Calories, carbs & protein

[mslisa]

Hi Ladies & Gents……..Question, I’ve read on here where people have said we’re supposed to have anywhere from 1000 calories per day to some saying 1200 calories per day, which is it? Secondly, when counting calories, do we have to count out the protein and carbs within the 1000/1200 calories or can we just have a flat 1000/1200 calories per day and it doesn’t matter?

BTW: I know we're supposed to have a certain amount of protein a day, but I’m still confused

[cocopebbles]

I'm five months post-op. I get between 850-1200 calories per day. This includes 60-80 grams of protein and less than 45 grams of carbs. Hope this helps!

[tinman]

These are all good questions and I will answer them all. I am approaching three years post op and found a system of eating that has worked well for me and for others on here also. However, there is definitely more than one way to skin a cat when you are talking about losing weight with the sleeve.

Search out my posts and the look for posts from dawnrogers7 and jessiejess. They took my ideas and modified them to work for themselves and lost all of their weight and are maintaining. Then go look at posts from Ann2, Marvinator, Little Verbena and Truffles. They most decidedly did not do it the way I did. However, the path they chose worked for them and you would be very hard pressed to say they aren't very knowledgeable and accomplished at post op life. Speaking on their behalf, I can say that if you reach out to any of us, we will be glad to help in any way we can. I know for a fact I will.

So, here we go.

In my world, counting calories is being on a diet. Diets suck. We sucked at diets pre op so there's no reason to believe that we won't suck at them post op. So, I just flat out refused to count calories...period...end of sentence.... So, what I do count is protein and hydration. That's it. 80 grams of protein a day and no less than 64 oz of water a day. I usually get in around 100 oz of water a day. I live in a tropical climate and sweat like a tax cheat on April 15th. But, it is mandatory you drink 64 oz of WATER a day. Not sports drinks, cocktails, coffee, tea, energy drinks, protein shakes. WATER. Now understand, you can have all of that other stuff that you want, just don't count it against the 80/64.

Also in my world, if you deprive your body of carbs and fat, you will stall, stall often, and stay stalled. This board is littered with the carcasses of folks who tried to do Atkins or Low Fat or South Beach or what ever after getting sleeved. Your body needs carbs and fuel to operate. Deprive it of either and it will go into preservation mode and will start shutting down all non essential bodily functions in order to preserve it's precious stores of fuel (fat). The first thing your body will do is ramp down your metabolism to the point where it will only burn what you eat in a day and that's it. That's what a stall is. So, keep feeding the engine and it will burn your stored fat quicker. I lost 230 lbs in a year and then decided to lose another 35 lbs just to see what it looked like on me. I put back on another 15 lbs and love the way I look now. In August, I will have been maintaining my current weight for over 18 months. I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on how to live with a sleeve in a non sleeved world. I will not compromise and I will not ask others to compromise, or make adjustments to their lifestyle, for me. I have learned how to adapt how I eat so that I can still eat what I want, when I want and made just the way I like it all while losing what I wanted and maintaining my current weight.

What I never do is over eat. If you don't over eat, then you can't possibly take in enough of the "bad" foods to cause you to gain weight. It is impossible.

You must never, never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever over eat.....ever.

Learn what full feels like and you'll never over eat.

So free your mind from the mundane task of counting calories. Count protein and the rest will take care of itself.

My favorite line is this. I did not get sleeved to build barriers. I got sleeved to break them down. Diets are barriers.

[projax5000]

Tinman...could you please give a typical day what you might eat? I am in that trap...afraid to eat...looking at calories freaking myself out...what you say makes sense...I want to follow this advice but would love some guidance as to what you eat in a day....I am still only 16 days out so not at eating food yet...but I have been freaking out at eating even soups and things...it is all a mental issue for me right now...thanks pm me if you want...

[sfair1123]

I am 6 months post op and 100lbs down. I am finally hitting a plateau and I think it is due to calorie intake. My Dr. wants me between 800-1000 calories a day with 100g of Protein. I usually do 1 egg and 1 slice of Ezekiel toast in the morning which fills me up pretty good and is about 200 calories total. I drink a protein shake mid morning (about 200 calories and 30g of protien). Lunch is preportioned (I do this on the weekend for the week, 6 oz total weight) some sort of clean protein (pork tenderloin, skinless/boneless chicken breast, roasted chicken from the store) and some veg. Dinner is clean protein again, 4-5 oz sirloin steak, pork chop, chicken, fish. Something that is seasoned with dry seasoning (I use FlavorGod seasonings). I pan roast or oven roast. Some sort of veg. My cheats are maybe a quick sauce with some low fat mayo and fat free sour cream with scallions and sriacha sauce. Tons of water and I drink a bunch of coffee too (stressful job!)

Clean protein is key. Work out and dont eat those calories you burn.
After a while you will get what calories things have and what you want to stay away from.

Good luck and keep going forward. Dont get discouraged! It is not that bad and the benefits of feeling great are totally worth the hardships of new eating regiments.

[amt5298]

i eat 700 to 800 calories a day i am six months post op under 40 grams of carbs and 65 grams of protein

[mamsinator]

Tinman you are awesome! What a positive, motivating post from someone who has walked the walk. I love that you eat and don't expect others to change what they are eating. I know that's how it needs to be. I love your can-do attitude too.
My surgery is May 4th. I will be watching for your posts.
thanks,
the mams

[mslisa]

Thanks EVERYONE, this is probably some of the best advice I’ve ever been given on here.

[projax5000]

thanks sfair...can I ask about how much you work out? that is awesome..100 pounds in 6 months....wow

[Crybaby]

These are all good questions and I will answer them all. I am approaching three years post op and found a system of eating that has worked well for me and for others on here also. However, there is definitely more than one way to skin a cat when you are talking about losing weight with the sleeve.

Search out my posts and the look for posts from dawnrogers7 and jessiejess. They took my ideas and modified them to work for themselves and lost all of their weight and are maintaining. Then go look at posts from Ann2, Marvinator, Little Verbena and Truffles. They most decidedly did not do it the way I did. However, the path they chose worked for them and you would be very hard pressed to say they aren't very knowledgeable and accomplished at post op life. Speaking on their behalf, I can say that if you reach out to any of us, we will be glad to help in any way we can. I know for a fact I will.


So, here we go.

In my world, counting calories is being on a diet. Diets suck. We sucked at diets pre op so there's no reason to believe that we won't suck at them post op. So, I just flat out refused to count calories...period...end of sentence.... So, what I do count is protein and hydration. That's it. 80 grams of protein a day and no less than 64 oz of water a day. I usually get in around 100 oz of water a day. I live in a tropical climate and sweat like a tax cheat on April 15th. But, it is mandatory you drink 64 oz of WATER a day. Not sports drinks, cocktails, coffee, tea, energy drinks, protein shakes. WATER. Now understand, you can have all of that other stuff that you want, just don't count it against the 80/64.

Also in my world, if you deprive your body of carbs and fat, you will stall, stall often, and stay stalled. This board is littered with the carcasses of folks who tried to do Atkins or Low Fat or South Beach or what ever after getting sleeved. Your body needs carbs and fuel to operate. Deprive it of either and it will go into preservation mode and will start shutting down all non essential bodily functions in order to preserve it's precious stores of fuel (fat). The first thing your body will do is ramp down your metabolism to the point where it will only burn what you eat in a day and that's it. That's what a stall is. So, keep feeding the engine and it will burn your stored fat quicker. I lost 230 lbs in a year and then decided to lose another 35 lbs just to see what it looked like on me. I put back on another 15 lbs and love the way I look now. In August, I will have been maintaining my current weight for over 18 months. I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on how to live with a sleeve in a non sleeved world. I will not compromise and I will not ask others to compromise, or make adjustments to their lifestyle, for me. I have learned how to adapt how I eat so that I can still eat what I want, when I want and made just the way I like it all while losing what I wanted and maintaining my current weight.

What I never do is over eat. If you don't over eat, then you can't possibly take in enough of the "bad" foods to cause you to gain weight. It is impossible.

You must never, never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever over eat.....ever.

Learn what full feels like and you'll never over eat.

So free your mind from the mundane task of counting calories. Count protein and the rest will take care of itself.

My favorite line is this. I did not get sleeved to build barriers. I got sleeved to break them down. Diets are barriers.

I wondered about the carb part before. I know that my body usually requires a little bit of carbs and fat to lose. At this point I am only 2 weeks postop and I've been doing fine but I've been keeping everything low to no carb. At what point should I be adding the carbs back in?

[CCSleever]

I also would like you to post maybe a "day in the life of Tinman in regards to food" - I'm interested to see how you get your protein. Thanks so much!!

[sraebaer]

I was told not to count calories and never have. I lost all my weight. Like Tinman says, get in your protein and fluid requirement, that's all you need to count. We are not on a diet! Diet's do not work, if they did, none of us would be here. You guys are overthinking this.

My typical day:

Breakfast - 2 eggs
Snack - Low fat greek yogurt
Lunch - Leftover protein from the night before, if no good leftovers I'll often have tuna.
Snack - Protein Bar
Dinner - Fish or meat with veggies
After dinner - Wine. I'm far from perfect. And I teach middle school, so I deserve it.

[snowy1515]

Thank you! Finally someone said what I know to be true. You have to give your body carbs for fuel. The over eating is what got me into this mess. Never over eating again will get me out. I'll make sure I get the protein and water and let my body que me in on whatever else it needs to lose and stay healthy. I hate that this surgery promotes so much intake of artificial sweeteners those just are not good for us. Regular sugar is better than the chemical sugar. And I hate diets. Dieting is what caused me to gain 80 pounds so thank you Tinman for saying it how it should be said.

[medmom]

Tinman,

I am about 13 weeks post op and I have stalled more weeks than I have lost. My starting weight was 234 and I am now 203. I am going to try your way and see if this works for me. I know that I am not getting enough protein or water.

My fear is that I have lost too much time early on and will not reach my goal. I keep hearing that it gets much harder to lose after 6 months.

Thanks for your advice!!!

[Dawnrogers7]

Hi Ladies & Gents……..Question, I’ve read on here where people have said we’re supposed to have anywhere from 1000 calories per day to some saying 1200 calories per day, which is it? Secondly, when counting calories, do we have to count out the protein and carbs within the 1000/1200 calories or can we just have a flat 1000/1200 calories per day and it doesn’t matter?

BTW: I know we're supposed to have a certain amount of protein a day, but I’m still confused

Thanks for a great post to get so many people thinking!

Tinman is my hero too! I'm so glad I listened to him almost from the start. About three months out I created my own plan. I never did stall (I was blessed). What I learned was to listen to my body and figure out what I wanted and/or needed to eat. I never tried that when I was overweight. I just deprived myself and made things worse.

I wish I could give you a "day in the life" of Dawnie's eating plan, however, the truth of the matter is I don't have one. I do get my protein and water in daily and then I go from there. I also take a multivitamin supplement, calcium, potassium and I have a vitamin B12 shot every month. We all differ. At a six month post check up appt I was low on vitamin B12 and potassium. I had my blood work done again last week and I am happy to say all tests were normal! Two weeks ago I was craving oranges (must have been low on vitamin C) so I ate three one day. I also eat a sweet most days. It is awesome to eat something I crave and not worry about it. I also have days I am really hungry and days I almost don't want to eat. Not sure why but I don't worry about that either. I eat what makes me comfortable OF COURSE after protein and water.

I do stick with Tinman's mantra-I never, never, never overeat. The couple of times I did overeat I was miserable and paid attention to how I felt. It was during those times and a little experimentation when I figured out what "full" was for me.

I lost 100 lbs in seven months and I continued to lose for another month and a half. My body stopped losing and evened out after losing 117 lbs. I have a three pound range for my weight. I have always stayed right in that range. I have maintained for close to five months now. My advice is to LOVE your body and pay attention to what it wants! And of course NEVER OVEREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!