Hi Everyone! Super new, seeing as I just started my 6 month countdown for gastric bypass. I have not met with my dietitian yet, but I'm trying to get a head start on some things. I've tried calorie counting in the past through weight watchers and individually with the cronometer app. Even after all of this time, I still really struggle to track. I know its a wonderful and helpful tool for me to use, but I forget, don't feel like it or feel quickly overwhelmed. I'd appreciate any advice or words of encouragement. I've been working on cutting out sugars, carbonated beverages, coffee etc. for the time being. Its like I forget what I'm supposed to be doing because I let all other aspects of my life get in the way. When truthfully, this should be the most important.

I really struggle(d) to track accurately because the foods I make don't always match the items correctly in the apps database. I ended up estimating a lot of just giving up tbh.

I used MyFitnessPal the most in the beginning but currently I like Baritastic much more because it has a built in barcode scanner. IMHO use whichever method will keep you tracking consistently.

Good Luck ♥️

I use the app Baritastic and you don't need a code or anything. It has where you can create the recipe and it will figure the rest out. It also lets you scan labels for quick track.

One more for Baritastic app.

Welcome!

I used Myfitnesspal prior to surgery and Baritastic app after. I logged everything that I ate or drank. I started out on 2200 calories a day 6 months prior to surgery and slowly cut that down to about 1600 calories a day in those 6 months. Dropping it by 100 calories a month didn't seem like such a drastic change. Did I go over some days, yes I did, but I got right back on my plan after. I still use my fitness pal to calculate recipes because I like that functionality better.

I think tracking is super important for weight loss. I lost about 70 pounds before surgery just by doing two things: tracking everything in MyFitnessPal and intermittent fasting. I haven't used the Baritastic app because I really like MyFitnessPal, but I think the two apps have many of the same features (barcode scanner, ability to enter recipes and meals, copy meals from one day to another, etc.). I find it super easy to use -- much easier than calorie counting of the old days where I had to look up everything in a book or calculate the points or something.

MyFitnessPal gave me a calorie goal of 2280, and at first, it was a challenge to stay under that, but tracking everything made me more aware of the calorie content of foods and made me think, "Is it worth eating this?" Like @Uomograsso, I gradually decreased my calories over the course of the 5 months before surgery to the point that I was averaging about 1500 calories per day. Something that worked for me was that I made myself enter the food BEFORE I ate it -- basically like budgeting, to make sure I had enough calories left before I started eating.

Intermittent fasting is a bit controversial, but it really helped me to cut back on snacking by making me get used to going long periods of time without eating. I did 16/8 fasting (fasted for 16 hours per day and had an 8-hour window for eating), fasting from after dinner until lunch the next day. Another nice thing about intermittent fasting is that since I was splitting the calories between two meals instead of three, I felt less deprived because I could eat a lot at those two meals and stay under my calorie goal.

I actually didn't make huge changes in what I was eating, like cutting out sugar or carbonated beverages (I did cut out caffeine a few months before surgery, but it wasn't a huge sacrifice because I don't drink coffee, and I just switched from caffeinated diet soda to caffeine-free diet soda), because intermittent fasting was a big enough change for me! If you can do it, kudos to you, but I think sometimes we fail at diets because we try to change too much, too fast, and it's overwhelming so we just give up. I did make gradual changes to what I was eating, like eating a salad before dinner to fill me up, and switching to light salad dressing because the regular dressing wasn't worth the calories. I also started eating protein bars as snacks and found one I loooooove (Built Bars -- so delicious!), which became a nice, relatively healthy treat for me.

Tracking is something I don't like doing, but I make myself and it's really helpful. I've been using My Fitness pal, but I tracked in Baritastic for the first time today and I really like it, so I am going to switch..
You just have to find something that works for you.

10 hours ago, Morachia said:

Hi Everyone! Super new, seeing as I just started my 6 month countdown for gastric bypass. I have not met with my dietitian yet, but I'm trying to get a head start on some things. I've tried calorie counting in the past through weight watchers and individually with the cronometer app. Even after all of this time, I still really struggle to track. I know its a wonderful and helpful tool for me to use, but I forget, don't feel like it or feel quickly overwhelmed. I'd appreciate any advice or words of encouragement. I've been working on cutting out sugars, carbonated beverages, coffee etc. for the time being. Its like I forget what I'm supposed to be doing because I let all other aspects of my life get in the way. When truthfully, this should be the most important.

Im a little beyond six weeks post op and i really sucked at tracking to what i do is use a happy planner the fitness version because it has all the spaces for fluids. Post op my main reason for tracking is the fluids because its more important for me right now to get those in. My program does not count cals just protein grams water oz and exercise minutes. I like the simplicity

+1 on the intermittent fasting. I do 8:16 IF. It took me a while to get used to it, but it does help in the mindless snacking I did prior to surgery.

The main thing is to find what works for you and stick to it. Whether that is an app or just pen and paper.

Try MyPlate by Livestrong. You can scan in package codes, enter new foods in the database. It’s free & really easy to use.