Overeating

[DLCoggin 1,788]

I'm not aware of any way to know that you are stretching your pouch but I think the problem occurs less frequently than most think. The key to ensuring that you don't stretch your pouch is Portion Control. As you can see from the responses of other members, it's a very good idea to weigh, measure or count everything that you eat. Eventually you get pretty good at guesstimating most things but it's so easy to weigh, measure or count that I still do it. I like the confidence of not thinking but knowing that I'm eating three ounces, four ounces, whatever. It also is a big help in ensuring that the calorie counts I enter into MFP are as accurate as I can make them!

[arussnfl 1]

Thx DLC I have been doing pretty much that except for the weighing which I already have a scale so I'll go ahead and start doing that too thanks for the info do you know on average how much you eat per meal weight wise? Or do you go by how much calories in the meal has or both?

[Baconville 578]

Thx DLC I have been doing pretty much that except for the weighing which I already have a scale so I'll go ahead and start doing that too thanks for the info do you know on average how much you eat per meal weight wise? Or do you go by how much calories in the meal has or both?

I have a pretty set Breakfast and lunch, at least during the work week. I have Greek Yogurt for breakfast and a Protein Bar for lunch. I split a Protein Shake between morning and evening. So my dinner is what normally changes every day. My target for Protein is to be between 80 - 90 grams each day. I normally calculate my dinner portion to be enough to get me in that range but still keep me under 800 calories for the day. How much I eat can vary greatly depending on what we are having for dinner.

[arussnfl 1]

Ok great that's almost exactly what I have been doing..thx again!

[coachchic 0]

Doesn't carbs matter as well ? And what is the proper amount to be getting in at 6 months out ? I have 11 more lbs. to go but, not losing that very fast... Need some tips . Btw, I get a total of around 15 -21 carbs a day. & suppose to be 500 calories a day.

[Baconville 578]

Doesn't carbs matter as well ? And what is the proper amount to be getting in at 6 months out ? I have 11 more lbs. to go but, not losing that very fast... Need some tips . Btw, I get a total of around 15 -21 carbs a day. & suppose to be 500 calories a day.

Carbs vary greatly depending on what your clinic tells you. Mine extremely limits carbs. I am at 9 months and I am supposed to limit my carbs to 3 tablespoons a day. I am actually eating a bit more that that. My clinic also lumps fruits and veggies as part of that same 3 tablespoons. So if I have a small salad with dinner, that is my carb. I will occasionally have 1/4 cup of mashed potatoes or one slice of bread. Overall, I try to choose a veggie or fruit instead of the carb.

[sassy14 178]

Gee. There's another example of the significant difference. I eat 70-90 grams of Protein, 1200 calories and a significant amount of salad and at least one apple and one additional veggie a day. I have lost 112 lbs since surgery 2/28/13. My doc stresses that we need to exist in the world and learn how to eat long term.

I need those veggies and apple to make everything work right and keep good nutrition for the rest of my life.

[DLCoggin 1,788]

Thx DLC I have been doing pretty much that except for the weighing which I already have a scale so I'll go ahead and start doing that too thanks for the info do you know on average how much you eat per meal weight wise? Or do you go by how much calories in the meal has or both?

Doesn't carbs matter as well ? And what is the proper amount to be getting in at 6 months out ? I have 11 more lbs. to go but, not losing that very fast... Need some tips . Btw, I get a total of around 15 -21 carbs a day. & suppose to be 500 calories a day.

arussnfl - you're certainly welcome. I log everything I eat in in MFP which requires some kind of measurement (serving, ounces, count, etc.) in order to calculate calorie and nutritional info. I then use the calories and nutritional info for managing my weight. For example, my calorie goal is 1610 calories (keep in mind that I'm at the maintenance stage of my journey and have been for about a year and a half). That is a "daily" goal in MFP but it's much more powerful, realistic and sustainable to treat that number as an AVERAGE. It is self-defeating to expect to meet any specific calorie goal every day for the rest of your life. That's not only unrealistic and unsustainable, but who the heck would want to? Life is supposed to be fun. There are always going to be special occasions and most of them involve food. When you treat your calorie goals as an average, you know that there will be days when you exceed your goal. They are the exception rather than the rule but I have had 2500 calorie days and I've had 1200 calorie days. For days when I'm over, I just make a mental note to reduce my goal by 100-200 calories for a day or two and I'm right back on track with my average. And vice versa for days when I'm under.

coachchic - carbs definitely matter! I have MFP configured with a 40%/30%/30% goal - 40% of calories from carbs, 30% from fat and 30% from Protein. Since I eat very little in the way of simple carbs (e.g. white bread, white rice, white potatoes, etc.), I very seldom hit the 40% carb average. I just checked my weekly totals in MFP back to the beginning of the year and have not been above 36% for carbs in that period of time. On the other hand I usually exceed the fat goal with the average being somewhere around 35% for the same period of time. The upper portion of the intestine that is bypassed after the surgery (the duodenum) is primarily responsible for fat absorption. I don't worry too much about fat because of the resulting malabsorption. Protein is very consistent (goal set by my surgeon is 100g per day which I rarely fail to achieve) and I hit the 30% average with very few exceptions.

With a little math it's easy to convert these numbers into grams and calories. My daily calorie goal is 1610. So I'm shooting for 644 calories of carbs, and 483 calories of fat and protein. Carbs and protein have 4 calories per gram, fat 9 calories per gram. So my 40%/30%/30% translates into 161 grams of carbs, 54 grams of fat and 121 grams of protein daily. But again, keep in mind that I'm in the maintenance stage.

There is nothing magical about the 40/30/30 goal that I use other than it works for me. One of the reasons that I am such a strong advocate of maintaining a food log is that doing so allows you to determine YOUR goals for YOUR body and YOUR lifestyle. Doctors and nutritionists make recommendations for calories but the best even they can do is an educated guess. There are simply too many variables from one person to the next. Using a food log, you can experiment a little and find the exact numbers that give you the results you are looking for. Very powerful tool.

For what it's worth, 500 calories a day at six months out seems pretty low to me. You might want to consider upping your calorie goal by 100-200 calories a day. Try it for a week or two and see how your weight responds. You may find that your weight loss will increase with a little higher calorie intake. If not, increase it another 100-200 and see what happens. You can easily adjust it up or down until you find YOUR number.

I lost 130 lbs in fourteen months averaging just under 1300 calories a day. My weight stabilized at 155 (Lol - and my surgeon ordered me not to lose any more) and has not been below 151 or above 156 since December of 2012. I gradually increased my calorie goal until I found MY AVERAGE goal - 1610 calories. Logging works.

You guys have a great day!