9 Weeks Post Op, What Is Your Calorie Intake?

[kimmr 5]

I'm a band to sleeve revision 9 weeks out. I think I eat WAY too much. I just got a smart phone so I could download My Fitness Pal. For the last three days, I have finally been keeping track of my calories. I'm eating around 1500 calories a day, which just seems outrageous.

Also, I feel like I have just plain poor eating habits. Like my old habits are not going to die. Sugary things are really hard for me to get away from, and I crave carbs. I have been hitting my 60 g Protein requirement pretty early, so that's not too big of a deal. I do good on Water, too. I don't do pop or alcohol, and I don't crave those things at all. Also, I have come across nothing, literally nothing, that has given me trouble. bread, rice, Pasta, everything goes down just fine.

I've been stalled for a while around this 172 mark, so maybe that means I'm done. I'm a little disappointed about it, as I'd like to get down at least to my low with the band - 155 lbs.

I guess what has me worried is that if I'm doing poorly right now, how the heck am I going to make this work in a year? In 5 or 10 years? I just don't know how to put my old eating habits to rest. Especially because I thought I had rid myself of my old eating habits with the band. I got to the point where I ate what I felt like, but it just wasn't much, and when I was done, I was done, and didn't think about it any more. Now I'm back to the old habits...obsessing about food and what I didn't finish, thinking about when I can have the rest of that sandwich, etc.

I don't know, anyone have any thoughts? I'm just really nervous about this long term.

[takingthejourney 23]

I am about 9 weeks out as well and I only get in about 500-700 cals a day. I also use myfitnesspal on my iPhone and track everything. I have not tried bread, rice, Pasta or raw vegetables yet. I have lost about 45lbs as of last Monday - I will weigh again next Monday. I still don't get hungry and I don't have any cravings to be honest. Sweets we're never my fall before and I don't have them now.

See if maybe cutting each meal size down by half and making sure you eat your Protein first helps. I still take 30 seconds or more to chew small bites and wait 2 minutes between bites before continuing on - I also limit myself to eating for 20-30 minutes tops.

I don't know if this helped at all!! Good luck with your journey!! Let me know your user name on myfitnesspal and I will add you as a friend.

[smileen 17]

Just because you can doesn't mean you should! Carbs are a catalyst for me so I don't keep bread, rice and Pasta around or i WILL eat it and we know it has little or no nutritional value. I still count my chews if I find I am eating too fast it slows me down. Newbie has good advice. Remember the sleeve will work for you if you work for your goal to be healtier. Good luck!

[kimmr 5]

@Journey: See, I do get hungry. It's definitely not the starving feeling like before, but I still get hungry, so that's a bummer. And I do crave. Sweets never used to be my thing, either, but now I can't help but think about it.

@smileen: you're totally right. Just because I can, doesn't mean I should. But see, that's my problem here. I got myself overweight and in this position because I clearly have no self control! And I guess it's scaring me a little bit how much self control I'm going to need to make this sleeve work. I thought I had the self control situation handled when I had my band, but my band was too tight at that time, so it obviously wasn't working as designed.

Can I literally break myself of the addiction/cravings to carbs? Other than food, I haven't really been addicted to anything in my life, the only thing would be soda and caffeine. I've broken myself off soda a couple of times, the last time being about 3 years ago. This time, it really stuck. Even the thought of soda makes me want to hurl. Now, the only caffeine I have is an occasional iced tea, but I'm careful of that, because I do get addicted to caffeine easily, and I want to avoid soda.

I don't know, it's just scary. I feel like I don't have THAT far to go to get myself COMPLETELY on track...I don't drink hardly any calories, I'm good with my Vitamins, I hit my Protein numbers, I hit my Water goal...I just need to get over this one last hump - making the proper food choices.

[Katie713 423]

Perhaps you can shift to healthier carbs (whole grains), and eat your solid Protein first then veg, then a tablespoon or so of a starch. If I need a sweet crunch as a snack I'll have an Atkins daybreak bar like cranberry almond...2 net carbs and 10 g protein. Just think about your alternatives. Get creative. Trader Joes has so many fantastic foods, do you have one near you?