Why so few calories on maintenance?

[Rainydayz 27]

I've been reading some stories that talk about people years after WLS and they usually say they are eating less than or around 1000 cal. per day. Why so few? According to most calorie calculators I have tried it says that a 5'5" 120 lb. woman with light activity would have to eat about 1700 calories to maintain her weight. Is everyone just really short or what?

[Rootman 1,101]

Caloric intake is determined by more than height / weight. Activity and natural inclination are factors as well. The TPE of calories matter too, 1000 calories of mostly carbs is a lot less food than say 1000 calories of Protein. Whatever caloric intake you settle on will be enough to maintain your weight without gaining or losing. If it's 1000 calories than that's what you need to take in, if it's 1500 then that's it.

[Rainydayz 27]

Caloric intake is determined by more than height / weight. Activity and natural inclination are factors as well. The TPE of calories matter too, 1000 calories of mostly carbs is a lot less food than say 1000 calories of Protein. Whatever caloric intake you settle on will be enough to maintain your weight without gaining or losing. If it's 1000 calories than that's what you need to take in, if it's 1500 then that's it.

Huh? Sorry but I didn't really understand what you said. What I'm talking about is people saying that they try to stay UNDER 1,000 calories even after they've hit their goal. Isn't that too few to even live on? Or are you saying that if its like 800 calories of Protein then it's OK? I thought calories were calories. And I've been told by doctors not to stay under 1,000 calories for long periods of time.

[Susanne 32]

Yeah, a lot of people wonder about that. There is a long topic about people discussing this here:

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12289-how-is-1200-calories-enough/

I believe I will be able to maintain at a higher level, but I am also trying to get a lot more active.

From what I read here, a lot of people are taking in very low calories in the losing phase - very low for me is 700 calories or so.

I was told by my nutritionist to stay around 900 during losing. I believe staying at a slightly higher calorie rate during losing helps keep the metabolism active. I do lose slower than a lot of other people here, but I lose and that's what matters and I hope in the long run it helps me maintain at 1400 or 1500 calories. Now, that's just what I think and I am not a doc or nut.

I don't believe you'd go into full starvation if you take in less than that but it does make sense to me that the body gets accustomed to a lower calorie amount and gains when you go higher than. I am sure you can coax your body to burn more even if you stayed around 700 calories during the losing years, but for me this is perfect. I am living life. I am eating what I want in small amounts. I am staying around 900 calories, more if I worked out hard.

[Rootman 1,101]

Calories ARE calories - but like MASS a ton of feathers is a whole bigger than a ton of lead. Sugary stuff has MORE calories so 1000 calories of donuts is a whole lot LESS food than 1000 calories of chicken.

If you are at an appropriate weight and a body is not losing or gaining weight on a steady diet of 1000 calories and you are getting sufficient supplements, e.g. Vitamins and minerals and enough Protein then 1000 calories a day is what you need to live. For a short woman this is probably sufficient, me being 6' tall and male 1000 calories is probably not going to cut it. I will find out when I reach my weight goal. Not everyone needs more than 1000 calories, a smaller woman may not, a larger male will. It depends on your BMI and your bodies ability to process calories. Some people have amazingly efficient metabolisms and can actually GAIN on what is too few calories for someone else. We're all different.

It will take some experimenting to find out how many calories you need to maintain once you've reached your goal.

[MINI-Me 196]

I am 5'6" and normally bounce between 125 - 128 in maintenance. I'm wearing a misses size 4 and x-small to small tops.

At the end of my losing stage, I was eating between 1200 - 1500 calories. In maintenance, I'm somewhere between 1500 - 2000 depending on the day and my activity level. During the week, I'm closer to 1500 calories, but since I eat out more on the weekends, I'm closer to 2000 on the weekends.

Hope that helps.

[crosswind 134]

I am 5'6" and normally bounce between 125 - 128 in maintenance. I'm wearing a misses size 4 and x-small to small tops.

At the end of my losing stage, I was eating between 1200 - 1500 calories. In maintenance, I'm somewhere between 1500 - 2000 depending on the day and my activity level. During the week, I'm closer to 1500 calories, but since I eat out more on the weekends, I'm closer to 2000 on the weekends.

Hope that helps.

pat

Original instructions from bariatric surgeons is to stay around a thousand calories per day. The very simple reason for this is that one assumption about morbidly obese people is that they have compromised metabolisms and simply can not maintain a normal weight at 1500 or 2000. The whole rationale reads that there is an involuntary process at work of some kind that makes people retain weight that can't be rectified any other way but surgery.

Anyway there *are* people like this and they really are going to have to maintain on a thousand calories. The thing is they'l do it comfortably now with their sleeve restriction.

[chilo1 62]

Staying on long term under 1000 cal is dangerous, nobody should be under 1200 when maintaining whatever their height. I still have weight to lose, but am on around 1500 and maintaining, I know I need to go back to around 1000 to start losing again. I am very active though, so I am hoping that when I get down to 1200 and keep as active as I am I'll lose the pounds left to goal.

[Rootman 1,101]

Staying on long term under 1000 cal is dangerous, nobody should be under 1200 when maintaining whatever their height. I still have weight to lose, but am on around 1500 and maintaining, I know I need to go back to around 1000 to start losing again. I am very active though, so I am hoping that when I get down to 1200 and keep as active as I am I'll lose the pounds left to goal.

What happens when someone is at a proper weight and GAINS additional weight at 1000 calories? My wife is 4'11 and 120 pounds and gains weight if she goes above 1000 calories for extended periods. YES, 1000 is too low for a majority us but only YOU can tell once you've gotten to your target weight and setup a maintenance diet.

[Susanne 32]

Rootman, of course there are extremes. I am sure Ghandi would have gained at 500 calories, I don't think anyone was talking about this. Also, no one was asking about where the calories are from. Sugary stuff doesn't have more calories, that is like saying lead is heavier than feathers.

If you want to get technical, sugary stuff has the same amount of calories as Protein stuff and less than fat stuff on a per gram base:

Fats: 1 gram = 9 calories

Proteins: 1 gram = 4 calories

Carbs: 1 gram = 4 calories

How satisfying these items are or what they do for your health was not really the question.

Fact is, that a lot of places say 1000 - 1200 calories and even if I eat 1000 calories all Protein and healthy grains, it should not be considered enough for weight maintenance for a healthy person post VSG. This is honestly not what I got surgery for - even if my small stomach enables me to live on 900 to 1000 calories, I do not think it should be the goal for the majority of people on maintenance post VSG.

I have heard it too, 1000 is considered a maintenance caloric intake and I found it too little. I think Crosswind has it right, that most of us have messed up their metabolisms over years and years of yoyo'ing and fad dieting. I also think that for people "like us" they often say a lower value like 1000 calories and will be happy if we stay within 1200 calories. Just like you try to put a child to bed at 7pm because you know it will drag out for about an hour and then they are in bed at 8pm. If you would plan for 8pm, they would be in bed at 9pm which would be too late.

I also think the majority - me included - is not tracking EVERYTHING. I am tracking pretty much daily and just about everything, but I believe that I am leaving off a coffee Creamer here, a bite of my husbands croissant there, licking off a spoon when cooking etc. which probably averages around 100 - 150 calories a day that I don't log.

[Rainydayz 27]

Thanks for the link. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that thinks that living on less than 1,000 cal./day is not healthy. Maybe if someone gains weight on more than that they need to exercise more or something? I know when I used to run regularly I was eating over 2,000 cal/day and still losing weight.

[KellyL 173]

I honestly don't know the answer to this, but I don't think the same rules apply to those of us who have struggled with obesity. There's a reason one person can eat say 2000 calories and be thin but another person eating the same can become overweight. Is it Genes or metabolism? I am not sure. But thankfully we have the sleeve to help us. What sounds like a small amount of calories pre-op will be a lot post-op. I see where ppl have difficulty getting in enough calories due to lack of hunger, they are also busier living their lives, and food in general just isn't as important.

I am pre-op and according to most weight loss sites and apps at my weight and height I should be able to lose 2 lbs a wk by keeping my calories at 1500. I started using this app because I had lost 30-35 lbs in Oct and Nov. But nothing since. I thought I was getting in to many or too few calories. Even after using the app and logging everything I eat I am still stuck. But I haven't let it get to me like in the past. I am getting sleeved soon so that should help. I am diabetic so I know this is affecting my rate of loss.

[swizzly 901]

This topic totally intrigues me, because I can't imagine maintaining on 1000 calories. I'm trying to get to 1000 for the losing phase, still working on it. I'm wondering how much we can possibly impact our basic metabolic rate through this process? (Not a rhetorical question.)

I have hypothyroidism (successfully supplemented...and unrelated to my weight IMO) and am 40-mumble years old, but my resting metabolic rate is 1880 calories per day. This has led me to believe that I will eventually have to be at around 1800 calories to maintain my weight. I'm hoping that being low-cal for a long period (ie, due to sleeve, during losing phase) will not lower my resting metabolic rate.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I had a resting metabolic test taken. I had breathe into a machine out of my mouth with my nose clamped shut with some thing that looked like a clothes

pin. I couldn't exercise for 48 hours before the test. I had nothing to eat or drink before the test and it had to be done as soon as I awakened.

It came to 1200 calories. That means sitting around doing nothing, I only

burn 1200 calories. My metabolism has slowed down from all the years

of yo yo dieting. If I eat much above 1200 I gain weight. If I don't exercise regularly, I gain weight.

Oh, and I am only 5' 2"

If you really want to know how many calories you need in maint. have this test taken.

[crosswind 134]

Yeah, this is what I'm saying: this is bariatric surgery -- in other words a therapeutic option for the morbidly obese. The underlying idea is that people with this problem have a chronic metabolic disorder that makes it impossible for them to maintain a normal weight taking in a *normal* amount of calories. The flux capacitor has gone kaflooey -- that's the rationale for performing the surgery in the world of bariatrica. The thrifty gene has gone beyond the pale and started hoarding happy meal boxes and cats.

It might be true of you, it actually might only be true of you *right now*. But the bariatricors and bariatrixes are recommending what they believe to be a "safe" level even if you're not finding that's working for you.

I don't think this is going to turn out to be true of me because I was so damn hungry all the time and I was probably putting away a full four thousand calories almost every day. I spent a couple months "eating normally" and watching this and it was breathtaking. I don't know for sure if I've got a bad capacitor yet but I might, considering this is the third time I will have lost the same 100 pounds.

in the meantime, Powerade for all.