Calories at maintenance shock

[Hope4NewMe 167]

I'm a year out from my surgery and at my last dietitian meeting we discussed maintenance calories which I have been looking forward to that discussion for forever but I was really shocked and I can't believe I didn't know this after all of my research before and after surgery. He said my calorie goals for life should be between 1300 and 1500 and I had no idea that was going to be so low. I honestly went into surgery thinking that the average calories a person eats is 2000 so I must be eating 3000 or more to be so over weight and I just needed to get back to normal. I thought that I would be able to use the surgery and lack of hunger to eat super low calories and lose the weight and since month 3 I've been at 1000 a day. My hunger is back and 1000 is a struggle now and I'm using all my years of diet experience to fill up on low calorie food as well as hitting all my Protein and Water goals. I thought that soon I'll be able to eat more so it's just a temporary situation, but now I'm worried about long term success. If I'm hungry at 1000, I don't think 300 more calories is really going make a huge difference. So now I'm wondering if the reason why so many people gain the weight back after surgery is because to keep it off we have to keep our calories so low forever? Also, why do we have to keep our calories so low? Why is the average calories 2000 but for bariatric patients 1300 to 1500 is the goal? I always thought that anything under 1500 wasn't a safe number but when I asked my dietitian all of these questions he didn't know. He just knew that to maintain the weight loss, that's the normal goal and that if I wanted to eat more I could exercise more. So did everyone else know that the calories after surgery were going to be low for life and I just somehow missed this important fact? Anyone know why our average doesn't match the so called normal average? I was really excited to be close to goal but now I'm scared because I can see now how easily it can all go away.

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,814]

39 minutes ago, Hope4NewMe said:

I'm a year out from my surgery and at my last dietitian meeting we discussed maintenance calories which I have been looking forward to that discussion for forever but I was really shocked and I can't believe I didn't know this after all of my research before and after surgery. He said my calorie goals for life should be between 1300 and 1500 and I had no idea that was going to be so low. I honestly went into surgery thinking that the average calories a person eats is 2000 so I must be eating 3000 or more to be so over weight and I just needed to get back to normal. I thought that I would be able to use the surgery and lack of hunger to eat super low calories and lose the weight and since month 3 I've been at 1000 a day. My hunger is back and 1000 is a struggle now and I'm using all my years of diet experience to fill up on low calorie food as well as hitting all my Protein and Water goals. I thought that soon I'll be able to eat more so it's just a temporary situation, but now I'm worried about long term success. If I'm hungry at 1000, I don't think 300 more calories is really going make a huge difference. So now I'm wondering if the reason why so many people gain the weight back after surgery is because to keep it off we have to keep our calories so low forever? Also, why do we have to keep our calories so low? Why is the average calories 2000 but for bariatric patients 1300 to 1500 is the goal? I always thought that anything under 1500 wasn't a safe number but when I asked my dietitian all of these questions he didn't know. He just knew that to maintain the weight loss, that's the normal goal and that if I wanted to eat more I could exercise more. So did everyone else know that the calories after surgery were going to be low for life and I just somehow missed this important fact? Anyone know why our average doesn't match the so called normal average? I was really excited to be close to goal but now I'm scared because I can see now how easily it can all go away.

Actually, that's higher than mine. I stay around 1100 unless I'm working out, then I'm at 1300. If it's 1300-1500 for you, split the difference and try 1400. You would be surprised how filling another 400 calories actually is. Just make sure you're eating them and not drinking them.

[Hope4NewMe 167]

1 hour ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

Actually, that's higher than mine. I stay around 1100 unless I'm working out, then I'm at 1300. If it's 1300-1500 for you, split the difference and try 1400. You would be surprised how filling another 400 calories actually is. Just make sure you're eating them and not drinking them.

Those calorie amounts are still in your losing phase right? Or are you planning on staying at that amount for life?
I agree that I haven't even tried seeing how filling an extra 400 calories is so it might end up being a non issue in the long run but it was just a shock mentally. I always though the goal was to become average/normal but it doesn't seem to be the actual goal and that switch surprised me.

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,814]

3 hours ago, Hope4NewMe said:

Those calorie amounts are still in your losing phase right? Or are you planning on staying at that amount for life?
I agree that I haven't even tried seeing how filling an extra 400 calories is so it might end up being a non issue in the long run but it was just a shock mentally. I always though the goal was to become average/normal but it doesn't seem to be the actual goal and that switch surprised me.

I'm almost 15 months out from my original surgery and 3 months out from my revision. These numbers are where I was at when I hit around 10 months out and I've pretty much stayed here because I'm used to it. I was told I could go up if I want, and I may go up to 1200 on non work out days and 1400 on workouts since I'm doing heavier and longer workouts now. But with the smaller stomachs that we have, and the frequency we're supposed to eat, and the kinds of things we're supposed to eat, it is actually a lot easier to stay at the lower calorie amounts. You definitely shouldn't be anywhere near 2000 per day.

[NickelChip 686]

If you are at 1000 calories now, 1500 would be an additional 50% of calories. If you look at it like that, it's a lot more than what you're eating now! It's like going to work and getting a 50% raise! You just have to make sure you choose wisely how to spend those extra calories.

I'm on the other end of things, waiting for surgery and working on improving my nutrition in the meantime. Honestly, one of the biggest things that has helped me in the past few months has been following the advice in Dr. Weiner's A Pound of Cure book. I had gotten into some really bad habits, like white toast for Breakfast and a sandwich with lots of cheese and mayo for lunch, and I was constantly hungry and snacking on pretzels and other simple carbs, or candy (my biggest weakness). I hardly ever got much Protein or veg and fruit.

In July, after my doctor recommended surgery, I bought the Pound of Cure book and made the decision to incorporate a pound of veggies every day into my diet, and to follow the other guidelines as I was able. I stopped buying the junk food and reduced my dairy and wheat intake significantly, plus eliminated all artificial sweeteners and most added sugars. Now I have a smoothie in the morning that has just under 400 calories and 40g of protein in it, and gives me 2-3oz of spinach. At lunch, I make a salad that is around 450 calories with 30g of protein and literally weighs more than a pound of veg, Beans, and seeds. I usually add a couple ounces of smoked salmon or turkey breast, but I've been skipping the dressing in favor of lemon juice and a spice blend. I usually have around a 400 calorie dinner that is mostly protein plus 4oz or more of veg, and I'll have some fruit or nuts if I need a snack.

This stuff is so much more filling than my pieces of toast with butter or my sandwich ever was that I find I'm really not that hungry much of the time. In fact, I feel like I'm eating way more, and I'm not craving Snacks the way I did, yet I'm rarely above 1500 calories on a regular day. So if you choose wisely, you will be amazed at the volume of food you can consume for under 1500 calories. I know I've been really surprised by it, and I've managed to lose around 15 pounds in 2 months without really feeling deprived. I know for me the biggest risk would be to fall back into the old habits, so I'm trying to keep things as simple as I can to make it less likely. But not feeling hungry all the time really makes a difference.

[catwoman7 10,864]

I've heard this from more than a couple of dietitians (and in a graduate-level nutrition/dietetics course I audited last semester on obesity and weight loss, too) - if you have been obese and lose down to a normal (or not far above normal) level, you will have to eat fewer calories to maintain that weight than someone who's the same height, age, gender, activity level, etc who's never been obese. About 10-20% fewer, if I remember correctly. So that means if someone of your height, age, activity level, etc maintains on 2000 kcal, then that means you'd have to eat 1600-1800 to maintain the same weight.

that said, your calorie level does depend on several factors - how active you are, how muscular you are, your metabolic rate, etc. We have women on here who can maintain on 2000, and others who can only eat 1200. I'm the same height as you (don't know how we compare otherwise, though), and it takes about 1600 kcal to maintain my weight. I can go a bit higher on heavy exercise days. Although that does give me incentive to exercise regularly, though....

[catwoman7 10,864]

P.S. The old rule of thumb used to be your weight times 10 is about how many calories you should eat to maintain that weight. However, that doesn't take into account your activity level, musculature, etc, so that's just a rough estimate and can vary between people. You have your goal weight set at 140, so that means (at least according to the old rule of thumb) it'll take around 1400 kcal to maintain that. But again, that doesn't take into account how active you are - and there ARE variances among people - so I wouldn't consider that a hard and fast number. You sort of have to experiment to see what your maintenance level is. It's mostly trial and error.

[Arabesque 6,478]

That seems an awfully low caloric goal for maintenance for someone your height & weight unless you are not active at all. Have you checked a BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculator (linked the one I used below). It’s not perfect but it will give you an idea of what you may need to be consuming to maintain. Of course other issues that calculator doesn’t consider (like medical issues, medications, genetics, metabolism, muscle mass, etc.) can impact how many calories you may need.

I checked mine a few months back out of interest & discovered it recommended about what I had been consuming (1500 +/- calories) for someone my age, height, weight, gender & activity level (not much lol!). So it was about right, at least for me, as I’ve been pretty stable with my weight (except for about a 5lb gain because of a medication issue - sorted it & lost 3 of those lbs without doing anything).

You may be surprised how much food 1500 calories actually is. I eat about a recommended serving size (e.g. 3-4ozs meat & a good cup of green vegetables), eat three meals a day & about 4 Snacks. But I am pretty careful with what I eat so mostly nutritionally dense foods that are predominately low processed.

Best thing to do though is to slowly increase your calories & watch the scales. You may need more or fewer calories than what your dietician suggested or the BMR calculator recommends. Be careful though. An extra 100 calories a day will equate to about a 10kb gain over a year - gasp!

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

[Hope4NewMe 167]

1 hour ago, catwoman7 said:

I've heard this from more than a couple of dietitians (and in a graduate-level nutrition/dietetics course I audited last semester on obesity and weight loss, too) - if you have been obese and lose down to a normal (or not far above normal) level, you will have to eat fewer calories to maintain that weight than someone who's the same height, age, gender, activity level, etc who's never been obese. About 10-20% fewer, if I remember correctly. So that means if someone of your height, age, activity level, etc maintains on 2000 kcal, then that means you'd have to eat 1600-1800 to maintain the same weight.

that said, your calorie level does depend on several factors - how active you are, how muscular you are, your metabolic rate, etc. We have women on here who can maintain on 2000, and others who can only eat 1200. I'm the same height as you (don't know how we compare otherwise, though), and it takes about 1600 kcal to maintain my weight. I can go a bit higher on heavy exercise days. Although that does give me incentive to exercise regularly, though....

Thank you for that info. At least I can now know that my dietitian wasn't crazy and that it's actually true that I'll have to eat less because of having been obese. I'm guessing we slowed our metabolism permanently. I just wasn't ready to hear that but I can accept it and adapt to it. I'm just going to have to see what my own calorie limits are when I get to that point but not expect it to be 2000.

[Hope4NewMe 167]

23 minutes ago, Arabesque said:

That seems an awfully low caloric goal for maintenance for someone your height & weight unless you are not active at all. Have you checked a BMR (basal metabolic rate) calculator (linked the one I used below). It’s not perfect but it will give you an idea of what you may need to be consuming to maintain. Of course other issues that calculator doesn’t consider (like medical issues, medications, genetics, metabolism, muscle mass, etc.) can impact how many calories you may need.

I checked mine a few months back out of interest & discovered it recommended about what I had been consuming (1500 +/- calories) for someone my age, height, weight, gender & activity level (not much lol!). So it was about right, at least for me, as I’ve been pretty stable with my weight (except for about a 5lb gain because of a medication issue - sorted it & lost 3 of those lbs without doing anything).

You may be surprised how much food 1500 calories actually is. I eat about a recommended serving size (e.g. 3-4ozs meat & a good cup of green vegetables), eat three meals a day & about 4 Snacks. But I am pretty careful with what I eat so mostly nutritionally dense foods that are predominately low processed.

Best thing to do though is to slowly increase your calories & watch the scales. You may need more or fewer calories than what your dietician suggested or the BMR calculator recommends. Be careful though. An extra 100 calories a day will equate to about a 10kb gain over a year - gasp!

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

I checked your link and it says 1500 to 1700 based on my goal weight, height, activity and age. So I guess that's technically close to what my dietitian said but at least a more normal number. So I wonder why 2000 is the normal/average number when it seems that that's not really the case? Either way, all evidence and advice is that 2000 is not a good goal for me if I want to keep this weight off. I've had to change the way I look at food and daily calories for the last year, so I know I can do this. It was just sad at the time to think I could hit goal and still not be able to be considered normal I guess.

[catwoman7 10,864]

7 hours ago, Hope4NewMe said:

So I wonder why 2000 is the normal/average number when it seems that that's not really the case?

you might be able to eat that much - as I said, it's a lot of trial & error to figure out what your maintenance level is - although since those of us who've been obese usually have to eat fewer calories to maintain the same weight as someone who's never been obese has to, you may not be able to get that high. Although then again, if you're really active, you might. You'll just have to experiment once you're at your goal.

[NickelChip 686]

The story behind the 2000 calorie per day number is kind of interesting. It's to make it easy for food labels. The USDA wanted to be able to give nutrient information for comparison between foods, so they surveyed lots of Americans in the 1990s to see how many calories they ate per day and got a range of 1600-3000. But putting a range of nutrition values on a food label is messy and confusing. They decided on 2000 because it makes the math easy. But 2000 is actually too high for most adults not to gain weight, which might be why almost 70% of Americans are overweight or obese!

[catwoman7 10,864]

btw - I mentioned above that the old rule of thumb was that it takes about 10 X your weight in pounds to maintain your weight (although again, that varies according to several factors listed in my above comment). That's for women. For men, it was 12 x your weight in pounds (again, old rule of thumb that varies between people - although I do think it gives a good starting point - you can experiment with that and then go up or down depending on what your weight is doing)

[summerseeker 1,848]

Loved this discussion. Its true, every day is a school day

[The Greater Fool 1,952]

WLS is forever.

What we thought would be normal pre-op is most often very different from what normal turns out to be like post-op.

Good luck,

Tek