Doc wants to see more weight loss... ideas?

[SleeveGirl-TX 183]

I posted this over at OH too but figured someone here might could help too...

I'm currently searching for a registered dietician that specializes in bariatrics, if anyone knows someone that will do phone/internet consults, please send them my way. I do have a great lead from my trainer, but throwing that out there...

I had an appointment last week with my surgeon. He wasn't thrilled with my weight loss so far (not disappointed, but wanted to see more).

I've lost 32 pound since surgery, almost 7 weeks ago. This week, so far (tomorrow is weigh in day), I've lost only 1 pound. The doctor doesn't think plauteaus should happen this early out and I should be losing 4-5 pounds per week. He said to increase calories then drop them back down after two days, add a fruit, stop tracking fat and carbs and only worry about calories and Protein. Here's my little chart so far...

324 (-6) - Week 6 - 08/02/2011

330 (-3) - Week 5 - 07/26/2011

333 (-0) - Week 4 - 07/19/2011

333 (-0) - Week 3 - 07/12/2011

333 (-14) - Week 2 - 07/05/2011

347 (-8) - Week 1 - 06/28/2011

I'm NOT complaining. I do wish it was faster, but he wants me to be down another 30 by around 9/21 and a total of 135 by Christmas. This seems like a monumental task!

To answer you next questions... I'm eating about 700-800 calories per day. I get 80-100 Protein, 30 fat, 40 carb (although I'm going to remove those from my tracking so I won't fixate on the red numbers LOL). I work out with a trainer doing strength training twice per week. I hit the gym 3-4 times per week for 20-40 minutes of cardio (treadmill or elliptical) and walk with friends once per week for an hour, plus a family stroll now and then.

I'm going to cut out cheese (sniff) and see if that helps overall. He said I might go to the gym twice per day, it could help boost my motabalism, so I might try that.

I cannot eat raw veggies until month 3 (slowly slowly introducing them, he originally said month 5). All beef products are out until at least then, steak for sure until month 5.

Right now, I eat soft foods. A typical menu will look like this:

Breakfast - 7oz greek yogurt or leftover chiken from night before, sometimes a Protein Drink

lunch - tuna or chicken - grilled or baked, cauliflower mash or lima Beans

dinner - chicken (tonight hubby made chicken tortilla Soup without chips and corn and thickened it with refried beans) or something, some kind of veggie.

Snacks - cheese stick, laughing cow cheese, Just the Cheese snack, sometimes I'll have another dinner late night if I'm low on calories (almost always).

I'm meticulous about tracking - almost to a fault. I track EVERYTHING that I put into my mouth. I could see if I were fudging it, but even when I had a 1/4 cup of my kid's homemade ice cream, I put it in there. Best choice? Probably not, but, that was this past weekend. Family freeze off - she won 3rd place... oh, look, shiny...

Anyway...

My trainer suggested a yogurt smoothie. I don't even know where to begin though. I'm allergic to all fruits except banana and berries. I'm allergic to tree nuts. I'm allergic to soy and all soy products. I'm slightly lactose intolerate. So what do I make it out of? fruit juice is out, milk is out, soy is out, almond milk is out. LOL! I guess I could use lactaid milk, right? Someone give me a recipe with a lot of calories (that's the first time I've asked for that, so screwed up!) LOL

Anyway, let me say... before you all go "30 pounds is amazing!". I KNOW it is. Trust me, I'm down 2 underwear sizes, a pants size (and almost a 2nd one). I feel great, I'm off all blood pressure meds, etc etc...

I'm just going by what my surgeon says and trying to meet his goals

They did have a nutrition counselor (not a nutritionist or whatever) but she left and they are hiring a new one. I did email them for a suggestion of someone I could hire. I've also emailed my weightloss therapist for a recommendation too.

Yes, I have a huge team of people behind me, I know! I'm lucky to have a great husband too, he's been fabulous thorugh all of this!

[Driver Deb 10]

I have a Protein Shake & a Protein Bar for Breakfast (400 cal), a can of plain tuna on a salad for lunch (300 cal), and a lean cuisine dinner under 300 calories for dinner and a yogurt or rice cake for dessert. For Snacks in between meals (sometimes) I have an apple, or pickled asparagus or carrots... Some type of zero calorie snack. This is a 1200 calorie day. Too few calories and your body holds fat because it is in starvation mode.

[SleeveGirl-TX 183]

Fluffy - looks like you are pre-op --- you'll find after surgery, it's REALLY hard to get in even 800 calories sometimes. I know that sounds crazy. Trust me, I know! LOL! I was mainly just seeing if anyone could see something I was missing or whatever. I think I'm actually doing just fine, but you know how it is...

[Driver Deb 10]

Fluffy - looks like you are pre-op --- you'll find after surgery, it's REALLY hard to get in even 800 calories sometimes. I know that sounds crazy. Trust me, I know! LOL! I was mainly just seeing if anyone could see something I was missing or whatever. I think I'm actually doing just fine, but you know how it is...

I'm sorry, I should have paid closer attention... I thought you were pre op too. My doctor has me on a 1200 cal diet and the lbs are falling away... I can't imagine less than that right now. LOL...good luck to you !!

[Guest Rosalind]

1200 calories is still very little at your weight. You probably are in starvation mode. You will have to keep your Protein up and watch your Protein to carb ratio. Plus, exercise more? When I plateaued, I looked at what body builders do. On my supervised diet, I had to track everything. That seems like too much fat to me.

I would hope my surgeon would suggest seeing a dietitian.

[SleeveGirl-TX 183]

An update to this... I blogged about it on OH actually.. http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/sleevegirl/

[kellyw74 258]

I think that is REALLY LOW calories for your weight!!

I know we put our trust in our dr's. and want to believe what they say, BUT my dr. wants me to eat 3 times a day and NOT to snack. I AM sleeved and when I do that, I can only consume about 300 calories a day because I can only eat about 3-4 bites of anything at once.

I told him I wasn't losing and he said VERBATUM to me "If you are not losing, you are eating too much!!!!" Are you kidding me??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I took it upon myself to switch things up because I KNOW my body was starving!! Which is what I am sure yours is doing!!! I now eat 3 meals a day and a few Snacks to get my calories in. I make sure to track everything I put in my mouth too using myfitnesspal.com and i try to stay around 800 calories a day when I don't exercise and 1000 day when I do.

My point is, dr.'s don't know it all. Not everything works for everybody!! Everyone IS different and the 3 meal a day trick was not my bag. As soon as I ate more, I started losing again!!

Find out what your caloric needs should be to lose and go from there. You can still eat right and exercise, but I GUARANTEE you need more food if you aren't sleeved yet.

Just my 2 cents.

Good luck!

Kelly

[SleeveGirl-TX 183]

Kelly - I agree, but I'm struggling to get those calories in... short of eating cocoa puffs, I'm not sure what else to eat or when. He says 3 meals per day, but I obviously eat more than that. Like I said in my blog, I'm just going to go with it at this point...

[RSREED53 4]

You need to eat balanced nutrition--supplements, no sugar/low carb meals. While exercise is important, I think you might be doing a bit much--I would focus on walking and doing simple stretches for at least 30 min. Make sure you dd take a stool softener and drink at least 64 oz fluids daily.My doc does not want me snacking for fear the weight will come back--HOWEVER, I have trouble eating semisolids and need to space my meals out during the day. I use recipes from here, and The World Accordingl to Eggface. Also found some cheesecake recipes that are bariatric friendly, and quite tasty when looking for a treat. I whiz fruits in my Protein shakes--blueberry, strawberry mostly. If not there, then I use half of a ripe banana in my Protein Shake. The desert heat stops--Phoenix, AZ is very HOT!!--My doctor wants me exercising once the summer heat stops. It seems that you have thrown your body into nutrition shock, so I would just focus on my Proteins for now, and increase your walking and do some stretching to tone up. Continue your caloric tracking. It sounds like your body is holding onto the fat due to starvation mode. I did not have as much to lose, and my start weight was about 140 pounds less than yours--we are all different,