What Am I Doing Wrong?

[Fiddleman 4,376]

I've lost 70 pounds in the 4.5 months since my surgery' date=' so I thought I'd share a few things about my approach. I typically eat between 550 and 650 calories/day, getting between 80-90 grams of protein/day, and limiting carbs (of any kind) to less than 30 grams/day. I'm able to eat about 1/2 cup of "solid" food at a meal, but no more (and sometimes not that much). I have 8 oz of Muscle Milk Light around 7am, before I go to the gym, then another 8 oz after I get done at the gym (between 9:30 and 10am). I have lunch around 12:30...usually 1/4 cup tuna salad (with fat-free miracle whip and sugar-free pickle relish), and 1/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese (or a low-fat string cheese). I have a "snack" around 3pm...usually a low-fat string cheese. For dinner I typically have 1-2 oz of lean Protein, and a couple bites of non-starchy vegetable, or 1/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese, depending on my mood. In the evening I usually have a Quest "chocolate brownie" Protein Bar, to ensure I get enough Protein for the day. I average 80-100 oz of liquid (Water, coffee, tea, Muscle Milk, etc) every day. As for they gym, I typically go 6 days a week, for 2 hours...I walk in the pool (think "power walk") for 90 minutes, then do 30 minutes of abdominal Water aerobics, in the deep end. This equates to roughly 1300 calories burned.

Granted, I probably don't "need" to do as much as I do at the gym, and I "could" eat more calories, if I wanted....but....I want to get rid of the weight I have to lose, and I want to do it as quickly as possible. As it stands, I have about 58 pounds left to lose to reach my goal....with my current loss at 122 pounds, total. Its working for me....that's all I know.

I wish you continued success!!

Laura[/quote']

These are really good suggestions for others. Thanks for sharing.

[feedyoureye 3,087]

Everyone loses at different rates. Everyone has a different sized stomach, eating patterns, carb intake, exercise routine, age, gender, diet history... and Dr. My Dr warned me that people have the tendancy to gain more weight back with the sleeve, but did not pressure me to "lose faster" or even name a goal weight. He just wanted me to follow the directions and see what happened. Even if we all did the exact same things , our weight loss would be diferent. That being said, its great to get ideas and encouragement from others. My advice? 33 in three months is respectable. It is easier to lose weight at the beginning after the surgery than later, so if there is anything you can do to tighten up your practices, then go for it. But as someone else told me, if you lose 100 pounds in 4 months, or 18 months, you have STILL lost 100 pounds, and you are at goal. Just try to enjoy the ride, and remember some folks ( like me and you) have a lot of stalls. I had a 4 week stall starting at 3 weeks. I did everything right. My body just said NO for a while. Use measuring as well as weighing to chart your weight loss... sometimes you can lose inches and not pounds. Best of luck.

[pebbles99 10]

doxieville I had no pre-op, my doctor didn't require it. Yes, 17 in 5 weeks.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT! I HAVE PRINTED OUT SOME OF YOUR COMMENTS AND WILL DOING MY BEST TO FOLLOW YOUR ADVICE. I AM STILL VERY VERY HAPPY I DID THE SURGERY MAINLY BECAUSE food DOESN'T HAVE CONTROL OVER ME ANYMORE AND I NEVER THINK ABOUT IT. I THINK MY PROBLEM MIGHT BE THAT I AM CONTINUING MY OLD HABITS AND HAVE TO HAVE BETTER PLANNING WHEN IT COMES TO MY MEALS AND Snacks.

THANK YOU ALL :wub: :wub: :wub:

[Threetimesacharm 1,400]

I have 100 total to lose. 35 is not terrible, but I am constantly in a stall. Weeks will pass and I will be the same weight, and then 2 lbs will come off. It's a little disheartening. My nutritionist said 1/2 - 3/4 c 3x a day, the doctor says 5 small meals is better! I just want the weight to come off quicker.

I think you need to do what is best for you. Get a meal plan started and see how you do. I am with lollyfiddy, I try to eat 600-700 calories, the more I eat the slower I lose. Limit the amount of cheese I eat(because I love cheese). I try not to eat after 8:00pm so that I am not hungry in the morning. I don't always have a snack, only if I need it. I find that if I portion out 3 ounces of chicken for dinner I can eat this slowly and not need a snack.

[Kmasden 14]

Music to my ears. Pebbles I am much like you, at one month out, i can eat about 1/3 c. food at a time (i'm on mushys) but i don't really feel satisfied. I find i'm eating super fast (doesn't affect me physically) and i'm constantly reaching for food, so technically i'm kinda grazing while at work and feeling bored and used to my old habits. I've seen the diets of people with tremendous weight loss and find they are sticking between 600 and 800 cals a day. I drink a lot of protien as we're supposed to get it in, so that's already 300 cals for the day, the small meals/snacks i have easily add up to that 500, and often closer to 700. I think part of it is mental. I don't know what to do with myself outside of eating when i'm bored. That's been my go to. That and figuring out how to get protien in without so many calories, and the confusion of "do i eat 3x a day or 5x a day". I think i'm going to stick with 3x a day because if i ate 5x a day, each meal is only 100 cals at most, and honestly, i enjoy food and a few bites of string cheese don't feel like "dinner" to me. I still do get hungry, so that is kind of a bummer, but i'm hoping that now that i realize there is some head work to do, and that people are truly exercising a lot and eating really low cals on purpose (not just based on the inability to do so) I can reign it in and get on track. There is more adjustment here than i realized. Silly i know, especially as i was a conversion from a lapband, i know a lot of the rules already! But i think there is something inside me that still struggles with the thought that this should be magic and not a lot of hard work. Feel like if i was good at hard work, i would have lost on my own lol...was never a great dieter.

I do use myfitnesspal as well and LOVE IT (UnderCoverShyGirl if anyone wants to add me!). It has changed my life in a lot of ways over the last few years! I highly suggest tracking your food/nutrition. So eye opening!

To lollyfidy, i'm amazed that you can get 80g of protien in with just 550 to 650 calories. I definately need your secret!! I'd love to see your food diary! Though sounds like you gave it up in the thread LOL. I think there is something to be said for eating the same thing most days, takes the guesswork and cravings out of the equation!

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Music to my ears. Pebbles I am much like you' date=' at one month out, i can eat about 1/3 c. food at a time (i'm on mushys) but i don't really feel satisfied. I find i'm eating super fast (doesn't affect me physically) and i'm constantly reaching for food, so technically i'm kinda grazing while at work and feeling bored and used to my old habits. I've seen the diets of people with tremendous weight loss and find they are sticking between 600 and 800 cals a day. I drink a lot of protien as we're supposed to get it in, so that's already 300 cals for the day, the small meals/snacks i have easily add up to that 500, and often closer to 700. I think part of it is mental. I don't know what to do with myself outside of eating when i'm bored. That's been my go to. That and figuring out how to get protien in without so many calories, and the confusion of "do i eat 3x a day or 5x a day". I think i'm going to stick with 3x a day because if i ate 5x a day, each meal is only 100 cals at most, and honestly, i enjoy food and a few bites of string cheese don't feel like "dinner" to me. I still do get hungry, so that is kind of a bummer, but i'm hoping that now that i realize there is some head work to do, and that people are truly exercising a lot and eating really low cals on purpose (not just based on the inability to do so) I can reign it in and get on track. There is more adjustment here than i realized. Silly i know, especially as i was a conversion from a lapband, i know a lot of the rules already! But i think there is something inside me that still struggles with the thought that this should be magic and not a lot of hard work. Feel like if i was good at hard work, i would have lost on my own lol...was never a great dieter.

I do use myfitnesspal as well and LOVE IT (UnderCoverShyGirl if anyone wants to add me!). It has changed my life in a lot of ways over the last few years! I highly suggest tracking your food/nutrition. So eye opening!

To lollyfidy, i'm amazed that you can get 80g of protien in with just 550 to 650 calories. I definately need your secret!! I'd love to see your food diary! Though sounds like you gave it up in the thread LOL. I think there is something to be said for eating the same thing most days, takes the guesswork and cravings out of the equation![/quote']

Eating 100-125 calories a meal is not as bad as you think. 2-3 ounces of Protein generally fill me up near the beginning of solids. Now I am eating 3-4 ounces of Protein 4 times a day and shakes 2 x a day. Yes, I am ready to eat after 3 hours, but it is not a knee jerk reaction where I am starving. It is more like a gentle reminder that I should fuel up. Eating mostly protein is really good for post surgery because it keeps you full longer and there are no spikes and drops from insulin levels that comes from big meals or higher consumption of carbs. The only negative, and it is not really too bad, is my food bills tend to be somewhat higher because protein tends to cost more. I am always loading up with chicken patties, chicken sausage, wild salmon, lean pork loin,etc from costco. I don't waste any because I try and buy it is individual serving sizes. In the castoff pork loin and salmon, I have a few days of left overs.

[Fiddleman 4,376]

Music to my ears. Pebbles I am much like you' date=' at one month out, i can eat about 1/3 c. food at a time (i'm on mushys) but i don't really feel satisfied. I find i'm eating super fast (doesn't affect me physically) and i'm constantly reaching for food, so technically i'm kinda grazing while at work and feeling bored and used to my old habits. I've seen the diets of people with tremendous weight loss and find they are sticking between 600 and 800 cals a day. I drink a lot of protien as we're supposed to get it in, so that's already 300 cals for the day, the small meals/snacks i have easily add up to that 500, and often closer to 700. I think part of it is mental. I don't know what to do with myself outside of eating when i'm bored. That's been my go to. That and figuring out how to get protien in without so many calories, and the confusion of "do i eat 3x a day or 5x a day". I think i'm going to stick with 3x a day because if i ate 5x a day, each meal is only 100 cals at most, and honestly, i enjoy food and a few bites of string cheese don't feel like "dinner" to me. I still do get hungry, so that is kind of a bummer, but i'm hoping that now that i realize there is some head work to do, and that people are truly exercising a lot and eating really low cals on purpose (not just based on the inability to do so) I can reign it in and get on track. There is more adjustment here than i realized. Silly i know, especially as i was a conversion from a lapband, i know a lot of the rules already! But i think there is something inside me that still struggles with the thought that this should be magic and not a lot of hard work. Feel like if i was good at hard work, i would have lost on my own lol...was never a great dieter.

I do use myfitnesspal as well and LOVE IT (UnderCoverShyGirl if anyone wants to add me!). It has changed my life in a lot of ways over the last few years! I highly suggest tracking your food/nutrition. So eye opening!

To lollyfidy, i'm amazed that you can get 80g of protien in with just 550 to 650 calories. I definately need your secret!! I'd love to see your food diary! Though sounds like you gave it up in the thread LOL. I think there is something to be said for eating the same thing most days, takes the guesswork and cravings out of the equation![/quote']

As for replacing eating with other activities, I tend to be more active now. Instead of eating, you might consider going for a walk or hiking. I am also a notorious workaholic so do not tend to have a lot of time for boredom during the week. However, I do try and have a coupe hours of family time in the evening where we watch a movie, play a board game, play music together ( wife plays piano, I play violin), etc. I can not say that any of our activities focus around eating or food, but sometimes we do go out for a meal on the weekend. There is a big world of activity out there that is available now that food is not the center of focus. You might find others in your area that share activities through meet up groups, REI, etc. I still need to work on hooking up with some groups now that I do not have any excuse to hole myself up at home.

[jns 8]

Your results are fantastic!!!! Every body loses at their own pace. I am 11 months out and have lost 52 with 27 to go and eat roughly 1400 calls/day since three weeks out of surgery. I'm happy with my slow pace because my skin has stayed quite taught considering. I definitely did not want very quick weight loss and loose skin.

[lollyfidy1965 402]

Music to my ears. Pebbles I am much like you, at one month out, i can eat about 1/3 c. food at a time (i'm on mushys) but i don't really feel satisfied. I find i'm eating super fast (doesn't affect me physically) and i'm constantly reaching for food, so technically i'm kinda grazing while at work and feeling bored and used to my old habits. I've seen the diets of people with tremendous weight loss and find they are sticking between 600 and 800 cals a day. I drink a lot of protien as we're supposed to get it in, so that's already 300 cals for the day, the small meals/snacks i have easily add up to that 500, and often closer to 700. I think part of it is mental. I don't know what to do with myself outside of eating when i'm bored. That's been my go to. That and figuring out how to get protien in without so many calories, and the confusion of "do i eat 3x a day or 5x a day". I think i'm going to stick with 3x a day because if i ate 5x a day, each meal is only 100 cals at most, and honestly, i enjoy food and a few bites of string cheese don't feel like "dinner" to me. I still do get hungry, so that is kind of a bummer, but i'm hoping that now that i realize there is some head work to do, and that people are truly exercising a lot and eating really low cals on purpose (not just based on the inability to do so) I can reign it in and get on track. There is more adjustment here than i realized. Silly i know, especially as i was a conversion from a lapband, i know a lot of the rules already! But i think there is something inside me that still struggles with the thought that this should be magic and not a lot of hard work. Feel like if i was good at hard work, i would have lost on my own lol...was never a great dieter.

I do use myfitnesspal as well and LOVE IT (UnderCoverShyGirl if anyone wants to add me!). It has changed my life in a lot of ways over the last few years! I highly suggest tracking your food/nutrition. So eye opening!

To lollyfidy, i'm amazed that you can get 80g of protien in with just 550 to 650 calories. I definately need your secret!! I'd love to see your food diary! Though sounds like you gave it up in the thread LOL. I think there is something to be said for eating the same thing most days, takes the guesswork and cravings out of the equation!

I'm glad you sent me a friend request on MFP!! Please...feel free to roam through my food diary! I tend to eat a lot of the same things, for days at a time, mixing it up a little when I find myself getting bored. Fortunately, I'm no longer "high maintenance" when it comes to food...because I don't get the big kick from it that I used to get. I eat to get nutrition, and that's about it.

[Kmasden 14]

Thanks all for your replies. It's encouraging to see other's habits and hear advice. I'm sure pebbles and I are just in a rough spot of learning what this is all about!

[ibehere10 163]

If you are on MFP app you can look at others food choices which is a great help. You can download the app if you have a smart phone or go to the web site to join!! Has been great in affording me with other food ideas!!

[OneWritersSoul 353]

If anyone is on MyFitnessPal, I'm always up for adding friends! You can find me there as 'serenity_lynn'

[angel313 21]

Add me too!

MFP: amt313

Instagram: atosqui