almost 10 weeks post-op and struggle to get in 600 calories a day. Add in my hour of cardio and my net calories are very low. She suggested that I try to up my calories to 800 a day. I emailed her my menu over a couple days and she made a few suggestions how to add in healthy calories.

Do you have a nutritionist you can call or email?

I try not to go under 900 most days it's 1100 and sometimes as high as 1500

Between 800-1,000 for me

No clue. I don't count anything. Never have. It's why I got banded -so I'd never have to "diet" again. And to me, counting calories, carbs, Protein, and fat is just like dieting.

If I were to take an educated guess, I'd guess around 1200-1300. It's been 2 1/2 yrs since being banded tho - I'm not on a liquid diet. When I was on liquids only, I probably took in around 600 or so. Can't keep that up very long and live your life normally.

Good luck!

Marci