Yes they will explain everything. Every doctor and dietitian have their own rules. I have seen 3 different dietitians from my doctor's office and they all have their different views on protein intake for the day. I was given a large booklet when I went to the hospital that explained everything and had different calorie diets that ranged from 900-1500. I try to stick to 1000-1200 and around 90-100 protein. The other night at my support group my dietitian said 60 grams of protein a day but I do more.

Good luck with everything and just keep asking and we will all try to help you.

One of the reasons it's so confusing is that every doctor has a little different take on things. The one hard and fast rule I was told when I started was 60 grams of protein a day. Fall below that and you risk health problems and (for me) hair loss.

The calorie thing is what varies the most, I think. One reason is because it's different based on whether you are pre-op, post-op or well into your journey and past the post-op healing stage. My surgery was 7 years ago, so it's not real fresh for me. But I remember my doctor telling me to shoot for 600-800 calories a day. Now, I am trying to keep it at 700 net calories per day (intake minus exercise), which usually amounts to taking in 1000-1200 calories per day, depending on how much exercise I do.

The best thing that ever happened to me was My Fitness Pal. It's an app that helps track calories and exericse. Because it's on my phone, I can quickly and easily keep up with what goes in my mouth right then, rather than trying to remember later. Plus, it has a very large database of foods already in it so I don't have to try to figure it out. It does all the math and tracks protein, sodium, fat, cholesterol, etc all at the same time.

Like I said, I've had my band for 7 years and I have never in my life - before the band or after - met with a nutritionist. I didn't realize that was kind of weird until I joined this site and everyone was talking about meeting regularly with their nutritionist. Hopefully your doctor will have you see someone for that, so they can give you concrete guidelines to make life easier, rather than trying to figure it out on your own. If it's not offered or required, ask for it! I wish I had!

Shelly

Thanks Shelly! I just added the My Fitness Pal app to my phone and will check it out! Meeting with the nutritionist is a requirement through my insurance. The hospital that does the procedure has all of these professionals available there and they work together to prepare you for the band. I will meet with them in a few months (after I have seen my doctor 3x, once per month). Hopefully I will get the book and information at that time to prepare myself. Right now I am trying to mentally prepare and change my eating habits a bit. I have to make improvements every month for my meeting with my physician. I am a bit nervous because I do not want to fail! But I know they want you to lose something each month or show some improvement.