Hi all,

I'm approaching 5 months post op and really struggling to lose. I am between 600-800 calories daily, hydrating, 60 grams minimum of protein, getting in an hour of cardio almost daily... According to my baritastic app, I'm burning around 1000 calories from cardio. And I'm still bouncing around the same 5 pounds from my last post. Am I doing too much cardio? I don't think I'm building much muscle because I don't really have any muscle aches. I feel stuck and down and still have SO much weight to lose.

Something appears to be off. I assume you are weighing and tracking your food accurately? Guessing can lead to being way off.

3 hours ago, Dame21 said:

According to my baritastic app, I'm burning around 1000 calories from cardio.

Personally, I wouldn't trust the calories these phone apps list as being burned. They are notoriously inaccurate.

Unless you've had a series of physical metabolic tests to determine your baseline at your current weight, PLUS have a heart monitor strapped to your chest and and other sensors attached to you to calculate volume of oxygen your body consumes, you won't know what your metabolic rate truly is.

Not sure if you are doing so already, but its probably better NOT to factor in exercise in your daily calorie counts.

600-800 cals a day at your weight of 248 lbs would seem like you should be losing weight, though...so when you say you are struggling to lose weight, do you mean you not losing weight at all? How long has it been?

5 hours ago, Dame21 said:

Hi all,

I'm approaching 5 months post op and really struggling to lose. I am between 600-800 calories daily, hydrating, 60 grams minimum of Protein, getting in an hour of cardio almost daily... According to my baritastic app, I'm burning around 1000 calories from cardio. And I'm still bouncing around the same 5 pounds from my last post. Am I doing too much cardio? I don't think I'm building much muscle because I don't really have any muscle aches. I feel stuck and down and still have SO much weight to lose.

I feel you. I had surgery a month ago and have only lost 10 lbs. I'm sticking to the diet with no problems, I walk briskly at least 1 hour a day and I'm getting 60-70 g protein. In a few days, I'll be cleared to lift weights, which may help. My calories are between 600-800. That said, my preop (not the preop diet, but just my usual eating habits) were to use My Fitness Pal (used it for years!) and hit btw 1100-1200 calories a day. Well I didn't lose weight on that-- no problem following it. The dietician at the weight loss center told me I could eat 1800 calories a day and still lose weight. I laughed. Not true. I'd tried everything. I can only conclude from my own and others' experience that the solution to these metabolic issues doesn't have that much to do with calorie restriction. I suspect t has more to do with hormones and carbohydrate metabolism. My surgeon tells me that I will lose the weight. She is not worried I've only lost 10 lbs, for what that's worth. The only thing that has helped me lose in the past was actual, hardcore weight lifting. Heavy weight: deadlifts, etc. ! I was not skinny, and I spent 1 hour in the gym 6 days a week. I worked very hard to be a still overweight person. I never had a problem with carbo loading or junk food. All of this tells me that our metabolisms are complex. Perhaps it is the metabolism that drives eating disorders and not the eating driving the weight gain. The science needs to do better. Until then, I've found that eating protein like crazy, lifting weights (more than cardio), hydrating, and just eating like a normal person (healthy meals) is the only way to lose weight, and I never lose much. Perhaps that will change, but for now, I really really feel your frustration. In my own case, my post op is not too different from my preop diet. Both healthy- both protein and non-strachy vegetable rich. Both pretty low in calories. But I have experienced the serios weight lifting to help some-- and I feel better when i do it-- just be protective of your pelvic floor!

3 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Personally, I wouldn't trust the calories these phone apps list as being burned. They are notoriously inaccurate.

Unless you've had a series of physical metabolic tests to determine your baseline at your current weight, PLUS have a heart monitor strapped to your chest and and other sensors attached to you to calculate volume of oxygen your body consumes, you won't know what your metabolic rate truly is.

Not sure if you are doing so already, but its probably better NOT to factor in exercise in your daily calorie counts.

600-800 cals a day at your weight of 248 lbs would seem like you should be losing weight, though...so when you say you are struggling to lose weight, do you mean you not losing weight at all? How long has it been?

Great point. I like to say “don’t eat your exercise”. Meaning what you allegedly burn exercising should NOT add to your allowable calories to consume. Whenever I did that is the past I was not successful so I ignore exercise calories.

Have you spoken to your nutritionist to see, if at your activity level, you might need to increase your calorie intake?

Definitely speak with your nutritionist.

Are you tracking EVERY bite, even tastes while cooking add up. That was a big one for me.

It may just be a dreaded stall. During stalls, your body is catching up. While you may not lose pounds, you may lose inches as things redistribute.

Stick with it, it'll work out if you follow the instructions of your nut and keep exercising. Sounds like you're doing a great job!

I recently had a month long stall but the loss picked back up. Hopefully yours will too.

How much are you hydrating? I agree not to look at the calories burned by exercise- not accurate- just generalization. Maybe talk to your Nut about increasing your protein

Is it possible that being too low in the caloric intake scale can actually stall weight loss? I would think at a deficit, no matter how small, weight loss would still happen, but I've read that the body can stop losing and try to maintain bc it thinks it's in trouble. Maybe someone can shed more light on this?