Should I force myself to eat more?

[avatarkorraa 4]

Hello everyone,

I'm 9.5 months postop VSG and I have lost 88 pounds since my surgery on Sept 19th, 2016, and 108 pounds overall since my pre-op liquid diet. For the first few months postop I was eating about 600-800 calories a day, and up until today I'm still eating around 700-900 calories a day, 80-100 grams of Protein, and anywhere from 20-30 grams of net carbs. A lot of people keep telling me that my calories are way too low for someone as far out as I am, and I'm worried that if I continue to eat like this that my body will adjust to a really low calorie intake and once I hit maintenance that I'll start gaining weight if I eat over 1000 calories. I want to be able to maintain within a normal calorie range for someone my age, of around 1500 calories. I'm 5' 7" and 21 years old, and right now I weight 177lbs and I'm hoping to reach my goal weight of 150lbs. I was 285lbs before my pre-op liquid diet, and 265lbs on the day of surgery.

But I'm honestly finding it really hard to increase my calories because eating up to 900 calories a day usually leaves me sufficiently satisfied for the day, and to be able to eat more than 900 calories a day I feel like I would really have to force myself to eat more. I eat healthy, nutritious food and always prioritize my protein, so it doesn't leave much room for me to eat too much calorie dense foods. I eat clean - no ice cream, pizza, chips, etc. or other junk whatsoever. Things I eat regularly include: Premier Protein shakes, chicken breast, shrimp, low fat cheeses (mainly feta, parmesan, mozzarella, and sharp cheddar), nuts (mainly almonds and pistachios), low fat greek yogurt, protein granola, high fibre bran Cereal, small amounts of berries, Peanut Butter, and eggs. I eat a lot of veggies too, and always stick to non-starchy veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, brussel sprouts, cucumber, green Beans, and spinach. I weigh and measure everything I eat down to the gram and track everything on myfitnesspal everyday. Here is myfitnesspal account where I have my food diary visible, so any advice on what I'm eating would be really appreciated: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/avatarkorraa. I can comfortably eat anywhere from 5-7 ounces of food in a sitting, and I eat 3 meals a day and 1-2 Snacks, every 3-4 hours. In terms of my activity level, I'm pretty sedentary because I have a lot of chronic fatigue and muscle weakness due to some complications I had postop , so I can't increase my calories too much because I'm not burning off a lot. In the meantime I'm following up with my doctor to see if there's something I can do about this so I can start exercising soon, because I really want to .

So where should I go from here? I really don't want my metabolism to adjust to such a low calorie intake, but I'm scared that if I increase my calories that my weight loss will stop. Should I try eating more calorie dense foods or force myself to eat more in general? How many calories should I be eating right now to maintain a healthy weight loss and so my metabolism doesn't slow down? Is it too late for me now to do so? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Edited July 4, 2017 by avatarkorraa

[alcn1derlnd 146]

My nutritionist says to stay at 600-800 until goal is met and not to increase until then.


HW-292

SW- 256.6

CW-256.6

[Joann454 1,329]

My nutritionist says to stay at 600-800 until goal is met and not to increase until then.


HW-292

SW- 256.6

CW-256.6

I hear such conflicting info about this.
How low is too low until it messes with our metabolism? I need to research this.
Maybe there is no definitive answer.

[Dabearo 118]

Intersecting topic. I'm intrigued on others comments. My nut also said 800 cals until we need to stop loosing weight. Then gradually increase until my body maintains. I'm so far from that right now I'm not going to worry about anything but my Protein carbs.

[Joann454 1,329]

Intersecting topic. I'm intrigued on others comments. My nut also said 800 cals until we need to stop loosing weight. Then gradually increase until my body maintains. I'm so far from that right now I'm not going to worry about anything but my Protein carbs.

I'm wondering if anyone here lost the bulk of their weight on 800 or less calories and how their metabolism is now.

[avatarkorraa 4]

21 minutes ago, Joann454 said:

I'm wondering if anyone here lost the bulk of their weight on 800 or less calories and how their metabolism is now.

I'm wondering about that too! But it seems to me that the most successful sleevers (just from what I've seen browsing forums, YouTube, etc) are the ones that are eating at least over 1000 calories in the losing phase. Has anyone else noticed that or am I way off? Which brings me back to my original question - should I force myself to eat more so I can up my calories? I really don't want to risk ruining my metabolism in the long run...

[Joann454 1,329]

I'm wondering about that too! But it seems to me that the most successful sleevers (just from what I've seen browsing forums, YouTube, etc) are the ones that are eating at least over 1000 calories in the losing phase. Has anyone else noticed that or am I way off? Which brings me back to my original question - should I force myself to eat more so I can up my calories? I really don't want to risk ruining my metabolism in the long run...

Let me know if you find out! lol
I think I'll try 800-1000 kcals, I might lose slower but I'm petrified of messing up my metabolism. I wish I knew the answer. I like my NUT but she wants me eating carbs. fruit, potatoes and such. Uh uh!

[Sullie06 1,033]

My NUT said she wanted me at 1000 calories by 6 months, that extended time under 1000 calories is not good long term. She said that I should work up to 1200-1400 calories by 1 year out.