How many calories a day do you eat?

I will be 4 weeks out on Tuesday and have only lost 18 lbs(i also lost 22 lbs preop). But I have been at a stall for about 1 1/2 weeks and am starting to get very depressed/upset.

I've been tracking what I eat and I started really looking at it this week. I have been eating between 700 and 900 calories a day. During my preop diet I ate between 900 and 1000 calories a day.

How do I stop this stall? Eat less calories? Thats what I did yesterday -- only have 520. Or do I eat more. Since surgery, I have a hard time getting any Protein shake down so I've been drinking 4 glasses of 1% milk throughout the day. It's 32 G of protein but 400 calories. Yesterday I forced a nectar Protein Drink down and reduced my milk to reduce the calories.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

BTW....I walk every evening for 15 - 20 minutes for my exercise.

i would say eat more, and how many carbs are you eating? maybe increase those too. I have been lucky and havent had a stall im thinking its because my carb and protein levels vary each week, and i do a few different workouts to keep my body guessing. Just make sure you are getting your water and protein and most importantly dont stress. Remember its just about impossible not to lose. i cant remember how many calories i ate, but it seems like 520 is low. What is your diet like? Maybe add some cheese, eggs, peanut butter. Have you tried Muscle Milk light or EAS drinks or Atkins? that would mix up the protein and give you new flavors to try. good luck.

also, are you able to do anymore exercising? I know a lot of us have physical restrictions. Maybe while you are walking, jog/run for a minute, then walk 5, then run a minute again.

i am a staunch supporter of exercise as soon as you can. I personally think it is so pivotal to the sucess of WLS as a whole. We are going to lose the weight, this is the time of our lives to get as healthy as we can. It has really helped me curb my depression, and ive been meeting a lot of new friends at the gym.

What freaks me out about this calorie thing and stalls in weight loss is the fact that last year I was eating between 1500 and 1700 calories per day,burned about 500-600 with exercise and I lost between 3-4 pounds every week for 18 weeks WITHOUT A STALL.I subsequently fell off the wagon ergo the surgery but still...what is the low calorie and stall thing about?Is it not because of the low calories that we experience the stalls?

I am so not sure about all this.My surgeon says no sweets,no fatty food,not too high carbs,protein first,veggies second.No calorie counting!

Good luck with the stalls.Maybe stop counting calories for a week or 2 and just eat sensible..might just give one renewed energy for the fight.

Personally I think most stalls early on are from too few calories. Sometimes thats all you can eat though. I have eaten 1200-1500 cals a day since 2.5 months post op and I am 5lbs from goal..... Pre-op I was eating 3500+ cals a day for years. Our bodies are freaked out when we eat a fraction of that!! Try not to get frustrated and just do the best you can... (dont got too low either!!) The weight will come off.