Sooo....should I not be eating carbs?

[Fleur de lis 2]

I'm confused. I've read many people on here talking about carb free alternatives and how they either don't eat carbs, or limit them to X amount per day.

So I asked my NUT how many carbs I should stay around and she told me not to worry about it and it didn't really matter. I have enough common sense to know that I shouldn't sit around eating slices of bread all day, but I'm wondering if perhaps she's wrong. I want to maximize my success, especially during this losing phase. Has anyone else gotten this response from their NUT or did you find that staying under a certain amount really helped with their weight loss?

[Tiffykins 673]

I can tell you from my experience that low carbing it got me to goal quickly, and once I started adding carbs in to slow my loss, it did happen. I slowed my weight loss down from 20lbs a month to less than 12 just by adding carbs. So, from my experience, and even into my maintenance days, adding carbs nixed my weight loss tremendously. If I carb load now in maintenance, I can gain a couple of pounds pretty easily.

Some surgeons and nutritionists prefer their patients to lose slow and steady. But, for me, that's not how I wanted to do it. My surgeon wanted me to slow down my weight loss from month 2 post-op, but I was stubborn and stuck to the guidelines of no more than 30gr of carbs per day. Even when I started adding more carbs, they were healthier options than processed white carbs.

[Dansha 16]

Hey girl. I am almost 3 months out and here is a sample of my nutritional guidelines supplied by my nut approved by my surgeon.

From months 2 thru 4:My guildelines state to eat mostly Protein, but I can eat small amounts of soft cooked fresh, frozen or canned veggies and fresh non-citrus or unsweetened canned fruits.

My Proteins are eggs, fish, chicken and turkey( thinly sliced deli style or moist canned).Tofu, refried Beans, Peanut Butter or other nut butters. My personal favorite is cottage cheese. A 1/2 cup of cottage cheese has 15 grams of Protein. WOO HOO!!!

Yogurt. I eat the greek yogurt which has anywhere from 12 to 20 grams of protein per container depending on which brand you get. No yogurt is carb free. Cheese( nonfat, low fat 5gms per ounce). String cheese and lentil, Split pea or Black Beans, canned.

All Veggies must be peeled,boiled or well steamed

carrots

beets

mushrooms

spinach

green beans

asparagus

broccoli

cauliflower

Right now I'm only eating green beans or broccoli if I have room after eating my protein.

NO CORN, PEAS,LIMA BEANS, LETTUCE, CABBAGE, OR RAW VEGGIES FOR 6 MONTHS THEN CAUTIOUSLY.

All fruits must be fresh, peeled, seeded and cored ( NO CITRUS FOR 6 MONTHS)

So far I've had a small amount of watermelon and peaches.

So in anwer to your question..... our greastest losing phase is in the first six months. As you can see this is a high protein, low carb program. My surgeon has these guidelines for ALL of his patients to ensure optimal WL results.

I hope this helps!!

Deb;)

[chilo1 62]

I'm 3 and a half (almost) months out and lost close to 70% of my excess weight in 3 months. My nut said the same, so, as you say I don't sit eating bread all day, but I eat way more than most people here (sometimes I'll have about 30-40 grs which for me is low, but most of the time I'm near to 80 grs) It's working a treat for me, I have NO cravings whatsoever, and even though I didn't/don't have so much to lose as a lot of people do I'm continuing to lose! So I guess it depends on your body, maybe give it a try?

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

I don't count carbs. I eat fruit daily - today I've already had a banana and I'm sure I'll dip into this basket of grapes I got for a snack later in the day. I'll have a small pita with baba ghanoush before my workout this evening. I also let myself have sweets several times a week - like 2 squares of dark chocolate, or a scoop of gelato. I see lots of people really obsessing over carbs but losing at the same rate as me, so I just don't see a reason to torture myself when I can have the same results by eating a varied diet. And the concept of avoiding fruit and vegetables and counting carbs in pills is just beyond me. People are always like, "You can't have carrots! They are so high in sugar!" Well, show me someone who got fat by eating too many carrots and then I'll go low-carb...lol.

[Fleur de lis 2]

I don't count carbs. I eat fruit daily - today I've already had a banana and I'm sure I'll dip into this basket of grapes I got for a snack later in the day. I'll have a small pita with baba ghanoush before my workout this evening. I also let myself have sweets several times a week - like 2 squares of dark chocolate, or a scoop of gelato. I see lots of people really obsessing over carbs but losing at the same rate as me, so I just don't see a reason to torture myself when I can have the same results by eating a varied diet. And the concept of avoiding fruit and vegetables and counting carbs in pills is just beyond me. People are always like, "You can't have carrots! They are so high in sugar!" Well, show me someone who got fat by eating too many carrots and then I'll go low-carb...lol.

LOL. Mmmm....I love carrots. And bananas.

I just came across a post earlier where someone was talking about the amount of carbs in pills. I was like, uhhh....WTF? I didn't even know there were carbs in pills. You sound like you've got a good plan going on and really, that type of eating appeals to me more than counting every single carb I put in my body. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something "wrong." I've emailed my NUT about this, but I think she has an quota of answering one email a day. LOL

[feedyoureye 3,087]

I'm a vegetarian, so I will be eating lots of carbs. I do eat eggs and dairy, so that will help... but Beans, tofu, even dairy has carbs. oh well. I will see how it shakes out when I am eating after the sleeve. I will be putting Proteins first, and the Protein Drinks will help too. I did lose weight on Southbeach, as a vegetarian, without a lot of carb fueled hunger.

[Tiffykins 673]

LOL. Mmmm....I love carrots. And bananas.

I just came across a post earlier where someone was talking about the amount of carbs in pills. I was like, uhhh....WTF? I didn't even know there were carbs in pills. You sound like you've got a good plan going on and really, that type of eating appeals to me more than counting every single carb I put in my body. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something "wrong." I've emailed my NUT about this, but I think she has an quota of answering one email a day. LOL

I think the key is really finding what works best for each individual. Obviously, me not tracking my food, and eating whatever I wanted got me to 270lbs, and I really needed to change my relationship with food. Also, I was extremely sedentary the first 4 months post-op due to complications. I had to do what worked for me, and I never felt like I was dieting because I didn't have room for anything other than Protein dense foods.

It's what worked for how I wanted to lose weight, and how I wanted to handle the "honeymoon phase" of weightloss. I didn't want it to take a year to get to goal, I didn't want to lose 1lb a week, so I ate how I knew I would lose, and in that time I learned that my body runs best on Protein, and carbs just slow me down, even "healthy" carbs and those foods definitely don't stay with me very long like dense protein. I never relied on protein supplements, and that is a big reason I was able to keep carbs so low.

So, what works for me isn't necessarily going to work for everyone else, and what other people did/doing would not have worked for me during my losing phase. Also, I know myself better than anyone else, and if I allowed little treats in here and there during my losing phase, then I would not have been working on my relationship with food as intensely as I did. Overall, I do not believe that there has to be a "cookie cutter" option for every WLS patient, but I know what did and didn't work for me. During my research, I read too many stories of people not tracking, or not following a set guideline then having a tough time losing weight, or frustrated with stalls. I wanted to avoid all of that stuff, and that's one of the big reasons I chose the path that I knew would work for me.

[Jordien 30]

My nutritionist told me to only track Protein. SHe looked in my journal and even told me I didn't have to track calories if I didn't want to. I am still doing it my way and tracking calories and protein. I am not tracking carbs right now, but it may be the answer to picking up the pace on my weight loss.

[lisabug 10]

My nut said the same thing, only track Protein. I think I may try to stick to low carbs for as long as I can. I don't know if I can be as disciplined as Tiffkins. 30 carbs is considered 2 servings by the ADA standards. Half of a small bannana is considered 1 serving. I had to count carbs when I had gestational diabetes, do it won't be very hard for mr to keep track of. Like Tiff said, we are all different and have to figure out what works for us. Trial by error.