Calories vs. Fats vs. Carbs...Oh My!

[zmdh39]

Sometimes at night, when I am lying in bed, not able to sleep I decide to delve into the ever-seemingly contradictions of Nutrition and Weight loss. So last night, as I was watching videos, and reading various articles about the subject...It dawned on me that there are a million opinions, articles, studies, ideals, and "Fat Busting" secret plans to lose excess body fat.

Now, I am no stranger to a lot of the BS surrounding the weight loss industry, but I can't help but wonder that all of this conflicting information out there, has to be confusing the hell out of many people who just want to become healthier.

I find it ironic that what many are telling us is healthy today, will later come back and say it wasn't healthy at all. For example, last night in the time frame a just a few hours, I read and watched info regarding the proper approach to losing weight by various clinical studies, personal trainers, nutritional, doctors, Healthy Living coaches (whatever the hell those people are)...and this is just some of the various information that I learned.

One person, stated that the only thing that matters when it comes to losing weight is calories in vs. calories out. This dude specifically stated, screw tracking fats, carbs, sugars etc. because they are irrelevant, so long as you are burning more calories than you are taking in.

The next person up to the plate, stated almost the exact opposite as the first guy...saying, don't worry about counting your calories, I never keep track of mine...instead I follow a high fat, low carb eating plan, because carbs are your bodies main source of energy. So the theory is restricting your carbs, and injecting high fat into your diet, gives your body less access to the quick primary energy sources of carbs, and the high fat tricks your body into burning the extra fat your eat, plus convinces your fat cells to release stored fat so that it can be burned as well.

Moving on to person 3, They believe that a high carb and low fat intake diet is the answer. Saying that those who put more focus on eating more good carbs, and restricting fat in our diets, in the long run...this info was collected in a year long study...for months High Carb/Low Fat vs. High Fat/Low carbs both lost around the same amount of weight. However, results showed at the end of the year long study that those people who had maintained a high carb/low fat dietary plan ended up losing the most weight in the long run of things.

Now, we all know that in addition to the ones stated above there are TONS of theories on how to lose body fat effectively. I even saw a video that explained that restrictive methods of food intake were actually a set up to crash your metabolism.

Being that many of us on this forum have opted for restrictive measures as a way to help us lose weight, and the dietary methods we use post op to achieve this weight loss can vary.

I would like to pose the question to post op bariatric patients on what guidelines they followed to help them lose their excess body fat?

Did you cut calories, carbs, fats, sugars, increase protein and water intake? If show, what were the numbers of the nutrients that you restricted, and what were the results?

The 2nd part of my question, because I think the info will help many people out there that are new to the WLS process, and we are different, so we all may respond in different ways, is this. Did any of you try different restrictions on different nutrients and found that restricting one nutrient over another yielded better results for you personally?

For example, have any of you made it a point to intake low carbs, and then tried upping your carbs and lowering your fat intake, and found that doing so improved your weight loss results?

I, as I am sure many others on this forum would love to hear from the horses mouth so to speak, on what you did after surgery, or what dietary guidelines you followed to achieve your goal?

What was the number of your calorie intake, carbs, fats, sugars...did you avoid certain foods etc.? And did any of those numbers change the further you got out from surgery?

[PDX Kelli]

I am looking forward to reading the replies to this thread. My surgery is Wednesday :-)

[jmw]

I have definitely found truth in two of the methods that you posted about. Basically, if I have a high carb day, I keep fats low; if I have a high fat day, I keep carbs low(under 30). I don't lose well when both my fats and carbs are high. But, either one works just fine for me. I switch back and forth as my menu dictates. However, if I am getting dry skin or just looking not so 'glowy', I revert to high fats and low carbs. Mainly(but not all), good fats like chia seeds, nuts, olives, avacado, coconut oil, sardines, salmon, etc. I always get 75+ protein(often nearing 100 since I work out so heavily), so I don't think that is a variable. But, if my fat and carbs both dip low(when I try to crack down a bit more, I have tried this), I don't lose well. If they are both high, I seem to see a next day loss, then a rebound gain that takes several days to lose. Just my experience.

[Lee6Lee]

I think it's calories in and calories out. It works for me. I don't keep track of my calories (maybe loosely in my mind), but I've dieted so much and even been very successful. I know what works. The sleeve was the boost. But now I'm lately focusing on getting more protein in.

[zmdh39]

Thank you ladies for your responses...I am sure some people are wondering why I posed this question, being that I am over 2 years out from surgery myself...but the reason I posted was so that there was a thread that post-op people could post to, explaining the trial and error methods they did, what their results were, and how things that worked for you in the past, may not work as well the further you get out from surgery.

My 2nd reason for asking is that not long ago I was put on High dose steroids, which gave me this uncontrollable urged to eat anything and everything the entire 5 days I was one them. While I have lost some of the weight I had gained...I gained 8 lbs in that 5 days...I am finding it difficult to lose those last 3-4 lbs not...one day I will lose a pound, and the next day I will find that it came right back. I am sure this is partially due to the fact that currently I am unable to work out due to a knee injury...so I am looking for anything that I might try to lose those few lbs, baring in mind that I am unable to work out...an my current diet restrictions that have always worked in the past, and not yielding the results they once did.

I am willing to try anything, so please feel free to post anything that worked to you, especially those of you that do not have the ability to work out for whatever reason. Thank you ladies, for those of you that have posted...I think this thread will help a number of people out there in addition to myself when they run into issues along their WLS journey's.

If you know someone who might have some valued insight beneficial to this thread, please see if you might share the thread, and help it gain as many responses as we can get.

Thank you guys!