Hi all, I’m six months post VSG and 85 pounds down. I started working out (CrossFit 4x a week) about three weeks ago and find myself STARVING during the day and eating too much (about 1600-1700 calories) not sure if anyone else has had a similar experience when starting exercise. Lmk!

Aah. The awful truth about exercising. The more you do the hungrier you feel as your body tries to replace the energy you burnt while exercising.

Athletes eat carbs to boost their energy because it burns quickly but we’re advised to avoid carbs while losing. Have a chat with your dietician & see if there is a way to tweak your current eating plan to compensate without adding too many calories. I was allowed rolled oats from purée as a low processed, more nutritious, more filling, whole grain. Maybe that’s a option for you.

At least the exercise helps keep your metabolism running efficiently.

PS. Congrats on your weight loss so far.

Edited March 10, 20224 yr by Arabesque

Your body will need more sustenance to maintain your exercise levels, you will need to eat more. The balance will be how much more. If you aren't losing weight eat a little less than 1600cals and keep adjusting down.

There may be a pause on weight loss at the moment which is not related to weight gain due to additional calories, but if your muscles are really sore after each workout, your body is very likely retaining fluid to help repair the muscles. If you are really sore you may also be building lean body mass but this wouldn't be happening as fast you'd think it would and hopefully you are losing body fat at the same time.

If you had had surgery in my program, and we assume you're a woman, you would've been recommended to go from 1200/day to 1600/day at the 6-month mark. And that's with mild, 30 min a day, exercise.

They do this to make sure your metabolism doesn't get used to living on nothing (the Harvard Health Biggest Loser Study does confirm our metabolism has the ability to get a lot more efficient, aka able to live on little).

So maybe you're doing it exactly right!

Edit: I eat on average 2600-2800 a day with daily light exercise + lifting and HIIT training 2-3x week on top of that, and I'm adding to the higher end of that right now because I don't want to lose anymore.

Just to give some perspective.

Edited March 10, 20224 yr by Guest

Look into the BMR calculator and TDEE calculator. I feel that they're very insightful at this stage when you start exercising. BMR tells you how many calories your body uses at rest, and TDEE tells you how many calories your body uses at the specific energy level that you expend (exercise). These calculations help you to determine where you should be as far as caloric intake is concerned.

Best wishes!

I'm definitely hungrier when I've been doing intense exercise - and Crossfit is intense! Your body is burning up a ton of calories with that - so you'll have to find the balance where your body is getting what it needs - and you continue to lose weight. I agree with the person who suggested you have a chat with your dietitian. I don't think 1600-1700/cal a day for someone doing CrossFit 4x a week is too much, though. Are you still losing weight? If so, this may not be a problem. But talk with your dietitian.

This was incredibly helpful and reassuring. It’s hard not to compare what you are doing with others and get in your head.

1 hour ago, MaureenA said:

This was incredibly helpful and reassuring. It’s hard not to compare what you are doing with others and get in your head.

A good rule of thumb: if you're hungry, eat. Choose something good, eat slowly, protein first - you know the drill. But being hungry simply isn't sustainable, and it's why most of us got to needing bariatric surgery. Restrictive eating --> hunger --> giving in to the hunger ("oh to h*ll with it") --> gain weight --> eat restrictive ("oh no, I have to eat LESS!").

You see the problem. Your body said it needs nutrition. Listen