hello -

I have been stalled since 3/23.

My dietician wants me to up my calories. I am currently getting between 800-100 and she wants me at 1200-1500 a day.

I have no idea how to add in another 300+/- calories that are not junk food.

I eat 5x a day, plus one shake. I keep my carbs under 75 a day (under 20 per meal), fat under 60 (under 10 per meal), and sugar less than 25 for whole day, and avoid unneeded sugar (eg, sugar in milk or yogurt okay, but not sugar in skittles)

I also get well over 100 g of protien a day.

I am not working out because I am having positional lightheadedness, where my vision whites out when I go from sitting to standing randomly. I am getting 80+ ounces of fluid a day.

yesterdays food:

pure protien bar

protien shake

greek yogurt

tuna (bumble bee quick catch, had tuna and pasta)

a fake sushi roll (avocado carrots butter lettuce crab meat and lobster chucks wrapped in a rice paper)

grilled ribs without sauce + lima beans.

todays meal plan:

quest cheddar crisps

protien shake

yogurt

legendary pop tart

artisan traders 2 egg omlet cups

ribs and lima beans

my restriction is still super strong, and i can barely get half a cup in per meal/. 6 months out from surgery. bouncing between 184-188 since 3/23

Try doing exercises in a chair, or floor exercises. Your body need to work out. Also, try lowering your barbs. 75 seems high. My nutritionist said to do 50 or less per day. Protein should be between 60-90 per day. Too much isn't good for you. Water intake sounds good. As far as the calories, I was told to stay around 1000-1100 if I'm not working out, and 1200-1300 if I am. Too many and you'll gain weight. Too few and your body will think it's starving and hold on to everything. You also want as little sugar as possible. So maybe try lowering how much you're consuming. Use monkfruit sweetener, watch the sugar in fruits. Also, try adding weights to any exercise routine you try to have. Even if all you can do is go for walks twice per day. Add wrist and ankle weights when you walk. Do light arm exercises while you walk. Adding little things can make a HUGE difference.

9 minutes ago, SleeveDiva2022 said:

Try doing exercises in a chair, or floor exercises. Your body need to work out. Also, try lowering your barbs. 75 seems high. My nutritionist said to do 50 or less per day. Protein should be between 60-90 per day. Too much isn't good for you. Water intake sounds good. As far as the calories, I was told to stay around 1000-1100 if I'm not working out, and 1200-1300 if I am. Too many and you'll gain weight. Too few and your body will think it's starving and hold on to everything. You also want as little sugar as possible. So maybe try lowering how much you're consuming. Use Monkfruit sweetener, watch the sugar in fruits. Also, try adding weights to any exercise routine you try to have. Even if all you can do is go for walks twice per day. Add wrist and ankle weights when you walk. Do light arm exercises while you walk. Adding little things can make a HUGE difference.

So I don't use sugar in anything. I dont drink coffee, all of my sugar literally comes from greek yogurt, fairlife milk, ect. I don't use sugar.

I just wish I could figure out what food to add because she thinks my body is in starvation and thats why I need to bump them

I was stalled for a solid 2 months, I ate carbs for a weekend... then hit the gym hard and I am back on track.

Its the worst when you feel like you are doing everything you can and you see no movement, but you will.

Also, try doing band workouts from a chair, they are great and really work.

You can try to incorporate high calorie (but healthy) foods into your diet. For example: Avocado, PB (super yummy on banana or apple), use evoo or ghee to cook and not cooking spray, etc.

Can you tolerate nuts? They are calorie dense. They have a lot of fats, but they are healthy fats.

How is your sodium intake? I was having positional lightheaded, low BP, etc. and I was told to actually try anything I can tolerate that is a little salty. I'm nearly a year out from my surgery and am barely able to eat 1/4 cup of food at any time, so I've been told if I can tolerate something, eat it. My team is trying to slow down my weight loss, it came off too much too quickly.

If you’re not exercising, getting in 1500 calories may be too many & hinder your weight loss. I’m a non exerciser (just stretching, resistance bands & sit-ups). At an inch shorter & probably older (almost 58) I maintain consuming 1400-1500 calories which i have since discovered is pretty much what my basal metabolic rate recommends. This may be something to raise with your dietician as they know you & your needs better.

I don’t enjoy exercising & also have low blood pressure (genetic - had it randomly before but all the time now. Amusingly being obese kept my BP at 120/80.) & oozing discs which is why I only do as little as I do. Most are on the floor & I exercise snack. Do 4 sessions lasting 5-10 minutes across the day. Would probably only burn 30 calories but my muscles are definitely more toned. My doctor put me on blood pressure meds to get it higher. It didn’t work for me but still may be something worth asking your doctor about even as a temporary fix.

I relate to not being able to physically eat more too. When I reached my goal at 6 months I was only eating about 900 calories & less than a cup of food for a meal. I kept losing for another 6 months during which I slowly increased my snacks (to 4 & 5 a day ) & slowly was able to eat more. I truely felt I was eating all day long. I stopped losing when I was consuming about 1300 calories. My body has since settled, I eat fewer snacks but more regular sized portions hence the more calories. I also have pretty much maintained at about a kilogram above my initial 2 year stabilised weight.

We all have different needs physically, psychologically, medically, etc. but do ask further questions of your doctor & dietician. One size doesn’t fit all.

On 4/14/2023 at 4:02 PM, GMaJen said:

Can you tolerate nuts? They are calorie dense. They have a lot of fats, but they are healthy fats.

I can! Thats a good idea

On 4/14/2023 at 6:11 PM, St77 said:

How is your sodium intake? I was having positional lightheaded, low BP, etc. and I was told to actually try anything I can tolerate that is a little salty. I'm nearly a year out from my surgery and am barely able to eat 1/4 cup of food at any time, so I've been told if I can tolerate something, eat it. My team is trying to slow down my weight loss, it came off too much too quickly.

my salt intake has always been limited because my mother was restricted sodium per her doctors for various medical conditions, so we still use salt free condiments and seasonings. I probably could add more salt in for sure

On 4/15/2023 at 12:07 AM, Arabesque said:

If you’re not exercising, getting in 1500 calories may be too many & hinder your weight loss. I’m a non exerciser (just stretching, resistance bands & sit-ups). At an inch shorter & probably older (almost 58) I maintain consuming 1400-1500 calories which i have since discovered is pretty much what my basal metabolic rate recommends. This may be something to raise with your dietician as they know you & your needs better.

I don’t enjoy exercising & also have low blood pressure (genetic - had it randomly before but all the time now. Amusingly being obese kept my BP at 120/80.) & oozing discs which is why I only do as little as I do. Most are on the floor & I exercise snack. Do 4 sessions lasting 5-10 minutes across the day. Would probably only burn 30 calories but my muscles are definitely more toned. My doctor put me on blood pressure meds to get it higher. It didn’t work for me but still may be something worth asking your doctor about even as a temporary fix.

I relate to not being able to physically eat more too. When I reached my goal at 6 months I was only eating about 900 calories & less than a cup of food for a meal. I kept losing for another 6 months during which I slowly increased my Snacks (to 4 & 5 a day ) & slowly was able to eat more. I truely felt I was eating all day long. I stopped losing when I was consuming about 1300 calories. My body has since settled, I eat fewer snacks but more regular sized portions hence the more calories. I also have pretty much maintained at about a kilogram above my initial 2 year stabilised weight.

We all have different needs physically, psychologically, medically, etc. but do ask further questions of your doctor & dietician. One size doesn’t fit all.

I agree so much with this. I really think my dietician isn't thinking this through and I feel like 1300-1500 is probably where my basal rate is and that isnt not going to let me get any where weight loss wise

Often when you stall you do need to up your calories, for a day or two! I’d definitely follow your dietitians recommendations. I also get positional lightheadedness - I have not been doing weights for this reason but am able to tolerate stretching and cardio including walking and jogging. It might be something to consider!

On 4/19/2023 at 9:15 PM, vsg2410 said:

Often when you stall you do need to up your calories, for a day or two! I’d definitely follow your dietitians recommendations. I also get positional lightheadedness - I have not been doing weights for this reason but am able to tolerate stretching and cardio including walking and jogging. It might be something to consider!

have you found any way to help the transitional lightheadness?

On 04/21/2023 at 09:14, heatherdbby said:

have you found any way to help the transitional lightheadness?

Not really. When it was really bad I drank Gatorade zero or fit daily. Now it’s the worst when I get up from laying down so I make sure to sit on the edge of the bed/couch for a minute or two before standing up.