How many calories should we be taking in. I think I am eating too many, about 1100.

plans are all different. I'd check with your clinic. 1100 is a lot more than I was eating at two weeks out (I was probably about 10 months out when I was eating that much), but some surgeons like to start their patients out at higher calorie levels - so I'd check with him/her.

and honestly, very few programs have you track calories the first few months - they're more concerned about meeting protein and water requirements.

Thank you

I didn’t even have a calorie goal that early out. I was just supposed to be more concerned with volume of food I was taking in.

My instructions were eat until you get all your protein in, then stop. No calorie goal given.

After 3 months when asked how many calories. They said to eat more, "at least 900 to 1000 cal" . But I didn't reach that till 12 months.

While many programs don't specify calories, early on or at all, my gut instinct is that your feelings are right and that is a bit high. I ran 1100 from about that time through maintenance and it did well, but I have a guy's metabolism that seemed to be working fairly normally (doc's RN was telling be to SLOW DOWN at about six months, which was a good call as goal weight was just around the corner. But many go much slower, and my gut feel is that as an average to shorter woman starting in the 50+ BMI range you will be slower losing and should keep the calories a bit lower, if for no other reason than it is much harder to cut back in a few months if you find yourself lagging on loss rate than it is to increase your intake.

Presumably, you are still working through the diet progression and are still on liquids and mushy things, and it will be harder to consume as much as you get to firmer and more solid foods - take advantage of that and try to reduce your intake some as you progress - 800 or so seems to be a good range for many.

Some programs, particularly some of the bypass oriented ones, do call for fairly high calories - 12-1500 calories sometimes - and many people get along ok and lose well on that. But those programs also tend to be the ones where many of their patients fall short of their goals, and the program considers 60% excess weight loss to be a good goal; other programs, and patients, strive for better. Points to consider.

My surgery was 9/20. I went back and looked at my log and I'm currently eating between about 500 and 800 calories a day. Like many, I was not told a specific calorie goal, mostly to focus getting in my protein and water. Since I'm at about 6 weeks now, I don't have any restrictions in terms of food, but getting to my protein goals is hard on food alone, just because I can't physically eat that much. This means I have to rely on protein drinks some still.

It's been said a million times already, but your bariatric team is your best source for your concern. Plans are different and we all progress at different rates as well.

I'm 6 months out and I now eat between 1300 and 1800 calories a day.

I'm 5ft 11" and female. I'm still losing weight at approximately 1lb to 2lbs a week with this calorie intake.

To maintain my current weight, I would need to eat around 2200 calories a day. So anything less than that is likely to result in weight loss.

Thank you all for your input and information. It has helped me.

I’m 8 weeks out and my team says 1000-1200. I think I’ve hit 1000 maybe once. I’m usually around 800-900, but I’ve seen many posts where people hit 1200 or more and are able to actually drop weight faster. Of course, each person and body is different, you have to find what’s right for you.

(Cpach81) Yeah, I was worried I was taking in too many calories and by association too many carbs but I am losing weight now so I must be doing something right. My doctor didn't say anything about calories but did say I should stay around 40g of carbs which I am doing. Thanks I am getting around 1100 calories already so the trick will be to stay at that amount as my diet progresses.

On 10/28/2022 at 8:59 PM, TerryCieniewicz said:

How many calories should we be taking in. I think I am eating too many, about 1100.

I am 7 week post op. And consume 900-1000 cal. But my nutritionist said I was ok to go up to 1200 because I was feeling woozy or tired. I have not had any complications and am down 17 BLS. Did stall for three weeks but started to drop weight again this past few days again. Remember the calories you consume today compared to what you consumed in the past. For me it is about a third . So it is good. It is a marathon not a sprint. Wishing you good health on your weight loss journey.