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No it was never explained its just the amount given since I went to solids. I even confirmed it at my 6 month when they increase my protein to 80 grams. I questioned how I was to increase protein yet stay on the same calories...I was told "make high protein choices." Thank you everyone for responding, I knew to keep keeping on..since as Ms.sss stated weight loss is weight loss. Its just frustrating, to be right back where I was before surgery; hungry all the time and only losing a pound a week despite eating healthy, cutting back and being hungry 24/7! Yes, I've lost 90+lbs since..I was just hoping the struggle would have been a bit easier ..at least have gotten the "honeymoon" period of not being hungry and losing a lot the first few months. Thanks again everyone!

Don't compare your weight loss to anyone else's. That way is only misery. Trust your team and the process. Stick to their regime. It works. The weight you have lost is fantastic and above average. I lost 15lbs. Mahoosive round of applause coming your way. This time next year you will be amazed how much you have lost.

Well this time they didn’t operate on my stomach but with my sleeve I was for sure not able to eat what I could pre surgery. I always felt like I could eat more than others at any given stage but I never tested it too far beyond what I was supposed to have. At like 6 months out I was eating about what everyone else with a sleeve could (maybe a tad bit more) and at 3.5 years out I could eat like 4” or 5”’ of a sub but probably would’ve been full if I had stopped at 3” Not that I had them often but that was a question they asked me to get a good idea of capacity and it is pretty standard and easy to visualize. Lots of people do feel extremely full on next to nothing very early out, just means more inflammation. Also, they make the stomach a pretty standard size with the surgeries but I don't think they can control how much stretch our stomachs have. That’s not anything I got from a Dr. just my own guess to explain why we are not all the exact same at the same stage. I really hope you enjoyed your crab. I found a skinny scampi recipe that I’m gonna try making the sauce to dip mine in. I know that I won’t eat much at this point but I want to find the healthy recipes now while I’m not p hungry because last time I didn’t and i think that was part of why I regained. When I could finally eat more and my body was hungry I hadn't changed what i was eating enough to maintain the loss. Then at a certain point I just gave up trying. I am such a picky eater I have been really scouring the web for recipes. A friend of me said that making tacos with ground turkey tastes the same to her so I plan to give that a try when i can have them or taco salad.

I felt my weight loss slowed down when I wasnt eating enough, at 6 months I was eating 1000 calories, and now 18 months later I do 1200 to 1600, with my surgeons approval. I have been maintaining my weight since January after loosing an additional 10lbs as a buffer. Sent from my SM-S916U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks @Bypass2Freedom, @SleeveToBypass2023and @FifiLux for your kind comments. I think the MSK person just wanted to make me aware of what the future may hold for me and to temper any expectations I may have regarding WLS and my knees. As it stands at the moment, I find it difficult to weight bear as the pain can knock me sideways. I’ve had a little folding scooter for around a month now which means I can now get out of the house with hubby and be around people. I cannot begin to explain how this has added to my quality of life! I have some independence back!! I could go weeks at a time not getting out, so this is a massive change. I could actually wizz off to the park with my granddaughter at the weekend and just be there with her 😊 I also haven’t driven for almost a year now, which I miss but cannot manage at present as I can’t get in the van we have at the drivers side as it’s too high and my knees can’t cope right now as there are times when just bending them can bring me to tears. It’s not the end of the world, just something that happens 🤷‍♀️ These are all things that will hopefully change in the future. I know that weight loss will have positive impacts in lots of different areas of my life. I know that my knees will definitely thank me, knee surgery not withstanding!

Thank you! I'll try to reply to everything. It took me some time, but for me personally the main reason I went with the sleeve is because I want to build muscle on top of the weight loss over time, and nutritionally it is easier to get the amount of nutrients needed to bulk up with a sleeve. However, that was not an easy decision and I did speak with two doctors first to educate myself. Both recommended that I went with a Deudonal Switch because of my diabetes as it would help that faster, however that is an option I have in the future if need be. Of course I'm not a doctor, so I would say this depends a lot on your personal factors and what would help you best. My sister had a DS done and she dropped over 200 pounds of fat, she's a different person now. My sister is also very short and I'm 6 feet tall so we carry the weight very differently. Either way, as long as you get it done I think you will be alright. No disrespect to the forums, but I understand the hesitancy from looking around here. However, I would say to look at this as more of a support group and a place for help from others that have gone through it. Everyone is completely different as far as what happens. I have been fortunate to have little to no side effects at all, others are not as lucky. I can say that before and after surgery it's up to you to control how well you achieve your goals. It's hard but absolutely worth it. You got down this far on your own, you should be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you. Don't look at surgery as a miracle cure for weight loss. Look at it as a tool that will aid you to achieve your goals much faster. After all, once you have the surgery it's on you to follow the meal plans, supplements/medication, and exercise in order to truly achieve your goals. And knowing your journey so far, I think that whatever you have done will help you immensely. Thank you again for sharing your story. Feel free to reach out if you ever need to.

Below is a recap of the positives and negatives of my gastric surgery one year after the surgery. Positives: I am no longer a diabetic after 15 years of being a diabetic. I do not take any anti acid medication, I was on daily anti acid medication for 20 years. I no longer have GERD or Barrett’s Esophagus. I look good, I feel good, I lost 100 pounds and I am able to do things that I was unable to do before. Negatives: Lactose Intolerance: I inherited a lactose intolerance after the surgery and will never be able to enjoy dairy products like ice cream. Alcohol Abstinence: I will never be able to have a beer or a glass of wine, due to the high alcohol concentration in the body, so I have prohibition of alcohol consumption for life. Medication Absorption Issues: Significant Challenge: Post-surgery, the stomach processes medications differently, resulting in varied absorption rates. This issue is under-researched and poses a significant opportunity for further medical studies. Example: Treatment of infections such as UTIs can be complicated. Ineffective antibiotic absorption can lead to persistent infections and increased risk of complications. I had severe challenges with antibiotic absorption. I had repeated UTI incidents due to ineffective medication absorption that necessitated trying multiple antibiotics before finding an effective one that absorbed appropriately. Due to lack of research in this area, doctors have almost no knowledge of this and you have to become your own subject matter expert. Reduced Immunity: Increased susceptibility to infections, including: Cold Sores: Post-surgery imbalance in lysine and arginine levels resulted in frequent cold sores. Daily lysine supplements were recommended to manage this issue. This is one additional supplement I need to take daily. Fungal Infections: Significant weight loss altered skin physiology, leading to recurrent fungal infections in skin folds. Preventive measures include having antifungal prescriptions on standby. Nutritional Imbalances: Vitamins and Minerals: Maintaining a balance of essential nutrients is a constant challenge, truly a daily full time job. Taking vitamins, minerals and being able to change the amount based on blood test results is a life long commitment. Anemia: Despite taking supplements, anemia can still occur, this is a constant struggle for me. Mineral Toxicity: Excess minerals like phosphorus can lead to osteoporosis, indicating the fine line between deficiency and toxicity in nutrient management. This has been a challenge for me, my blood tests have consistently showed high phosphorous levels and nobody has an answer to this. I consulted several physicians including endocrinologist, nephrologist and my family doctor, with no answers thus far. Severe Hunger: Increased Hunger: Somewhere between 6 months and a year post-surgery, hunger pains became more intense than pre-surgery. The luxury of not being hungry all the time went away. Nobody talks extensively about this but lack of hunger goes away for all gastric surgery patients, hunger comes back and it is up to the individual to eat properly and not gain the weight back, which is very easy to do. Inability to Fast: Unlike before the surgery, fasting for even a day can cause severe physical reactions including shaking and an overwhelming feeling of malaise. I was unable to resolve the Atrial Fibrillation. This was the main reason for which I had this surgery since Australian studies were showing promising results curing AFib with weight loss. While the episodes are less frequent my AFib is still there. Conclusion: Gastric surgery offers weight loss benefits but comes with lifelong challenges that require constant vigilance and management. Thorough consideration and consultation with healthcare professionals are essential before proceeding with any gastric surgery.

when i first started getting the "you are too skinny" comments, i was annoyed...because i was still considered overweight for my height and i thought the people saying this to me were blind. or stupid. then i started to feel secretly good about it, cuz i felt i looked great and was super proud of my weight loss and thought people saying this were just jealous. or stupid. THEN i started to doubt myself and be self-conscious about my looks as i began to take these people's comments to heart. i thought these people were mean. or just well-meaning (this was the worst stage...luckily this phase didn't last long...maybe a couple months). after a little more time, the comments began to just get boring. i finally knew i looked and felt awesome. so those people went back to being stupid. now, no one makes any comments at all (despite me weighing LESS now than when all their "concern" started showing up). almost all the people that knew me as fat are now used to me being skinny. others never even remember knowing me as fat. i'll be six years out in October. so long story short. eff all the people and their comments. so long as YOU feel great, you're golden. try not let others' opinions change your own good opinion of yourself. ❤️

I find the calculator on the Mexico site to be rather inaccurate for me, but everyone varies. Age and surgery type, as well as co-morbidities all impact weight loss rate. It thinks I should be at 212lbs at 6 months but I'm at 240 with 6 days to go. Not gonna happen. It also thinks I should be at 170 by 12 months, but that's not very likely either. I've always used the following one as it takes into account the different surgeries and looks just like the one my surgeon uses. They calculate from the highest weight, it is important to include that because if you have a lot of weight loss before surgery your percentages may track differently and your post op weight loss may be slower. I've seen this happen to several people with surgeons calculating it improperly, or applying the bypass trajectory to a DS patient, which is a disaster and very stressful for the patient! This one takes into account much more like your age, ethnicity, and pre-existing conditions: https://riskcalculator.facs.org/bariatric/?_ga=2.112690692.1282950073.1698781773-393992475.1698781773 According to this one I should be at 78 lbs down for my DS surgery at 6 months. I'm at 80 lbs down. My weight loss has tracked along with this thing pretty steadily, give or take 15 lbs, since surgery, except for my 6 week stall. It puts me at 202 by 12 months out, but DS patients lose for 18-24 months post op, so I should be at 170 sometime in that 12-24 month period! In the end these are all just estimation tools. Our bodies do what they will and we make the most of it. Still, it is nice to have a loose guideline to follow.

Thank you so much @NickelChip for your great insight and information. It’s super helpful and calmed me down a lot. You are absolutely right and it’s something I need to think about and not set myself up for failure by being too restrictive. I was thinking because it’s my last opportunity for solids it would be my last chance to eat that because I had planned to not eat sugar again after surgery. Not an excuse, but I was hungry from missing my shakes due to working also. I wasn’t thinking right at all and regretted it immediately. It definitely opened my eyes to how my brain tries to justify eating something like that. I know I should not look at it as a loss of the foods I used to enjoy. Thank you again for sharing such wise and thoughtful insights. ❤️

Really interesting to read about the “starting weight”. I booked my surgery on January 30th and was 96kg (my highest ever weight - stepping on the scales and seeing I was closer to 100 that to 90 was a real shock - I dug out some insurance papers from February 2020 - I was 58kg then and allready heavier than I like to be). My surgery was 3 weeks later because I had to stop smoking first. The day of surgery I was 91.1kg so I lost 5.9kg in the three weeks prior ( I basically did a broth fast and didn’t eat anything solid, only clear broth and tea and coffee). Im now 70kg so since January 30th I’ve lost 26kg (57lbs) in 16 weeks (average of 1.6kg or 3.6lbs a week) so I’m very very happy with the weight loss even if I’m over the weather! I do have a goal weight which is my pre pandemic weight of 52-55kg (114-122 lbs) because I know that that is the weight at which I function best and that feels the best for my legs ( I mentioned earlier in the thread that I have very minor cerebral palsy - I have the impression that the extra pain I have for every gram I weigh over 55kg just isn’t worth it and really impacts my standard of living and my mobility. Because of the CP I have very minimal flexibility so being even slightly over weight just makes moving so so much harder for me as I can barely bend my knees as it is and have no upwards ankle flexibility what so ever. I’m easily out of balance and I fall over often ( the best way to picture it is to imagine the mobility of someone who has had about 3 beers too many), I’m used to it and my physiotherapist always says I’m a very good « faller », a part from bruises and a bruised ego I’ve only ever seriously broken things ( shoulder, wrist and double arm fracture all in one go!) once since being an adult. But being heavier has meant having more issues getting back up after falling over and more and bigger bruises. So my goal isn’t an esthetic one ( even though it will be nice to not be the fattest person in the room anymore - and because I live in Paris where the average female BMI is 21.3 the bar is low!) but a functional one. So I have 15kg (33lbs) left to loose, I know the rate of loss will slow, but I’m hoping to be at least nearly there in September when I take a new position, I really want to do my transition speech feeling ( and looking) like my old self ( just with some extra wrinkles and grey hair). My handover is September 16th - that leaves 17 weeks so I’m not sure I’ll be at 55kg by then because it would mean continuing to loose an average of 0.9kg ( 1.95lbs) a week which is a lot given my current weight. However if I manage to loose an average of 0.5kg (1.1lbs) per week ( which seems a more attainable bar) I should be 61/62kg by then, and I can live with that! ( I’m an unapologetic numbers girl - I don’t track what I eat because that’s not sustainable for me long term - I try to eat protein but other than that - YOLO - but I do track my weight every day if I have a scale and my steps and my activity) A very long post once again. Thanks all for being here. And here is a picture of a Greek island morning! That’s the 9.30AM light!

🤔 Definitely food for thought. You brought up some very good points. I just am leery of adding fruit and or veggies since I am extremely carb sensitive. Perhaps I'll slowly introduce a few more. Its just difficult to add something without removing protein since I'm restricted to 800 calories and fruit adds a lot more calories. Tbh, I don't know why I'm hung up on reaching my goal, perhaps its because I'm very goal-centric, if I don't reach my goal to me I'll feel as if I've failed, even when I haven't. I've always up until the last ten years weighed 105-108, so I felt 120 was reasonable for my small frame and height. Plus, I'm still classified as over weight! I am still heavy for my height. Lastly, I still have quite a bit of fat on my small frame (its not All just skin) so, if I'm being honest I do need to lose the rolls on my stomach and arms. I know the difference between skin excess and skin with fat. Perhaps 140 would be a better goal..I don't know. I do understand I'll never be what I was, but I feel perhaps it was the doctors and dietician's jobs to tell me 120 wouldn't work based on my starting BMI, my age etc, and explain reasonable surgical expectations - they didn't which is why I assumed it was obtainable. Thank you for giving me lots to think about, either way I still have 6 months before I am put on maintenance or my weight loss is set as I was told by the doctor. I appreciate your insights. Oh and no, I've never had a DEXA scan. I've never heard of it. Also, its about time that gymnast got off my back - no more freeloading!

I had no idea he was going to take my gallbladder. Although I’m guessing it was somewhere in the paperwork I signed that he may. This is the same surgeon that did my sleeve so it’s not a standard since he didn’t take it last time. Mine just already wasn’t looking good and with the anticipated weight loss it would’ve needed to be removed eventually anyways so he went ahead and took it. Because I had the SADI and less Fat is absorbed though it’s going to be a fine balance between too much fat for my lack of gallbladder and not enough fat for my body since I had the SADI so I don’t think it was a decision he took lightly. In terms of moving the night stand I left mine where it goes but I did end up grabbing a tv tray that I don’t even remember how I acquired I’ve had it so long but it comes in real handy when someone is sick and needs to keep lots of things handy. It works well because as I adjust the level of the bed for comfort my husband can come in and move it an inch or two in either direction to make it easier for me to reach. I have been texting for his assistance less and less, though. Today I am feeling well enough I can scoot it myself since it’s on a rug on wood flooring. I also found a couple small baskets to be helpful to coral things like vitamins and thermometer and everyday meds. Another thing I actually discovered today was that ironically it is easier to get up from the bed in the flat position using the log roll method than to sit the bed all the way up. It honestly doesn’t make much sense to me but if one way hurts a great deal, try the other.

Hi everyone! I'm scheduled for August 13, RNY. I started at 361 lbs. and joined a weight-loss clinic 18 months ago, where they put me on something similar to the LSD. I lost about 80 lbs. and then my body decided my set point was around 270, so surgery is next. I've been trolling this site for quite a while, even when I was wondering if I should get the surgery in the first place. To prepare, I've been experimenting with the recipes that people post, and trying various products/shakes/vitamins that have been recommended by this group and my local support group, to see what options I like. I've also been collecting items for post-surgery, like a magic bullet and small silverware, things from the list my surgical team gave me. I tend to over-prepare to cope with stress, and this is a biggie. I'm also trying to figure out what hobbies I can distract myself with post-op - any suggestions?

You look absolutely amazing!! Congratulations on the weight loss. I don’t know how you do it with all the traveling. I think it takes some time for us to adjust to actually seeing ourselves thinner even after we have lost the weight. Even losing 45 lbs now I don’t always see myself thinner. Then I look at my English bulldog who also weighs 45 lbs and remind myself that I lost that much weight lol 😂 When I look at it that way it makes me see it differently. I am 18lbs away from my weight the surgeon wants me at but it is very slow going now. Some days I fluctuate between the same couple pounds instead of going down and making any real progress. Orientation at work already has given me a cough and stuffy nose. Too much time hibernating at home. I am anxious though to see if all the moving 8 hrs a day will get the weight dropping faster. I hope everyone continues to beat the scale and stay positive!! It looks like everyone is doing great!

I swear, if this stall doesn't break soon... I did some research and found that indeed, 3 months is a common time for a stall to hit. It's just frustrating to see that nice downward trend come to a halt, especially when the "experts" tell you the first 3 months are the fastest weight loss. It really is a marathon, isn't it? Here's what my weight has been doing the past 30 days:

wowza! the visual difference of your lost 4lbs is pretty significant! i don't think a 4lbs loss would have registered such a visual difference on me. nice!!

Week 3 Puree diet sucks. I may need to seek counseling as I didn't realize my relationship with food, or lack thereof, is this out of control. Maybe it's not a food addiction? Maybe I don't try hard enough? I lack control and I know it will affect me long-term. I convince myself that I'm trying, but am I really? I'm supposed to be eating/drinking plenty of protein. 64oz of fluids per day, but I'm not. I have absolutely NO motivation to get out of bed or the control to not snack on foods I'm not even ready to properly digest. I keep telling myself I'm chewing enough so it's "basically pureed" before I swallow. I could literally be furthest from the truth. Wth is wrong with me? I did SO good for my pre-op diet. I was very militant, even drank more fluids than I was supposed to. I also lost more weight than my doctor asked me to. What happened? I'm hungry, what seems like, all the time. I was warned I may not like sweet things and even salty foods could throw me off. If anything, I'm craving those two like never before. I've been cheating with food already...drinking around 35oz of fluids per day, on a good day. I'm so tired all day all the time. End rant... I hope I'm not the only one here who is suffering from stagnancy and lack of control. I will become stronger. I have faith in myself. It's just right now I'm at a loss.

Exactly, the only meds that won't absorb well are extended release meds. After surgery you're losing weight and hormones are stored in your fat which starts to release with fat loss making emotions fluctuate horribly. It's completely normal to be emotional especially when you add to the mix less calories than you're used to and surgery recovery! More emotional, tired, run down depressed etc.!

For me the physical hunger is completely gone now. With my sleeve it was also gone but it did come back. It was around 6 months that it started coming back if I’m remembering correctly. It comes back for most people to varying degrees of intensity. The best case is that you take that time to really change WHAT you eat, not just how much because when the hunger comes back you will likely eat larger portions and if it’s less healthy food you will probably begin to gain. At least I did. With my revision I have changed what I eat entirely. I didn’t do this with my sleeve. I had just a few menu options so it’s no wonder I got board with it and started to eat off plan more often. This time I did research and found several healthy recipes to try and I found quite a few that I enjoy so I don’t get board at all. You may not recall but I have Bipolar and Anxiety. I have found that freezing some healthy meals has come in real handy at times when I am not up to cooking. I also am in touch with my surgical team more often for office visits as well as the support group meetings and those help tremendously. Post op I also had more frequent appointment with my psychiatrist and psychologist as well. I just asked for all of the support I could find because it is a lot of change which I don’t do well with but now that I am two months out and i have a little routine I am feeling better than ever. The exercise that I am finally energized enough to do has helped my mood tremendously and the weight loss and the social aspect of the group fitness classes have helped with my self esteem too. I have so much more structure and routine now which is actually really great for Bipolar. I am able to fall asleep at night and stay asleep and I wake up at the same time and exercise, I set recurring alarms for vitamins/food and I log my food with the Baritastic app and my fitness watch keeps track of all of my activity. I show all of that data to my NP at my checkups and she helps me make adjustments to my nutrition. You will probably see a nutritionist for food related questions but I had a newer surgery called the SADI and the nutritionist wasn’t very helpful with regard to the macros after I got back to normal food. As long as you are managing your mental illness, though, you should be just fine. Just don’t hesitate to ask for whatever help that you need in order to be successful.

Just got a call from the pre op nurse. Boy is this getting real!! I’m sure your instructions will be different but I just thought I would share mine for anyone having surgery for the first time to have some idea but it will also help me to organize all of this in my mind 😊 Two Days Before (Monday) Switch to the liquid diet this morning. I also think I’m going to go ahead and pack that evening because there is enough to remember the night before. I have duplicates of all my toiletries and stuff I plan to pack so why not.(move my one rx so I don’t forget and take it in the morning) The Day before surgery: (Tuesday) Skip that one medication I moved starting this morning, switch from full to clear liquid that evening, remove rings, change sheets, take my shower with the special soap, take the nausea pill at bedtime and of course nothing at all after midnight. Surgery Day: (Wednesday) Wake up at 3:30am and take my allowed meds with 12oz of regular sugar Gatorade- finishing everything before 4:30, take my second shower with the special soap, toss towels in wash so they are clean post op, brush teeth and get dressed (which should be pretty fast considering I can’t put anything on my body or hair at all except clothes-no jewelry, makeup, lotions, deoderant, perfume-Nothing. (She said they don’t care if we stink. lol), Then head to the hospital at 5:15. *I have to remember not to pee after that Gatorade because they need a urine pregnancy test shortly after I arrive at 5:30. Turn off phone and/or give to hubby just before Surgery which is scheduled for 7:30am🤞 I asked about my meds. They say to leave everything valuable at home (except ID and insurance card) including wedding rings and medications but for the sleeve I was on some pretty new meds that they didn’t have in their pharmacy so my husband had to run home to get those. She said that very rarely happens but I could have them handy at home for him (in the original bottles) just in case. So, just a heads up if your driver can’t ever find anything like mine and you are on something less common it couldn’t hurt to leave them in plain view 🤣 I also plan to have a couple of things ready on the table that I will just ask my husband to bring me if it looks like I will end up staying a second night like my crochet bag, a book and some drink mixes (if they don’t have the ones I like). Things I can live without for one night but may want if I’m staying longer. I know at my bospital that they don’t give you a room until you are done with surgery so your bag has to go into a locker or something and they have to inventory all the stuff so they were very appreciative that I packed light last time.

I totally understand this. It's not a bad thing AT ALL to step away from the scales if they aren't helping you. Honestly - if you stick to your plan you will lose more weight than you have already - much more. The issue is that the loss is never linear. If you get stressed by stalls and regains then maybe weigh yourself once a month and celebrate your losses then. I was and am a daily weigher but I could tolerate the highs and lows associated with that. Yes - the food volumes we can tolerate increase in the months and years after surgery. If you focus on a diet of protein and veggies you're not likely to go too far wrong.

Would it be wrong to ask why don’t you come along to my next follow up and discuss this with my doctor because all my labs and his medical expertise say I am perfectly healthy. If you know something he doesn’t I’m sure he would love to hear you out. 😂 ahhh if only I would have the guts to actually say it. lol Sometimes I seriously think that people actually NEED us to be the heavy friend/daughter/niece/whatever in their life because it makes them feel better about themselves. Whatever their insecurity is they always make themselves feel better by saying at least I’m not obese (I’m not smart or funny or beautiful but at least I’m not as big as so and so). It’s really sad that some people who claim to love you are actually keeping score but unfortunately some are and they would rather keep you down than to deal with their own issues. if they know that the weight loss is intentional and that you are under the care of a physician that should be the end of it. Beyond that the benefit of the doubt that its genuine concern goes out the window. I mean seriously what gives anyone audacity to think that their opinion matters more than your own and that of your medical team.

@ShoppGirl I hear you. Yes I saw the articles from HSS and a few others that quoted that amount, but I've found that sometimes things like this often become an echochamber, even among doctors and other healthcare professionals that should know better. All it takes for this to become the "standard", is for a 50 year old medical textbook or two to print this (based on old data or beliefs), and an entire generation of doctors come to accept it. Look no further than BMI as an example of a well meaning, but ultimately wrong calculation becoming the standard by which we judge obesity and you can see how this sort of thing may not be based on science, but on "generally accepted knowledge". Back to the subject at hand. We do know that RMR can and does increase during recovery, but the amount is not always the same and is highly dependent on both the injury/illness, as well as the individual themselves. As a general rule of thumb when talking about athletes like @AmberFL, the number of calories needed during recovery is typically a little higher than maintenance, but quite a bit lower than what they might have needed when working out. That said, we also need to recognize that Non-Exercise Energy Thermogenesis (NEAT) can vary by many hundreds of calories between individuals. This is important, because even though RMR may increase, it's logical to assume people will have a concomitant reduction in NEAT when ill or injured. The net effect of that may mean the calorie balance may not really change that much if at all. Here's an example: Let's use a 3 factor calorie model, meaning RMR, NEAT & Exercise. (I'm going to ignore TEF for now since it won't make a lot of difference here). Let's assume an RMR is 1500, since this is around the average for all humans. Let's also assume a NEAT of 600 for a total calorie burn before exercise of ~2100. I've selected this since it also is fairly close to the median. Obviously these are just averages and every individual will be different. At an RMR of 1500, if we use as an example a 25% increase due to illness/injury, that would mean the new RMR would be as much as 375 calories more. We would expect NEAT to drop in most people when ill or injured because they tend to sit/lie down a lot more, walk less, etc. Especially in people that have a high NEAT amount to begin with, a drop of 375 calories per day or more is easily within normal ranges when they don't feel good. The net result in our "average" person here is that while their RMR went up, their NEAT went down by the same amount, thus completely negating any need for additional calories. At the end of the day, like you pointed out, we all have to decide for ourselves what we believe and what we think is right. I'm certainly not opposed to anyone consulting with their doctor regarding nutritional needs, as long as you recognise that most doctors get, at best, a single course in nutrition in medical school. Many get even less. I'd tend to suggest a Registered Dietitian instead, especially when dealing with chronic or acute injury or illness. Full disclosure, my background in this area is in nutritional needs for athletes, not people that are unwell. The flip side of this is that I find there are very few RDs that have the requisite knowledge to properly coach athletes, since so much of their training goes into how to help with weight loss, or assist with the nutritional needs of diabetics, cancer patients and the like. We also know that there are some really lousy RDs out there as well, so caveat emptor. (Otherwise, why would we see some of them trying to get very active bariatric patients to stay on an 800kcal/d diet.). Any RD that does that is, i'm sorry to say, an idiot. I'll close by saying that I don't doubt you in the least that you needed to up your calories by a significant amount due to cancer and chemo. I'm sure you recognise that's really in a different league to what most people are going through when recovering from an injury/illness or even surgical procedure. In your case, you have both the fact that cancer cells are effectively using calories that should go toward healthy tissue, as well as the fact that chemo is incredibly destructive to the rest of your body. Best of luck.

Oh that is absolutely normal and actually still a great loss streak! The weight loss path is not a straight path down. It will slow and even stall as your body is adjusting. Weight training can add to it, but honestly your body will adjust throughout. And yes the smaller you get, the slower it gets. I lost about 30lbs in the first month and a half (including the pre-op diet) and yet it's taken me nearly 4 months to lose 12lbs. You are still early on since surgery and have done fantastic. We started about the same weight. We are in this for life so keep doing what you're doing and let everything else speak for itself - the way you feel, take pictures and measurements. The scale is just one factor.