Am I on the right path?

[Justarwaxx 259]

Hi all,

I am almost 8 months post op bypass. I'm down 68 lbs (31 kg) I feel and look fantastic and I'm quite happy but I still need to lose 33-44 lbs and well it's barely coming off these past months. Now my question is I'm eating pretty well and counting calories and protien content. I'm focused on calories mostly but I think that's where the problem is. I should focus on my protien only which means I should eat 115g of protien daily which might mean more calories and it scares me.. I m active and go to the gym too (not as gym rat but not lazy) so what am I doing wrong? Do I need to up my Protein? Also how much of the food is actually absorbed? Does bypass really mean ill def lose and maintain the weight? I need reassurance. Help me understand what to do now and if I'm safe

[toodlerue 462]

I did the Fast Metabolism Diet (Haylie Pomroy) to reach my goal weight. I wasn’t able to eat the amount of foods it requires but eating them in the phases was enough & I dropped the last stubborn 15 pounds!

[SpartanMaker 1,111]

I'll do my best to help, but I'm going to have to start by asking some questions:

• When you say the weight is "barely coming off", can you be more specific? How much in the last week, two weeks, last month?
• Can you clarify what your goal weight really is? In your profile, you're showing that you're currently at 78kg and your goal is 75kg. That's only about 6-7 pounds, not the 33-44 you listed. I'm thinking you probably have a new goal and have not updated your profile, but it's important to understand what you really are trying to do.
• When you say you are "eating pretty well", can you give some examples of what a typical day looks like?
• What is your daily caloric goal? What about Protein, fat and carbs?
• How are you determining your what you caloric and macronutrient intake should be?
• How are you tracking your intake? Do you weigh everything in grams before it goes into your mouth?

Let me explain why I'm asking these questions. Typically when people are struggling with weight loss, we see a few common issues:

1. Unrealistic expectations. Especially if weight loss early on after surgery was easy, people tend to think it will continue that way until they reach goal weight. Unfortunately, that's not how this works. The heavier we are, the more we'll lose at first. The closer we get to goal, the harder it becomes. It can take months just to lose a few pounds if you are already pretty lean. You also have to really have your nutrition dialed in at that point.. I won't get too deep into the physiology here, but there are multiple reasons for this and it's 100% normal for this to happen. My point is that you may be right where you need to be. It's hard to know just that just based on what you posted above.
2. Eating more than you think. Study after study shows that almost everyone thinks they eat less than they really do, even those that log their food using calorie tracking apps. It's sometimes simple things like those little tastes while preparing a meal, or that handful of nuts they forgot to log. Others, they just guess at calories because accurate tracking is really hard.
3. Burning less than you think. Most people have absolutely no idea how many calories they actually burn in a day. We often use estimates based on height and weight, but these can be off by may hundreds of calories depending on age, lifestyle, percent body fat, etc. Further, your calorie burn isn't the same all the time. It can vary by hundreds of calories per day even before you consider exercise. Speaking of exercise, we drastically overestimate the impact of exercise calories. For the vast majority of people, the calories they burn in a day don't actually change all that much due to exercise.
4. Blaming things outside your control. It's natural for people look for causes for problems. If we take ownership of the problem, we can then take steps to correct it. It's when we place the blame on something we perceive to be outside our control that we can run into serious problems. Let me give you an example here. We can't escape simple physics. If you burn more calories in a day than you consume, you'll lose weight. Eat more than you burn and you gain weight. If I take responsibility for this, then it means I need to eat less or burn more to lose weight. I realize that's easier said than done, but without first taking responsibility for the problem, I'd have no hope of fixing the issue. If on the other hand, I were to say "I have a slow metabolism", I'd essentially be saying this issue is outside my control, even though the solution is the same as before: eat less than you burn.
5. Thinking a particular diet/macronutrient is more important than calories. I noticed you hinted at that in your post. Calories are king here. Specific diets that emphasize one or more macronutrients can help, but they never trump calories. I can go into more detail later, but this post is already getting overly long so I think I'll stop here.

Please provide some additional detail and I may be able to provide better guidance.

[catwoman7 11,242]

if you're sticking to your plan, then it's probably just the typical slowdown you experience as you get closer to a normal weight. I lost weight until month 20, but after the first year, it was S-L-O-W. Just a couple of pounds some months. So many times I'd think "this must be it", but then my loss would start up again. I'd look at the list above, too, though (Spartan's list) - he's listed some other potential reasons for it.

[Justarwaxx 259]

On 5/9/2025 at 9:49 PM, SpartanMaker said:

I'll do my best to help, but I'm going to have to start by asking some questions:

• When you say the weight is "barely coming off", can you be more specific? How much in the last week, two weeks, last month?
• Can you clarify what your goal weight really is? In your profile, you're showing that you're currently at 78kg and your goal is 75kg. That's only about 6-7 pounds, not the 33-44 you listed. I'm thinking you probably have a new goal and have not updated your profile, but it's important to understand what you really are trying to do.
• When you say you are "eating pretty well", can you give some examples of what a typical day looks like?
• What is your daily caloric goal? What about Protein, fat and carbs?
• How are you determining your what you caloric and macronutrient intake should be?
• How are you tracking your intake? Do you weigh everything in grams before it goes into your mouth? 

Let me explain why I'm asking these questions. Typically when people are struggling with weight loss, we see a few common issues:

1. Unrealistic expectations. Especially if weight loss early on after surgery was easy, people tend to think it will continue that way until they reach goal weight. Unfortunately, that's not how this works. The heavier we are, the more we'll lose at first. The closer we get to goal, the harder it becomes. It can take months just to lose a few pounds if you are already pretty lean. You also have to really have your nutrition dialed in at that point.. I won't get too deep into the physiology here, but there are multiple reasons for this and it's 100% normal for this to happen. My point is that you may be right where you need to be. It's hard to know just that just based on what you posted above.
2. Eating more than you think. Study after study shows that almost everyone thinks they eat less than they really do, even those that log their food using calorie tracking apps. It's sometimes simple things like those little tastes while preparing a meal, or that handful of nuts they forgot to log. Others, they just guess at calories because accurate tracking is really hard.
3. Burning less than you think. Most people have absolutely no idea how many calories they actually burn in a day. We often use estimates based on height and weight, but these can be off by may hundreds of calories depending on age, lifestyle, percent body fat, etc. Further, your calorie burn isn't the same all the time. It can vary by hundreds of calories per day even before you consider exercise. Speaking of exercise, we drastically overestimate the impact of exercise calories. For the vast majority of people, the calories they burn in a day don't actually change all that much due to exercise.
4. Blaming things outside your control. It's natural for people look for causes for problems. If we take ownership of the problem, we can then take steps to correct it. It's when we place the blame on something we perceive to be outside our control that we can run into serious problems. Let me give you an example here. We can't escape simple physics. If you burn more calories in a day than you consume, you'll lose weight. Eat more than you burn and you gain weight. If I take responsibility for this, then it means I need to eat less or burn more to lose weight. I realize that's easier said than done, but without first taking responsibility for the problem, I'd have no hope of fixing the issue. If on the other hand, I were to say "I have a slow metabolism", I'd essentially be saying this issue is outside my control, even though the solution is the same as before: eat less than you burn.
5. Thinking a particular diet/macronutrient is more important than calories. I noticed you hinted at that in your post. Calories are king here. Specific diets that emphasize one or more macronutrients can help, but they never trump calories. I can go into more detail later, but this post is already getting overly long so I think I'll stop here.

Please provide some additional detail and I may be able to provide better guidance.

Hi! Thank you for the detailed questions — I appreciate the time you took to break things down. Here's a full update from my side:

1. Weight Loss Progress:
I’m currently losing around 1 kg per month. I know that’s on the slower end post-bypass, but I’m trying to be patient with the process.

2. Goal Weight:
My initial goal was 75 kg, and I’ve now revised it to 65 kg. I haven’t updated my profile yet, but that’s the target I’m working toward.

3. Typical Daily Intake:
I eat clean, home-cooked food, and I really focus on quality over quantity.

Breakfast: 2 eggs and a small side like labneh or some veggies

Snack: ½ scoop of whey Protein or something light

Lunch: chicken breast or thigh (120–150g) with cooked dhal or sautéed vegetables

Dinner: A high-protein meal like steak, paneer, or fish with non-starchy veg
I do snack or “cheat” here and there — I’m no angel — but I genuinely try to make good choices most of the time.

4. Caloric and Macro Goals:
I was aiming for 115g protein daily, but just yesterday my dietitian told me to reduce that to 65g. I’m adjusting and seeing how my body responds. I try to stay between 1000–1200 kcal, but again, I focus more on food quality than strict numbers.

5. How I Track:
I track everything using ChatGPT, not traditional apps like MyFitnessPal. I log my food manually, with weights in grams, and I try to stay mindful and consistent.

6. Activity Level:
My workouts have reduced lately. I try to weight train twice a week, and I walk or move throughout the day, but I’ll admit I’ve been slacking a bit. I’m trying to get back on track.

7. Mental State (the honest part):
Physically, I look fantastic. But mentally, I feel like I’m failing. I have really bad anxiety that I’m doing something wrong — that I should’ve reached my goal already — and that maybe I’m overeating without realizing it. This fear honestly clouds my progress.

I know I’m not alone in this, and I’m trying to work through it. Any advice, especially from others who’ve had slow progress or battled this anxiety, would mean a lot.

[SpartanMaker 1,111]

5 hours ago, Justarwaxx said:

Hi! Thank you for the detailed questions — I appreciate the time you took to break things down. Here's a full update from my side:

1. Weight Loss Progress:
I’m currently losing around 1 kg per month. I know that’s on the slower end post-bypass, but I’m trying to be patient with the process.

2. Goal Weight:
My initial goal was 75 kg, and I’ve now revised it to 65 kg. I haven’t updated my profile yet, but that’s the target I’m working toward.

3. Typical Daily Intake:
I eat clean, home-cooked food, and I really focus on quality over quantity.

Breakfast: 2 eggs and a small side like labneh or some veggies

Snack: ½ scoop of whey Protein or something light

Lunch: chicken breast or thigh (120–150g) with cooked dhal or sautéed vegetables

Dinner: A high-protein meal like steak, paneer, or fish with non-starchy veg
I do snack or “cheat” here and there — I’m no angel — but I genuinely try to make good choices most of the time.

4. Caloric and Macro Goals:
I was aiming for 115g Protein daily, but just yesterday my dietitian told me to reduce that to 65g. I’m adjusting and seeing how my body responds. I try to stay between 1000–1200 kcal, but again, I focus more on food quality than strict numbers.

5. How I Track:
I track everything using ChatGPT, not traditional apps like MyFitnessPal. I log my food manually, with weights in grams, and I try to stay mindful and consistent.

6. Activity Level:
My workouts have reduced lately. I try to weight train twice a week, and I walk or move throughout the day, but I’ll admit I’ve been slacking a bit. I’m trying to get back on track.

7. Mental State (the honest part):
Physically, I look fantastic. But mentally, I feel like I’m failing. I have really bad anxiety that I’m doing something wrong — that I should’ve reached my goal already — and that maybe I’m overeating without realizing it. This fear honestly clouds my progress.

I know I’m not alone in this, and I’m trying to work through it. Any advice, especially from others who’ve had slow progress or battled this anxiety, would mean a lot.

• 1kg a month is perfect right now. Instead of thinking in terms of a specific number you should be losing, think in terms of a percentage of your overall weight. This has an advantage in that the actual number to shoot for drops as your weight goes down. The ideal amount for most people would be one to two percent per month (and certainly no more than three percent). This is right where you're at. Believe it or not, slower is actually better here. The faster your weight loss, the more likely you are to be causing your body to decide you're starving to death. When this happens, your body starts doing things that slow down your metabolism to try to keep you from dying. Of course we know intellectually that we're not actually dying, but your body's metabolic regulation system doesn't know that. It's an amazing system, but it was designed before we had almost instant access to unlimited amounts of highly palatable foods.
• Thanks for clarifying on the new goal. 65kg sounds like a good goal for now and there's nothing wrong with adjusting up or down even more as you get closer to that.
• Regarding diet, calories and macros, I'd obviously tell you to defer to your dietitian, though I will say I'm very surprised by the recommendation to lower your protein. When dieting, there are literally hundreds of studies that show the advantages of eating more protein. You should know that overall, I personally am not a huge fan of tracking calories. I know that some people here seem to do so effectively, but for me it just does not work. As I mentioned, most of us aren't very good at actually tracking calorie intake accurately. Even more important to me, none of us have any way at all to know how many calories we are actually burning in a day so tracking intake is only showing you one side of the energy balance equation. Plus, energy expenditure can be highly variable day to day, so even if you did somehow know the exact amount you burned today, it's not going to be the same in one month or one year from now. With all that said, if tracking is working for you, don't change it. Do keep in mind that you may have to reduce calories as you continue to lose since the biggest contributor to metabolism day-to-day is body size.
• Regarding exercise, I'm going to recommend you stop thinking of exercise as part of your weight loss goal. It simply doesn't work. I don't say this lightly, nor to discourage you, simply to state fact. We have a huge amount of evidence now to show that our bodies tend to slow down in other ways in response to exercise. This is something called the constrained energy model. On a practical level, exercise is still critically important for your overall health. In addition, we do have a lot of data that shows people that have lost a lot of weight are better able to maintain the loss if they exercise on average 1 hour or more per day. In short, do it because you'll feel better, because you'll live longer, AND because once you reach goal, you'll have a much easier time keeping the weight off.
• I think I can speak for most of us here on this board that we have experienced the exact mental anguish you're feeling. It's normal to worry and let doubt creep in, so know that you are not alone, Mental health is not my area of expertise, so my advice will always be please seek help from a mental health professional if you think you need it.

[SpartanMaker 1,111]

I realised my response above was a bit lacking on practical recommendations. Let me try to summarize what I'd suggest:

• Since you're right where I'd want you to be in terms of weight loss per month, don't change anything at this point. Only consider changing if you find the weight loss completely stops for 2 months or more.
• If weight loss does stop for at least 2 months, I'd actually recommend UPPING calories by 250-300 calories a day. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, especially considering that a negative energy balance is the only way to lose weight, but let me explain. Remember when I said above that one of the main jobs of our metabolic regulation system is to keep us from dying? No matter what we do, our metabolism slows when we diet. The rationale behind upping calories (by a small amount), is that we want to convince that system that the "bad times" have passed, and it's okay to ratchet up metabolic processes again. I'd recommend eating this increased calorie amount for at least a month, but two months would be better. Somewhat surprisingly, most people won't gain weight if they do this because their metabolism will increase to compensate.
• After that diet break, only then do we drop calories for a month or two in order to drop some more weight. You can keep up this intermittent dieting (not to be confused with intermittent fasting), until you get to your goal weight. I know this sounds like a slow process, but I promise, in the long run it's actually faster than if you just tried to keep cutting calories to get to your goal.
• Please keep exercising for your health, but also so that once you do get to your goal, you'll have a much easier time maintaining the loss. I would strongly recommend a minimum of 3 days per week of aerobic exercise and 2 days per week of strength training. This will set you up really well to maintain weight, as well as for excellent health as you get older.
• Don't be afraid to seek out a good mental health counselor. None of us got as big as we were by having a healthy relationship with food. The vast majority of people that fail to lose weight or that regain lots of weight after bariatric surgery do so because they fall back into old poor eating habits.

[Justarwaxx 259]

14 hours ago, SpartanMaker said:

I realised my response above was a bit lacking on practical recommendations. Let me try to summarize what I'd suggest:

• Since you're right where I'd want you to be in terms of weight loss per month, don't change anything at this point. Only consider changing if you find the weight loss completely stops for 2 months or more.
• If weight loss does stop for at least 2 months, I'd actually recommend UPPING calories by 250-300 calories a day. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, especially considering that a negative energy balance is the only way to lose weight, but let me explain. Remember when I said above that one of the main jobs of our metabolic regulation system is to keep us from dying? No matter what we do, our metabolism slows when we diet. The rationale behind upping calories (by a small amount), is that we want to convince that system that the "bad times" have passed, and it's okay to ratchet up metabolic processes again. I'd recommend eating this increased calorie amount for at least a month, but two months would be better. Somewhat surprisingly, most people won't gain weight if they do this because their metabolism will increase to compensate.
• After that diet break, only then do we drop calories for a month or two in order to drop some more weight. You can keep up this intermittent dieting (not to be confused with intermittent fasting), until you get to your goal weight. I know this sounds like a slow process, but I promise, in the long run it's actually faster than if you just tried to keep cutting calories to get to your goal.
• Please keep exercising for your health, but also so that once you do get to your goal, you'll have a much easier time maintaining the loss. I would strongly recommend a minimum of 3 days per week of aerobic exercise and 2 days per week of strength training. This will set you up really well to maintain weight, as well as for excellent health as you get older.
• Don't be afraid to seek out a good mental health counselor. None of us got as big as we were by having a healthy relationship with food. The vast majority of people that fail to lose weight or that regain lots of weight after bariatric surgery do so because they fall back into old poor eating habits. 

Thank you so much for this detailed reply — I truly appreciate the time and care you put into it. It really helped ease some of the anxiety I’ve been carrying.

You’re right, I’m losing around 1kg a month and logically I know that’s great… but emotionally I keep feeling like I should be doing more. So reading that I’m exactly where I should be was super reassuring.

I also loved what you said about exercise — I know it’s not the biggest driver of weight loss, but for me, it plays a huge role in how I feel. I actually want to focus more on losing fat and toning up now, not just dropping scale weight. I’m starting to realize that body composition matters more than the number.

As for protein, yeah — I was surprised when my dietitian suggested lowering it to 65g. I’ve been aiming for 100–115g all along. I have another appointment on the 20th, so I’ll definitely bring this up again and see what’s behind that recommendation.

Right now, I’m not using apps like MyFitnessPal. I track my food using ChatGPT (kind of like a food journal), and I weigh things in grams to stay accurate. But I’m a bit unsure how to move forward — like, should I only track Protein and not worry too much about calories? Or try to follow macros more closely?

I do eat clean, mostly home-cooked meals, but I also have occasional Snacks and off-plan moments (nothing crazy, just not perfect). I know I need to tighten things up again, especially with workouts — I’ve been slacking a bit lately.

Again, thank you for the perspective and advice. It means a lot to hear this from someone who's been through it herself. Would love to know your thoughts on whether focusing on protein alone is enough, or if I should be tracking more closely.

[SpartanMaker 1,111]

6 hours ago, Justarwaxx said:

Right now, I’m not using apps like MyFitnessPal. I track my food using ChatGPT (kind of like a food journal), and I weigh things in grams to stay accurate. But I’m a bit unsure how to move forward — like, should I only track Protein and not worry too much about calories? Or try to follow macros more closely?

Again, If what you're doing is working, then I don't see anything that needs changing. If you're in the range of 100-115 grams per day, then you're already eating what I'd call Protein forward diet and about where I'd typically recommend for most people.

Keep in mind what I mentioned, calories are king. You only lose weight when you eat fewer calories than you burn. Thus if you did want to add more protein, you'd have to do so at the expense of other nutrients. When eating as few calories as you are right now, dropping any more on carbs & fat could have negative effects on health. It's important to get sufficient essential fatty acids since your body can't make these (that's why there called "essential". Technically you can live without carbs since your body can manufacture glycogen from fats and protein, but the problem is that if you reduce these even further, you're going to also have to reduce your intake of fruits and veggies and these convey a lot of other benefits to you nutritionally.

Here's what I'd ask your nutritionist about.

• The most up to date clinical practice guidelines from AACE/TOS/ASMBS/OMA/ASA say to focus on protein intake of 1.2g/kg of bodyweight. https://www.soard.org/article/S1550-7289(08)00163-9/fulltext I recognize that you are not from the USA, but I dare say these organizations have a significant level of money and experience going into these recommendations since obesity is rampant in the USA. For what it's worth, some recent data I saw showed that the USA does far more bariatric surgeries than any other country. In fact, it was roughly the same number of bariatric surgeries as the next 10 countries combined. An impressive but sad statistic.
• Protein is highly satiating compared to carbs & fats, plus protein takes longer to digest, meaning you'll be full longer. Being full longer equals less cravings and better dietary compliance.
• Protein has a small but meaningful effect on overall energy balance because on average, for every 100 calories of protein you eat, you burn about 20 calories just to digest it. This is way more than carbs or fats which range from 0 to 3 for fats and 5 or 10 for carbs depending of Fiber content. This means the more protein you eat, the better your overall energy balance compared to eating the exact same calorie amount of other foods. Granted, this isn't a lot, but it all adds up.
• Higher levels of dietary protein help you preserve more muscle mass as you lose weight. (It helps prevent muscle catabolism which is a real risk when eating a very low calorie diet.) Because muscle is more metabolically active than fat, the more muscle mass you preserve as you lose weight, the more calories you'll burn, even at rest. Studies suggest anything above about 1.2g/kg (95% CI), is sufficient for most people to stave off catabolism, which is probably where the dietary guidelines linked above came from.

You mentioned something about body recomposition, so I want to touch on that briefly. I LOVE the idea, but you need to understand it's extremely hard (bordering on impossible), to add muscle mass while on a very low calorie diet like you're eating right now. For most people, you actually need to be eating a significant surplus to add muscle mass, so I honestly wouldn't even try until you get closer to your goal weight. If you do decide to add mass, then yes, higher protein amounts than what you're eating now would be recommended (Roughly 2g - 2.5g per kg of bodyweight). This also would require a dedicated hypertrophy training plan though, and that's a bit out of scope for our discussion here.

Best of luck.