Scheduled to have VSG in one month, and currently going through the "am I doing the right thing" phase. Just lots of reading right now.

I'm 44, 6'6" tall, BMI of 34.5, so low side, but with lots of orthopedic problems these days, went from playing college Bball to barely being able to walk.

One question Ive been wondering about, is after two years of this very low calorie diet with sleeve, do people feel like their metabolism is slower yet than it was when they started the journey? All that research from the biggest loser contests, and my own experience with losing so much over and over only to put it on again, is a big part of why I went ahead with scheduling the surgery, the numbers don't look good for me ever being able to do this with just diet and exercise (though I know I'll need those in addition). But wondering if it will be slower yet once I reach a steady state?

They gave me a list of acceptable foods and how often and much I should be eating but I didn't add up the calories. I have several follow up appointments with my NUT so I'm sure we'll discuss each phase as I get there. I'm currently getting around 500 calories and it's just not sustainable long term.

OK, thanks for sharing your situation... best of luck getting to where you need to be!

I had my RMR tested at 7 months post op and it was 1450. I'm a 5 foot tall female. The doctor recommended consuming up to 1975 calories a day if I maintain a light activity level. So I try to eat around 13-1500 to maintain a deficit and continue to lose.

Its really comforting to have had the test done and not have to make wild guesses about my metabolism. One of my biggest concerns was screwing my metabolism up for life so this gave me peace of mind. @OutsideMatchInside recommended I get the test done and I'm grateful I took her advice.

I was eating up to 800-1000 calories a day pretty quickly post op, by a month after surgery if not sooner.

56 minutes ago, dandelion247 said:

This discussion has been a great find for me, as I've been concerned for a while now about how to maintain a decent metabolism after surgery. My nutritionist told me I'd only be eating 3 oz 3x a day, which added up to less than 1000 calories in my head. If that were so, how would I not eventually be in starvation mode, where my body just hoards its energy and fat? I'm pre-op now, aiming for surgery in August, so this is all still ahead of me. I'm relieved to hear others state that the goal is to get to a reasonable caloric load as soon as possible, but I'm curious -- does that become possible because you can eat more volume in one sitting, or do you increase the number of meals/snacks? I"m being told my sleeve will be rather small and all I'll be able to eat is about 3 oz at a time. What have others experienced?

Starvation mode doesn't exactly work like that, otherwise when they found the survivors in the concentration camps, they wouldn't have been so thin nor would people who suffer from severe anorexia. Starvation mode just means you won't lose at a rate that would correlate to the higher calorie deficit you created. For example, let's say a normal person cuts enough calories to lose 2 lbs a week, and another person cuts enough calories to lose 4 lbs a week. The person who cut twice the amount of calories in theory should be losing 4lbs/wk, but because they are in starvation mode, they only lose 3 lbs per week. Did they lose weight? Yes. Did they still lose more than the other person because they cut more calories? Also yes. This is of course a very simple and generalized explanation.

I read about an experiment that proved this, but of course I can't find it now. It was one done far more recently than the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. Anyway, here is an article with some more information:

http://www.nowloss.com/starvation-mode-myth.htm

1 hour ago, dandelion247 said:

I'm relieved to hear others state that the goal is to get to a reasonable caloric load as soon as possible, but I'm curious -- does that become possible because you can eat more volume in one sitting, or do you increase the number of meals/snacks?

Over time it's normal for a sleeve to relax and stretch somewhat. While it won't ever stretch back to the presurgical stomach capacity of about 40 to 48 ounces, it's normal for sleevers who are 1+ years out to be able to consume 8 to 12 ounces at each sitting.

At two months out I was eating 3 to 4 ounces per meal. Now, at 2+ years out, I can eat 8 to 9 ounces. So my normal caloric intake of about 2000 kcals/day comes from increased volume per meal.

Also, keep in mind that each surgeon creates the sleeve differently. Some use different bougie sizes to shape the sleeve. Others make the sleeve tight and some shape it loosely. Therefore, my sleeve may be larger or smaller than someone's sleeve that was created by a different surgeon.

Thanks for the replies so far. Very useful info.

2 hours ago, dandelion247 said:

This discussion has been a great find for me, as I've been concerned for a while now about how to maintain a decent metabolism after surgery. My nutritionist told me I'd only be eating 3 oz 3x a day, which added up to less than 1000 calories in my head. If that were so, how would I not eventually be in starvation mode, where my body just hoards its energy and fat? I'm pre-op now, aiming for surgery in August, so this is all still ahead of me. I'm relieved to hear others state that the goal is to get to a reasonable caloric load as soon as possible, but I'm curious -- does that become possible because you can eat more volume in one sitting, or do you increase the number of meals/snacks? I"m being told my sleeve will be rather small and all I'll be able to eat is about 3 oz at a time. What have others experienced?

It seems like a lot of advice given by "nutritionist" is only for immediately post-op. I don't know if this is just because that is their focus or they don't deal with many patients long term. Probably a mix of both.

I get in more calories by eating more often. Now at also 2 years post-op I can also eat more volume depending on what it is, but I try to keep my calories and volume in check each time I eat. 4 ounces is the most comfortable amount of dense protein I can eat, sometimes I can get away with 5 but I try very hard not to do it, because I might not realize I went too far until it is too late then it feels like a baby elephant is standing on my chest.

The first 6 months I wasn't allowed steak or pork chops anything really dense, so that kept my calories down naturally. Once I was able to have steak my calories went up just because steak is more calories than fish.