Hi, I am new to the vertical sleeve forums and I had my surgery Dec 21. I am probably like everyone else who just got there sleeve and is getting used to it. I am curious if 1000 to 1200 calories is too much. So far I have lost 25lbs, am I on the right track? I guess now that I am starting to go into regular foods, I am affraid my body is going to stop losing again. Also, from everything I read on here and other sites Carbs and Sugar are considered the devil or something. I just want to live a normal life and if i want to have some carbs or sweets occasionally, I don''t want to feel bad about it. Please know that I am in this to lose my weight, I just don't want it to feel like a "diet". Any advice would help. -maha

Can anyone tell me how to get a ticker to show up when i post. thx

My doc recommends 7-800 calories. To tell you the truth I am not happy with my weight loss rate. I have heard upping calories can help you loose weight but I really don't know how to get in more calories with out bad carbs or fats and I just cant eat that much.

When I first had surgery I did good to get in 450 calories but when I reached goal (just under five months) I was averaging 675 calories a day. I've been maintaining since the first week of Nov., my dietitian said to 'play with' between 800 - 1200 calories per day to see what works. To maintain I'm finding that 975 and 1050 is what is keeping me at goal. (actually I am a little below, so I have a cushion) I live 'normally' now that I am AT goal, but until I was, I DID treat this as a diet, I was aware (I still am, but I do LIVE) of everything that went into my mouth. I ate NOTHING sweet. I was very strict with myself, obsessive according to some in my family! But, I've been very successful. I started getting ALL my Protein from food at 2 months, I've never had a hair issue....I enjoy every single bite I put into my mouth.....I'm never hungry and now that I am at goal, I snack off and on all day it seems, just to get in enough calories to STOP losing. I love this sleeve. It has been disgustingly easy!! I don't know about 'not enough calories' - it was never a problem with me. If I stopped losing for a few days, I'd UP MY PROTEIN, not my calories....and get in more Water, maybe ride the exercise bike for five minutes....but I NEVER upped my calories! Up the protein, I'd lower calories, watch the bad carbs, again.....lower the calories, drink plenty of water.....you'll do fine! Good luck!

Hi, I am new to the vertical sleeve forums and I had my surgery Dec 21. I am probably like everyone else who just got there sleeve and is getting used to it. I am curious if 1000 to 1200 calories is too much. So far I have lost 25lbs, am I on the right track? I guess now that I am starting to go into regular foods, I am affraid my body is going to stop losing again. Also, from everything I read on here and other sites Carbs and Sugar are considered the devil or something. I just want to live a normal life and if i want to have some carbs or sweets occasionally, I don''t want to feel bad about it. Please know that I am in this to lose my weight, I just don't want it to feel like a "diet". Any advice would help. -maha

Can anyone tell me how to get a ticker to show up when i post. thx

Hi, I am new to the vertical sleeve forums and I had my surgery Dec 21. I am probably like everyone else who just got there sleeve and is getting used to it. I am curious if 1000 to 1200 calories is too much. So far I have lost 25lbs, am I on the right track? I guess now that I am starting to go into regular foods, I am affraid my body is going to stop losing again. Also, from everything I read on here and other sites Carbs and Sugar are considered the devil or something. I just want to live a normal life and if i want to have some carbs or sweets occasionally, I don''t want to feel bad about it. Please know that I am in this to lose my weight, I just don't want it to feel like a "diet". Any advice would help. -maha

Can anyone tell me how to get a ticker to show up when i post. thx

Hi there maha!! Welcome to VST!! :-)

For me personally 1000-1200 calories works for me. I strayed some (not logging food and not knowing wth I was feeding myself all day), but thank goodness I had the good mind to start tracking 100% again and I'm back to a good well balanced diet. I also workout around 2 hours per day - so I'm not hardly worried about thinking or wondering if 1200 calories is too much. That is pretty standard for anyone in weight loss mode and one who does vigorous workouts as a part of a healthy lifestyle.

I have also gone back to eating healthy carbs. I eat fruits, veggies, whole grain breads, etc. I can't seem to function on the Protein only diet. I started doing that and it worked well for awhile until I started back up with my workout routines and found that my body does not want to release any weight. So, I'm tweaking my eating plan to incorporate the "good" sugars back in. I have always lost weight doing this, so I do believe it should work for me again.

However everything is still in trial and error mode for me right now. I'm barely only 4 months out. I imagine I still need to lose anywhere from 65-85 more pounds... (wow when I say it like that... that sounds fantastic!!!! ).

Pretty much you just have to work out different plans until you find the one that burns the fat fastest for you. I've been through enough weight loss attempts to know what works for me best, and that's what I'm doing now. I've only been doing this for a few days, so the jury's still out - BUT - something tells me it will.

Good luck!!!

I average about 700-1,000 calories a day, but I honestly am not worried about calories at this point. My big question of each and every day, is "did I get enough Protein?" I average about 70-85 grams of protein a day. I think if you are getting your protein and your Water and sounds like you are losing then you are doing the right thing.

As to not being on a "diet" well, I do sort of feel like I am on a diet, but only because I want to take full advantage of the "honeymoon period" (first year or so post-op is optimum time to lose the most weight) that I keep hearing drs., NUTs, and vet sleevers talk about. I don't want to eat the cookie now, but yes, when I am on maintenance I do plan on incorporating things back into my diet in a reasonable amount. I'm so early out (just shy of 3 months) that I don't want to start down a slippery slope with bites of this and bites of that. I found myself doing that at Christmastime and it did scare me a bit. So I stopped putting things in my mouth that don't NEED to be there. At least for now.