I'M now 9 weeks post op. I've gone from not being able to eat 500 calories to wanting more than 700 calories. I'm not eating junk. I'm doing at least 70 gms of Protein, less than 50 of carbs and they are all complex carbs. No Pasta, bread, sugar. I'm drinking at least 48 oz of Water plus shakes and coffees. I'm taking an antacid everyday. I eat about 2-3 oz of protein 5 times a day. Still no room for veggies,fruit etc in substantial quantities. But I'm hungry, esp at night. Real hunger, not head hunger. Recently I added a very small amount of walking/jogging/biking. I might burn 150-175 cals with it which is not much but I've gotten hungrier. I've lost 33 lbs in 11 weeks with a 12-day stall at w3 and am currently in a 10+ day stall.

I want to be able to add 100 calories on the days I feel hungry and not worry. But I am concerned that will slow my weight loss down even more. Technically I know that's still a deficit, given that I'm 5'6 and weight 196 lbs but I'm not sure.

I also don't want to be at a very low calorie diet forever and ruin my metabolism any more than it's already jacked up.

I know the logical thing to do is to add it and see what happens but since I'm stalled right now, I'm not sure how I'd know? Would love some advice from others esp about what you did as you were at my weight but even generally how your calories migrated as you were further out from surgery.

Thanks guys.

I've never been able to tell the difference' date=' but wanted to be able to. What does head hunger feel like vs. "real hunger." I'm not sure if I experience both or if I mistakenly perceive it all as real hunger when it's not.[/quote']

For me, real hunger means I just want food. Head hunger comes with cravings for specific food, which is never on my plan! One rule is "Hungry enough to eat cooked carrots?"

"Hungry enough to eat cooked carrots?"

I think I may make that my motto. It'll keep me from eating ever again!

For me' date=' real hunger means I just want food. Head hunger comes with cravings for specific food, which is never on my plan! One rule is "Hungry enough to eat cooked carrots?"[/quote']

Yup! So weird, I use the same thing, except in my case it's "hungry enough to eat dry chicken c

Breast?" Yes means hunger.

This has been a great topic for me to read. As part of my pre-op, my surgeon had me take a 10 minute metabolic test a couple weeks ago. I was told it was primarily for his research purposes (I'll take another one at 6 months and 12 months post-op) but I found my discussion with him about it very interesting. He said that almost all his patients have a low metabolism (which we both agreed was not shocking). My metabolic rate calculated to me needing 8.4 calories per pound to maintain, however the average metabolic rate for "normal" people is anywhere between 12-14. He said that based on what he has seen, this 8.4 stays fairly consistent as I will lose weight. It can and will go up with increased muscle mass, but it doesn't have as big of an impact as people think. He did say any increase through increased muscle mass is good, which I think we all know.

According to the BMI charts, the high end of my healthy weight is 192 pounds, which means when I meet goal - side note: I said when and not if - I will need 1,613 calories per day to maintain. This is assuming that 192 is my healthy weight and not what some chart is telling me.

During my required visit with the nutrionist, I was told that when I will be back on solid foods for life that I would be eating 800-1,000 calories per day. Even before I knew my actual metabolic rate, the math didn't add up. A "normal" person my height needs almost 2000 calories per day (according to the standard calculators). The surgeon told me that the number I was quoted by the NUT was too low that that I would need more than that to avoid going into starvation mode.

So, that was a somewhat long way around getting to what I was meaning to. The problem I've been trying to wrangle in my head is how is it possible to get to 1,600 calories a day if you are eating half a chicken breast at each meal. Or even if I can get to a full chicken breast, which is under 200 calories. I would need to eat over 8 chicken breasts in a day, which is not possible if you are eating every 3 hours. I am part of a local support group here in town (that at least one person commenting in this thread is a part of as well) and I've been joining them for meals at a restaurant in which every meal is under 475 calories. From what I've seen in the couple times I've been there, most people don't seem to be able to eat the entire meal, many maybe getting through about half. I'm sure I'm probably trying to break it down too much, I'm a numbers guy by trade and the math doesn't add up.

This has been a great topic for me to read. As part of my pre-op' date=' my surgeon had me take a 10 minute metabolic test a couple weeks ago. I was told it was primarily for his research purposes (I'll take another one at 6 months and 12 months post-op) but I found my discussion with him about it very interesting. He said that almost all his patients have a low metabolism (which we both agreed was not shocking). My metabolic rate calculated to me needing 8.4 calories per pound to maintain, however the average metabolic rate for "normal" people is anywhere between 12-14. He said that based on what he has seen, this 8.4 stays fairly consistent as I will lose weight. It can and will go up with increased muscle mass, but it doesn't have as big of an impact as people think. He did say any increase through increased muscle mass is good, which I think we all know. According to the BMI charts, the high end of my healthy weight is 192 pounds, which means when I meet goal - side note: I said when and not if - I will need 1,613 calories per day to maintain. This is assuming that 192 is my healthy weight and not what some chart is telling me. During my required visit with the nutrionist, I was told that when I will be back on solid foods for life that I would be eating 800-1,000 calories per day. Even before I knew my actual metabolic rate, the math didn't add up. A "normal" person my height needs almost 2000 calories per day (according to the standard calculators). The surgeon told me that the number I was quoted by the NUT was too low that that I would need more than that to avoid going into starvation mode. So, that was a somewhat long way around getting to what I was meaning to. The problem I've been trying to wrangle in my head is how is it possible to get to 1,600 calories a day if you are eating half a chicken breast at each meal. Or even if I can get to a full chicken breast, which is under 200 calories. I would need to eat over 8 chicken breasts in a day, which is not possible if you are eating every 3 hours. I am part of a local support group here in town (that at least one person commenting in this thread is a part of as well) and I've been joining them for meals at a restaurant in which every meal is under 475 calories. From what I've seen in the couple times I've been there, most people don't seem to be able to eat the entire meal, many maybe getting through about half. I'm sure I'm probably trying to break it down too much, I'm a numbers guy by trade and the math doesn't add up.[/quote'] I'm part of that same group too and everyone eats hardly anything there. But then I look st the MFP diaries of folks and there are a lot oF men your age who eat more than 1000 calories The math didn't add up for me even before surgery. My basal metabolic rate was 1700 and I couldn't lose at 1200 calories a day! As we've said, way oversimplified. But yes I too wonder about ingesting that many calories 1-3 oz at a time. I think protein shakes will be our friends for a while to come.

". Might I suggest ................... eating glutton free foods. " sorry, I had to chuckle at that

Long term severe reduction of calories will kill your metabolism. No way around it. The body will adapt to whatever is required to maintain homeostasis. If you eat 500 calories all the time for the remainder of your life' date=' your body will reward you with burning fewer calories and down regulating the efficiency of your metabolism. Homeostasis for your body will become 500 calories a day and this is not enough long term. For the masses, this is packaged up nicely as"starvation mode." Everything needs a nice label right so it is easier to discuss, no? In reality, your body is the most complex system ever conceived that is constantly balancing itself through complex anatomy of interactions controlled by hormonal communications. Calories in versus calories out is the most basic way to think about reduction of body fat, but oversimplification is prone to fallacy when trying to precisely control desired outcome. Considering the hormonal responses in the body, you really need to be thinking about the impact of nutrition and supplementation on hormonal communication, a very deep dissertation not to be taken lightly. Understanding and addressing the hormonal imbalances in the body through delicate attention to nutrition is going to be 90% of the effort in eliminating stored fat. Also important is to reduce the overall inflammation in the body by eating foods that increase the pH levels (eg reduce acidic levels) at the cellular level. Fortunately, the initial post op diet of high Protein and low carb has much of these characteristics built in. It is important to determine an approach to balanced eating after the initial post op diet to create the ideal metabolic response. Might I suggest researching topics that simplify control of the hormonal responses like eating low glycemic foods, intermediate fasting (5:2 diet is a form of IF) and eating glutton free foods. For me, a paleo diet has created an ideal metabolic response in the body after the initial 6 months. As for a plan to increase daily caloric load to minimize entering into "starvation mode, " you might consider: Month 1: 300-500 Month 2-3: 400-700 Month 4-6: 600-900 Month 7-8: 900-1100 Month 9-12: 1200-1600 Post 12 months: 2000 Slowly increase calories over the months to reset homeostasis in the body every couple months to a higher daily caloric load. You want the body to get used to eating 1600-2000 calories a day long term where you are neither gaining or losing weight. This assumes a standard amount of physical activity. The calories may need to be higher to fuel more intense physical activities. All in all, remember that nutrition is going to have a far greater impact on body composition then physical activity. These are just my thoughts on the subject.[/quote']

Great post!!!

Great post!!!

I agree this post is very helpful! Loved it!

I too am trying to increase my calories.

Thanks for starting this thread! Everyone's thoughts were very helpful as well! I lost weight I think very rapidly. I lost 70 pounds in 3.5 months and I'm 25 pounds away from my goal of 135. I felt like I need to start increasing my calories little by little but was so afraid to do it! Especially since I'm only 3.5 months post op.