Almost One Year Out..what Are You Eating?

[Sara Ann 0]

I had a meeting with my nutritionist today..she wants me to eat 1400 calories/no more than 180 g carbs/at least 120 g protein/30 g fat on days that I work out, and on the days I don't work out: 1200 calories/no more than 140 g carbs/at least 100 g protein/25 g fat.

It seems like a lot..but she wants me to eat healthy carbs for my carb allowance so I guess that would be okay.

Does this seem like a lot to anyone else?

I will be one year out in March. I've been stuck between 197-199 for the past few weeks and want to lose more!

[RickM 1,753]

The stock answer from many on these boards is that anything over 6-800 calories or 40g of carbs will bury any chances of weight loss for the rest of your life, and while I have never been an adherent of such extremes, it does seem to me to be on the high side for continued weight loss for the majority of us, though that can be quite dependent upon activity levels - some who are budding marathoners may require quite a bit more while still losing.

I also had about 100lb to lose and I averaged around 1100 calories thru most of my loss period and never tried to limit carbs, preferring to maintain a better nutritional balance within our Protein limits; I typically ran 80-100g carbs in the first few months, rising to the 120 range later on as I selectively added more complex carbs to better fuel workouts - timing of that intake seemed to make a bigger difference to me for that function than overall carb level. A pre-workout meal/snack of moderatly high complex carb (like in the mid-20's), moderate Protein and low to moderate fat is a common fitness nutrition guideline. I adopted a small sandwich of whole grain bread with some meat and cheese an hour or two before a workout as a workable solution for me. Crackers and light cheese was another suggestion by my RD. That strategy seems to work well if I'm swimming beyond a mile at a time, but doesn't seem to make much difference on days that I do strength training, even though those workouts are also in the 60-90 minute range. As a reference point now that I transitioning into maintenance mode, I have lately been running around 15-1600 calories and 150g carbs and 120g protein, and talking to my RD today we are looking to move toward 1800 cal and 180 carbs to stabilize things and move away from supplements to the extent possible, so at least with my metabolism, moving into the 1400 cal range would certainly have slowed me down.

Some people find that they stall out if they move beyond the very low cal/carb limits quoted in some plans; some find that they stall out at those low levels and need to boost their intake to break stalls. What are your typical recent cal/carb levels? If you are running in the 1000 cal range, it might be helpful to boost your intake toward your NUT's suggestion temporarily to see if that gets things moving, or dropping things a couple hundred cal to see it that stimulates things - change of some sort is often useful in breaking stalls. Going too low can sometimes be counterproductive as that can slow down your metabolism, while increasing activity or exertion levels can increase metabolism. I found after 2-3 months that I had lost enough weight that low level exercise like walking lost a lot of its value as my heartrate for a given pace had dropped substantially - I could no longer get my heartrate up into that recommended 80% max rate range for heart health and fat burning. It's something that just crept up on me - it sure didn't feel much different but the monitor sure knew the difference, so that's something to check on, and another reason to change up the workout routine.

Good luck in working this thru,

[Foxbins 625]

I'm a year out and I eat anything I want--however, what I want is usually Protein. I don't eat bread or rice (feels bad in my stomach) and I don't regularly eat potatoes, Desserts, or candy (they are a treat food, once every couple of months). I eat fish, seafood, steak, vegetables, yogurt, cottage cheese, some poultry (it often seems too dry to me, so I prefer it sauced) nuts, Peanut Butter. I probably eat 800-100 calories a day and I'm trying to add in calories slowly so I'll stop losing.

[Tai29 17]

That seems awfully wrong that you're almost a year out and have not reached goal. My surgery was on Jan 23 and I've already lost close to 35 lbs. I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing but did you follow your post op dietary to the "t"? I will not deviate. People find a lot of ways to "sneak in goodies" like adding low fat ice cream to Protein shakes or having diet sodas, etc.. but if you think about it those are things that are absolutely not essential at all to your diet and why put yourself through major surgery if you're going to try to "cheat".

Again, I don't want to seem preachy, or like I'm lecturing you ... but I know it definitely does not come easy to say no to the cravings but I am so strict with my diet. I won't eat bread, Pasta, rice, any caffeniated products which even includes iced tea.

Your Nut is the professional but if I were a year out and needed to lose 50 lbs I would get pretty hardcore. A 1400 calorie diet will produce results if your calories are the RIGHT kind. My surgeon only required a 1400 calorie diet prior to surgery and I didn't do straight liquids and I lost 8 lbs in a week and a half.

I would say no fat, no sugar... on my 1400 cal my favorite quick & easy lunch or dinner when I was tired was 3 oz of grilled chicken two handfuls of baby spinach and 2 tablespoons of low fat italian dressing.

Drink Water when you feel hungry... sometimes it's not hunger, you're actually thirsty.

Your Nut's plan sounds good. On days you aren't working out you don't need that many calories.. you're doing less work and weight loss is all about burning more calories than you take in.

Best of Luck on your journey.

[Tai29 17]

I would also say to do a 24 hr food recall on yourself.... look at the food selections you were making prior to utilizing the 1400 cal recommended by your Nut.

Again, anything made with flour is not your friend. bread, crackers, dumplings, Pasta, rice..

Even diet soda ... not necessary. Empty calories

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I'm 1.5 years out. I basically eat anything I want, within reason (roughly 80/20 healthy/unhealthy). If I start putting on weight, I just take it easy with desserts and alcohol and eat more fruit. I put on an odd 2-3 lbs in the last month due to a crazy work schedule with constant availability of goodies and I just made a crap ton of fruit salad - blackberries, oranges, apples, bananas, and a tiny bit of Greek yogurt with honey - and ate that for Snacks and within a week, the weight was all gone. I don't count calories, but I probably hang around 2000/day for my average. For Protein, I just focus on the Protein part of my meal and have Protein shakes after working out.

Today, I had Greek yogurt with fig jam for Breakfast, 3 pieces of rainbow sushi roll and Bolthouse Green Goodness juice before working out, a Protein shake post-workout, and now I'm having a mixed greens salad with some avocado, mozzarella, and grilled chicken. In 2-3 hours, I'll have the remaining 3 pieces of the rainbow roll. Then the only meal left would be dinner - no idea what I'm having, maybe Indian food?

[MINI-Me 196]

That seems awfully wrong that you're almost a year out and have not reached goal. My surgery was on Jan 23 and I've already lost close to 35 lbs. I don't want to sound like I'm lecturing but did you follow your post op dietary to the "t"? I will not deviate. People find a lot of ways to "sneak in goodies" like adding low fat ice cream to Protein shakes or having diet sodas, etc.. but if you think about it those are things that are absolutely not essential at all to your diet and why put yourself through major surgery if you're going to try to "cheat".

WOW! Maybe a bit harsh?!?!?!? Congratulations for losing so much so quickly, but some people's bodies do everything they can to hold onto the weight. Good advice if they aren't adhering, but if they are - this could have felt like a kick in the teeth.

As for the topic and orginal question ... For me, I was lucky. I continually lost on 1200 or so calories a day & didn't watch carbs very closely. I figured if I got Protein in first, there wasn't really a lot of room left for carbs.

It doesn't hurt to try your NUTS plan & see if it works. He/she has seen a lot of people & presumably knows you well. If it doesn't work, then try another path. We are all different & nothing is "cookie cutter" about weightloss.

[Tai29 17]

WOW! Maybe a bit harsh?!?!?!? Congratulations for losing so much so quickly, but some people's bodies do everything they can to hold onto the weight. Good advice if they aren't adhering, but if they are - this could have felt like a kick in the teeth.

This is what I find to be annoying ... people who take your words and try to make them inflammatory. I said repeatedly that I was not preaching or lecturing but simply speaking matter of factly and since we are all adults I didn't think I needed to talk down to her.

Everyone's body is different but if you've had the Sleeve your surgeon has probably already ruled out thyroid issues and the fact of the matter is loosing weight is pretty much the same. Burn more calories and it will come off. Monitor what you eat and it will come off. People stall and so forth but at the end of the day if you aren't doing all you truly know what you can do then you can't expect your weight loss to be successful.

The Sleeve is only a tool. It's doesn't lose the weight for you, you have to make lifelong changes in your diet .. of course everyone knows that, but some people who still struggle to lose weight may not always do that.

It just really, really irks me when people instigate and that is what I feel like your comment does Mini. I didn't call names, or make accusations towards the author of this post, I simply asked a few questions and gave examples. Based on data regarding the sleeve most individuals lose 30% of their body weight within the first 3 months of surgery, so a year out would give me cause for alarm. Some people do things they aren't even aware of doing just from force of habit. That was my point.

At any rate, I don't have to explain myself to you - if YOU were offended you could have kept that to yourself because my comments weren't really directed towards Mini.

[clk 3,519]

Why does everyone have this one year time limit in their brains? Honestly, it takes a lot of us longer than a year to get to goal and that's perfectly OK. It's not a race and it's not a freaking contest. Besides that, your sleeve stays at about the size it is one year out so you've still got awesome restriction if you're eating properly. I refer more to your eating order than what you're putting in your mouth, BTW. Protein first, always. Otherwise you can fill up on junk.

As for your nutritional guidelines I'd say that for me, those are very close to my daily nutritional guidelines in maintenance, but not what I ate while losing. You're the only one that really knows what works for you to lose the weight. I stalled out twice for nine weeks. My body didn't want to move out of the 190s or the 160s. I hung in there and keep going (okay, I stumbled a bit, too) and eventually shed the extra pounds.

I'm the oddball that doesn't believe that we need to be carb Nazis to lose weight but there is no denying that the folks that follow the drastic diets do get results. If you track your food, look back to when you were losing best and see what's changed. The answer might be, "nothing much." If that's the case, just keep going and it will come off. If it's changed a lot, do some backtracking in your diet and see if you get results again.

You're not done losing weight until you quit trying, regardless of how long it's been since your surgery.

Good luck!

~Cheri

[coops 1,790]

Hiya Sara Ann,

I am 19+ mths out and still not at my surgeon's goal, which is a a lot heavier than the BMI chart suggests I should be - he doesn't agree with the BMI, one size fits al - but I digress. Basically I just wanted you to know that the time limit of a year is not that important. Was I gutted that I wasn't at goal six mths ago - YES! Was I gutted that I wasn't at goal - YES! Have I done EVERYTHING I can to shed the extra weight... YES!!!! Snce the New Year, I have been vigilant; cals 800-1200, good on Protein, good quality but low(ish) carbs, 3 meals a day, no snacking unless my cals were too low and I would then add a Protein based snack all this with plenty of exercise (4-5 weekly)... I haven't lost a pound! Infact, I haven't lost a pound since the end of Oct!! Am I doing something wrong- NO! Am I a failure - NO!!

My body just doesn't want to shed this last bit of me, even though my brain does! Will I give up... not completely! At the moment, I am taking a lil rest from logging, but I continue to be vigilant with my food and still exercise.

Please don't let 'time' discourage you. You have done an amazing job so far and you will continue to do so until you feel 'done'! The sleeve is with you for life and it is a wonderful thing. Take each day at a time and I am sure you will figure out what is best for YOU!

Take care and let me know what you decide...

[Chimera 644]

I am still waiting for my surgery - but my surgeon says that vsg patients can expect to lose up to 50% of their excess body weight within the first 6 months following surgery, then another 25% of that in the next 6 months, and the last 25% during the next year, so two years rather than one - these figures seem to be pretty reasonable, certainly for me when there is a lot of excess weight

Hang in there!

[KellyL 173]

You could try it her way and it might kick your weight loss in to high gear. If it doesn't help a lot, then i would go back to whatever has been working. You're doing great!