What now?

[Hharris]

I had gastric sleeve surgery in March of 2017...so I am 9 months out. I have hit a wall! I think my biggest question is how much am I supposed to be eating at this point? I had a lot of info for right after surgery but now that I am this far out I’m struggling! I’ve lost 100 lbs and feel great so far but have about 80 more to go. Any advice would be appreciated!

[Christie13]

What are you eating? During the weight loss phase you should be focusing on protein (preferably lean solid ones such as chicken and fish) and fluids and veggies. Minimize the carbs as they are empty calories and you can eat more of them easily. What are your exercise habits? The more info you give the group the more helpful we can be. Good luck. You are not done losing. You are just going to have to make some tweaks to see what works for you.

[Luv49ers19]

Welcome! I was sleeved in May. I typically eat around 1100 to 1400 on my high calorie days. Sounds like a stall. I would increase my protien and calories or lower them depending on how many you are consuming. Just shake it up a bit to see if that gets the scale moving again. Good luck!

[Ann2]

Gosh, how much you should eat to lose weight depends on your muscle mass, your height, your gender, your activity level, and a little metabolic luck.

I lost 2 pounds a week on 1,200 calories/day. My last 15 pounds came off over 9 months while I was averaging 1700-1750 calories/day.

Protip: Unless you know how much you're already eating it will be difficult to evaluate how much you should eat going forward. If you're not already counting calories/protein/carbs/etc., I strongly suggest you do so -- at least long enough to benchmark how much you are really, honestly eating right now.

[sraebaer]

I never knew how to track, didn't know how much of what to eat, so joined Weight Watchers. It really worked for me as they recommend eating the exact way a sleeve patient should eat. (Guess they finally figured it out!). So I just use my phone to track everything and it's really easy. Foods like fish, seafood, chicken, beans, fruits and veggies are free. Then you have some points for the rest of the foods. I got back to goal in 2 weeks so now can attend for free. Plus I like the accountability of weighing every week. I know, I'm weird. It's so easy to follow with the sleeve because you're not hungry all the time. In the past I ate all my points by lunch because all I could think about is food.

I was making poor choices, choosing things high in protein but also high in sugar, fat, etc. Basically this has opened my eyes to what I've been eating. Like nuts are good for me, but not handfuls. And my protein bars and Greek Yogurt are really high in points. I've ditched the protein bars, and need to find some better Greek Yogurt.

And their restaurant list, that's really eye-opening! One of my favorite foods when I was fat was the fancy grilled cheese with tomato basil soup at Yard House. 35 points!! My daily point allotment is 23. No wonder I weighed way over 200 pounds! Oh, and I'd wash that down with a Long Island Tea, which was probably 15 more points.

Others know exactly what they are doing to track what they eat, like Ann, I think they use my fitness pal for free.

So I guess find what works for you. And exercise. I exercise a lot and don't think I could maintain without it.

Good luck!

[Ann2]

sraebaer's right -- I use My Fitness Pal, the free version.

Once you start using it it gets easier and easier. The app builds a list of your Recent Foods, your Frequent Foods, etc. You can build specific meals and recipes based on the ingredients -- and once built, you only click once to add the whole meal or dish to your daily log.

Honestly, I think it's easy-peasy. And it's also incredibly educational -- you wind up KNOWING the nutritional value of what you're eating, not guessing or assuming inaccurately.

Also, I find MFP very useful to plan my daily meals. And once I have a plan, I pretty well stick to it instead of just wander through life eating whatever appears in my line of sight. I think we used to call that a "See Food Diet."

Good luck!

[gefree2770blessings]

I think you need to list down all that you have eaten for a successful lose of weight of 100 lbs and check what need to be included in your list. They have been proven effective. Good luck!