Do you ever feel like somedays you fight as hard as you can against yourself to keep yourself from eating everything in sight...

And then other days...

You are fighting to get enough calories in in one day?

As long as I am getting enough protien and taking my vitamins I figure I am GTG I havent been counting my calories yet as long as I have been dropping weight. Some days I do eat more then others tho. I do weigh everyday altho my doctor told me to throw my scale out the window.

Do you ever feel like somedays you ... are fighting to get enough calories in in one day?

Yes! As a matter of fact, I just came on here to ask about that. I've read that it's best to stay between 1000-1200 calories, but I have a hard time getting in even 1000. I'm not trying to limit myself to that, but just trying to eat according to the "bandster rules". I'm not overly hungry, as long as I drink plenty of Water between meals. But, I kinda worry that I'm setting myself up for a struggle later, because I still have a lot of weight to lose. Should I *try* to get in more calories, or not worry about it?

Tami

Tami, I wish I knew the answer to that question myself. I can't quite figure it out.

Tami and Malice,

I talked to the nutritionist at my doc's office about this and she said not to fight it. As long as I was getting in enough Protein most days, she said not to worry if I was only taking in a few hundred cals (some days I don't want more than 4-500). She doesn't believe in "starvation mode" (though there's no medical evidence one way or another on that and there are certainly different views) and believes that the less you eat, the quicker you lose, period (again, as long as you keep protein levels high enough to prevent muscle loss).

I track my calories, even on bad days. Some days (maybe 4 per month) I eat 1400-1800 cals, most days I eat 800-1000 (18-20 days per month) and a few days I only eat 400-500 (6-8 days). It's working ok so far and I feel great on all the days (except sometimes on the 1800 cal days when I feel like the old days), so I'm not chaning my ways until it quits working for me.

I think a lot of bandsters worry about this problem. I'm interested to hear what others think about it.

Tami, I'm from AL too (though I've been living in NYC for a long time)!

Thank you so much for that information. I have been wondering the exact same thing. Did she say exactly how many grams of protein you are suppose to have each day? I've heard so many conflicting things.

Again thanks.

Tami and Malice,

I talked to the nutritionist at my doc's office about this and she said not to fight it. As long as I was getting in enough Protein most days, she said not to worry if I was only taking in a few hundred cals (some days I don't want more than 4-500).)!

Thanks, Julie. That's what I *want* to believe, but it seems to be a pretty widely accepted belief that if you consistently eat under 1000 calories your metabolism will slow to adapt to that level, making it harder to lose additional pounds.

Tami, I'm from AL too (though I've been living in NYC for a long time)!

:wave: Howdy, ex-neighbor!

Tami

it seems to be a pretty widely accepted belief that if you consistently eat under 1000 calories your metabolism will slow to adapt to that level, making it harder to lose additional pounds.

I think it's widely discussed, but I've never seen any medical data on it. I don't personally believe it's true for me. I do think this may be one of those things that may be true for some people's bodies and not true for others (hence the wide debate).

My nutritionist said in her experience (my surgeon has done more than 4000 bands and she sees all current patients) the most successful female bandsters eat about 800 cals/day during the weight loss phase and about 1000-1200 lifelong. That was shocking to me, but in my personal experience, she's been right so far.

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Starting Over, again, passing on the formula my nutritionist gave me, she said you need 0.36 grams of Protein for every lb of IDEAL body weight. So I'm 5'2 and my alleged "ideal" body weight is no more than 130 (haha). So I need to eat 47 grams per day. She told me to aim for 50.

Julie,

Thank you so much for that info that really helps.

Thanks Julie...I'm 5'2" as well and it's nice to have the protein info for our shortness!

...not really, not very often any more.....although I do have "mini-oink" days....but generally the calorie total remains well under 2000....

I was really stuffed, thinking I had made a serious turn off my meal plan.....FitDay told me I had just short of 1800 calories!!!!

mini-oink days? That is the coolest, hope you don't mind if I use it.