I just had a zoom appointment with my dietitian and I need to vent. I am taking my vitamins, hitting my 80 grams of protein, getting my 90 ounces of water and my labs are coming back good. I am no longer needing my blood pressure meds and my diabetic medications. I thought this was going to be a good job all is well kind of meeting and go about my day. I was just bumped up to regular foods with no restrictions.

Well that didn't go as planned.

I was instead given a type of menu that looks like trouble to me. There is no way I can eat 800 calories a day right now much less some of the things on this.

800 calories a day just seems pretty high to me??? Anyone else think that a month out when your sleeve is still super restrictive and weight is falling off that 800 calories is a lot?? Am I being a little psycho about this???

My app tells me that I will almost be doubling my intake, right now I am averaging between 400 and 425 a day? I was actually getting more calories in when I was doing just liquids in when I was drinking protein shakes, now I am low on protein I am drinking an extra bone broth for 50 calories instead of the 150 calories in a shake>

Anyway, I will do what they tell me I guess since its worked so far but I am freaking out a bit and I really do not know how I will be able to bump up that much without feeling miserable most of the day

2 hours ago, OAGBPal said:

Heh - it’s going to shock a lot of you (apparently) to learn we are told in my program to go to 1,400 (1,200 for females) after week two to avoid getting the body used to existing on too little. Something about maintenance down the line. I’ve been struggling to get to 1,000 - called them and they said get to 1,200 ASAP and work towards 1,400.

Mine is the same. After 2 weeks I was put on a 1,200 calorie a day diet. I'm supposed to have 3 meals and 6 snacks a day. I can't quite get there but doing better everyday. Luckily I work from home so I can just eat super slowly all day.

Thanks for posting this question OP. Reading the responses is super useful & insightful. My dietitian reccomended way more calories than my surgeon. I was happily reaching 700 sometimes 800 at a month out but then switched to real food & there is NO way I could do that now. I'm about the same out as you, 2 months & depending on exercise at about 500-750 a day. Still high compared to some but I just do what feels good.

Sounds like you're doing great & if making protein, water, vitamin goals it all sounds good

You can only eat what you can eat. There was no way I was eating 800 calories even close to maintenance. You will find you slowly increase your portion sizes as you progress but don’t force your self. As you increase your activity you likely will be able to consume more too.

As I always say: listen to your body. It will tell you pretty darn quickly what you can or can’t do, or can or can’t tolerate. You have to discover what works for you.

Aim to keep meeting your protein goal. Take you vitamins. Monitor your blood work & adjust your diet accordingly.

Don’t ignore your dietician but maybe that their advice as guidelines rather than rules you have to follow.

I’m not tall either. Nor am I overly active. There’s no way I need the same calories as someone who is very fit & active & 6 inches taller. But that’s my opinion.

Good luck.

8 hours ago, OAGBPal said:

Heh - it’s going to shock a lot of you (apparently) to learn we are told in my program to go to 1,400 (1,200 for females) after week two to avoid getting the body used to existing on too little. Something about maintenance down the line. I’ve been struggling to get to 1,000 - called them and they said get to 1,200 ASAP and work towards 1,400.

This makes sense to me. I have always wondered how we aren't killing our metabolisms with these months-years of under 1000 calories. I've been eating 1000 a day since month 4 post bypass and my weight loss has been SLOW. My surgeon's assistant suggested I go down to 800. I just thought... that goes against EVERYTHING we're told about a healthy body. I just keep eating 1000 and hoping my body will do what it's suppose to.

I can't even fathom 1200 calories at 2 weeks. I think I averaged like 300-400 at that point lol... At just over 7 weeks, I now average maybe 650? How can you cram in more calories? I physically just cannot eat that much!

I'm over here amazed you are getting 90 oz of water in. I struggle to get 40 oz!!! (Goal is 64 oz)

6 hours ago, OAGBPal said:

I had a mini-stall (hello, Week 3!) and decided to go to my full 1,400 yesterday. Lo and behold, 2.4 lbs off the scale this morning.

My Week 3 diet plan looks like this (and it's the same for men and women, just slightly different in quantities):

• Morning: 5oz high-protein plain yogurt (Icelandic skyr) with Protein powder
• Mid-morning: Crisp bread with 2 slices of 18% cheese
• Lunch: 50g of white meat, 100g of soft veggies, little sauce
• Afternoon: 5oz high-protein plain yog (no powder added), 3oz fruit juice (no sugar added), 1/2 slice of rye bread, 2 slices of low-fat deli meat
• Evening: Like lunch + 1 potato or 1.5oz pasta
• Late night: 100g soft fruit, 30g 18% cheese

Edit: 32oz of low-fat dairy added during the day. I'm drinking sugar-free chocolate milk like an 8 year old. It's good, y'all!

Finally got it all in yesterday and got rewarded with a 2.4 lb drop (despite constipation being reaaal, sorry for TMI). Kinda couldn't believe it when I jumped on the scale just now.

I still can't imagine eating all that lol... Fortunately, I haven't had a stall yet (knocks wood). I have a couple bites of meat aaaand... Done for that meal.

3 hours ago, MommaJay said:

I'm over here amazed you are getting 90 oz of Water in. I struggle to get 40 oz!!! (Goal is 64 oz)

Its not just water, I get at 90 plus of liquid in. My mornings start out with a big mug of bone broth instead of coffee and that is about 12 ounces, and we farm so this is my "off time". By off time I mean I am in the house most of the day. So I am up about 6am and after my bone broth I fill up my cirkul bottle with just plain ice water and it holds 20 ounces. I make a reminder on my phone to chime every hour (not an annoying alarm, just a light chime) and when it chimes it just reminds me to check where I am on my bottle. I have black sharpie marks on the bottle to kind of show where I need to be and now I am normally further along than where I need to be, by 10 am I try to be done with that bottle. I refill that bottle and turn up the flavor on it, I was getting tired of plain ice water so I pick a different flavor every now and again and set the reminder on the phone again for 2pm. By to 2pm I am past 50 ounces and just keep going until bedtime, I actually take a bottle to bed with me as well. I do another bone broth in the evening for more protein and water.

I do spend a lot of time peeing. I don't know how this will work once I am out in the field this spring unless I wear a diaper but as long as I am in the house it works.

I have also found it does help a lot with the constipation

On 12/22/2020 at 11:01 AM, Betty1971 said:

I just had a zoom appointment with my dietitian and I need to vent. I am taking my Vitamins, hitting my 80 grams of Protein, getting my 90 ounces of Water and my labs are coming back good. I am no longer needing my blood pressure meds and my diabetic medications. I thought this was going to be a good job all is well kind of meeting and go about my day. I was just bumped up to regular foods with no restrictions.

Well that didn't go as planned.

I was instead given a type of menu that looks like trouble to me. There is no way I can eat 800 calories a day right now much less some of the things on this.

800 calories a day just seems pretty high to me??? Anyone else think that a month out when your sleeve is still super restrictive and weight is falling off that 800 calories is a lot?? Am I being a little psycho about this???

My app tells me that I will almost be doubling my intake, right now I am averaging between 400 and 425 a day? I was actually getting more calories in when I was doing just liquids in when I was drinking Protein Shakes, now I am low on protein I am drinking an extra Bone Broth for 50 calories instead of the 150 calories in a shake>

Anyway, I will do what they tell me I guess since its worked so far but I am freaking out a bit and I really do not know how I will be able to bump up that much without feeling miserable most of the day

At a month, I was still around 400 to 500 calories too but my NUT and Doc said it wasn't important, the calories. They were only concerned with what you seem to do well with. You should always listen to your Dr but I wouldn't stress it either. I'm almost 4 months out now and still don't hit 800 calories most days but eating regular food and keeping up protein. Some days are better then others and I work a lot right now but was ok'd recently even with that.

Just try to do the best you can toward what they say you should be doing but don't worry overly about it.

12 hours ago, OAGBPal said:

I had a mini-stall (hello, Week 3!) and decided to go to my full 1,400 yesterday. Lo and behold, 2.4 lbs off the scale this morning.

My Week 3 diet plan looks like this (and it's the same for men and women, just slightly different in quantities):

• Morning: 5oz high-protein plain yogurt (Icelandic skyr) with Protein powder
• Mid-morning: Crisp bread with 2 slices of 18% cheese
• Lunch: 50g of white meat, 100g of soft veggies, little sauce
• Afternoon: 5oz high-protein plain yog (no powder added), 3oz fruit juice (no sugar added), 1/2 slice of rye bread, 2 slices of low-fat deli meat
• Evening: Like lunch + 1 potato or 1.5oz pasta
• Late night: 100g soft fruit, 30g 18% cheese

Edit: 32oz of low-fat dairy added during the day. I'm drinking sugar-free chocolate milk like an 8 year old. It's good, y'all!

Finally got it all in yesterday and got rewarded with a 2.4 lb drop (despite constipation being reaaal, sorry for TMI). Kinda couldn't believe it when I jumped on the scale just now.

My prescribed diet is almost the same. I still can't get it all in but I am feeling way better with more energy as I'm eating more. I definitely couldn't sustain myself on 300 or 400 calories as other people are doing.

The dietician did tell me that I'm on an eating plan more often used for men than for women though because I'm crazy tall and as a powerlifter I have a very high muscle mass so I don't think I'm getting the same info as some others.

At about a month after surgery I was probably doing 500 to 600 calories daily. I found that if I did bump my calorie intake up to 800 to 1000 for a couple of days I would have a weight loss spurt, i.e. losing 6 to 8 pounds in a week instead of my average 3 to 4. At 600 or less calories a day you body is probably thinking it is in starvation mode and will resist losing weight. By bumping up your calorie intake you get your self out of that "starvation" mode.

You can calculate your BMR, basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories your body needs at a minimum to maintain. Small, routinely dispersed meals increase BMR. On the other hand, starvation can reduce BMR by as much as 30%.

https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

Here is calorie calculator to see what intake you need to lose weight.

https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html

Edited December 23, 20205 yr by Uomograsso

On 12/22/2020 at 11:01 AM, Betty1971 said:

I just had a zoom appointment with my dietitian and I need to vent. I am taking my Vitamins, hitting my 80 grams of Protein, getting my 90 ounces of Water and my labs are coming back good. I am no longer needing my blood pressure meds and my diabetic medications. I thought this was going to be a good job all is well kind of meeting and go about my day. I was just bumped up to regular foods with no restrictions.

Well that didn't go as planned.

I was instead given a type of menu that looks like trouble to me. There is no way I can eat 800 calories a day right now much less some of the things on this.

800 calories a day just seems pretty high to me??? Anyone else think that a month out when your sleeve is still super restrictive and weight is falling off that 800 calories is a lot?? Am I being a little psycho about this???

My app tells me that I will almost be doubling my intake, right now I am averaging between 400 and 425 a day? I was actually getting more calories in when I was doing just liquids in when I was drinking Protein Shakes, now I am low on protein I am drinking an extra Bone Broth for 50 calories instead of the 150 calories in a shake>

Anyway, I will do what they tell me I guess since its worked so far but I am freaking out a bit and I really do not know how I will be able to bump up that much without feeling miserable most of the day

I was eating 400 calories and I was only watching my protein and liquids. I also quit going to the dietician as I really knew what I was doing. I also knew what was good for me. I'm almost 18 months out and I'm at 650 calories. You might want to cut your dietician meetings.