Hi again folks!

I will obviously be talking with my surgeon about all of this before I get a date, but I'm just interested to hear what other's know and have heard (I know that everyone's doctor and experience is different)

From what I've read once you're in maintenance your daily caloric intake should be 10 to 1200 and during weight loss it can be as low as 700. Like most of you, I've dieted on and off for 10+ years and have always been told that women should never go below 1200. I also know from my own experience that trying VLC diets like Optifast never worked for me because I would get so faint and feel so weak and sick.

So I guess the question is, how can you survive long term on such a low calorie intake? In some of my crazier diets I'd try to stay below 800 and would get dizzy and nauseous, while on optifast I nearly fainted in my bathroom after a while. Did you feel sick/weak during the weight loss phase? How do you get by on so few calories in the long run as well?

Thanks in advance!

Your metabolism changes due to the low calorie diet. This makes it hard to go back to a "normal" calorie intake when you're done losing weight. Talk to some of the veterans on here. Making sure you are getting your exercise in and trying to keep your calorie intake at a reasonable level while losing is important. If you starve yourself while losing, your metabolism gets even more efficient and you will never be able to eat reasonably without gaining.

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Your metabolism changes due to the low calorie diet. This makes it hard to go back to a "normal" calorie intake when you're done losing weight. Talk to some of the veterans on here. Making sure you are getting your exercise in and trying to keep your calorie intake at a reasonable level while losing is important. If you starve yourself while losing, your metabolism gets even more efficient and you will never be able to eat reasonably without gaining.

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So basically you just no longer need as many calories? You can feel normal on a much smaller amount?

I am not super educated on long term. I was sleeved I march.. however, I will say, I stay between 400 and 600 calories per day and I have way more energy than I ever did before.. I felt dizzy a lot when I first had the sleeve, but not anymore. I can't tell you why, but I def don't have any of those sick feelings I would have in the past when I'd try and really restrict calories.

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The part of the stomach is removed that houses ghrelin, the hunger hormone, as well as the stomach size is reduced to the size of a banana.

These changes remove lot of hunger and appetite.

I am supposed to be on 800 calories these days, and 80g Protein. I track everything on MyFitnessPal, and mostly I manage to eat daily is between 500 and 600 calories, with 60-70g Proteins.

I used to suffer from hypoglycaemia, and was worried that it will make life difficult for me post op.

It hasn't! I feel full on just 1/2 cup of food at a time, and I feel fine.

The only time I felt dizzy and unwell was early on, I got dehydrated. Hasn't happened since, as I am now very conscious of my Fluid intake.

It is easy to be on low calorie intake, as the whole digestive process has changed, and with smaller stomach the appetite gets smaller.

I am not on maintenance yet, but my NUT told me that later on, I may need to be between 1000 and 1200 calories per day. From 3/4 cup to 1 cup of food per meal.

Also, my food costs are now 1/3 of what I used to spend before

So basically you just no longer need as many calories? You can feel normal on a much smaller amount?

Your body becomes very, very efficient at using whatever calories you give it. This is incredible, if you were car or in a famine situation. It can be frustrating for those of us that finally reach goal weight and want to try and eat "normally".

The article I linked below specifically is talking about the crash diet used by Biggest Loser contestants, and how it impacted their metabolism. Many WLS patients have similar impacts on their metabolism. That is one of the reasons you'll see people say that eating more and losing a bit slower is a good thing.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

The part of the stomach is removed that houses ghrelin, the hunger hormone, as well as the stomach size is reduced to the size of a banana.

These changes remove lot of hunger and appetite.

I am supposed to be on 800 calories these days, and 80g Protein. I track everything on MyFitnessPal, and mostly I manage to eat daily is between 500 and 600 calories, with 60-70g Proteins.

I used to suffer from hypoglycaemia, and was worried that it will make life difficult for me post op.

It hasn't! I feel full on just 1/2 cup of food at a time, and I feel fine.

The only time I felt dizzy and unwell was early on, I got dehydrated. Hasn't happened since, as I am now very conscious of my Fluid intake.

It is easy to be on low calorie intake, as the whole digestive process has changed, and with smaller stomach the appetite gets smaller.

I am not on maintenance yet, but my NUT told me that later on, I may need to be between 1000 and 1200 calories per day. From 3/4 cup to 1 cup of food per meal.

Also, my food costs are now 1/3 of what I used to spend before

Thanks so much for all the helpful information!!

I understand that the stomach being gone and the ghrelin production being down causes the hunger to be less of an issue, I was really curious as to whether or not you can survive in a healthy way on that little food and I'm glad to see you've been able to! I also tend to get hypoglycemic symptoms (although I've never actually been tested or diagnosed) when I'm eating low calorie diets. Encouraging to hear that it hasn't been an issue for you.

So basically you just no longer need as many calories? You can feel normal on a much smaller amount?

Your body becomes very, very efficient at using whatever calories you give it. This is incredible, if you were car or in a famine situation. It can be frustrating for those of us that finally reach goal weight and want to try and eat "normally".

The article I linked below specifically is talking about the crash diet used by Biggest Loser contestants, and how it impacted their metabolism. Many WLS patients have similar impacts on their metabolism. That is one of the reasons you'll see people say that eating more and losing a bit slower is a good thing.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html?_r=0

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

VERY interesting. So in a nutshell, once your body gets used to the weight loss cals (700 or whatever) you no longer feel dizzy/sick because of eating so few. Sounds like basically your body compensates.

So then once in maintenance you still need to stay pretty low because your metabolism has slowed. If you start eating like 1500, you will gain weight. Is that about right?

While it's true that we are consuming low amounts of calories......keep in mind that our bodies are also burning our body fat for fuel at the same time.

I can see this at work when I stay low carb and keep drinking lots of Water.

You really can't know exactly how your body is going to react to all of this. A lot depends on your age, your metabolism (not everyone is the same), your body composition, and your final maintenance weight. I maintain nicely in the 1600 calorie range without much exercise. I know other people my same weight who need to eat 1800 or more calories to maintain rather than lose, and still other people who need to stay below 1200. You can't predict, so there isn't much use worrying about it now.

As far as not eating a VLCD for extended periods of time, most medical people agree now that for morbidly obese people, that is perfectly safe from a health stand point as long as you are sure to get your nutrients in. I did it for almost 2 years post op and never had any problems and once I recovered from surgery, always felt great and energetic.